The Seattlepi.com is reporting that Michael McGinn, creator of the Seattle Great City Initiative, is running for mayor against incumbent Greg Nickels.

Michael McGinn

McGinn, a visible voice in Seattle’s environmental scene, champions parks, open space, transit and making Seattle as livable as possible. Seattlepi.com says he would concentrate on schools, improving the technology infrastructure by buildng fiber optic networking to every home and business and local transportation issues.

To read the story, click here. The Seattle Times also has it here.

P.S. The Stranger’s Dan Savage also says he is running for mayor, but that he would resign if elected in order to allow the Seattle City Council to elect someone else.

It’s that time of year, where the world… wants your money. That’s right, it’s December. And if your in-box is anything like mine, a disproportionate amount of e-mails recently have been requests for donations. They come from everywhere: from large think tanks to the long lost cousin in Kenya you didn’t know you had. But whoever’s sending, everyone wants your money.

Everyone, that is, except for the two organizations hosting their end of year parties

This could be you!

tomorrow night. Once again (as I’ve complained about before) everyone in green plans the same things at the same time.

So, on Thursday, Dec. 11, both the Cascadia Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Seattle Great City Initiative will host parties.

Here are the details:

The Cascadia party is at Cascadia’s HQ at 410 Occidental Ave S. near Pioneer Square. It will feature a slide show of Washington projects that have achieved LEED certifications. Also, there are free drinks and light refreshments. I went to Cascadia’s holiday party last year and had a blast, though it seems like this is a scaled down version. RSVP here.

The Great City party is at Paddy Coyne’s during Happy Hour, beginning at 5 p.m. The initiatve has asked attendees to RSVP so they know how much food to order. RSVP to Michael McGinn at michael.mcginn@greatcity.org.

Party hardily, green readers!

Environment meetings are interesting but they can tend to be a tad dry. To make them a little more interesting, some groups are adding… well alcohol, to make the party rock.

The only problem? Both these parties are on the same date of July 17!!! What a time to get your eco-groove on.

The Northwest Environmental Business Council hosts a rooftop mixer from 5 to 7:30 on the seventh floor outdoor deck of K&L Gates. This party promises hobnobbing with NEBC board of directors, NEBC members and other colleagues. It also features two drinks per person and hors d’oeuvres by Pyramid Catering. It costs $35 for NEBC members and $45 for non members.

That same day from 5 to 8 p.m., there’s the Seattle Great City Initiative’s Summer Street Scene Party. This one is at the South Lake Union Discovery Center and features food and drink from local companies, local musicians, an “urban design corner” of locally designed sustainability projects, exhibitors on alternative energy and transportation choices, and a “street for people” competition” (click here for more on that).  As far as I can tell, this one is free.

Unfortunately, like I said, both are on the same day so you’re going to have to choose one… unless you’re a particularly active party-goer. Sadly, I won’t be at either as I’ll be on vacation that day, so if you go, tell me how it went!

If you, like me, can’t make it to either, there’s also monthly Greendrinks, which on July 8 only will be hosted in multiple locations. To see if green people are gathering at a bar in your Seattle neighborhood, click here.

Happy eco partying and networking!