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Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:23:17 am
You'd think – after the Iraq debacle and any number of lesser blunders elsewhere – that people abroad would have stopped thinking of the United States as the first responder of the world. You'd think. Buried in the Associated Press' coverage of demonstrators being beaten by soldiers in Myanmar was this plea from an unidentified onlooker: "Why don't the Americans come to help us? Why doesn't America save us?" The poor guy must have been watching too many documentaries on the Normandy invasion. Hasn't he noticed that we Americans haven't been doing a spectacular job of saving nations lately?
Categories: Taking notice
• 2 comments
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 06:11:37 am
The state has turned to experts from the University of Texas for help in straightening out the math standards used for the math portion of the state’s WASL test. The Texas team will lead revision of the state’s K-12 mathematics learning standards – a task to be finished in four months. The work starts next week. Poorly developed math standards get much of the blame for high failure rates on the math part of the test required for high school graduation. The standards are supposed to determine what students at various grade levels should know and to serve as a guide for instruction by teachers. But outside experts who reviewed the math standards earlier this year found them seriously flawed. A team from UT’s Dana Center for Mathematics and Science Instruction won a competitive application process. Here’s our Aug. 31 editorial on a highly critical review of the math standards by outside experts.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Friday, September 28th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 04:25:29 pm
Here's our current schedule of editorial board meetings with outside groups. Oct. 2, 10 a.m. No on Referendum 67 campaign Oct. 3, 9:30 a.m. Save NE Tacoma, re Northshore project Oct. 3, 3 p.m., Spiro Manthou, candidate interview Oct. 4, 10 a.m. Citizens for a Better Ballot, Kelly Haughton, Richard Anderson-Connolly, re charter amendments Oct. 8, 2 p.m., Julio Quan, backers of Tacoma’s Proposition 1, universal health care Oct. 8, 3 p.m., United Way leaders, re early learning initiative Oct. 10, 10 a.m., Historic Tacoma, historic preservation efforts. Oct. 11, 10 a.m., Sheriff Paul Pastor, DSHS secretary Robin Arnold-Williams, re protocol for following up on reports of abused foster children. Oct. 15, 1 p.m., Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland, update on DNR issues. Oct. 30, 10 a.m., Higher Education Coordinating board representatives, re higher ed planning.
Categories: Who's visiting, How we work
Posted by David Seago @ 02:58:57 pm
 Spotted this sign on my way to work this morning. It's a reminder that eight Pierce County charter amendments will be on the Nov. 6 ballot. it's unusual to see yard signs on charter amendments. Citizens for a Better Ballot, the group that campaigned last year for ranked-choice voting – also known as instant-runoff voting – is behind the "No on No. 4" signs. Proposed Charter Amendment No. 4 would delay the county's first ranked-choice voting election until 2010. Note the "Pick a Party" tag on the sign. That's a reminder voters opted for RCV at least in part as a reaction to the demise of the states' blanket primary. With RCV, there is no primary – just one election in which the winners are determined in a process of elimination. RCV proponents want to remind voters how much they hate "pick a party" voting in closed primaries.
