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Monday, June 30th, 2008
Posted by Jason Hagey @ 03:39:43 pm
 Tacoma City Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg said she thinks she has enough support from her colleagues to pass a resolution tomorrow that would let voters decide this fall whether to abolish term limits for Tacoma council members. She better not be counting on a "yes" vote from Mayor Bill Baarsma Baarsma actually served on the Charter Review Commission in the early '70s that is responsible for the current 10-year limit on consecutive service as a mayor or City Council member. And he opposed the idea at the time. Baarsma, then a bearded college professor, reasoned that voters get a chance every election to impose their own term limits. But Baarsma doesn't like the way Ladenburg is attempting to rush the issue onto this fall's ballot. The City Charter "shouldn't be amended on a piece-meal basis unless something is really broken," Baarsma said. The charter has been reviewed three times since term limits were imposed in 1973, Baarsma noted, and the community has not cried out for a change in the term limit rule "It's legitimate to discuss it," Baarsma said. "But it should be through the charter review process." UPDATE: Ladenburg didn't get Baarsma's vote, but she didn't need it. The resolution passed 5-4, meaning voters will decide Nov. 4 whether to keep or eliminate term limits.
Categories: Tacoma
• 8 comments
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 02:52:20 pm
The latest Elway Poll asked a random sample of registered voters what "GOP" meant. Seven percent thought it meant Democrat. Another 18 percent either didn't know or chose "other," which means they didn't know but couldn't bear to admit it. The remaining 75 percent thought it was synonymous with Republican. Correct. Who cares? If you recall, gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi registered with the Secretary of State's office as "Prefers GOP party," instead of "Prefers Republican party." Democrats said he was trying to pull a fast one on voters. Rossi's campaign said he's been using "GOP" in ads since 2004 and no one's complained. (Meanwhile, nonpartisan grammarians pondered whether to point out the whole "Grand Old Party party" thing.)
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 01:41:56 pm
I joined Gov. Chris Gregoire at 7:30 this morning Rosa Vadillo's home in East Tacoma. Gregoire had breakfast with Vadillo's family before heading to Rita Madding's house in Central Tacoma. Vadillo is Madding's home healthcare worker. She visits her home six days a week to feed her, change her bedding and take care of other things around the house that Madding's disability prevent her from doing. This morning, Gregoire helped prepare breakfast, restock Madding's bedside snacks, cleaned out the bedside toilet and did other chores around the house. I'll be writing about it for tomorrow's paper. The gist: It was a bit of a dog and pony show, but that's to be expected: If the governor walks into the home of someone she doesn't know to do a job she's never done, there's a lot of training and not a lot of doing. More on that later. The point of the visit was to show Gregoire what healthcare workers do on a daily basis. After the session, Vadillo, Gregoire and Madding all said home healthcare workers need more training. The Legislature has tried to get that accomplished in the past but failed because no one seemed to agree on how much training they need. This year, it will likely be up to voters via Initiative 1029. Read Joe's story about it here.
Posted by David Wickert @ 12:56:46 pm
The Pierce County Council’s Rules Committee this morning killed a proposed ballot measure that would have asked voters to raise property taxes to preserve farmland and other open space. By a vote of 3-0, the committee voted to postpone the measure – proposed by County Executive John Ladenburg – indefinitely. Committee members cited unanswered questions, falling home values and a lack of accountability in the proposal as reasons to table it. They spoke of improving it and possibly trying again in 2009. The proposal would have asked voters in November to raise property taxes by up to 16 cents per $1,000 assessed value to buy the development rights to farmland, timberland, recreational property and other open space for preservation. The money would have been used to repay the cost of bonds used to pay for the program. It would have raised an estimated $8.7 million in 2009. According to Ladenburg, it would have cost the owner of a $300,000 house a little more than $2 a month. The executive billed the program as a way to preserve precious land in a county that is rapidly developing. He said it could be used to buy farmland in rural areas or remaining open spaces in urban areas. But County Council members expressed concern over the lack of a specific list of properties to be preserved. They also had questions about how land would be chosen for preservation. And they expressed concern that raising taxes at a time of falling property values would be a bad idea. “I think we are in volatile times,” said Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, a member of the Rules Committee. Councilman Calvin Goings, D-Puyallup, said he’s working on a proposal to establish a task force to address some of the council’s questions and report back early next year. He said it’s possible the county could take a proposal to voters in 2009. “I think it’s incumbent on us to move forward with a Plan B,” Goings said.
