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 told me this afternoon that he isn't necessarily opposed to the idea of extending or removing term limits.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

We just got an e-mail from Lori Anderson at the Public Disclosure Commission. She says:
"The Public Disclosure Commission's 'search the database' feature at www.pdc.wa.gov makes it easy to identify who is contributing to campaigns. Here is a comparison of the in-state vs. out-of-state contributions reported by the initiative committees so far..."

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?

... 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.
...
Nws, I am writing to ask you to join your hopes for our country with those of millions of others by becoming a supporter of Obama for America.
...
Nws, I didn't get into this race thinking that I could avoid this kind of politics, but I am running for President because this is the time to end it.
...
Nws, we simply cannot do this without your help."

Sorry, Brck, I can't help you this time.

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:

=> Read more!

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:

Governor ready to “Walk a Day” in homecare worker’s shoes

Gregoire is first sitting governor to participate in national program

TACOMA – Gov. Chris Gregoire will participate with SEIU Local 775 in their “Walk a Day In My Shoes” program. This national effort invites state and federal candidates to spend time on the job with an SEIU member in either a nursing home or homecare setting. Time with the employee will give the governor an even better sense of the work performed by a long-term care employee, the challenges they face, and the needs that exist.

=> Read more!

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.

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.

Washington’s Educators Continue to Continue to Choose Randy Dorn Over Bergeson

Washington Education Association Endorses Randy Dorn

Former Candidate Richard Semler, and Vocational Educators Also Support Dorn

=> Read more!

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.)
A ticket is $124.

Here is the officials news release from the Washington State Patrol on how it plans to enforce the cell phone law.

ENFORCEMENT OF “HANDS FREE” LAW BEGINS JULY 1
Drivers using cell phones must have headset or speaker phone

(Olympia) – Starting July 1, the Washington State Patrol will begin enforcing a new law requiring drivers talking on cell phones to use a headset or speaker-phone. WSP Chief John R. Batiste said if you hold a cell phone up to your ear while driving you could pay a $124 fine.

“When you’re driving you need to be driving,” Batiste said. “We’d prefer that drivers didn’t talk on their cell phones at all. But if you must, please stay safe by using a headset or speaker-phone.”

=> Read more!

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.

Respondents also expressed urgency around when to move forward with a new transit ballot measure: 76 percent favor a 2008 vote, 10 percent favor a 2010 vote, 3 percent favor voting after 2010 and 5 percent said never.

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:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — June 26, 2008

Citizens speak out on mass transit expansion options

The Sound Transit Board today heard the public’s latest input on expanding the region’s mass transit system. The Board thanked the thousands of community members who responded to the call to help shape the expansion options through 6,077 responses to a Website and telephone questionnaire and 4,015 written responses.

The input reflects a strong sense of urgency for expanding light rail, commuter rail and regional express bus service around the region. Among citizens who took the non-scientific questionnaire:
--91 percent say it’s extremely or somewhat urgent to expand mass transit
--81 percent say it's extremely or somewhat urgent to add more light rail
--81 percent say it's extremely or somewhat urgent to add more commuter rail
--81 percent say it's extremely or somewhat urgent to add more express bus

=> Read more!

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.)

MEDIA ADVISORY—Event on June 27, 2008

Contact: Robert Harkins, office, 253-833-9253

Dr. Richard Semler to Make Major Announcement
in Tri-Cities on SPI Race and candidate Randy Dorn

(Pasco)—On Friday, June 27, 2008, at 11:00 AM, Randy Dorn and Dr. Richard Semler will make a joint appearance in Pasco to announce two major developments in Dorn's race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

=> Read more!

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.

News Release
June 26, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PEMCO Insurance Poll Shows Washington Drivers
Think New Cell Phone Law Falls Short

SEATTLE – According to a recent poll conducted by PEMCO Insurance, while Washington drivers agree that the steady rise in cell phone usage while behind the wheel calls for changes to state law, most think the impending July 1 change making it illegal to use a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving doesn’t go far enough.

Of those polled, a majority (60 percent) support making cell phone-usage violations a primary offense, allowing law enforcement to cite violators solely for text-messaging or talking on a cell phone while driving. However, the approved law is a secondary offense, which requires motorists be in violation of a primary offense before they can be cited for using a cell phone while driving.

=> Read more!

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:

As part of the effort to make the August 25-28 convention the greenest ever, the Democrats’ guidelines for food catering include one that strikes at the heart of Southern cuisine: no fried food.
No fried chicken. No fried catfish. No fried green tomatoes. No fried okra. No fried anything.
In promoting healthy eating habits, the Democratic guidelines say every meal should be nutritious and include “at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, purple/blue and white.”

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.

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.

I had the pleasure of attending yesterday’s ribbon cutting for the newly completed D Street Overpass, a project all of us have been watching for months. Now that it’s complete, I extend my heartiest “Hurrah!”

One of the luminaries invited to speak made a subtle remark regarding the name, D Street Overpass. Though perhaps unintended, his remark was tinged with a hint of “How cliché” or “How common” or “How plain”. Not knowing specifically to whom I should address this proposal, I’m using the “shotgun method” to cover the waterfront to see if there’s any support for a name change.

I propose that the name “D STREET OVERPASS” be changed to “DELIN CROSSING”.

=> Read more!

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.

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?

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.

A Washington National Guard helicopter and crew are on their way to California after Gov. Schwarzenegger asked for held.

Gov. Gregoire sends firefighting crews and equipment to California

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today issued the following statement on California wildland fires:

“This morning, I authorized the deployment of firefighting equipment and crews to California in an effort to help control wild land fires in northern California. I did this in response to Governor Schwarzenegger’s request for aerial fire suppression assistance from the Washington National Guard.

=> Read more!

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.

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.

=> Read more!

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:

=> Read more!

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.

Memo to the Capitol Press Corps:

JUNE 26: I-1000 brings in bulk of signatures at 520 Union, without any ceremonies, @ 10 a.m.

JULY 2: I-1000 brings final signatures into Secstate’s office in Capitol after 1 p.m. event on cap steps.

JULY 3: I-1029 turn-in will be at 520 building at 2pm, bringing an estimated 300k. Tim Eyman is expected to bring in the rest of his I-985 petitions on this day, but no appt set yet.

Also, FYI, there was some question about whether to accept I-1029 petitions, because sponsors printed the incorrect preamble on petition forms. The petitions read as an initiative to the Legislature, but it was intended as an initiative for this fall’s general election. Our office determined that it was not a fatal flaw or that would-be signers were misled. “Our office is authorized to reject petitions, but not required to do so,” said Assistant Elections Director Shane Hamlin. ”This error does not rise to a level that suggests voters were misinformed as a result of the error or that a signer would have acted otherwise if the petition correctly stated that it is an initiative to the people.”

David Ammons
Communications Director
Office of Secretary of State
(360) 902-4140

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.

=> Read more!

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?

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.

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.

=> Read more!

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:

=> Read more!

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.

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.

I enjoyed your story last week about Gov. Gregoire and the ADL. As a long time reporter, you clearly understood why an article written in March was suddenly being waved around by BIAW opponents.

Please note, however, that most of my employees are not boys. See photo attached of some BIAW employees. These women, two who have worked for me for more than 10 years, are tougher than any boys I know.

Best regards.

Tom McCabe

The Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs has endorsed incumbent Rob McKenna for attorney general. Here’s the release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2008

Contact: Jamie Daniels
Phone: (360) 352.8224
Email: jdaniels@wacops.org
OLYMPIA – - The Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs (WACOPS) is pleased to announce its endorsement of Rob McKenna in his bid for re-election as Washington State Attorney General.

WACOPS is a professional organization formed to strengthen the rights and quality of life of those who have dedicated their careers to protecting and serving our communities. With nearly 5,000 members, WACOPS has represented sworn police officer and deputy sheriff agencies across the state for over 50 years.

WACOPS President Mark Lann made the following statement: “WACOPS is proud to endorse and support Rob McKenna for re-election as Attorney General. He has a proven track record of supporting law enforcement officers across this state. As the State's chief law enforcement officer, Rob Mckenna has partnered with local law enforcement agencies to give officers the tools they need to fight crimes. He has worked especially hard on issues related to violent sex offenders as well as criminals who would work to steal our identities.”

-30-

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!)

2nd Legislative District Democrats, celebrating their new Coordinated Campaign Political Office for Election 2008, will hold a Victory Party on Friday night, June 27th, 5:00pm to 8:00pm, 21707 Meridian East, to celebrate the fact of Barack Obama winning the Democratic Party Presidential Nomination. Also, the event is a motivation for local voters and active Democrats to see the new office and start planning how they will be involved helping local candidates in BOTH contested primary races for State Representative. We want local people to meet - Tyler Coughlin, our full-time paid political worker, working exclusively in the 2nd Legislative District.

=> Read more!

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.

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.

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:

Your combined collection of campaign signs are creating an even more dangerous crosswalk situation at the entrance to downtown Tacoma at Pacific Avenue and South 7th Street (see attached taken yesterday afternoon). Your collection of signs screen pedestrians in the crosswalk from motorist who are coming into downtown from Schuster Parkway. Please remove these signs immediately in order for the placement to not be a contributing factor to a pedestrian injury or fatality at this crosswalk.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

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:

David,

Thank you for the email. I see what you mean. We’ve since pulled our signs from that intersection.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thanks again,

Pat

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.

=> Read more!

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.

This is not the rank-and-file groups. It's basically the chiefs and sheriffs.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Key Lawmakers Earn Campaign Endorsement from Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement Administrators of Washington (LAW) announced their campaign endorsements for the November 2008 elections. LAW issued endorsements to candidates who have shown extraordinary support for law enforcement in the State Executive Branch, Congress, or the State Legislature.

=> Read more!