Categories: Taking notice
• 4 comments
Posted by Cheryl Tucker @ 09:06:49 am
Tacoma’s not the only city with a controversy over siting a children’s museum. Chicago, well known for its support of museums, is also debating the issue. Chicago’s case is a little different: whether it’s appropriate to put a private, pay-for-entry children's museum in the city’s public Grant Park. And there’s also a racial element that I don’t think applies to Tacoma. But the basic issue is the same as the controversy over the proposal by the Children’s Museum of Tacoma (which also has an admission charge) to build a new facility on the Thea Foss Waterway: the potential loss of open space. The land the museum wants to build on in Tacoma was purchased with money set aside for preservation of open space. Opponents want the Foss Waterway Development Authority, the owner of the property, to find a different location for the museum. Here’s the Associated Press article.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Thursday, September 27th, 2007
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 05:41:44 pm
People have been waiting a long time for Sound Transit to launch its first "reverse commute" – i.e. Seattle-to-Tacoma instead of Tacoma-to-Seattle – Sounder run. Or maybe not. The reverse commute's maiden voyage Monday attracted only 44 passengers from up north in the a.m. Tuesday's ridership fell to 25 coming south. Wednesday, it was 32. The numbers weren't impressive, but they've got nowhere to go but up. The people at Sound Transit remain bullish. Linda Robson of the agency's media relations office had this to say: "What’s important to note is that each year for the seven years Sounder has been running, we’ve seen double digit growth, including 20 percent ridership growth since last year, and even 9 or 10 percent additional growth that we’ve retained since the I-5 construction." Anyway, it's nice to know that at least some people are coming to Tacoma from Seattle and points north to work, shop, whatever, not just vice versa.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 01:59:27 pm
 Northeast Tacoma residents must be seething about this billboard that popped up recently at the corner of Norpoint Way and 29th Street Northeast. I just about fell out of my car when I first saw it. The sign, mounted on a big pylon only a few feet from the streetcorner, all but slaps you in the face as you drive up the hill on Norpoint Way. I hate billboards in general, but this one is the most offensively located billboard I've ever seen. The billboard stands on the property of an Indian-owned smokeshop. It was put up by Fourpoints Communications, a Kent-based company that specializes in putting up billboards on Indian-owned trust lands Fourpoints claims to be helping Native Americans diversify their income; of course, the company's share of the revenue is purely incidental. The same company is fighting the City of Puyallup, which has ordered removal of a large billboard along River Road. The site is owned by Ed Comenout, a Quinault who contends city zoning laws don't apply to Indian-owned property held in trust by the federal government. A hearing examiner's decision is due in January, but that surely won't be the last of it. I'll alert the newsroom to a possible story. If you know more, post it here. I have an e-mail in to Tacoma City Councilman Jake Fey, who represents Northeast Tacoma.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 10:38:49 am
King County Executive Ron Sims has done just what we’ve feared all along would happen with Sound Transit. With a Seattle-centric view, he has come out against the roads & transit package and contends light-rail shouldn’t be extended to Pierce County. Basically, he’s saying we’ve got the Sounder trains, and that’s good enough. It would consign Pierce County to be an economic backwater for decades and force Pierce County commuters to stick to the highways. We aren’t big fans of the death penalty, but it’s the law in Washington, where as a practical matter it is carried out only for the worst of the worst murderers. Convicted serial killer Robert Yates Jr. falls in that category, which is why we’re glad the state Supreme Court voted 8-1 to uphold his death sentence. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
• 4 comments
Posted by Cheryl Tucker @ 09:56:32 am
Friday is Ask a Stupid Question Day. (I know, I know; there’s no such thing as a stupid question. And if you believe that, you’ve never had to work at an information booth.) So, if you have a stupid question, post it here. Maybe someone will be able to answer it. Or if you've been asked a stupid question, let us hear about it. Here are two Web sites (click HERE and HERE) with a lot of really good stupid questions. (Hey, I think I’ve wondered about a few of these myself.) And here are some stupid questions asked of park rangers at some of our national parks (none, unfortunately, in Washington), compiled by Outside magazine.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:24:50 am
State lands commissioner Doug Sutherland may have provided campaign fodder for his 2008 election opponent this week. The candidate likely to be Sutherland’s main Democratic rival, Eastern Washington rancher and environmentalist Peter Goldmark, announced a kickoff campaign tour of the state Thursday and Friday. He called Sutherland, a Republican, “too tied to corporate special interests and selling off our precious public lands for logging and development at pennies on the dollar.” That’s what enviros have been saying for years about Sutherland, a former Tacoma mayor and Pierce County executive. But Sutherland backers recently sent out invitations to a fund-raising reception Oct. 16 at a private home on Lakewood’s pricey Gravelly Lake. The event’s sponsors include George and Wendy Weyerhaeuser, Spokane Rock Products, Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association, the Asphalt Paving Association of Washington, Rinker Materials, Miles Sand & Gravel and Concrete Nor’West.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 12:29:24 am