Categories: Pierce County
• 4 comments
Posted by David Wickert @ 08:34:00 am
Looks like Pierce County isn’t the only local government with a controversial towing contract. The city of Everett is squaring off against tow truck companies over plans to change its police towing contract. As we reported Saturday, some Pierce County towing companies have sued the owners of Gene’s Towing, which recently won the contract to provide services to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. The department previously used a rotation of more than 30 companies. Now it will use only Gene’s, which will subcontract some of the work to a few other companies. About 20 other companies that used to get sheriff’s department work claim Gene’s owner Michael Myers double-crossed them as he was representing them in negotiations with the department. They claim he conducted secret negotiations to get the contract. Myers denies that, as does the sheriff’s department. They say the other towers blew it by using heavy-handed negotiating tactics. Those tactics included failing to respond to sheriff’s department calls. According to the Everett Herald, towers there have stopped responding to police calls to protest the city’s plans to work with a single tower. Sound familiar? Thanks to reader Jane Doe for passing along this link.
Categories: Pierce County
• 7 comments
Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Posted by David Wickert @ 07:30:00 am
As we reported last Sunday, Pierce County’s Chambers Bay Golf Course has struggled to meet budget in 2008. Looks like the course ended May even deeper in the hole. County officials expect the course to lose money in the off season, and budget accordingly. They believe it will more than make up for those losses during the busy summer months. But the hole this year is a little bigger than expected. Through May, the course had lost about $240,000 so far this year. That’s about $118,000 more than budgeted. County officials say cool weather has meant fewer golfers than expected. According to the new report, the course has seen more than 700 fewer rounds of golf played than budgeted so far this year. You can download the latest financial report here.
Categories: Pierce County
• 13 comments
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 05:36:46 pm
We just got an e-mail from Lori Anderson at the Public Disclosure Commission. She says: She then picks a handful of initiative committees and details their funding from in-state versus out-of-state donors. "People for Safe Quality Care," for example, (in favor of I-1029) has $389,742.88 from in-state donors and a big fat zero from out-of-staters. The "League of Washington Taxpayers," however (for I-1030) has gotten $430 from in-staters and $9,639.32 from out-of-state donors. At this point, should we think of a new name?
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 04:48:25 pm
... including pocket pets to presidential candidate Barack Obama. Name-calling is fine by me, as long as you spell it right, which brings me to a letter I received from Mr. Obama today. "Dear Nws Tribune, Last February, in the depths of winter, our campaign took the first steps of an unlikely journey to change America. Sorry, Brck, I can't help you this time.
Posted by David Wickert @ 03:11:43 pm
Local companies that lost the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department towing contract have filed a lawsuit against the owner of Gene’s Towing, which won the contract. The lawsuit, filed last Friday in Pierce County Superior Court, contends that Gene’s owner Michael Myers urged other companies to boycott the contract, then submitted the only bid. In an interview in March, Myers denied the allegations. And the sheriff’s department accused the other companies of trying to hold taxpayers hostage with their boycott. Read the press released announcing the lawsuit below:
Categories: Pierce County
• 4 comments
Posted by Joe Turner @ 01:27:27 pm
Hmmmm. I wonder if Gov. Chris Gregoire also will be collecting signatures on Initiative 1029, the measure that would require the state to spend about $75 million to provide training for between 25,000 and 35,000 home care workers who are represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 775. I mean, the union has until 5 p.m. Thursday to collect 224,880 valid signatures on I-1029 to get it onto the November general election ballot, so a few more signature certainly wouldn't hurt. It should be noted that Gregoire's office currently is negotiating with SEIU Local 775 on a new two-year contract that will decide how much of a raise, what kind of additional benefits and how much training the state will pay for in the 2009-11 biennium. (Next year's Legislature must approve it, too.) It also should be noted that SEIU is helping pay for those radio adds that are telling voters how great she is and how rotten Republican Dino Rossi is. (The ads are running to counter the Building Association Industry Washington ads that blame traffic congestion and proliferation of sex offenders and most other ills in the state on Gregoire.) So, I'm wondering exactly what kind of shoes the governor will be walking in, lowly-paid-home-care-worker shoes or in-your-face-militant-union-boss shoes? Here's the release from Gregoire's campaign:
Posted by Jason Hagey @ 12:20:41 pm
 The City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would put the question to voters in November. Currently, the City Charter says no one can serve more than 10 consecutive years as mayor or council member, or any combination thereof. That usually limits council members to two four-year terms, but it's possible for someone to serve longer if they are appointed to an unfinished term. The resolution proposed by Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg would ask voters if they want to repeal that section of the charter and remove term limits entirely. Ladenburg raised the subject last month, and moved quickly to get a resolution in front of the City Council. Time is running out to get the issue on the ballot this fall. She believes council members should have the opportunity to stay in office longer because the role of a council member has changed in the last few years. The issues facing them are more complex and require a longer learning curve, she told me this morning. Council members are more involved than they used to be, in part because of the switch to a committee system, she added. Ladenburg suspects there are enough council votes to pass the resolution. If they do -- and if voters decide to dump term limits -- the current council members would be permitted to run again, Ladenburg said. The city's Legal Department looked into the question of whether it would apply to current and future council members and concluded that current council members could take advantage of the change, she said. "The council seems to be in favor of putting it on the ballot," Ladenburg said. After that, "It's up to the citizens," she said.
Categories: Tacoma
• 6 comments
Posted by Joe Turner @ 11:26:15 am
As we reported yesterday, the Washington Education Association is now shifting its support from former Richland School Superintendent Richard Semler to former state Rep. Randy Dorn. Semler dropped out. So now the 81,000-member union is supporting Dorn in his run against three-term incumbent Terry Bergeson.
Categories: Campaign news, Schools Superintendent
Posted by Joe Turner @ 11:17:46 am
Happy Fiscal New Year! A lot of things related to state government take effect on July 1 of every year and 2008 is no exception. That's because July 1 is the first day of the state's fiscal year. So a lot of things will take effect on Tuesday. Here's three of the things that will affect pretty large groups of people: 1. The final increment of the 9.5-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax, which was approved by the Legislature in 2005. That makes the total state gas tax 37.5 cents a gallon. 2. The standard toll on the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge will rise by $1. It will be $4 for those who stop to pay at a toll booth and $2.75 for those who have windshield transponders for automatic electronic collection. 3. Law enforcement officers will start writing tickets for motorists who hold a cell phone up to their ears while they are driving. (It's a secondary offense, so you'd have to be doing something else wrong first.) Here is the officials news release from the Washington State Patrol on how it plans to enforce the cell phone law.
Categories: State government
• 3 comments
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Posted by Joe Turner @ 05:01:47 pm
The writing is on the wall. It's looking more and more as if there will be a multibillion-dollar bus-and-rail measure on the ballot this fall.
Although Sound Transit notes its poll is not scientific, they continue to build a case for another vote on transit. This one will be about $10 billion instead of $18 billion, the amount of Proposition 1, which was trounced at the polls last November. Here's Sound Transit's release:
Posted by Joe Turner @ 03:10:58 pm
It sure looks like it. Richard Semler, the hand-picked candidate of the 81,000-member Washington Education Association union, dropped out of the race. So, if he's holding a joint news conference with Randy Dorn to "announce two major developments" my guess is he will say (1)he's backing Dorn and (2)so is the powerful union. And then Dorn will go after 12-year incumbent Terry Bergeson with a whole lot of clout on his side. He's already got the backing of his own Public School Employees Association and its 24,000 members. (Dorn is that union's executive director.)
Posted by Joe Turner @ 02:24:59 pm
PEMCO Insurance hired a company to do the polling in February. They asked 766 people and 60 percent of them said talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving should be a primary offense. On Tuesday, a new law takes effect in Washington that makes such activity a "secondary" offense, which means a driver would have to be caught doing something else wrong before he or she could be ticketed for talking on a cell phone. The ticket will be $124. Here's the full release from PEMCO Insurance, which has some interest in drivers paying attention to what they're doing since their insurance will have to pay for whatever they smash into while they're distracted on their cell phones.