Gov. Chris Gregoire's reelection campaign sent out an e-mail at about 11 o'clock last night with the Anti-Defamation League's letter, condemning the Building Industry Association Washington.

I'm not going to defend the BIAW. Tom McCabe and his boys can take care of themselves. But when a BIAW columnist compared Washington's Department of Ecology to Hitler's Nazi Party, he did so in the BIAW's March newsletter.

The Anti-Defamation League letter was dated June 19.

The timing is curious. It just seems that genuine outrage and indignation shouldn't take so long? What, three months?

Of course, BIAW is in the midst of financing a series of "hit piece" ads, attacking Gregoire's record on transportation. So, is this Gregoire's counterpunch?

UPDATE: I put that question to Ellen Bovarnick in an e-mail, but got an "out of office" reply. She won't be back until June 27. I also asked Gregoire's campaign.

UPDATE NO. 2: This just in from Gregoire's campaign:

“To equate the Holocaust with support of environmental issues is despicable regardless of when the BIAW said it. It is no secret that the BIAW has an anti-environmental record of opposing cleaning up Puget Sound, opposing fighting climate change and opposing simple protections for orca whales. Given their recent criticism against Gov. Gregoire, it would lead me to believe that they wanted to expose the BIAW’s pattern disturbing discourse.

This continues to raise questions about Republican Dino Rossi’s affiliation with the BIAW, an organization who Rossi voted with 99% of the time while he was in Olympia. The governor has already called on her Republican opponent to denounce his biggest supporters, the BIAW.”

Aaron Toso
Press Secretary
Gregoire 2008 Campaign

Here's the letter that Gregoire campaign press secretary Aaron Toso sent us last night:

ADL SAYS BUILDING INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER S NAZI COMPARISON
INAPPROPRIATE AND OFFENSIVE
Seattle, WA, June 19, 2008 The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today denounced as inappropriate and offensive an article in a prominent building industry association newsletter that compared environmentalists and the Washington State Department of Ecology to Hitler's Nazi Party.

=> Read more!

Just how much work does a campaign manager do when his candidate is unopposed?

Seriously! I just got this from: Phil Munsterman, President, University Puget Sound Young Democrats and Campaign Manager, Committee to Re-elect Tami Green.

Green does not have an opponent.

I wonder how much Munsterman is getting paid. What happens if Tami loses the race?

"If Tami loses this race, I think my job in politics is over forever," said Munsterman, a religion major at UPS.

Just thought you might be interested: This is available for immediate release.

28th District Democrats Open House
This Sunday, June 22nd, from 1pm to 5pm the 28th District Democrats will be holding an open house and barbecue to celebrate the opening of their new campaign office.

=> Read more!

Just in case you haven't seen those seemingly endless cable TV ads about how important the Port of Tacoma is to Pierce County's economy, Port president Dick Marzano will tell you in person.

His speaking engagement is next Tuesday. His host is the 26th Legislative District Republicans.

=> Read more!

Aaron Toso, Gov. Chris Gregoire's deputy campaign secretary, sent the following note as a heads up to the local press corp.

It won't be a one-on-one meeting with Barack Obama, he said, but Gregoire will be part of the Friday event, led by Obama.

I guess a 1-on-1 would give too much credence to the whole Gregoire-for-VP rumor on the Democratic ticket.

Obama to Host Economic Roundtable with Democratic Governors on Friday

Chicago, IL – This Friday, June 20, Senator Barack Obama will host an economic roundtable with Democratic governors in Chicago. At the meeting, Senator Obama and the governors will discuss working together to reverse the effect of eight years of the Bush economy on state budgets and looking beyond conventional Washington thinking to develop innovative solutions to the economic challenges the American people are facing every day.

Further details on the event to be released as they become available.

Friday, June 20
ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE WITH DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS
Program Begins: 9:15 AM

I wanted to do a separate blog posting on Tim Eyman's financial matters, partly so some of our readers would notice that part of campaign.

Eyman told me the $250,000 is a line of credit. He has tapped it twice in June, $50,000 each time, for a total of $100,000 that he has loaned to the I-985 campaign. Naturally, he hopes to pay himself back with donations that come in from his supporters, he said.

The July 10 report that Eyman must file with the state Public Disclosure Commission will reflect all those transactions, with "more to come," he said.

That means, he expects he will be lending more than $100,000 to the signature-gathering campaign.

Tim Eyman is in my office right now, telling me what I missed by not attending his signature-turn-in news conference over at the Secretary of State's office.

He does this when I'm a no-show. (I was covering the state revenue forecast council meeting and posting something on our blog.)

Anyway, Eyman technically has about 2,000 more signatures than he needs to validate Initiative 985, but from past history, we know that some of those will be duplicates or will belong to peole who are not registered to vote. So, he says, he's going to get 50,000 more to cover those invalid signatures.

He needs 224,880 valid signatures.

The deadline for signature turn-in is July 3 at 5 p.m.

The state revenue forecast came out this morning and it showed that tax collections for the current 2007-09 biennium will be $60 million lower than expected back in February, but that's negligible in a $33 billion two-year budget.

There's a slightly larger impact on revenues for the next state budget, 2009-11. The state's chief economist, Steve Lerch, said it will be $158 million lower that what his office thought back in February.

Bottom line: The state expects to finish the current two-year budget cycle (June 30, 2009) with $801 million in the bank.

Even Republican members of the state Economic Review and Revenue Forecast Council were fairly subdued because the changes are "nominal."

In the past, Tim Eyman has worn a gorilla outfit, a prison inmate's stripes and Buzz Lightyear's outfit.

Most of that is for the TV folks.

I don't know what he has on tap for today. He may just be coming as himself. He said he's turning in 226,000 signatures today, with more to come by July 3.

I-985 sets money aside for congestion relief.

Media folks: Today's I-985 signature turn-in marks the official kick-off to this year's 'initiative season', a critically important part of Washington state's political process. I-985 is the first campaign to reach this milestone and hopeful that you'll make time to attend today's 11 am turn-in.
Regards, Tim

=> Read more!

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is scheduled to address the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors on Friday. The event will be held from 11:30 to 1:30 at the Fircrest Golf Club.

Gov. Chris Gregoire spoke to this group on Feb. 28 and announced the state would make a contribution to the economic development program that's designed to persuade Russell Investments to stay here.

Maybe Rossi should pick up a membership to the Fircrest club while he's there since this is his second appearance there in as many months.

Here are responses from various politicians to the GAO report on the tanker deal. The main story is here.

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn:

"Today’s GAO decision confirms what Boeing and other supporters have been saying all along, that the Air Force made errors in awarding the contract to Airbus. Over the last one hundred days, Boeing has laid out the case for why the KC-767 should receive the contract to replace the aging KC-135. It has been clear all along that the process was flawed, as evidenced by the clear recommendations made by the GAO. This is a great victory for Boeing, Washington State and every American who values our nation’s economic and homeland security."

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma:

"The GAO’s decision is an unequivocal vindication of our position regarding the bidding process for the Air Force’s refueling tanker contract. The process was not fair and did not provide equal consideration for both companies’ products based on the Air Force’s solicitation. GAO recommends what amounts to a complete reopening of the bidding process which could result in the termination of the contract awarded to Northrop Grumman. In addition to ensuring that American workers get a fair shot at the contract, I hope this decision will also cause our government to reevaluate the wisdom of awarding major contracts to companies that have benefited from illegal government subsidies."

Gov. Chris Gregoire:

"I am very pleased with today’s ruling by the federal General Accounting Office to recommend the reopening of bids for the Air Force’s new refueling tanker. When the Air Force announced its decision earlier this year to select Airbus, I questioned the reasoning behind it based on the bid process, and cost and security concerns. I was confident the GAO would agree with Boeing’s appeal, and find that the Air Force made changes during the decision process that gave Boeing’s competitor an unfair advantage.

"Today’s decision is great news for Boeing and the entire country. This announcement means there is another opportunity for Boeing to rebid for the contract and retain high-skill, high-wage jobs in Washington and across the country. The decision also ensures that Boeing will continue to be the world leader in plane manufacturing with the best aviation work force in the nation."

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge:

"Even though it’s unusual to win a protest, I’m not surprised GAO sided with Boeing. This was the right decision – the facts were on Boeing’s side.

"GAO found not just one or two mistakes; they identified seven deadly sins in the procurement process without factoring in important considerations like illegal Airbus subsidies and fuel efficiency of the planes.

"The Air Force needs to give troops the best aircraft and taxpayers the best deal. And that’s the Boeing 767."

Les Blumenthal filed this from our DC bureau today:

His father doesn’t like broccoli, but President Bush apparently likes asparagus, at least the German variety.

After the president called German asparagus "fabulous" following a dinner with Chancellor Angela Merkel last week, two Washington state lawmakers decided it was time to introduce him to the homegrown variety.

Ten pounds of Evergreen State asparagus were delivered to the White House on Tuesday courtesy of Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Republican Rep. Doc Hastings. Well, not exactly the White House. An aide followed protocol and delivered the package to the vice president’s liaison office in the Senate, where staffers were described as "cautiously excited and curious."

About 40 percent of the nation’s asparagus is grown in Washington state on 10,000 acres in the Columbia Basin, Yakima Valley and Walla Walla area. The state’s 175 asparagus growers produce 53 million pounds a year, worth about $28 million.

"Mr. President, if you liked the German variety, we guarantee you will love the Washington state variety," Murray and Hastings wrote in a letter to Bush.

The asparagus was purchased from Gourmet Trading in Pasco.

"My dad grew up picking asparagus in the Tri-Cities and I know it’s the best in the world," Murray said in a statement.

Hastings added, "Anyone who enjoys asparagus is missing out if they haven’t tried the asparagus we grow in Washington state, and I am sure he will appreciate the gift.”

In a news conference a week ago with Merkel, Bush thanked her for the dinner, which included schnitzel, asparagus and fresh strawberries.

