A team of experienced reporters keep you updated on what's happening in political arenas at the city, county, state and federal levels. From presidential campaign visits to who's running for city council, we've got it covered.
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Peter Callaghan is a local columnist. He’s covered the
statehouse and state politics since 1981. Before joining The News
Tribune in 1985, the Stadium High grad worked for newspapers in Everett
and Lewiston, Idaho, and for The Associated Press in Olympia and
Seattle. Email
Peter
Joe Turner has covered state government and transportation
issues since 1990. Since the Bellarmine grad’s arrival in the newsroom
in 1978, he’s covered police, suburban cities, Tacoma City Hall,
Federal Way City Hall and the Pierce and King county governments. Email Joe
David Wickert covers Pierce County government. Before coming to
The News Tribune in 1998, he covered local government for newspapers in
Illinois, Virginia and Tennessee. Email David
Ian Demsky is a general assignment reporter who specializes in
database-driven reporting. He's been at the News Tribune since 2007 and has
previously worked in Nashville, Tenn. and Portland, Ore. When he's not at
work, he enjoys hiking and science fiction. Email Ian
Les Blumenthal has been covering Washington, D.C. for The News
Tribune since 1990, focusing on issues and politicians involving the
state. Before joining The News Tribune, he spent 13 years working for
The Associated Press in Seattle, Illinois and Washington, D.C. Email Les
John Henrikson is a local news editor who oversees political coverage. He's worked as a journalist in the
Northwest for 19 years, supervising coverage and reporting on local and
state government, the environment and growth. Email John
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Brad Chatfield, Pierce County Council spokesman, reports that the council voted 5-0 today to create a citizens salary commission. The panel will be in charge of setting salaries for council members.
The commission's decisions on council pay raises will take effect without council action. Council members won't receive a raise until after going through an election cycle.
The commission also will recommend raises for county executive, assessor-treasurer, auditor and sheriff. Those raises will require council approval.
Six of the 10 members of the commission will be chosen at random from among registered Pierce County voters. The remaining four will be appointed by the county executive and confirmed by a majority of the council.
"Anytime you can take politicians out of the process of setting their own salaries is a good thing," said Councilman Calvin Goings, the Puyallup Democrat who developed the measure after the council approved 21 percent pay raises last year.
Candidates for the University Place City Council are scheduled to debate Oct. 18 at Curtis High School.
Here's the lineup:
Position 2: Incumbent Debbie Klosowski versus challenger Carl Mollnow.
Position 6: Mayor Gerald Gehring versus challenger Rose Ehart.
Position 7: Incumbent Jean Brooks versus challenger Denise McCluskey.
The debate is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The school is located at 8425 40th Street W., University Place.
The News Tribune is hosting a public forum next week on Proposition 1, the measure that would increase sales and vehicle taxes to raise billions for highways, rail and bus systems, if approved by voters on Nov. 6.
This is your chance to ask questions of people representing organizations on both sides of the issue.
Here are the panelists:
--Shawn Bunney, Pierce County councilman and chairman of the Regional Transportation Investment District, which developed the roads portion of the plan
--Tim Gould, chairman of the regional Sierra Club’s transportation committee
--David Graybill, president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce
--Jim Horn, chairman of the Eastside Transportation Association Board
--John Ladenburg, Pierce County executive and chairman of Sound Transit, which developed the mass-transit portion of the plan
The public is welcome. The forum will be held Wednesday, Oct. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. in The News Tribune Baker Community Room, 1950 S. State St., Tacoma. (Doors open at 6:30; cookies and coffee will be provided.)
If you can’t make it, post a question on the “leave a comment” section on this blog item and we’ll add it to the list of things to talk about.
If approved, Pierce County projects in the roads and transit plan include: Rebuilding the I-5 interchange at the Tacoma Mall, starting construction of the cross-base highway, extending Highway 167 between Puyallup and the Port of Tacoma, improving Highway 162 and Highway 410, and extending light rail from Sea-Tac to Tacoma.
You can find the campaign supporting the measure (“Keep WA Rolling”) here. You can find the “No to Prop 1” campaign here.