Categories: State government
Posted by Hunter George @ 01:41:12 pm
I realize this has nothing to do with Washington state politics, but a Cox News Service story on the wire caught my eye and pierced my Southern soul:
I grew up in North Carolina, which means I like my iced tea sweetened, four-letter cuss words drawn out to at least three syllables and my seafood fried. Until I moved out here (or as my grandma would say, "out hee-ya"), I thought all seafood was prepared Calabash style. That is, simple, big portions and fried. Y'all, what I'm sayin' is this: alder-planked salmon is for sissies.
Posted by Jason Hagey @ 01:00:14 pm
Tacoma's new D Street overpass is barely open and already someone wants to change the name. Skip Anderson, vice president of the Tacoma Waterfront Association, sent us this e-mail proposing that the overpass be called Delin Crossing in recognition of Tacoma pioneer Nicholas Delin.
Categories: Tacoma
• 2 comments
Posted by David Wickert @ 11:27:54 am
Yesterday I spoke with Bruce Lachney, the Democrat hoping to unseat Republican County Councilman Roger Bush in District 3. I asked Lachney what it will take in terms of time and resources to mount a credible campaign against the well-known incumbent. Lachney’s answer was enlightening: “Working every day and $100,000.” Lachney’s got the first part of that equation covered. He’s doorbelling every day in the district, which includes Graham, Frederickson, Spanaway and Eatonville. But he acknowledged fundraising might prove more difficult. That’s why Lachney is sinking tens of thousands of dollars of his own money into his campaign. According to the latest campaign disclosures, Lachney has raised about $29,000 for his campaign – more than $20,000 from himself. Bush has raised about $20,000 to date, contributing none of his own money. Lachney – an airline pilot, cranberry farmer and Eatonville School Board member – expects spend more of his own money as the campaign progresses.
Categories: Pierce County, Campaign news
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 10:38:20 am
Here's the new video -- well, old video with new music -- from the state Democratic party. The old one, as you might recall from yesterday, featured the theme song from "The Sopranos," a fact the Italian American club of Seattle was none too pleased about. Without further delay: Can anyone tell me what this song is?
Posted by Jason Hagey @ 10:00:00 am
 Gavin Jensen photo It's not quite George Bush the elder and Bill Clinton teaming up to help tsunami victims. Or even Saturday Night Live's The X-Presidents cartoon short.  But it is historic: Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma and five former Tacoma mayors will assemble in one place Friday evening to promote a cause. The venue: Wine & Roses, a fundraiser for the Metro Parks Foundation at Taste of Tacoma. The mayors: Baarsma and former mayors Mike Crowley, Brian Ebersole, Harold Moss, Karen Vialle and Doug Sutherland. They will serve as "celebrity pourers" from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the 11th annual Wine & Roses fundraiser at Point Defiance Park. Apparently the group tried to get together at least once before to promote Tacoma Reads Together, but couldn't get their schedules to match, according to Metro Parks spokeswoman Nancy Johnson. The gathering of eagles is generating a buzz in the blogosphere. Photographer Gavin Jensen took some promo photos (including the one posted above) for the event and blogged about it. TNT editorial page editor Dave Seago wrote about it on the Inside the Editorial Page blog. And TNT foodie Ed Murrieta gives it a mention in his post about Taste of Tacoma. 
Categories: Tacoma
Posted by Joe Turner @ 09:46:12 am
A Washington National Guard helicopter and crew are on their way to California after Gov. Schwarzenegger asked for held.
Categories: Governor, State government
Posted by Joe Turner @ 09:30:45 am
State Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, is running for a 5th two-year term in the House. She'll kick off her campaign at 5-7 tonight at Commencement Bay Coffee Company, 2354 S. Jefferson Ave., Tacoma. House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, is coming to her event. And Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma is speaking, too, "so it's going to be entertaining," Darneille said. Republican William Chovil has filed against Darneille. For more information, call Darneille at 253-576-4086 or visit her Web site at www.jeanniedarneille.com.