"Laura and I loved our dinner last night," Bush said. "For those in the German press who thought I didn’t like asparagus, you’re wrong. The German asparagus are fabulous."

Asparagus, especially the white variety in a hollandaise sauce, is an obsession in Germany.

In 2006, also after dinner with Merkel, Bush had high praise for the roasted boar. No word on whether domestic boar producers sent the president one of theirs after that comment.

Murray and Hastings couldn’t pass up the opportunity, however. They even directed the president to recipes on the Washington Asparagus Growers Web site.

No comment yet from the White House on whether the first family will sample the Washington state asparagus.

Second Legislative District Democrats say they endorse Calvin Goings – not Pat McCarthy – for Pierce County executive.

In a statement released late Tuesday, the group announced its endorsement and repudiated claims it had ever endorsed McCarthy. Both Goings, a county councilman, and McCarthy, the county auditor, are running for executive as Democrats in November.

The announcement contradicts a notice on McCarthy’s web site that claims the Democratic group endorsed her. According to the group, members in January unanimously recommended both Goings and McCarthy appear on the November ballot under the county’s new ranked choice voting system. However, they also unanimously picked Goings as their top choice but advised voters to list McCarthy second on their ranked choice voting ballot.

Chairman Bob Chamberlain says McCarthy has mischaracterized that action as an endorsement of her. The group says it wrote McCarthy and asked her to stop claiming the endorsement. And on Monday it withdrew its positive recommendation.

The news follows last week’s announcement that McCarthy had won the endorsement of the Master Builder’s Association. The Second District Democrats cited the MBA’s position on “planning for a sustainable future” as a contributing factor in its decision to withdraw its recommendation of McCarthy.

Below is the press release issued by the Second Legislative District Democrats.

=> Read more!

A few readers have asked if Jesse Hill, whose name will appear on the November ballot for Pierce County sheriff, is the local guy who usually runs for public office as Robert "The Traveller" Hill.

It is. His full name, according to court records, is Robert Jesse Hill.

Last week, I gave Sound Transit a bad time about issuing a news release that said the benefits from the next round of bus-and-rail expansion would exceed the costs in about 15 years.

Seemed self-serving to me. And the pronouncement came from a study performed by a consultant that Sound Transit hired, Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Turns out the cost-benefit study was required by the Puget Sound Regional Council, the transportation planning organization in Pierce, King, Snohomish and Kitsap counties.

That's what Sound Transit spokeswoman Linda Robson said. She also told me a lot of the study was done in-house and that it cost $14,035.

Gov. Chris Gregoire got the endorsement from the Law Enforcement Administrators of Washington and the Council of Police and Sheriffs today.

This brings Gregoire's list to:
WFSE/AFSCME Local 308
Washington State Patrol Lieutenants Association
Washington State Patrol Troopers Association
Washington State Association of Fire Chiefs
Washington State Council of Firefighters
LAW
WASPC

From the press release:

“I don’t think there’s been a governor in recent history with more knowledge or passion about public safety in Washington State,” said Chief Scott Smith, LAW Endorsement Committee chairman. “Governor Gregoire has a proven track record of making our communities safer places to live, and I’m proud to say that Police Chiefs and Sheriffs, through the Law Enforcement Administrators of Washington, support Chris Gregoire.”

Randi Becker is one of two Republicans in the race against longtime Democratic incumbent Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen of Eatonville in the 2nd Legislative District. The other is Kelly Mainard.

(EATONVILLE) – Last week, Randi Becker officially filed for State Senate in the Second Legislative District as a Republican running against Senator Marilyn Rasmussen.

The Becker campaign has gotten off to a very strong start. Becker reports she has raised over $11,000 and checks continue to come in daily. She has personally visited more than 4,000 homes and plans to visit 15,000 homes before November.

=> Read more!

For what it's worth, Michael Powell says he's won the endorsement of the Democratic precinct committee officers in the 2nd Legislative District over Rick Payne, another Democrat in the race.

Powell and Payne are vying for the opportunity to go up against longtime incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Campbell. (That's longtime incumbent. Not long time Republican. He used to be a Democrat. But hey Tom, at least this time I remembered to say Republican.) And I'm pretty sure Tom lives in Roy.

I suspect Powell got the endorsement because he has not yet lost to Campbell or to another Democrat. Payne lost the Democratic primary in 2006 to Glen Nutter.

Important Campaign Announcement

Michael C Powell has by unanimous acclamation received the sole endorsement of the Second Legislative District Democrats (16 June 2008). This is an important milestone in our campaign and will help us to secure the funds and other endorsements we need to move forward.

(For verification, please contact Bob Chamberlain, Chair of the 2nd Legislative District Democrats, at 253 445 5485.)

Michael C Powell
Candidate, Washington State Legislature, District 2, Position 2
Democratic National Convention Delegate
www.MichaelCPowell.net</blockquote>

Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg hired Robert Trent-Jones Jr. to design Chambers Bay Golf Course. Now the course designer is returning the favor, raising money for Ladenburg’s attorney general campaign.

Trent-Jones will appear at a private fundraiser for Ladenburg at Chambers Bay Golf Course Thursday night. Suggested contribution: $250 for a “guest,” $500 for a “VIP.”

Here’s a copy of the invitation.

That's not bad, considering how much money is going to Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi in the governor's race.

I still wonder if Democrats got John Ladenburg to run against Rob McKenna just to keep all that McKenna money from going to Rossi.

If McKenna has a bona fide threat, then he has to raise money for his own campaign, thus diluting the Republican campaign donation pool.

For Immediate Release
CONTACT:Adam Faber

Attorney General Rob McKenna’s campaign hits $1,000,000 milestone

Attorney General Rob McKenna’s campaign for re-election hit a fundraising milestone this past weekend, surpassing the $1,000,000 mark, and has already raised $100,000 so far in the month of June. When McKenna was elected in 2004 he set a record in fundraising for Attorney General by raising over 1.2 million dollars.

“These numbers indicate the breadth and depth of my support around the state. I am grateful that so many Washington voters support what I am doing and want to see me return to office. It shows that I am focused on the right things: Fighting crime and protecting families,” said McKenna.

Tim Eyman said he's made an appointment with the Secretary of State for Thursday at 11 a.m. to turn in signatures on Initiative 985.

Tim always likes to get a couple bites at the free publicity apple, so he'll have this news conference (and maybe a couple more.)

I don't mean to sound so cynical, but one time Tim got us reporters to show up on Olympia to announce that he wasn't turning in signatures. So, we told him the fable (?) of the little boy who cried "wolf!"

The final deadline for signature turn-in is July 3 at 5 p.m.

Monday, June 16, 2008

To: Our thousands of supporters throughout the state (cc'd to all media outlets -- reporters, columnists, editorial writers, and others in newspapers, radio, and TV)
From: Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, & Mike Dunmire, ph: 425-493-9127,
email: tim@permanent-offense.org, http://www.ReduceCongestion.org

RE: Thursday turn-in of 224,880+ signatures for I-985 -- MUCH MORE NEEDED

We've cleared the first big hurdle -- we need everyone to redouble their efforts in these final 18 days to reach our ultimate goal.

Here's the scoop -- today in Spokane, Mike and Jack will process all
I-985 petitions and voter signatures that came in to our PO Box last week from both our volunteers and our paid folks. Based on their cursory analysis over the weekend, they're certain we'll hit the minimum threshold of signatures -- roughly 224,880 -- and so we've made an appointment with the Secretary of State this Thursday, June 19th, 11:00 am, 520 Union Bldg, Olympia (media folks: attend this for no other reason than to watch Dave
Ammons in his new role).

=> Read more!

They just adopted the platform at the state Democratic convention without so much as a word of debate. Soonish, everyone's headed to the park for a salmon feed and more candidate speeches. I'll be there. And here. Check back.

While I was in the hall talking to John Ladenburg, the group voted on who to endorse for state treasurer: ChangMook Sohn or Jim McIntire.

McIntire won.

Now they're debating how many delegates need to be present in order to have a voting quorum. Unlike the alleged planned walk-off by McCain delegates at the Republican convention, it appears many of the Democratic delegates are just wandering the convention center.

Right now, there are lines of people at the microphones, waiting to spend one minute telling hundreds of other Democrats why they should be elected to be presidential electors.

One just turned 18. Another is the mother of a soldier killed in the war on terror. Another said he would walk from Everett to Olympia in order to get a coveted spot.

Update: I've corrected the post to reflect that the people being elected were presidential electors, not delegates. So these are the folks who will participate in the electoral college. It makes this next paragraph sort of a non-sequitur, but that's OK:

I met a woman last night who is a national delegate. She said she's gotten so much direct mail from delegates who want to advance to the national convention that she started keeping them in a three-ring binder. She'd worked on campaigns, so she guessed it would cost a couple thousand dollars to design, print and send glossy, full-color direct mail pieces to the national delegates. Yikes.

When I came to the state Republican convention two weeks ago, I posted about what it was like. In that spirit, what follows is a bit about what it's like at the state Democratic convention.

For starters, it's a bit more laid back: There aren't as many security guards and we can walk wherever we want (even on the floor!) without supervision. Music (mostly 90s rock, it seems) is often played while candidates approach the stage.

Another difference: There are a lot more bloggers covering the event -- including partisan bloggers. I'm still getting used to sitting at the press table and having my next-door neighbor clap and cheer during candidate speeches.

But other than that, things are similar. Lots of candidate speeches, lots of procedural maneuvers and lots of delegates with giant name tags.

The state Democratic convention has resumed. Now, I think they're arguing about whether to endorse candidates by a slate or individually.

There was some scuffle about whether the party should endorse candidates for nonpartisan races -- basically Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. At this point, I'm not even sure how it turned out, but I'll let you know.