Here's the latest word from state Rep. Dennis Flannigan on the aftermath of his widely reported (on this blog, at least) catastrophe on the pitcher's mound at Cheney Stadium:
Categories: Taking notice
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 08:20:31 pm
Bill Gaines, a hometown boy who became Tacoma Power superintendent just a year ago, will move up to Tacoma Public Utilities' top job as director. The Utilities Board announced its choice this evening. Gaines was a top power executive at Seattle City Light when he joined TPU last fall. A Wilson High School graduate, WSU grad and MBA degree-holder from UPS, Gaines spent much of his career as vice president for Puget Sound Energy. Gaines will replace longtime director Mark Crisson, who is leaving to become the top lobbyist in Washington, D.C., for the public power industry.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 05:44:13 pm
A curious side-controversy of the blowup over the "General Betray Us" ad a couple weeks ago had to do with advertising rates. Republican critics – up to and including Dick Cheney – claimed that The New York Times had given MoveOn a special low price, $64,575, on the full-page ad."TIMES GIVES LEFTIES A HEFTY DISCOUNT FOR 'BETRAY US' AD," chortled a New York Post headline. The Times denied any such deal. This week, though, the Times acknowledged that it indeed had undercharged MoveOn to the tune of $77,508, which the Democratic activist group said it has now paid. The Times insists the mistake was inadvertent. Maybe so – but no newspaper advertising department I have ever met forgets its ad rates or loses sight of $77,508 worth of accounts receivable.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:01:08 pm
 Ron Paul's got it made. If campaign signs are any indication, he's far ahead of the rest of the Republican presidential field – at least in Tacoma. Look around. How many Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson signs – of any kind – have you seen? Who's seen even a bumper sticker for Giuliani? But Ron Paul believers make their loyalties known. The largest signs, home-made jobs, obviously, are usually posted on public property in places not so prominent that they would get removed immediately by the sign police. The one shown here, for example, is on a fence on South 25th Street not far from the Tacoma Dome parking lot. Cars obscure it much of the time, but at least people walking to Dome events get an eyeful. The largest trove of Ron Paul signs I've seen is in the dark canyon where South Tacoma Way starts up the hill from Pacific Avenue. Seems to me like hiding your light under a bushel. Or maybe supporters are angling for the homeless vote. Who is Ron Paul, you say? Well, put it this way: Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you'll find half his positions pretty sensible and the other half appalling. Find his campaign Web site here.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 12:15:26 pm
Our editorial board doesn't often do this, but we asked the finalists for the Tacoma City Council At-Large Position 8 seat, David Curry and Marilyn Strickland, to return for a second round of endorsement interviews. Four strong candidates ran in the August primary. It was such a close call among the four that we agreed to endorse Curry and Strickland. We also agreed that in any case we would ask the two primary winners in this race to return to return for another visit. Only two board members interviewed the four primary contestants, so we wanted the full ed board to hear the finalists. We met Tuesday with Curry and Strickland in back-to-back interviews. Just as we expected, both performed exceedingly well. It's a shame they are running against each other. Curry is director of the Tacoma Rescue Mission and chairman of the Tacoma Public Utility Board. Strickland is development director for the Tacoma Public Library. Strickland was asked if race has been an issue in her campaign; she's of black and Korean descent. Both race and gender have been, she said. During doorbelling walks, she's had voters notice the lack of a wedding ring and ask her why she's not married or if she's gay. A voter called her and demanded to know her position on Initiative 200, the 1998 statewide ballot measure that banned affirmative action in state and local government. After pointing out that I-200 was a settled matter that the City Council couldn't change, she asked the caller if he was asking other council candidates the same question. "That stopped him cold," Strickland recalled. Curry told us he sometimes feels that he is running more against the people backing Strickland than against the candidate herself. That was a reference to the fact that political heavyweights like former Tacoma Mayor Brian Ebersole and Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg are supporting Strickland and rounding up help from their allies. Strickland also won important endorsements from the city's police and firefighter unions. Curry also spoke of growing up in a home abandoned by the father and how that shaped his life and career. Both Strickland and Curry, incidentally, are Mount Tahoma High School graduates. The ed board will decide its endorsements on Oct. 9 and start publishing them around Oct. 14. Mail ballots will go out Oct. 19. The election is Nov. 6.
