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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A few union leaders may have been a little too candid for their own good recently.
They've filed a lawsuit to prevent the Evergreen Freedom Foundation from laying its hands, after the fact, on records of their past contract negotiations with the state. The EFF may not be popular in some circles – it has the same fondness for unions as horseflies have for horses –
but in this case, it is defending the public's right to know. For a description of the controversy and related legislation, read this.
Here are some gleanings from of the union leaders' sworn testimony,
as triumphantly disseminated via e-mail by the EFF.
Jay Ubelhart of the Inlandboatman's Union of the Pacific:
If I, in the heat of negotiations, stated I didn't give a damn about those complaining customers and it was written down by a member of the management team, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation or a media outlet would print it on the front page ... I would be subject to ridicule and confrontations who might take offense.
T.J. Janssen of the Service Employees International Union:
I would not want my comments during these discussions exposed to the public. If I knew my comments would be available for public review, I would not be comfortable speaking until I had carefully thought through all my comments. I might decide not to speak at all.
There's a moral here: Don't say out loud every damnfool thought that crosses your mind.
David Zeeck, The News Tribune's executive editor (and quite a champion of public disclosure), found a comment from Diane Sosne of the SEIU particularly interesting:
Granting access to outside groups to the information sought would introduce a chill into the process, thwarting the ability of the parties to communicate freely and openly.
Zeeck's take on the whole thing:
Of course, the "outside party" is the public, in effect the owner of the business involved in the negotiation. In private industry the owner always knows what's going on in negotiations, and that's a check on what's possible. In public bargaining the unions (and frequently the government agency) never want the public involved because they'd be a check on some of the more ridiculous things that get into contracts (like Fat Thursday and sure-you-can-drive-your-city-owned-car-home-to-Chehalis-every-night kinds of deals).