I was just reading the state Democratic party platform. If you don't want to read the whole shebang, here's a few ways in which the world would change if the Washington state Democratic party platform committee had its way:

- No WASL to graduate.
- Travel to Cuba whenever you'd like!
- Washington, D.C. would have full Congressional representation
- Buh-bye electoral college: The president would be elected by popular vote.

More to come after lunch.

Two items:

1. They just announced that there are 1,300 delegates here.

2. This is a pretty interesting and funny breakdown of who donates money to political parties. (Via BoingBoing. ) Just click on it.

U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott spoke a few minutes ago.

He scanned the crowd and said he didn't see many Native Americans. "Most of us here are immigrants," he said. He said we often forget that this country was founded by misfits who'd left home to gamble on a better future. As a side note, he offered that many of them were also alcoholics...

He said electing Barack Obama is crucial, but won't be easy.

"We're going to try to make a president who is a person of color. If you don't think this is going to be difficult, you don't know this country," he said.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell just spoke to the convention about the importance of electing Democrats in 2008, including Gov. Chris Gregoire and Barack Obama. You may recall that she was a Hillary Clinton supporter.

"And, yes, I do want to put a strong Democratic woman in the White House and that's why I'm so glad that Michelle Obama will be the first lady of the United States," she said.

She said "we can't have healthcare go up 70 percent and wages only 17 percent. If you elect Barack Obama to president, he will make sure we have universal healthcare for all people in this country."

Day two of the state Democratic convention started out like a rock concert. We're in a room at the Spokane Convention Center that's Costco-like in size. I'm not sure how many people are here yet, but it's safe to say a lot.

Gov. Chris Gregoire is speaking now. She said Rossi -- 'my opponent,' I mean -- pretends like he's an Olympia outsider, but isn't.

She said while he's pretending like global warming doesn't exist, she and the Democrats have been busy helping the environment.

"When you want to talk about leadership, just look at Washington state," she said. She referenced the "toxic toys" bill as a leader in the nation.

"When I took office, my opponent had cut teachers pay, increased class sizes... Today, we are increasing teacher pay, decreasing class sizes... we are opening the doors to higher education."

More to come.

"This has already been a history changing election. Thanks to Democrats, every child in America, no matter their background, knows that he or she can be anything they dream of. Anything is possible. Anything is possible and that alone has changed America," she said.

"Truly, now is the time for change in the White House. It is time to take our country back."

She got a standing ovation when she said she knows she was right when she voted against the war in Iraq. She criticized the current administration for failing to support the veterans created by the war.

She told the convention that it's important to elect Democrats all the way up the ticket because "time and time again, what we have seen is this president take out his veto pen and say no to America's families, no to America's children and no to our men and women in uniform."

She said she has "a feeling we're going to see a lot of white papers from Dino Rossi during this campaign. He cannot white wash his record to match his rhetoric."

Gregoire is now up. I'll update in a minute with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's words. But first ... I like to keep track of who's telling what jokes how often. Gregoire just told the "Republican puppies" joke.

If you can't recall, it involves the president seeing a boy selling puppies on the roadside. The sign says "Republican puppies." So he goes to the White House and can't stop thinking about how great that is. Then he returns, only this time the sign says "Democratic puppies."

"What's the difference? I thought these puppies were Republican?"

"They opened their eyes," the boy says.

The crowd laughs. I think it's probably not recommended to sell puppies who haven't even opened their eyes but, hey, at least no one dies in this joke ...

Here's a bit of what Pelz had to say about Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi. You may recognize some of it from earlier in the day:

"I am proud to be a Democrat. But there are people in this nation who aren't proud of their party. Dino Rossi" (the crowd boos) "will not allow the word Republican to appear next to his name on the ballot. Dino Rossi is ashamed to be a Republican."

He said Rossi is "ashamed to be from the same party that brought us George W. Bush... the party that brought us the war in Iraq, huge deficits and $4 gallons of gasoline."

He's referring to Rossi designating "GOP" instead of "Republican" to appear next to his name on the ballot.

"I thought maybe we should form a nickname for our party. Maybe we'd be the Mother Theresa Party or the 'Prefers economic prosperity' party. But then I realized that we gain votes when we tell people that we're Democrats."

Update: Jill Strait, Dino Rossi's spokeswoman, responded: "Since 2004, we’ve used ‘Rossi for Governor, GOP’ in all of our TV ads, bumper stickers and signs. It simply made sense to stick with it and we have never gotten any complaints about using GOP."

So there you go.

The delegates are filing in to the opening night banquet right now. Some are wearing jeans, others are decked-out in what could pass for a prom dress in my day.

I haven't seen any of the Pierce County delegation yet, but I've talked to one of the delegates, Dean Ando, and we're planning to chat after the banquet. He and a few others just arrived this afternoon, so they missed the fun earlier today.

Dwight Pelz is kicking things off now. "This is 2008, people, this is the year we take back the White House. I am so proud to be a Democrat."

He said he's proud to be a member of a party that just spent a year deciding whether their candidate would be a woman or an African American. He's also proud that his party wants to end the war.

At the state Democratic convention, the cocktail hour has begun. The banquet, where Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray will speak, won't start for another 45 minutes or so, meaning the group is taking the opportunity to unwind.

One thing I've heard a bit about and seen a little of: There's a boatload of alternate delegates vying for a very limited number of seats to the national convention. In the spirit of the event, they've lobbied national delegates (the ones who vote) before and after the educational sessions, delivered impassioned one-minute speeches and (rumor is) distributed full-color brochures.

Go to www.opensecrets.org sometime later tonight.

The Associated Press just sent out this advisory:

The Center for Responsive Politics is posting the full financial disclosure reports for indiviual senators at www.opensecrets.org. It advises that most of the reports should be posted by Friday night, excluding those for Sens. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.; John Warner, R-Va., and Jim Webb, D-Va. Reports were unavailable for five senators, all granted extensions to file them late. They are Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.; Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.; Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

I'm now sitting in on the platform meeting at the state Democratic convention. It started at 10 a.m.

For the past 30 minutes or so, committee members discussed a clause in the platform that would encourage the Legislature to pass a law requiring physicians to fill birth control and other prescriptions -- regardless of the pharmacist's personal beliefs.

What took so long? They weren't quite sure how to word it. At times, the conversation got a bit messy. But, as many delegates (Republican and Democratic) have told me: It's all part of participatory Democracy.

Once they settled on something, the meeting was adjourned (with a few sighs of relief).

Someone in the crowd at the Top Two primary session (featuring Rep. Sam Hunt, state party chairman Dwight Pelz and DNC member David McDonald) just asked why the Legislature, controlled by Democrats, didn't "fix" the Top Two Primary, which the panel views as flawed (read below for more on that).

Hunt started to answer. "It was passed by initiative," he said, and in the first two years after an initiative is passed, it takes a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to overrule it.

Pelz leaned forward in his chair, "How long ago was it passed?"

Three years. Pelz shot back that "politicians love excuses."

Hunt then jokingly said the Legislature didn't fix it because they're "chickens#!t."

David McDonald, a lawyer and member of the Democratic National Committee, is now talking about the Top Two Primary.

He said it's a "pernicious" situation, because no minor-party candidates will want to run, so only Republicans and Democrats will make the ballot.

He said that part of the Democratic party's right is to choose which candidates they associate with. But the Top Two primary allows candidates to specify which party they "prefer" without any sign-off by the party.

This, of course, does not make the party happy because it means anyone can say they're with the party.

I'm in the afternoon seminar by state party chairman Dwight Pelz about the state's new Top Two primary. Here's a bit of what he has to say:

He compared the Top Two primary to a drug that makes you "pee less often," but has a host of bad side effects.

"It's got worse side effects than anyone wants to deal with."

He said it "virtually outlaws minor parties in Washington state ... for purposes of reaching the general election ballot ... In order to achieve this so-called goal of choice on the general election ballot, we've eliminated the goal of choice on the primary ballot."

He said he's angry that Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi wrote "Prefers GOP Party" instead of "Prefers Republican Party" when he filed to run for governor because many people don't know what "GOP" means.

"I'm not going to say I immediately called Dan Savage up at 'The Stranger' and tried to get him to create the 'Prefers Men Party.'"

He also thought up "Prefers To Party."

More to come.

The Associated Press just moved this story. If you are a political junkie, you know who Tim Russert is.

DAVID ESPO; The Associated Press
Published: June 13th, 2008 12:48 PM | Updated: June 13th, 2008 01:18 PM
WASHINGTON — Tim Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and influential as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” died today of an apparent heart attack. The network’s Washington bureau chief was 58.

In addition to his weekly program, Russert made periodic appearances on the network’s other news shows, was moderator for numerous political debates and wrote two best-selling books.

=> Read more!

This weekend, I'm at the state Democratic convention in Spokane. Right now, everyone's out and about in sunny Spokane, eating lunch. They'll come back in about 30 minutes for afternoon sessions.

Most of today, delegates will meander to different educational sessions. For a tentative schedule, click here.

I'm planning on checking out the Top Two Primary session, then maybe try to sneak in for the Coordinated Campaign one before the big event tonight, where Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray will speak, among others.

Stay tuned.

OK, maybe a state Treasurer candidate doesn't ring door bells (that's better left to city and county candidates). And the whole baby-kissing thing probably is best reserved for presidential politics.

But state Rep. Jim McIntire, the Seattle Democrat running for state Treasurer, really is putting up the dough to sponsor this week's Frost Park Chalk Off.

The Chalk Off, in case you didn't know, is a weekly happening at downtown Tacoma's Frost Memorial Park, the little park at the corner of South Ninth and Pacific Avenue.

Artists use chalk to create temporary sidewalk art. Prizes are awarded. Photos and video end up on the Internet -- and in The News Tribune.

So what exactly is McIntire paying to sponsor the event?