Categories: How we work, Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 11:32:13 am
Federal Way city officials shouldn’t act like crafting a legally sufficient teen curfew ordinance is impossible. Tacoma has shown how to do it, by carefully documenting the problem and narrowly targeting the rules and providing appropriate exceptions. Tacoma’s ordinance has never been challenged in court. The latest National Assessment of Education Progress test results for Washington show an alarming drop in scores among African-American students. The NAEP report is one of the best indicators of state performance in student achievement because it is based on the same test in all states. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by David Seago @ 05:12:23 am
If you’re an education policy wonk – or just an interested observer in the ideological wars over “school choice” and vouchers – check out the Think Tank Review Project. The project was founded by academic researchers out to scrutinize think tank reports with scholarly rigor and debunk false or unfounded claims. For example, the latest report dissects a recent paper from the conservative Friedman Foundation that claims to make the case for giving parents vouchers and letting them choose public or private schools. A reviewer from the University of Illinois says the report is “based on selective and shoddy evidence, and makes misleading and sometimes false claims.” The project also issues annual Bunkum Awards to think tank reports “judged to have most egregiously undermined informed discussion and sound policy making.” A look at the list shows some big names among conservative outfits: The Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation and the Manhattan Institute. This, of course, invites accusations from the right that the Review Project people are all academic lefties who hate capitalism anyway. But they rightly point out that the think tank reports they criticize are rarely peer-reviewed by established scholars, while their own academic work must meet those standards. My own observation, based on years in the opinion trade, is that if you know which think tank is issuing the report, you know what side it’s going to take.
Categories: Taking notice
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 05:37:42 pm
Tacoma blogger and real-estate tracker Kevin Freitas has a brief report on efforts to create new homes for residents to be displaced from the old Winthrop Hotel. See Kevin's posting here. I'll see if I can scare up more information from Prium CEO Peter Ansara. Prium is building the Hannah Heights condos kitty-corner from the Grand Cinema in downtown Tacoma and the Chelsea Heights condos at Sixth Avenue and South J St. The former looks like it is nearly ready for occupancy, while the latter is nearing the final stages of construction.
Categories: Taking notice
• 2 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 04:10:10 pm
The Point Defiance Zoological Society has named Caryl Zenker, a TVW vice president, as its new executive director. Which means that TVW, the non-profit organization that televises state government, is running out of Z’s at the top. TVW President Cindy Zehnder is also leaving, taking over as Gov. Chris Gregoire’s new chief of staff on Oct. 1. Zenker has been TVW’s head of marketing and development for four years. In her 20-year career as a non-profit fundraiser, she’s worked for public-radio station KPLU and the Tacoma Art Museum. Zenker lives in Tacoma with her husband and two sons. Zenker succeeds Kathleen Olson, who left the Zoo Society in March to become executive director of the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 09:51:28 am
The Iranian leader’s appearance at Columbia University was great display of the American values of free speech and public forums — freedoms denied in Iran. Now a protracted court battle begins over the Sonics’ lease at Key Arena. We’re rooting for the city all the way. A deal is a deal, and the Sonics should be held to it. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
• 2 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 05:07:13 am
 Think you know your Puget Sound history? Captain George Vancouver (pictured) and Lieutenant Peter Puget are the names most people associate with early European exploration of Puget Sound. But many others, their names now forgotten, contributed to the region’s “discovery.” Maritime historian and author Les Eldridge tells their stories in a program at 7 p.m. Oct. 4 at REI’s flagship store in Seattle. Eldridge’s talk is the second in this year’s People For Puget Sound REI Speaker Series, “Exploring Puget Sound,” which features monthly talks on For details on admission, reservations and future programs, go here and click on "events."
Categories: Taking notice
Monday, September 24th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 09:38:29 am
Not many readers realize that Tacoma Community College, the subject of a Sunday editorial, was a creation of the Tacoma School District in years when the beloved Angelo Giaudrone (pictured) was superintendent.  That's why the editorial prompted this response from Harold Snodgrass, who was the district's spokesman in the Giaudrone administration:
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 09:16:36 am
A friend sends word that state Rep. Dennis Flannigan, very slowly recovering from taking a line drive to the mouth in a charity softball game last week, thinks he's lost five teeth – but his dentist won't know for sure until the swelling goes down. I'm pretty sure Denny, D-Tacoma, will opt to be scorekeeper for next year's game. Best wishes for a speedy recovery from Dave and the Opinionaters.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 09:10:15 am
If you get the headline on this item, you're ready for this news: Today is National Punctuation Day, when we who live by the written word salute the glories of the well-placed apostrophe and the delicately inserted semi-colon. Ted Pease, "professor of interesting stuff" (and journalism, too) at Utah State University, sends along this appropriate quotation in honor of the occasion:
For more on this lamentably forgotten occasion, go here and there.
