Don Johnson, candidate for Position 3 on the Port of Tacoma Commission, will speak to the Gig Harbor Republican Club at noon Oct. 25 at Harbor Place at Cottesmore, 1016 29th St. NW, Gig Harbor. Lunch is optional and costs $12 per person.

To attend, RSVP to Stan Schneider at gigharborstan@comcast.net or call 253-884-6484.

Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed will kick off his re-election campaign Thursday with a breakfast event at the Bellevue Hilton at 7:30.

Reed, in office since 2001, will be supported by a group of Republican office holders and legends – expected at events such as this. Former governor and U.S. Sen. Dan Evans will be there. So will Attorney General Rob McKenna and King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert.

But the announcement sent out by the campaign included an unusual name – Democrat Julia Patterson, also of the King County Council. She is set to give the invocation.

Gary Smith, a spokesman for the campaign, said Reed is proud to have bipartisan support.

"It's not like it's unique to him to be collaborating with someone from the other party," Smith said. "They've collaborated on election and government issues for a long time." Patterson served on government operations committees in the state Legislature while Reed was Thurston County Auditor.

But Dwight Pelz, chairman of the State Democratic Party, said he spoke to Patterson Wednesday and she told him she is attending as part of a bipartisan prayer group. She will lead a prayer and then leave.

"She is not lending her name to the campaign," Pelz said.

Not that it will matter if Democrats do not find a candidate to challenge Reed. So far there are no prominent Democrats in the race. Nor are there challengers within the Republican Party, despite threats against Reed following the legal dispute over the last governors election.

"Most of that has died down," Smith said.

Looking to get loaded fast? Here’s a new drinking game: every time you hear that “cha-ching!” cash register sound in a NotoProp1.org ad, down a shot.

We count seven “cha-chings” in the latest ad alone, underscoring the group’s contention that the roads and transit measure costs too much and does too little. Among others, the ad quotes King County Executive Ron Sims and the Sierra Club denouncing the roads and transit measure. And it gets its title from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s description of Prop 1: “a stinky mess” (though the ad fails to mention the P-I actually endorsed Prop 1 in the editorial quoted).

You can hear the ad at the organization’s web site. Bottoms up.

Update:
Not to be outdone, Keep Washington Rolling today unveiled its latest commercials in support of Proposition 1. One ad targets Pierce County voters, quoting County Executive (and Sound Transit board chairman) John Ladenburg as saying, “We’re running out of time” to fix traffic congestion. View the ad here.

There's a lot of back-and-forth out there about how much Proposition 1 will cost the average taxpayer. Proponents have their numbers, and foes have their own (which are higher, of course).

So Joe Turner, our state government reporter, decided to do his own math. He constructed three examples using different household incomes, numbers of vehicles and vehicle values.

It'll be published in the print edition on Sunday as part of a front-page package on Proposition 1. But here's an advance look at the cost analysis.

Our assumptions:

Sound Transit has been collecting a 0.4 percent sales tax and a 0.3 percent motor vehicle excise tax for 11 years. Proposition 1 would continue those taxes at least through 2027, and most likely longer. Proposition 1 also would increase those taxes by adding a 0.6 percent sales tax and a 0.8 percent MVET. Those new taxes most likely would continue at least through 2037 and a portion of the new taxes would continue to be collected indefinitely. The combined taxes are a 1 percent sales tax and a 1.1 percent MVET.

Our examples, which were proofed by the state Department of Revenue, show how much you’re already paying in taxes, how much more you’ll pay if Proposition 1 passes and what the combined total will be.

EXAMPLE 1
Household income: $30,000
Number of vehicles: 1 (valued at $5,000)
What you pay to Sound Transit now: $69 a year
New taxes to Sound Transit and RTID: $121 a year
Total taxes: $190 a year

EXAMPLE 2
Household income: $60,000
Number of vehicles: 2 (valued at $15,000 and $5,000)
What you pay to Sound Transit now: $151 a year
New taxes to Sound Transit and RTID: $296 a year
Total taxes: $447 a year

EXAMPLE 3
Household income: $100,000
Number of vehicles: 3 (valued at $30,000, $15,000 and $5,000)
What you pay to Sound Transit now: $275 a year
New taxes to Sound Transit and RTID: $588 a year
Total taxes: $863 a year

SOURCES: Sales taxes are calculated based on the state Department of Revenue’s Washington State Tax Alternatives Model for 2005, which shows how much sales tax a household pays depending on its annual income. Motor vehicle excises taxes are calculated by multiplying the value of a vehicle by the percentage of the tax. For example, the total tax for a $10,000 vehicle would be 1.1 percent times $10,000, or $110.

If you believe the politicians, Calvin Goings at the moment is the only person running for Pierce County executive. And Goings, a Democrat and County Council member from Puyallup, is running hard.

His web site lists scores of endorsements, from U.S. Rep. Adam Smith and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen to a host of local elected officials and unions.

Goings announced his candidacy last December, nearly two years before the November 2008 election. He’s rolled out a series of policy proposals, including reorganizing the county planning, sewer and economic development departments and boosting the number of code enforcement officers.

Goings hopes to set the pace for what could be a busy field.

Fellow county councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, also is running, though he hasn’t made a formal announcement. Expect announcements soon from two other potential candidates: County Auditor Pat McCarthy and Tacoma City Councilman Mike Lonergan.