First prize is a $75 El Gaucho gift certificate. Second prize is an interview in The Tacoma Sun, an award that would not appear to cost the candidate anything.

Maybe the better question is, why is a state Treasurer candidate paying for an El Gaucho gift certificate for the winner of a chalk art competition?

=> Read more!

Technically, the deadline is on the Fourth of July (a holiday), so the Secretary of State's office set the deadline for the day before.

Tim Eyman and his Initiative 985 (transportation) and Booth Gardner and his Initiative 1000 (assisted suicide) are the big names likely to make it.

If this news release seems to be promoting passage of the next multibillion-dollar ballot measure by Sound Transit, it isn't.

But that's only because it's not on the ballot -- yet.

I feel kinda bad for Bruce Gray and Linda Robson. They are the Sound Transit flacks who had to read the entire Parsons Brinckerhoff study (I'll bet it was pretty heavy sledding) so they could write this news release.

Here. Read it. Bruce and Linda deserve that much.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — June 12, 2008

Mass transit benefits would exceed costs after 15 years, analysis finds

Within about 15 years of completion, new mass transit expansion options currently undergoing public review would pay off with quantifiable public benefits that exceed the costs of building them. After 15 years, those public benefits — mainly from time and energy savings — would continue to accumulate for decades more, exceeding costs by a ratio of two to one.

=> Read more!

Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy’s bid to become the next county executive got a boost today when the Master Builders Association endorsed her over three rival candidates.

MBA President Duke York cited McCarthy’s “experience, accomplishments and administrative abilities.”

“Pierce County needs an executive who will ensure efficient, responsive and responsible performance from regulatory departments while continuing to improve Pierce County’s economic outlook,” York said in a statement.

McCarthy could not be reached for comment.

The association represents more than 1,050 local builders employing more than 10,000 people. It has played a high-profile role on county issues ranging from growth management to building permit backlogs.

The endorsement could help McCarthy, who’s serving her second term as auditor, raise money for a competitive campaign.

State records show she has raised about $51,000 through May. That’s far behind fellow executive candidates Shawn Bunney ($224,000) and Calvin Goings ($201,000), though ahead of Mike Lonergan ($29,000).

Despite the Master Builders’ endorsement of McCarthy, campaign records show Bunney, a Republican county councilman from Lake Tapps, is a favorite of many in the building industry. His contributors include employees of such companies as developer Investco, LeRoy Surveyors & Engineers and Miles Sand & Gravel.

“I feel very comfortable from the support I’ve gotten from the building community and look forward to working with then in the future,” Bunney said Thursday.

Goings, a Democratic county councilman from Puyallup, also has received the support of some builders because of his pledge to fire managers and reorganize departments to address building permit backlogs and other problems. He received the endorsement of the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors, another key business group.

“I’ve been an outspoken advocate for preserving the quality of life in Pierce County and combatting sprawl,” Goings said. He added that the MBA wants to preserve the status quo, while he would take the county in a new direction.

Goings, like the rest of the candidates, interviewed with MBA leaders during the organization’s endorsement process.

Lonergan, a Tacoma city councilman, said he’s heard from many supporters in the building and real estate industries. But he said his lack of fundraising has hurt him when it comes to endorsements.

“I think there’s an element of this that’s like a horse race,” Lonergan said. “People are looking at the odds and trying to look at who looks like a winner.”

Lonergan said he plans to begin campaigning in earnest in July.

Here's the press release:

=> Read more!

Tacoma Public Utilities officials yesterday dedicated a $19 million addition to their administration building off South 35th Street.

The 110,000-square-foot building houses 325 employees, including Click Network and Transmission and Distribution workers. Construction took about two years.

The building, designed by BCRA, was touted as a model of energy efficiency. In addition to lots of day light, it includes an "energy management system" capable of showing energy use by floor, and Centria insulated metal siding.

It's connected to the original 1953 building by a skybridge.

Following the dedication ceremony, utility board members were treated to an amazing time-lapse video showing the demolition of the old shops building and construction of the new administration building.

=> Read more!

Jack Hill, who until recently was director of the Pierce County Office of Assigned Counsel, withdrew his name from what was going to be a challenge to newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Debra L. Stephens.

That means Stephens gets a free ride. She had been appointed earlier this year to replace Justice Bobbe Bridge.

There were a couple other withdrawal today and may be more by the end of the day. Today is the deadline for candidates to withdraw

Dear Election Partners:

Since I know that you are currently setting up your ballots, the following candidates have withdrawn:
Supreme Court Position 7: Jack Hill
Legislative District No. 32: L. Kyle Nelson
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Position 3: Kevin L. Johnson

We will, of course, notify you of any other withdrawals we receive today.

As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Sincerely,
Sheryl Moss
Office of the Secretary of State

Ranked-choice voting advocate Kelly Haughton has an interesting analysis of the Pierce County executive’s race on his blog.

Haughton focuses on Tacoma City Councilman Mike Lonergan, who sought and lost the Republican nomination for county executive and is now running as the "Executive Excellence" candidate. Haughton says Lonergan won’t be a spoiler – a la Ralph Nader – who takes away votes from Republican candidate Shawn Bunney. That’s assuming no one wins a majority of votes on the first ballot and voters who pick Lonergan as their first choice pick Bunney as their second.

Elsewhere on the blog, Haughton contends the executive’s race – which also includes Democrats Calvin Goings and Pat McCarthy – will be “the largest partisan RCV race in modern US history.”

Confused? Here’s a primer on ranked-choice voting from the auditor’s office.

Les Blumenthal in our DC bureau filed this item:

Where in the world is Brian Baird? Try the Galapagos Islands. And you’re paying for it.

Baird and six other lawmakers are headed this weekend for the islands that helped shape Darwin’s theory of evolution.

"Name a place in the history of science that is more important?” Baird, who chairs the House Science and Technology Committee’s research and science education subcommittee, said in a phone call.

Baird said the islands have a unique geology, unspoiled environment and could be affected by climate change.

Ever sensitive to criticism of congressional junkets, Baird said "there are no five star hotels there. It’s not Paris."

Baird suggested that perhaps he should tell people the trip was sponsored by Seattle’s Discovery Institute, which promotes the theory of creationism as a counter to the theory of evolution.

Word of the trip was first reported today by Al Kamen in The Washington Post’s In The Loop column.

Last year, Baird and other members of the committee went to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Antarctica.

"I have a passionate interest in oceans," the congressman said.

Summer is coming -- at least on the calendar -- and that means it is time for Tacoma Water to launch its annual water conservation ad campaign.

Look for the message "1 can = 1 inch = enough for 1 week"* to show up soon in the newspaper, on the side of buses, and on Web sites.

Just don't look for it on a Tacoma billboard.

Water Superintendent John Kirner informed Tacoma Public Utilities Director William Gaines in a memo last month that the utility won't be using that particular medium this year. From the memo:

Community and Media Services is purchasing media space for this campaign. Similar to that of the 2007 campaign, ads will be placed on buses, newspapers and the internet. However, due to the City's ongoing litigation with Clear Channel (which is the sole billboard company in the area), billboards will not be used in this year's ad campaign.

=> Read more!

Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy is appealing to women to help make her just the second female county executive in Washington history.

Last night McCarthy held a “Pass the Purse for Pat” fundraiser at the Women’s University Club in Seattle.

According to McCarthy’s county executive campaign, only one woman has served as executive of a Washington county: Shirley Van Zanten, who led Whatcom County from 1984-96.

“I am proud of being a part of so may committed women who provide the legacy of possibilities that young women like my three daughters and granddaughter have today and I pledge to continue mentoring women in the workplace, something I take great pride in doing every day,” McCarthy said last week in announcing Tuesday’s fundraiser.

For more on the fundraiser, read the press release below.

=> Read more!

Two Pierce County Council members – Roger Bush and Calvin Goings – were honored recently for their work on environmental and other issues.

Bush, R-Graham, has received the Nisqually River Council’s Sustainability Award for Governance. The organization cited Bush’s efforts in the state Legislature to acquire land for the Nisqually-Mashel State Park and his support on the council of the proposed Ashford Performing Arts Center and Mountaineering Museum.

Goings, D-Puyallup, has received the Cascade Land Conservancy’s Cascade Leadership Award. Goings sponsored last year’s ordinance creating a transfer and purchase of development rights program that conserves farmland and other open space.

Anne Martens, former spokeswoman for Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget office who also was working on her re-election campaign, sent reporters an e-mail yesterday to introduce herself as chief spokesperson for the I-1000 campaign.

She also asked us not to describe I-1000 as "assisted suicide." Her request has prompted an internal debate here at The News Tribune. But we want to know what you think, and why?

I-1000 is being pushed by former Gov. Booth Gardner. Here's how it would work: If I were dying and two doctors said I was within 6 months of death, and that I wasn't just depressed, I could get a doctor to write a prescription for a lethal dose of drugs and use them to kill myself.

Update from Hunter (Joe's editor): The Associated Press kicked this around and decided to stick with "assisted suicide." We discussed it here and will follow the AP style, though we expect we'll make references to the "Death with Dignity" campaign (since that is its name) and the fact the pro-1000 campaign calls it "aid in dying."

What do you think? Here's Anne's e-mail:

Hi -

Just a quick email to introduce myself as the new communications director for Yes on 1000 – the Death with Dignity initiative. Please add me to your list, and call or email me anytime for information on I-1000.

While we would (of course) prefer that you describe I-1000 as “death with dignity,” we ask that you avoid the emotionally loaded and inaccurate term “assisted suicide,” and instead describe I-1000 in the neutral term approved by Thurston County Superior Court - “aid in dying.” On background, I’ve attached a quick fact sheet on why.
Thanks,
Anne

Anne Martens
Communications Director
Yes on 1000 – the Death with Dignity Initiative
office: 206-633-2008
www.yeson1000.org

AND HERE IS THE ATTACHMENT

=> Read more!