Categories: Taking notice
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 06:00:56 am
It's not a matter of whether presidential candidates often stretch the truth. Of course they do. But how often do they do it? And when do they come close to outright lying? Attentive citizens might make good use of two Web sites that track the accuracy of factual claims made by candidates seeking the White House in 2008. (Thanks to the Wall Street Journal for pointing them out.) Check out FactCheck.org and Politifact.org. Both are run by credible independent organizations, and the latter includes a "Truth-O-Meter" that gauges how misleading a candidate's assertion is. The settings range for "True" to "Pants on Fire." Sample from Truth-O-Meter: Rudy Giulani, on Hillary Clinton's health care plan, says, "“What they will do is socialized medicine.” You can click on the rating link to get an explanation.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:30:38 am
Lots of speculation around town about who the Tacoma Utility Board will name to succeed retiring Director Mark Crisson. Mayor Bill Baarsma Friday calls it "one of the best kept secrets in town." He grumbled a bit that the Utility Board hasn't had a more open process by naming the finalists and bringing them around to see how they do with employees and the public. The board is expected to announce the director on Wednesday. The Utility Board was created under the city charter as a semi-autonomous body in order to insulate the power and water utilities from politics. The City Council appoints the board members and approves the budgets, rates and major borrowing proposals of the electric, water and rail utilities, but otherwise it has no authority over the utilities. So the the Utility Board can pretty much hire a new director any way it wants to. It would be surprising if current Tacoma Power Superintendent Bill Gaines weren't one of the finalists. I've heard that the other two finalists are outsiders, but don't bet the mortgage on that. The top spot at TPU is an attractive job. Thanks to farsighted decisions made decades ago, Tacoma is in good shape for power and water supplies for next few decades, at least, and enjoys rates that are among the lowest in the region. Seattle City Light, by contrast, is part of general city government and its chief reports to the mayor. Gaines was a top manager there before he took the Tacoma Power job last fall.
Categories: Taking notice
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Posted by Cheryl Tucker @ 06:00:06 am
If you haven’t seen the creative new PEMCO ad campaign, check it out by clicking here. It includes humorous profiles of a number of pretty familiar Northwest characters, including Sandals and Socks Guy, Ponytailed Software Geek, Obsessive-Compulsive Recycler, and The Coug and The Dawg. I found my stereotype – #99: Smug Hybrid Owner. It’s spot on, down to the “eyes searching for full-size SUVs to sneer at” and the “polar fleece vest,” which I’m wearing as I write this to celebrate the coming of autumn this weekend. (Plus it was COLD this morning.) I figure Dave Seago – who is known to bike several hundred miles before breakfast with his freakishly fit wife – fits into #5: NW Male Action Figure, but I can’t find a profile that really fits my other colleagues, Kim Bradford and Patrick O’Callahan. There’s a page on the Web site for creating your own profile, though. I suggest New Mom Itching to Come Back to Work for Kim and Urban Pioneer Empty-Nester for Pat.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Friday, September 21st, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 01:14:18 pm
Remember that item in The Nose column (9-15) about the Montana writer who actually rhapsodized about the "aroma of Tacoma" ?
"Stop that lady at the border!" The Nose cried. Well, I tracked down Billings lady, otherwise known as Karen Mockler, and sent her the riposte from The Nose. She responds:
Posted by David Seago @ 09:42:18 am
Holly Armstrong, familiar to us media types as top spokesperson for Gov. Chris Gregoire, will leave her post in November. In an email to friends, colleagues and media contacts, she said she is moving to Denver to be closer to family and friends. I'll miss her. Besides being highly competent and professional, Armstrong, a native Iowan, is a fellow fan and participant in RAGBRAI, an annual week-long bicycle tour that takes 10,000 people across the entire state, west to east, in July. Every time Armstrong accompanied the gov to the TNT for an editorial board meeting, we'd compare notes on the latest ride. Armstrong is the second member of the governor's top staff to announce plans to leave. Last week Tom Fitzsimmons, Gregoire's chief of staff, announced his resignation. Thursday, the governor named Cindy Zehnder, president of TVW public affairs network, to succeed Fitzsimmons.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by Cheryl Tucker @ 09:23:53 am
We received a press release Thursday from the House Republicans touting the fact that state Rep. Joyce McDonald, R-Puyallup, “is among four women in Western Washington named by The Business Examiner as 2007 Women of Influence." Of course, my reaction was: Who are the other three? Don’t they even rate a P.S. at the end of the release? I had to go to the Business Examiner’s Web site to learn the identities of the other three. Now I know why they didn’t rate a mention. They are Julie Anderson, a Tacoma city councilwoman who works in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s administration as a senior policy advisor; Laurie Jinkins, community activist and another Gregoire senior administrator; and Lakewood Mayor Claudia Thomas. Pierce County Republicans have endorsed Thomas’ opponent, Lisa Ikeda, in the Nov. 6 general election. Ikeda is vice president of the 28th District Republican Club. Here’s the House Republicans' press release.
