Former state Rep. Jan Shabro says she’ll decide in the next week whether to run for Pierce County assessor-treasurer.

“I’ve been talking to lots of people and getting a lot of very positive feedback,” said Shabro, a Lake Tapps Republican. “You might say I’m testing the waters.”

Shabro said she assumed Terry Lee, the Republican chairman of the Pierce County Council, was running for assessor-treasurer. But Lee recently dropped out of the race.

Shabro lost her 31st Legislative District seat to Democrat Christopher Hurst in 2006. She also served on the Pierce County Council for eight years.

Incumbent Assessor-Treasurer Ken Madsen and County Councilman Barbara Gelman – both Democrats – also are weighing bids for the office.

Voters in November approved a county charter amendment making the assessor-treasurer a nonpartisan position.

We were surprised to learn today that the Fircrest City Council chose a new mayor last night. Dave Viafore has been mayor of the town of 6,000 residents for 14 years. He's been replaced by Kathy McVay.

Reporter Rob Tucker is working the phones to find out what happened. I sent a note to David Stemp, who lost a bid in November for the city council. During the campaign, he was critical of the city's secretive attempt to bring a Wal-Mart to the town. Here's what Stemp told me today:

I'm guessing that the city was ready for a change. I know Kathy McVay is the senior council member next to Dave, so she certainly seems the logical choice as New Mayor. I think that the latest election showed that Dave didn't have the full confidence of the city, he won his election by only 60 votes. It was a very brief election process last night - it almost seemed over before it started. I have to say Kathy McVay did a great job of presiding over the meeting after being handed the gavel.

UPDATE: Here's a link to Rob's initial story on our home page. That might be further updated tonight or tomorrow.

Let the fun begin: With about a month before Washington's caucuses and primaries, Barack Obama's campaign will be the first to officially open up shop in Washington.

Congressman Adam Smith will cut the ribbon at 11 a.m. this Saturday on the third floor of the Howard Building (614 First Ave., Seattle). They recommend that supporters show up at 10:30 (and detractors stay home, I assume).

What is now the office started last February as a grassroots effort through My.barackobama.com. Many of the candidates have taken similar inspiration from social networking sites (McCainSpace anyone?).

From the press release:

"Senator Obama is the best candidate in this race that can unite our country and bring real change for America" said U.S. Rep. Adam Smith.
"The momentum we have seen so far shows that Americans are excited about Obama's message of hope, and nowhere is that more true than in Washington state. We are very excited to see the beginning of this next phase of the campaign. Our volunteers are energized and ready to do their part to make sure Senator Obama wins Washington's upcoming primary." he continued.

Pierce County Council Chairman Terry Lee seems a safe bet to keep his post when the council elects new officers next week.

Lee, R-Gig Harbor, was first elected chairman of the seven-member council a year ago. He said he wants to keep the job, and other council members say he likely will.

“I think people are pretty happy with the way the (leadership) structure’s set,” said Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, who served two years as chairman before Lee.

Councilmen Roger Bush, R-Graham, and Tim Farrell, D-Tacoma, also said it’s likely Lee will keep the job.

One factor in Lee’s favor: he’s the only council member not running for office this year. The others are either seeking re-election or running for other offices.

Lee filed to run for county executive and assessor-treasurer, but ultimately bowed out of both races.

Republicans legislative candidates are pretty quick out of the blocks this election season. I can't remember the last time I received half a dozen announcements in the first week of January.

Randi Becker is taking on an established incumbent in Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville. Becker, 59, used to work at Puyallup Surgical Consultants.

Read her full announcement here:

=> Read more!

Gov. Chris Gregoire had to pick someone after Harold Clarke abruptly left for Massachusetts around Thanksgiving. Vail has been around awhile and reportedly gets along with the community corrections officers better than Clarke did.

The CCOs wanted a no confidence vote in Clarke, but delayed it long enough for Clarke to leave.

Prisons, ex-convicts, sex offenders, early release, GPS monitoring......all those things will be elements of Gregoire's reelection campaign, and of Republican Dino Rossi's challenge. So the Guv needs someone who won't embarrass her, or undermine state employee union support.

Vail will be around until the November election. Will he be here for any of the next four years?

Here's the governor's full news release:

=> Read more!

Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg said this morning he has hired campaign consultant Christian Sinderman and filed paperwork on Monday with the state Public Disclosure Committee to further explore a bid for statwide office.

He said he's calling around to see whether he'll be able to raise enough money to mount a serious challenge to first-term incumbent Rob McKenna, a Republican. Ladenburg is a Democrat.

Ladenburg said he'll still wait until the end of the month before making any official declaration. A lot will depend on what he hears at the other end of those phone calls, he said.

A three-member citizen's committee will take up the question of whether Tacoma City Council members should receive health insurance benefits the same as the mayor and other city employees.

Council members approved a resolution Tuesday calling for a committee to look into the issue. Outgoing Councilman Bill Evans introduced an ordinance last month that would have extended health benefits to the council. But the council postponed a vote until March 18.

The committee will consist of one city human resources professional, one former city council member (Bill Evans, perhaps?) and one city resident. The council's Appointments Committee will recommend the members.

UPDATE:

Councilman Jake Fey voted against the resolution to form the committee. Fey, who was ready to vote in favor of Evans' health benefits ordiance, said he doesn't see the need for a study of the issue.

If council members needed more information, city staff members could provide it, Fey said. And if council members were hoping to distance themselves from the issue, Fey doesn't believe they've succeeded. By dictating the types of people who will serve – and then naming the appointments – council members will have their hands all over the process, he said.

Former Washington Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald is still on the transportation scene, but he took some time out over the holidays to get hitched.

MacDonald told me this morning he and Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes got married on Christmas Eve. The two of them met a few years ago when Mapes was writing about the Hood Canal bridge project and all of the problems that led to a doubling of costs for a project. It will now cost somewhere between $400 million and $500 million.

MacDonald was at the Port of Tacoma to attend a meeting of Pierce County leaders who have a keen interest in transportation. He and former wireless company executive John Stanton, chairman of the governor's task force on regional transportation governance, were trying to sell the locals on the importance of getting on board the governance bandwagon.

It's a hard sell.

Gov. Chris Gregoire wants it. Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, wants it. But much of Pierce County's leadership is wary.

A regional transportation commission undoubtedly would be dominated by Seattle and King County, Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, noted.

"It's very difficult to trust our economic development projects to King County," Kastama said.

Catherine Rudolph, government affairs director for the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors, took note of the $3 toll that locals are paying to build the new Narrows Bridge, and the fact that Pierce County's other gax tax dollars end up somewhere else.

"There's a reason we have a chip on our shoulder," she said.

More on this in our Sunday paper. I'm writing an advance for the legislative session that starts on Monday. Lawmakers will be talking a lot about transportation issues in the wake of the defeat of Proposition 1 in November. That $18 billion roads and transit tax plan left many regional projects with no or only partial funding.