Things are busy at our State Street election center (I really wanted to call it the Situation Room but Wolf Blitzer beat me to it) as we gear up for the next phase of election coverage. In the newsroom, I've been meeting with my team of reporters to go over the results of last week's candidate filings so we can figure out what races to write about.

A few years ago we started hosting an open house for candidates. The idea is to give them a convenient opportunity to get questions answered from any or all of the three departments they might come into contact with. They usually want to know: when will the Editorial Page publish its endorsements, how much does an ad cost, and will the endorsement and ad buy (or lack thereof) affect news coverage?

I don't know the answer to the first two questions, but I know the third one (news coverage is not affected by endorsements or ads).

Anyway, we're inviting candidates for public office - or their representatives - to come to our candidate open house next week. David Seago will talk about the newspaper's endorsement process, folks from Advertising will make a presentation about ad buys, and I will outline our news coverage goals.

The open house will be held June 17 from 6-7:30 p.m. in The News Tribune’s Baker Room, located at 1950 S State St., Tacoma.

Now some candidates freak out and worry - I guess - that they'll offend us by not showing up. Attendance is optional. I promise that I'm not taking roll. We're just there to answer questions.

Today's the deadline for campaigns to file their May fundraising numbers to the Public Disclosure Commission. Here's your fundraising update for the governor's race. (Get ready for lots of numbers.)

Rossi raised $701,112 in May, according to his campaign. That's up from $625k the previous month and leaves him with $3,439,472 cash-on-hand, up from $3.1 million last month.

Gregoire out-fundraised Rossi, bringing in $785,049. That boosts her cash-on-hand to $4,220,210, up about $400,000 from last month.

Update: I corrected Rossi's May number above from an earlier post.

Tacoma City Council junkies are going without today -- the noon study session was canceled, as is tonight's meeting (which was to include a public hearing on a proposed update of the city's critical areas preservation ordinance.)

It was shaping up to be a light meeting. Four of the nine members were expected to be absent, leaving the bare minimum required for a quorum.

And then Councilman Rick Talbert broke his leg this weekend.

City officials called off the meeting yesterday due to a lack of quorum.

I spoke to Talbert this morning, shortly after he came home from the hospital. He sounded good for someone who just broke his femur in three places.

=> Read more!

County Executive John Ladenburg wants Pierce County voters to consider raising property taxes to preserve undeveloped land.

In a press release issued a few minutes ago, Ladenburg said he’s submitted an ordinance to the County Council asking them to forward the measure to the Nov. 4 ballot. Ladenburg’s plan would ask voters to scrap a “lid’ on property taxes for nine years. The money would be used to buy development rights on recreational land, farm and agricultural land, timberland and other open space.

He says it would cost the owner of a $300,000 home a little more than $2 a month.

Details are sketchy. You can download the ordinance here.

Here’s the complete text of the press release.

=> Read more!

...Sen. Patty Murray, who sponsored or co-sponsored $376 million in earmarks for the state. Rep. Norm Dicks tops the state's House delegation with $106 million.

We took part in a national media effort this weekend to shine the light on earmarks. The effort was coordinated by The Associated Press, which teamed up with the Sunlight Foundation to train reporters around the country (including a few at the TNT) on how to find the funding grants.

We published the results Sunday in a story by Niki Sullivan. She worked with our online producers to put the 351 Evergreen State earmarks for this year into a searchable database. Check it out here.

Here's a list from the print story that didn't make it online yesterday. As Les Blumenthal of our DC bureau reported, Murray and Dicks top the list because each leads an appropriations subcommittee.

WHERE OUR LAWMAKERS RANK
Here’s how our state’s members of Congress rank among their peers on earmarks. The dollar amount is the total number of earmarks they’ve signed onto, either by themselves or with other members, in fiscal year 2008.

Senate
8. Patty Murray, D, $376,358,467

52. Maria Cantwell, D, $160,061,450

House
10. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, $105,952,550

54. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens, $56,545,200

81. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, $44,070,300

119. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, $32,685,800

132. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, $30,298,000

134. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, $29,797,300

159. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, $27,201,450

195. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, $23,520,300

233. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Deer Lake, $19,845,300

Source: Taxpayers for Common Sense

In its first year, Chambers Bay Golf Course has conquered the media and won the U.S. Open. But it hasn’t been able to subdue Mother Nature.

Chilly weather this winter and spring has meant fewer golfers than expected have been playing the course (you can download the latest course financial report here). And that’s translated into a budget deficit through the first four months of 2008.

Through April, the course has seen 716 fewer rounds of golf played than budgeted. The result: a $171,998 difference between projected and actual income in “course and grounds” revenue.

The good news: The deficit in golf revenue has been more than covered by unexpectedly strong food and beverage sales.

But because of some higher-than-expected expenses, Chambers Bay is $52,158 in the hole through April compared to budget.

Losing money early in the year is par for most Pacific Northwest golf courses, said Tony Tipton, Pierce County’s project manager for Chambers Bay. What they lose in wet months they more than make up for during peak weather months.

Problem is, we’re already into the peak months, and the weather isn’t cooperating.

Though May’s financial report isn’t done, the number of golf rounds played was below budget for the month. And June looks wetter and cooler than average.

For now, Tipton said the course is covering the deficit with surplus funds it generated in 2007. And it covered its June debt payment with course revenues.

Tipton isn’t too concerned about the shortfall. He said the course is within “striking distance’ of where it needs to be financially.

“We’re going to come pretty darn close to being on budget,” he said.

Like the headline says, we've compiled the list of candidates for federal, state and local offices in one place.

We'll do more analysis in the coming days and weeks, but it seems like there are a lot more contested races than usual. Even the Steves - Kirby and Conway - got challengers. And check out the six people running for assessor-treasurer.

The full list is posted below. It's also linked here, if you want a cleaner way to print it.

=> Read more!

We get a lot of these announcements, so I sometimes miss them, but here are a few upcoming meetings by local political clubs, in order of appearance:

June 16: Jim McIntire, a candidate for state treasurer, will speak to the Pierce County Democratic Luncheon Club. The club meets at noon at the Allenmore Golf Course Restaurant in Tacoma.

June 17: Caleb Heimlich, a candidate for the state House's 25th District, will speak to the 25th District Republican club meeting, to be held at 7 p.m. at the City of Puyallup library. For more information, call Bob Neilson at 253-845-0038.

June 26: The South Sound Ronald Reagan Republican Club hosts the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction candidates forum. The event begins at 6 p.m. at Great American Casino. Tickets are $17. More information is available on the club's Web site.

This is your chance to tell Sound Transit planners what you think of their alternative proposals for another tax package. Proposition One, an $18 billion roads and transit package, was soundly defeated last November.

This would be a bus-and-rail only version.

They want to know whether you think they should put something on the ballot this November or wait until 2010.

The Tacoma open house will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave., with a presentation at 6:30 p.m.

The final open house will be in Everett on Wednesday night.

Here's the news release Sound Transit sent out in mid-May:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 15, 2008

Time to decide: Sound Transit kicks off public involvement on mass transit expansion options

=> Read more!

Terry Lee had a last-minute change of heart and filed to run for Pierce County assessor-treasurer this morning.

The County Council chairman previously had announced and then called off a run for assessor. But he’s continued to think about it this year.

“As I see my public service life slipping away from me, I’m just not willing to give it up,” Lee said.

Lee said he kept watching to see if incumbent Assessor-Treasurer Ken Madsen would seek a third term. When Madsen hadn’t filed by Thursday, Lee said he decided to file.

It’s a busy race. Other candidates include former assessor-treasurer employee Beverly Davidson, County Councilwoman and former assessor-treasurer Barbara Gelman and former state Rep. Jan Shabro.

Update: It's a busy race that got a lot busier this afternoon. There are a total of six people running for assessor-treasurer, and nearly all have some amount of name familiarity in Pierce County. The latest additions are Bernardo Tuma and Dale Washam, both of whom have run for office before.

Now there's a blast from the past.

I've seen Larry Faulk down here at the state capital, lobbying for one or two clients, but I don't think I've written about him since he faced off against Booth Gardner in the early 1980s in the very first race for Pierce County executive. Booth won, by the way, and went on to become governor.

I thought Larry had moved away from Tacoma's North End and the 27th Legislative District, but apparently he's back.

I guess this means Debbie Regala can raise money because she has a "real" opponent, and then turn over her surplus to the Senate Democratic Caucus.

They'd probably use the extra money to help defend Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, or Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, or some other targeted Senate Democrat.

This was first time we've had legislative candidates file in the first week of June. It used to be the last week of July.

And our primary election will be Aug. 19, right in the middle of summer.
That's another first for legislative candidates. Moving up the primary election was mainly to give election officials enough time between elections to send ballots to military and other overseas voters.

But some lawmakers hated the idea of having the election in the summer instead of mid to late September. We'll see what kind of turnout we get.

You can click on the links below at the end of the day and get the lay of the land on this campaign season.

King County

Pierce County

Washington State

Need more evidence that residential real estate is slumping? Check your mailbox after June 13.

That’s when the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s Office will mail this year’s residential property assessment notices. According to the assessor’s office, 85 percent of those notices will show a decrease in value.

It won’t necessarily be much. The average value of residential property fell 1.3 percent in 2007, according to the assessor. Still, it’s the first time in recent memory average values have fallen.

You can read more in Sunday’s News Tribune. But here’s a sneak peek:

• DuPont saw the biggest decrease in average residential property value last year. Steilacoom was No. 2.

• Only three cities saw a rise in average value: Edgewood, Buckley and Gig Harbor.

• Even vacant residential land – which in recent years has been hot, hot, hot – barely rose in value last year.

So how will this affect next year’s property tax bills? That’s anyone’s guess. The new property values are just one factor in the 2008 tax bills, which will be mailed in February.