Categories: Taking notice
Thursday, September 20th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 06:53:11 pm
Streetcar enthusiast Morgan Alexander would like to round up fellow believers to help rejuvenate Tacoma Streetcar at a meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Tacoma Public Library’s main branch downtown. Alexander says the booster group has been largely dormant the last year because he and other streetcar fans were focused on helping a city feasibility study. City Manager Eric Anderson’s long-term downtown transportation vision includes streetcars. (News story). Now, Alexander says, “We are refocusing on being more of a supportive organization (like a "friends of...") instead of a lobbying type organization. The goal is also to get as much participation as possible- the goal is to make this a true community effort.”
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 02:52:42 pm
Abuses described in TNT story Sunday show that the state needs to tighten regulation of bounty hunters. (In a response on the letters page, state licensing director Liz Luce promises just that.) Allowing aggressive private security outfits like Blackhawk to operate in Iraq with no accountability is unacceptable. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by David Seago @ 09:03:29 am
We hear that state Rep. Dennis Flannigan, D-Tacoma, playing infield for the Pierce County Notables in a charity softball game at Cheney Stadium last night, took a line drive in the mouth. According to my correspondent, a trip to the ER ensued, and oral surgery might be necessary. No other details immediately available. Update: Participants say Flannigan was pitching when the accident occurred, and he may lose some teeth. Former county exec Joe Stortini's team brought out a safety net to protect the pitchers for the rest of the game. Stortini's 70-and-over squad, a championship-caliber senior softball team named after his Joeseppi's restaurant, won handily. More importantly, passing the hat in the stands netted around $1,200, my good friend Pat Flynn reports. Her game summary:
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:26:24 am
King County Executive Ron Sims, once Mr. Sound Transit, reportedly won't be endorsing Proposition 1, the big highway-and-mass transit package on the regional ballot this November. (See Dave Seago's Tuesday posting below.) "I'm neither going to support it nor oppose it," he told the Seattle Times on Tuesday. What's going on here? Not so long ago, Sims was chairman – and champion – of Sound Transit. He is still a board member. He's been right at the heart of the planning for Proposition 1, which would expand highways but also extend light rail from downtown Seattle to Tacoma and other places. Now it's "Never mind." Kind of like Abraham Lincoln saying, halfway through the Civil War, "Save the Union? Let Jeff Davis do his thing down there? Whatever." This does make purely political sense, if you see Sims as a calculating cynic. King County is raucously divided between those who love highways and hate transit, and those who hate highways and love transit. Neither wants to see the other camp get a dime. Endorsing Proposition 1 could make both groups hate you. One of the measure's chief opponents, Mark Baerwaldt, is praising Sims for his political courage. "As a former chair of Sound Transit, no doubt this was a difficult decision for him ..." Yup. Taking no position on the most controversial issue on the ballot – that must have been a tough one, all right.
Categories: Taking notice
• 7 comments
Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 03:08:52 pm
A feisty letter to the editor, like a good cup of coffee in the morning, is bracing. Here's one from a reader taking exception to our Tuesday editorial declaring Orting School Board candidate Gary Walkup unfit for the position.
Pretty snappy, all right, but we're not going to put in print. Not that it would hurt our feelings, but the letter is little more than name-calling and doesn't address the issues raised in the editorial.