Categories: Legislature, Campaign news
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 03:13:59 pm
I was just forwarded an e-mail from the Italian Club of Seattle. Turns out, they weren't too happy with the state Democrats video (posted below), which includes photos of Dino Rossi and the theme song from "The Sopranos." The club wants the video to be yanked and Dwight Pelz, state Democratic chairman, to step down. They sent Gregoire a letter detailing their feelings. "We understand that in this gubernatorial election, various claims will be made by candidates and interested parties against the other candidate. However, a recent online video posted by the Washington State Democratic Party attempting to associate Dino Rossi with criminal activity through the use of negative ethnic stereotyping is beyond offensive. Whether the State Democratic Party thought it clever to link Rossi to Italian-American criminals through the use of a popular mobster TV show is irrelevant; it is distasteful, and it is racist. Governor Gregoire, we believe we have your sympathy when we assert that using someone's ethnic heritage as a negative should not be condoned in this campaign." If you recall, Gregoire's campaign recently sent out a letter from the Anti-Defamation League denouncing the BIAW for likening environmentalists to Nazis (three months ago). I guess turnabout is fair play.
Posted by Joe Turner @ 02:10:36 pm
OK. Here's what's at issue: The petitions on which Initiative 1029 were printed say the measure will be submitted to the Legislature. Yet, I-1029 actually will be submitted to voters at the November general election if supporters turn in enough valid signatures next week. (That would be 224,880.) Does that mean the 300,000 people who purportedly signed the petitions were misled? After all, what they signed is not going to the Legislature. It's going straight to the ballot. Dave Ammons, spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed, said earlier today that state elections officials will accept the flawed petitions for turn-in because it's not a big mistake. But that may not be the final word on the matter. The Washington Supreme Court recently held Tim Eyman to a very high standard when it came to Initiative 747. The Supremes threw out I-747, which limited annual property tax collection increases to no more than 1 percent, because the petitions did not accurately state current law. They were printed wrong because the law changed between the time of printing and the public vote. Eyman's people say they have to dot their "i"s and cross their "t"s, but they think the SEIU, backers of the I-1029, only have to dot their "i"s. Eddie Agazarm, partner for Citizen Solutions Inc, a signature-gathering firm often hired by Eyman, said SEIU Local 775 spokesman Adam Glickman may have to eat some of the words he wrote to Agazarm in an exchange of e-mails during the past legislative session. The Service Employees International Union was pushing for a bill that would have forced the state to throw out all initiative signatures if the person who collected the signatures failed to sign the petition. "There are plenty of existing reasons voter’s valid signatures are excluded," Glickman wrote. "If the sponsor prints petitions on the wrong size paper, otherwise valid signatures don’t count. If the sponsor fails to print the correct warning on the petition otherwise valid signatures don’t count. If the sponsor fails to accurately print the title or summary or initiative text on the petition otherwise valid signatures don’t count." "These are simply rules that were established that everyone follows. The rule we’re proposing adding – that the petitioner sign a statement on the back of the petition – is no different or more radical than any of the other existing rules that govern signature gathering." Now, it looks as if I-1029 petitions were printed with the wrong language on them. And the Secretary of State isn't the final word on this. The Supreme Court justices are, if it were to come to their attention. I wonder what the coalition that is opposed to I-1029 will do now? Here's the full exchange of e-mails between Glickman and Agazarm:
Categories: Campaign news, Initiatives
Posted by Joe Turner @ 01:08:54 pm
Our former AP colleague, David Ammons, gives us an update on the plans for signature turn-ins on the three measures most likely to make the November ballot -- Initiatives 985, 1000 and 1029. It starts tomorrow with a no-fanfare delivery of petitions by former Gov. Booth Gardner's "Death with Dignity" measure, I-1000.
