This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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We just got out of Dave Seago's retirement party (tomorrow's his last day). One of our parting gifts was a mock editorial page with the mock editorial below, which I wrote.
Be warned: It's full of inside jokes. The cliches are intentional. The headline, "If true, we're ...," alludes to a reporter who once heard a newsroom rumor and exclaimed, "If true, I'm pissed" – a line that's become legend here.
(The cartoon above is by former News Tribune cartoonist Chris Britt.)
David Seago retiring?
If true, we're ....Tacoma's uber-pundit gave back to his community and profession, in spades.
David Seago's retirement is a bitter pill to swallow.
While we can point with pride to his accomplishments, we view his departure with distinct alarm. It is hardly reassuring that the work of a journalist of such stature and talent will no longer grace the pages of The News Tribune. He is a giant of the profession.
Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Seago has dodged some bullets and bitten others. He has been the whipping boy of ultra-leftists and arch-conservatives. On the other hand, he has always landed on his feet and come up smelling like a rose.
All but one of the 15 candidates for the state Supreme Court and state Courts of Appeals have signed a pledge to campaign “with integrity.”
The exception is “semi-retired” lawyer Frank Vulliet, one of two challengers seeking the Supreme Court seat held by three-term incumbent Justice Charles W. Johnson of Gig Harbor.
In a five-page letter to the Washington Committee for Ethical Judicial Campaigns, which promoted the pledge, Vulliet said:
While the efforts of WCEJC may be well-intentioned, the pledge conflicts with both the right and duty to inform voters of vital matters affecting the courts, and their right to have as much information as available on which to make their choice. In the longer term, the restriction on discussing negative material conflicts with its purpose: to instill and maintain public confidence in those same courts.
He added:
Many candidates, myself included, run for judicial office not because they are “more fair,” “more impartial,” or “more competent” than the next lawyer or incumbent judge, but because they see things not as they should be and have ideas and a desire to make changes and improvements so public confidence is justified. It is impossible to discuss such matters openly and in an intelligent manner without saying things that may cause the public to question the courts. For that reason I am unwilling to sign your pledge.
(Click on “Read More” below for the full text of Vulliet’s letter. Read the pledge here.)
The committee’s pledge drive grew out of contentious state Supreme Court races in recent years that reached new lows in acrimony and political aggressiveness – chiefly because the hyper-aggressive Building Industry Association of Washington started backing favored Supreme Court candidates and running tough campaign ads.
The BIAW is concentrating its energies this year on backing Republican Dino Rossi’s bid for governor – which is why we’ll probably see generally polite Supreme Court campaigns this year. Unless Vulliet plans to sharply criticize Johnson for some of his rulings. That would seem fair game to me; it all depends on the tone.
For details on this year’s Supreme Court candidates, go to www.VotingforJudges.org.
A lot of taxpayer money is going down the drain with the Key Peninsula sexual abuse case settlement. The bigger tragedy, of course, is what happened to the children in the absence of any real safeguards.
The gay pride proclamation shouldn’t have become a political football for the Pierce County Council, but let’s keep some perspective here. The Council did approve domestic-partner benefits earlier this year, with only one Republican vote, and that’s the vote that mattered.
About our editorials:
If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com. Editorials represent the consensus view of The News Tribune's editorial board.
Want to sit in on a daily ed board meeting? Email cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com to make an appointment.