Categories: How we work
Posted by David Seago @ 02:59:19 pm
The federal and state governments shouldn't be extending subsidized health insurance to families with comfortable incomes before children of lower incomes have been covered. The current program, SCHIP, hasn't come close to that goal. What’s the Tacoma Port Commission afraid of? There’s no good reason for the commission not to televise its public meetings, or at least put them on the Web. The problem is that these commissioners just aren’t used to doing business with the public watching. About our editorials:
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:14:25 am
The state chapter of Progressive Majority, seeking to boost the ranks of minority elected officials in Washington, is backing city council candidates in Tacoma and University Place. Marilyn Strickland and Rose Ehart are among the beneficiaries of a “Racial Justice Campaign Candidate Fundraiser” scheduled Oct. 11 in Seattle. Strickland is a Tacoma City Council candidate; Ehart is running for the University Place City Council. U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island) and former Gov. Gary Locke are among the sponsors of the campaign. The fundraiser will be held at a private residence in Seattle.
Categories: Taking notice
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
Posted by David Seago @ 06:52:28 pm
Who should show up for an ed board with the Approve67 campaign but Tacoma's own state Rep. Steve Kirby? We editorially chided the South Tacoma Democrat earlier this year on the issue of payday lending (He defends it, we want more restrictions). But Kirby has a thick hide (could have said "head" there, but I won't) and cheerfully led a presentation on behalf of Referendum 67. That's the November ballot measure that would allow judges to assess treble damages if insurance companies are found to have unfairly denied claims. Insurers and business groups want voters to repeal the law, passed by the Legislature earlier this year. Kirby and Sue Evans, a consultant who often represents the legal industry, brought along Laura and Tom Thiery, a Gig Harbor couple. The couple told a story (details here) of alleged mistreatment by an insurance company after their South Hill Dairy Queen flooded in a plumbing failure. The couple sued but ended up accepting a settlement for much less than their actual losses, they said. Kirby contended that many insurance companies routinely offer less than the full amount of claims, knowing that aggrieved customers will decide it's not worth their while to go to court. Posing the risk of treble damages would discourage insurers from routinely forcing customers to go to court to get fair compensation. "This would level the playing field," Kirby insisted. As chair of the House Insurance, Financial Services and Consumer Protection Committee, Kirby played a lead role in passing the legislation. We're scheduled to meet with the Reject67 campaign Oct. 2. We'll report their side, too.
Categories: Who's visiting, How we work
Posted by David Seago @ 06:04:42 pm
Opponents of November's Roads & Transit ballot package pounced today when King County Executive Ron Sims said he would neither endorse nor oppose it. A KING-TV blog item reported that Sims, a former board chairman of Sound Transit, declined to support the measure and would give no explanation. That prompted Seattle businessman Mark Baerwaldt, who's personally bankrolling the NoToProp1 campaign, to make hay of it in a statement to the the media.
No word yet from the pro-R&T campaign.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 01:10:17 pm
The City of Tacoma's troubled Public Works Department will lose Bill Pugh, its director for 14 years, to retirement at the end of March, the city said today. Pugh has also been serving as assistant city manager. The anouncement of his retirement follows the involuntary "separation" of assistant public works director Craig Sivley, who will retire Oct. 1. Sivley was put on leave earlier this month after after a massive St.Helens-Broadway LID project disintegrated. The City Council, upset about perceived mismanagement of the project, rejected the LID on an 8-0 vote. Pugh has been a city employee 33 years.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 12:01:18 pm
Cases of teachers involved in sexual conduct – one in Tacoma, another in Federal Way – demonstrate how important it is for school officials to err on the side of student welfare when dealing with such cases. Of particular concern is new information, reported in the TNT Sunday, that shows Tacoma School District officials knew earlier than they had previously indicated about misconduct issues that should have warned them away from hiring Jennifer Rice, a teacher now charged with child rape. The state Department of Labor and Industries must surely have more important and useful things to do than trying to upend the traditional system of caddying at golf courses. An inspector’s finding that caddies at Pierce County’s new Chambers Bay Golf Course are employees, not independent contractors, is ludicrous. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by David Seago @ 11:59:03 am
The latest performance audit completed by the state auditor is out today, this one focusing on the state's nine educational service districts. The audit summary indicates the districts are generally performing well, but auditors found $9.4 million in potential cost savings and $5.4 million in potential new revenue the districts could gain. One example: Districts are failing to take advantage of a federal telecommunications tax rebate that could provide $10.5 million in revenue over five years. The ESDs are regional organizations that provide services to local school districts. The report also recommended that lawmakers eliminate the ESDs' role in deciding boundary disputes among local districts.
Categories: Taking notice
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