Tacoma City Councilwoman Marilyn Strickland ran for city government on an education platform, telling voters that city leaders have left the job of educating kids solely to the School District for too long.

The message worked. Strickland won election last fall over David Curry, who argued that education was not a primary function of city government in Tacoma's charter.

Now the City Council is preparing to raise the profile of education at City Hall -- not by amending the City Charter, but by changing the name of the council's Public Safety and Human Services Committee.

The proposed new name: Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee.

A resolution changing the name is scheduled to go before the council June 17.

Her name is Valerie Chan, a Republican and a public relations executive on Mercer Island.

The race between Chan and Rep. Fred Jarrett is likely to tell us just how much King County's Eastside has turned into Democrat country. Long a bastion for Republicans, the 41st District now boasts Rep. Judy Clibborn, a Democrat, and Sen. Brian Weinstein, another Democrat.

Jarrett was the lone Republican, but apparently he saw the writing on the wall and switched parties late last year so he could run for the Senate. (Weinstein isn't running again.)

Here's Chan's announcement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valerie Chan Announces Her Candidacy for Senator in the 41st Legislative District

Brings fundamental business principles to the legislature and already endorsed by numerous state and community leaders;
Demands a fundamental change in the way the legislature runs its business.
Mercer Island, WA –June 6, 2008—Entrepreneur Valerie Chan of Mercer Island announced her campaign for Senator in the 41st Legislative District today.

“It is time for change," Chan, 34, said. “People are tired of the same old people doing the same old things.”

=> Read more!

Hill	Stephens

Adam Lynn reports on our Lights & Sirens blog that Pierce County's former chief public defender filed Thursday to run for a position on the state Supreme Court. Jack Hill led the county's Department of Assigned Counsel for more than 20 years before retiring in 2006.

Now he's seeking the seat held by Justice Debra Stephens. Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed Stephens to the post in January to replace the retiring Bobbe Bridge.

Here's a link to the rest of Adam's post, which includes a profile of Hill that former TNT reporter Karen Hucks wrote in 2006.

Someone asked me yesterday: If this might have been wrong, what about this?

(For those of you who don't care to click through: The first this refers to the nonprofit Christian Businessmen's Connection luncheon where Dino Rossi spoke and fundraising occurred. The second this refers to a nonprofit Sound Alliance event where Gov. Chris Gregoire spoke.)

IRS code says that, if a nonprofit is going to have an elected official running for reelection speak at an event (without inviting the opposition), the organization must ensure that:

-the individual speaks only in a non-candidate capacity,
-neither the individual nor any representative of the group makes any mention of his or her candidacy or the election, and
-no campaign activity occurs in connection with the candidate's attendance.

In addition, the (group) should clearly indicate the capacity in which the candidate is appearing and should not mention the individual's political candidacy or the upcoming election in the communications announcing the candidate's attendance at the event.

I called the campaign to ask them what went down. Update: I also got a message from an organizer with Sound Alliance.

=> Read more!

I got my first e-mail from a McCain delegate about the alleged orchestrated walk-out at the state Republican convention last weekend. I've posted a few comments (and videos) from Paul supporters (scroll down), so I'm glad I've now got at least one commentary from the other side.

Here goes:

Well, there are a lot of ways of looking at the "walk out."

It happend in that there eventually wasn't a quorum, and the convention had to adjourn. But was it an orchestrated "walk-out" or were people just tired? I'm not sure I can say for sure. On one hand, it was orchestrated in that some folks were urging others to leave. On the other hand, it was not orchestrated because plenty of people were leaving on their own because it was late and the Paul people were dragging out the convention.

I'm going to say it was not orchestrated. Because if it was orchestrated, it was orchestrated very poorly.

=> Read more!

I'm not sure why Tim Eyman keeps forwarding e-mail exchanges he has with his bankers. I guess he just wants a bit more free publicity for Initiative 985.

Imagine how much Tim would have to borrow if he actually bought TV and newspaper ads for his campaign instead of relying solely on what they call "earned media." (That's when he gets us reporters to write a story about his ballot measure.)

Please prepare a $50,000 cashiers check tomorrow morning -- I'll pick it up around 11 am Friday.

Make it payable to: Reduce Traffic Congestion

I'll be needing subsequent disbursements throughout the month of June and early July -- I'll try to give you at least a one-day notice for each one.

OK?

Regards, Tim Eyman, ph: 425-493-9127, email: tim_eyman@comcast.net

=> Read more!

Looks like Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor has some competition in November after all. Puyallup resident Rajendra Kollu filed this week to run for the office. He’s got quite a resume. Here’s the first paragraph of a four-page news release he sent us:

R.P. Kollu, with three master and two bachelor degrees, and two post graduate diplomas, with Washington state licenses as a teacher, mental health counselor (inactive nursing home administrator license, inactive real estate agent license, inactive loan originator license, inactive registered nurse assistant, inactive registered counselor), a notary public, qualified for the CPA examination, a business owner for six years in Tacoma area, 25 years Washington stat employee, 30 years lived in Puyallup, volunteered as a senior counselor for a non-profit for six years, Will donate almost $50,000 a year from the earned salary as the Pierce County sheriff for the benefit of homeless, mentally ill and staff training; will do counseling on his own time on volunteer basis, will work with open mind with open door policy. Seriously focused on public safety, health and welfare of all people. Truly nonpartisan.

With the nominees settled, the DC veepstakes game is going strong. By the time the candidates pick their vice presidential running mates, nearly everyone in their respective parties will have been mentioned. With that in mind, here's a report from Les Blumenthal in our DC bureau:

A liberal blog, quoting a "trusted inside source," is reporting today that Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has held talks with Sen. Patty Murray about being the Democrat’s vice presidential choice.

Just got off the phone with Murray spokeswoman Alex Glass, who denied the report.

"Sen. Murray is focused on doing her job for the people of Washington state," Glass said.

Chris Bowers, writing at Openleft.com, has boosted Murray as a vice presidential nominee previously. Murray has been a staunch supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But Bowers writes, "personally I think Patty Murray would be an excellent vice-presidential pick by Obama, and I am glad she is under consideration. While she isn’t the sort of name that the elite fawning ( N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg) testosterone overshipping (Sen. Jim Webb) or conservative obsessed (Sen. Chuck Hagel, former Sen. San Nunn) punditry will suggest, she has many strengths and few weaknesses as a VP selection."

Though Bowers said Murray was once dismissed as a "mom in tennis shoes," Bowers said she would appeal to many of the same demographics Clinton has. She shares Obama’s background as a citizen activist and community organizer, but brings a different policy focus, education and environment, Bowers said.

Murray needs to be on the short list of vice presidential candidates, Bowers said, along with Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ret. General Wesley Clark, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Incumbent state schools superintendent Terry Bergeson made the rounds among the Olympia press corps this morning, after filing for a fourth 4-year term.

Randy Dorn, director of the 26,000-member Public School Employees union, is running, too. Two other guys who don't plan to raise much money also are in the race. Don Hensler, a retired teacher who lives in Spanaway, is one of them. I guess if you're willing to plunk down $1,200 filing fee, you deserve to have your name mentioned.

Hensler actually has written up position papers, which he said he would drop off at my Tacoma office.

Here are the links you can use to get the latest candidate filings:

King County

Pierce County

Washington State

From Les Blumenthal in our DC bureau:

I just got off the phone with Rep. Norm Dicks, a superdelegate who had endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton, and he’s switching his endorsement to Barack Obama.

"It’s time to move on," said Dicks.

Dicks and about 20 other House Democrats told Clinton in a conference call Wednesday it was time for her to end her campaign and support Obama. Besides Dicks, others on the call were New York Rep. Charlie Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Within hours of the call, Clinton indicated to supporters she would take such a step on Saturday.

"We need to unify the party," Dicks said. "Whatever differences we have among ourselves, they pale in comparison to those we have with John McCain."

Dicks said McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, would be divisive and hard to work with if he's elected president. Dicks also blames McCain for Boeing losing a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract.

Dicks said Clinton has to "bring her people along" and convince them to support Obama in the November election.

As for Obama, Dicks said he has never worked with the Illinois senator, but wants to on defense and environmental issues. "Obama and I won’t have any problems," he said.

Update: The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that King County Executive Ron Sims and former Gov. Gary Locke, who were co-chairmen of Clinton's Washington state campaign, shifted allegiance to Obama. Sims is a superdelegate.

Ruston’s newest mayor is no stranger to the town’s political scene.

Two days after Michael Transue resigned, the town council appointed Bob Everding, a retired college dean who served on the council until January.

The five-member council needed less than 20 minutes of a special session Wednesday to appoint Everding, who was elected to the council in 2005 and resigned with two years left on his term.

“I worked with him for two years, and he did an awesome job as a councilmember,” said Councilman Wayne Stebner. “And there’s no question he’ll do an awesome job as a mayor.”

Everding declined to talk with a reporter from The News Tribune, saying he wanted time for everything to sink in before commenting publicly.

=> Read more!

So says a veteran political consultant, who ran across these pictures of Josh Hulburt, a Republican who filed today to run against incumbent state Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw.

The pictures just scream, "I wanna represent you in the Legislature!", don't they?

Posting pictures that seem kinda funny when you're 23 years old doesn't seem like such a good idea when you decide three years later to run for Legislature.

Here's his MySpace link.

Josh tells me he owns a couple companies, one that manufactures countertops.

If you're interested in other candidate filings today, have a look:

King County

Pierce County

Washington State

Today, I've heard from quite a few Ron Paul supporters who went to the state Republican convention and aren't too happy about what transpired near the end. As I posted about earlier, Paul supporters are alleging that McCain's delegates pulled some dirty tricks to try to end the convention.