Categories: Campaign news, Initiatives
Posted by Jason Hagey @ 11:59:54 am
The idea of establishing a new Office of Sustainability at Tacoma City Hall received a boost yesterday during the City Council's study session. Councilman Jake Fey and Mayor Bill Baarsma both voiced support for the idea, which is coming from the Tacoma's Green Ribbon Climate Action Task Force. The task force is scheduled to present its list of recommendations for reducing the city's carbon emissions to the council's Environment and Public Works Committee at 4:30 this afternoon. The group wants a new Office of Sustainability at City Hall to help implement its "Climate Action Plan." Fey said it's important to create the new office to make sure the task force's labors don't become a "paper exercise." Quick history lesson: Once upon a time, the city actually had something akin to an Office of Sustainability. The position was called "energy coordinator" and the person hired in 1980 to serve as the coordinator was none other than Jake Fey. 
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 11:31:11 am
While Gov. Chris Gregoire and challenger Dino Rossi are shaking hands and holding babies around the state, their campaigns (or arms of the campaigns) are busy battling via video. The state Democratic party and MoveRed.org release videos at least once a week. I'm posting these for several reasons, including the music selection. Enjoy, then answer me this: Do you watch these videos regularly? Do you plan to?
Posted by Joe Turner @ 09:56:54 am
Here is Part 3 of a 3-part series about regional transportation solutions. It was written by former Washington Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald for Crosscut, and it's must reading for voters who may soon be deciding on another multibillion ballot measure for transit.
Categories: Campaign news, Roads & Transit
Posted by David Wickert @ 09:24:30 am
The Pierce County Council may limit the kind of illegal signs that are removed from county right of ways. By a 3-0 vote, the council’s Rules Committee on Monday approved two amendments to a budget ordinance that address illegal sign removal. The first directs the public works department to target “off premises advertising signs located in the county right-of-way.” The exact impact of the amendment is unclear to Bruce Wagner, the county’s road maintenance manager. But it appears to direct his staff not to remove signs that advertise businesses or real estate adjacent to the public right of way where the sign is located. Wagner said that won’t affect the vast majority of signs his staff collect, which advertise real estate and businesses far from the right of way where they’re collected. But he’s seeking clarification of the amendment. The other amendment would require the county to store the illegal signs it removes for at least 10 days if the signs contain a first and last name, address and telephone number. That would allow the owner to retrieve the sign. Illegal signs have been a hot topic since the county launched a pilot program last summer to remove them. That pilot program was expanded to a countywide enforcement program in February. Since then, Wagner’s team has collected 7,749 illegal signs from county rights of way.
Categories: Pierce County
• 14 comments
Posted by Jason Hagey @ 06:11:05 am
 Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson offered an early glimpse of the city's next two-year budget Tuesday, and it wasn't pretty. Then again, it wasn't awful. Anderson told council members that sales tax revenue is down, but property taxes are holding steady and business and utility taxes collections are doing "good." "As we look forward, I feel confident that we can bridge the recession from now until the end of the next biennium if we're careful," Anderson said. That likely means few increases in public service, but probably no reductions, either, he said. Anderson did not bring numbers to the meeting, which was the first of several over the next few months where he and council members plan to talk about the city's 2009-10 budget. Perhaps the only two areas that will see increases are the Police Department and the Building and Land Use Services Department. The city is negotiating with the Tacoma School District to add police officers to work in the city's high school, and will likely hire more people in BLUS to address a recent drop in service levels. Developers and builders are complaining about drops in service from the department, which Anderson attributed to the retirement of some key staff and increased regulations. A couple other highlights from the study session:
Categories: Tacoma
• 4 comments
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 03:48:25 pm
Michelle Obama is coming to Seattle on July 17 to help Gov. Chris Gregoire with a little fundraising. A "silver level" lunch ticket will cost you $200. Gold-level captains, however, will need to raise $5,000. The maximum donation for any candidate is $3,200 -- meaning a good gold-level captain will go the distance to shake $1,800 out of their buddies. Get to work if you want a ticket: The event, at WaMu theater, is expected to sell out. Judging by the five e-mails about the event I received in the last five minutes, that seems plausible.
Categories: Campaign news, President
Posted by Joe Turner @ 03:12:02 pm
I posted an item last week about Gov. Chris Gregoire's reelection campaign sending out a belated letter of outrage over something the Building Industry Association Washington put in its March newsletter. BIAW chief Tom McCabe didn't take issue with the posting, but did take exception to my reference to him and "his boys" being able to take care of themselves. 
Categories: Governor, Campaign news
Posted by David Wickert @ 02:36:14 pm
The Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs has endorsed incumbent Rob McKenna for attorney general. Here’s the release:
Posted by Joe Turner @ 01:47:33 pm
Bill Harrington, immediate past chairman of the 2nd District Democrats and member of the fundraising committee, sent out this e-mail to alert us to goings-on in the south end of Pierce County. (I got it wrong the first time, not realizing that Bob Chamberlin is the new chairman. But Nathe Lawver set me straight in a hurry! I mean, within seconds of my posting!)
Posted by Joe Turner @ 11:48:12 am
Former Washington Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald said he plunked down $25 for a piece of software that showed him how to work with spreadsheets, so he decided to plug in Sound Transit's ridership numbers. The result was Part 2 of his take on Sound Transit's plans for the next multibillion-dollar ballot measure, courtesy of CrossCut.
Categories: Campaign news, Roads & Transit
Posted by Hunter George @ 10:54:23 am
Last summer, we wrote a story about Floyd Brown, the University Place-based political consultant. He's best known for his role in developing the Willie Horton TV ad that helped derail Michael Dukakis' presidential bid in 1988. In our story a year ago, Brown was focused on defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton, who at the time seemed all but certain to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Of course, it didn't turn out that way. So now he's turned his attention to Barack Obama. The New York Times wrote a few days ago about Brown's latest efforts, a site called ExposeObama.com. We only had room in the print edition for a brief version of the NYT story. Here's a link to the full version.
Posted by Peter Callaghan @ 08:37:22 am
Tacome architect David Boe has long campaigned for a safer crosswalk near his office at 7th and Pacific. Cars leaving Schuster Parkway often zip through the intersection with barely a glance at those waiting to cross. Finally the city improved the crosswalk, giving pedestrians a fighting chance at making it across. That is, until campaign season. In their zeal to get their names in our faces, several candidates have placed signs in such a way that they screen pedestrians from cars (and cars from pedestrians). Boe sent this e-mail to the candidates:
 Boe said this morning there is a special reward awaiting for the responsible candidate: "I figure I would vote for whichever candidate gets their sign off the median the first," he said. Update: Pat McCarthy wins David's vote with this prompt response:
Posted by Jason Hagey @ 06:11:05 am
 Jim Parvey, Tacoma's interim engineer, wants to look for alternatives to raising the neglected Murray Morgan Bridge for an indefinite period of time -- and cutting off pedestrian use -- when he meets this week with a state Department of Transportation official. Earlier this month, state officials told the city that the bridge needs to be raised in the upright position to relieve tension on its cables, which are in bad shape. It wasn't a new position. A 2007 study of the Murray Morgan paid for by the state recommended that the bridge be looked at within six months and out of operational service within 12 months, said Kevin Dayton, state Department of Transportation regional administrator. "There is no reason to think the findings they made are are no longer necessary," Dayton said. Raising the bridge is the most cost-effective solution (about $1 million) to the cable problem, and it doesn't interfere with Tacoma's plans for eventually rehabilitating it, Dayton said. Locking the bridge in the upright position is one of the first steps the city would take to rehab it, he said. The only alternatives, according to Dayton, are replacing all of the wire ropes, or replacing both the wire ropes and the shivs and trunnions. Those options cost at least $2 million. "All that would give us is the ability to open and close it to marine traffic," Dayton said. City officials don't dispute the condition of the cables, but they want to make sure all options are considered.
Categories: Tacoma
• 8 comments
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Posted by Joe Turner @ 11:12:45 am
Former Washington Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald has written the first of a three-part series on Crosscut about Sound Transit. This is timely stuff, given that Sound Transit's board is going to decide sometime in July whether to take a second stab at a multibillion-dollar ballot measure this fall or in fall 2010. Read the comments, too. I tend to agree with the one who said it would have been nice to hear this kinda stuff while MacDonald was still transportation secretary. His successor, Paula Hammond, now sits on Sound Transit's board, and at least she said recently that it's way too early to be talking about light-rail across Lake Washington. Way too many unknowns.
Posted by Joe Turner @ 10:05:45 am
This is not the rank-and-file groups. It's basically the chiefs and sheriffs.
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