From one reader:

I was a Washington State GOP delegate in attendance.  I have provided you a link to some of the Youtube videos that we took, one of the McCain Mutiny, where the McCain delegates walked out so that our platform items would not be discussed openly.  For you information, the Ron Paul delegates supported the McCain At Large delegates be approved "in it's entirety" so that we could move on to platform debate and discussion.  A Ron Paul delegate actually proposed the motion on the floor.  After that happened, the McCain delegates started walking off the Convention floor.
 
In addition, the National GOP had McCain Consultants from outside the state in attendance to manage the entire process.

I haven't heard from any McCain supporters, but I'm hoping to. Is this true? What's the other side of the story? Are you a Paul supporter? Can you add to this story?

Click for some videos, sent to me by the above reader:

=> Read more!

State Rep. Dennis Flannigan, D-Tacoma, kicks off his campaign tonight with a meal. Money goes to China province. Read on.

Friends O' Flannigan
P. O. Box 1742
Tacoma, WA 98401-1742
253.691-0099 (cell)
June 3, 2008,
Flannigan Kicks-Off Campaign Tomorrow
All Donations for Chinese Earthquake Relief

Wednesday, June 4, 2008, 5:30 p.m. - until it's over.

=> Read more!

From the AP:

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Two of Washington state’s last few undeclared Democratic superdelegates are lining up behind presumptive nominee Barack Obama.
Ed Cote of Vancouver and Sharon Mast of Bellevue are members of the Democratic National Committee. In prepared statements, both superdelegates say the end of the final primaries in South Dakota and Montana means it’s time for Democrats to unite behind Obama.
Obama secured the support of enough delegates to win the nomination on Tuesday. His chief rival, Hillary Clinton, hasn’t officially conceded defeat yet.
Former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley is the only Washington superdelegate who hasn’t publicly declared how he’s voting.

Tacoma leaders went to Portland to look at streetcars and parking meters (er, pay stations). Now Seattle is looking south for ideas on how to build more attractive townhouses.

The P-I ran this article about Seattle's attempt to deal with its mushrooming stock of "monotonous, uninspired, cookie-cutter" townhouses.

Tacoma City Council members have recently voiced complaints about townhouses, as well.

According to one Seattle councilwoman, ugly townhouses are prompting the most angry e-mails to city leaders lately.

It's a trend unlikely to change, given population growth, demand for homes and scarce in-city land. So many are asking: Are there ways to make denser developments less ugly?

For inspiration, they're looking south to Portland, which recently sponsored a design competition to encourage better family-friendly housing on city lots. They settled on a model popular in the 1920s -- "courtyard housing" that clusters apartments or homes around a common outdoor space with landscaping, trees and places for children to play.

I haven't heard Tacoma leaders use the words "ugly" or "cookie-cutter" to describe the townhouses near the Tacoma Mall. The concern seems more focused on the lack of open space and overall planning.

My article on Tacoma's townhouse debate prompted a reply from Mark Lawson, a developer who is responsible for some of the new townhouses near the mall.

=> Read more!

In fairness to Terry Bergeson, I'm posting the original news release about WASL scores -- the one that her election opponent, Randy Dorn, was reacting to yesterday.

As is often the case, this news release was posted on the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Web site and not e-mailed to us.

"This is a moment we’ve been waiting to celebrate for more than a decade," Bergeson said. "Washington’s educators have spent so much time making sure every student is well prepared for college, careers and citizenship, and these results show that hard work has paid off."

Here's the rest:

More than 90 percent of seniors meet key graduation requirement
Success rates for all ethnic groups exceed 80 percent

OLYMPIA - June 3, 2008 - Of this year’s high schools seniors, 91.4 percent have met a new, more rigorous state graduation requirement by demonstrating they have solid reading and writing skills.

Washington State Superintendent Terry Bergeson announced this good news about the Class of 2008 today in a press conference highlighting a major milestone in the state’s efforts to make a high school diploma more meaningful.

=> Read more!

Tacoma is looking to sign an agreement with the Martin Luther King Housing Development Association to continue operating the homeless shelter on Tacoma Avenue through the end of the year, John Briehl, Tacoma's Human Rights and Human Services director said Tuesday.

Talks aimed at finding a new shelter operator are going well, City Manager Eric Anderson said, but they likely won't have a new group ready by June 30, the date that MLKHDA said it wanted to be out of the shelter business.

The potential agreement would include an option to shorten the duration if a new operator is ready to take over before Jan. 1, 2009.

The agreement will likely include paying MLKHDA $140,000 to operate the shelter for the six months between July 1 and the end of the year. That's half of what the nonprofit said it has been paying out of its own coffers to run it for a year, Briehl said.

The city has identified all but $50,000 of that amount, Briehl said.

Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg has named Diane Braaten, his executive assistant, to be the county’s public records ombudsman.

Braaten will assist people seeking public records from the county. News of her appointment comes on the same day that County Councilman Shawn Bunney was honored for advocating for the ombudsman position and for work on other open government issues.

The Washington Coalition for Open Government gave Bunney its Key Award at the County-City Building this afternoon. The coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group backed my news media and other open government supporters. The News Tribune is a sponsor of the coalition.

Bunney said the ombudsman position is needed to help people navigate a host of county agencies to get the information they need.

Braaten said it’s best for people to file their requests directly with the proper department (you can see a list of contacts here). But she’s available to help. You can reacher her at pcrecordsrequest@co.pierce.wa.us.

I don't even know what Terry Bergeson said (because she didn't send me an e-mail news release), but challenger Randy Dorn did, so I'm posting it.

Dorn responds to Bergeson's announcement on WASL outcomes

SPI “celebration” shortsighted and off the mark

Auburn)—Randy Dorn, former educator and former Chair of the Washington House Education Committee, was critical of current Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson's press statement this morning about the failure rates by high school seniors on the Washington Assessment on Student Learning (WASL). He cited her isolation from public opinion of the WASL and her failure to recognize the real life impact on students and their families.

=> Read more!

The Pierce County Council Tuesday unanimously approved contracts to host two of the nation’s premiere golf championships at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place.

The contracts will obligate the county to spend an estimated $4.2 million in coming years to prepare for and host the 2015 U.S. Open and the 2010 U.S. Amateur championships.

But with rent payments from the United States Golf Association and proceeds from the tournaments, the county expects to make a $1.9 million profit.

Under the contracts, Pierce County will receive $2.5 million for leasing Chambers Bay for the U.S. Open. The association will pay the county $135,000 when the contract is signed and another $850,000 by Feb. 1, 2009. Most of the rest will come in annual payments leading up to the U.S. Open, with $600,000 due after the tournament ends.

The association will bear most of the cost of staging the U.S. Open and will keep most of the revenue. The county will get a share of the proceeds from hospitality packages, some food and beverage service and some merchandise sales.

Pierce County will pay most of the cost of staging the U.S. Amateur tournament, but will keep nearly all of the proceeds.

She's running against Rep. Jim McCune in the 2nd District.

JeanMarie Christenson
for State Representative
Silent Auction Fund Raiser.
On Sunday, June 8th, 2008
A silent auction will be held at the Yelm Grange in Downtown Yelm, by Gordon's Nursery, 308 Yelm Ave East from 4 to 7 PM
Other activities include book sale, wish balloons, raffles, as well as keynote guest speakers, and Candidate JeanMarie Christenson. This is an excellent way to become involved in your local government and help support a much needed change!

This just in from Dino Rossi's Pierce County campaign chairman.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dino Rossi to Attend Maritime Gig Breakfast In Gig Harbor

Dino Rossi, Republican Candidate for Governor, will be attending the kick-off breakfast for the Maritime Gig this Saturday in downtown Gig Harbor. The Event begins at 8:00am with a Kiwanis Breakfast in the parking lot of the Gig Harbor Post office. Rossi will be greeting parade participants and spectators.

=> Read more!

Let me know what YOU think! I don't drive the Highway 167 corridor, but judging from the e-mails I got from several of you the first week of operations, the HOT lanes were really frustrating.

Personally, I can't get the numbers in the Washington Department of Transportation news release to add up. It says 6,500 used the lanes the first month (May), yet if one adds up the average daily transactions, you'd get more than 20,000.

I'm working on a story, so please comment or e-mail and let me know what you think of the HOT lanes.

6,500 warm up to toll lanes; SR 167 HOT lanes completes opening month

SEATTLE – While the first month of SR 167 HOT lanes operations went smoothly, the pilot project faced a few minor challenges.

More than 6,500 Good To Go! customers used the SR 167 HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes during their first month of operation. Solo drivers who chose to pay to use the HOT lanes saved an average of 10 minutes in travel time on trips between Auburn and Renton and paid an average toll of $1.50. The highest toll paid was $5.75 during the evening commute on May 21. That toll bought approximately 27 minutes in saved travel time.

“More and more drivers are using the HOT lanes each day,” said Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. “We started with a few hundred toll payers a day and now we’re up to more than 1,200 drivers each day who find value in paying for a more reliable trip. This four-year pilot project is off to a great start, and we’ll be closely monitoring and adjusting the system to achieve its best performance.”

=> Read more!

William Chovil, he of the 10-gallon hat, filed as a Republican against Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma.

Pierce County Superior Court judges Sergio Armijo and John McCarthy filed today, too.

Here are the links to get you updated.

King County

Pierce County

Washington State

When the rules for Washington's top two primary were first proposed, there was no way for the Secretary of State or county auditors to edit the party preferences of candidates.

That is, if a candidate wanted to use the 16 letters provided on the registration form to imply that they are the official candidate of a party, they could. That is, a candidate who is not endorsed by the party could put down "Official GOP" or "Nominated Demo" on the form. It might sound odd since the party name is preceded by the word "Prefers," as in, "Prefers Democratic Party," but it could still suggest to some voters that this candidate is the choice of the party.

The only remedy suggested in those proposed rules was for the parties to go to court and try to get a court order to block it.

But that set the state up for another challenge of the top two primary. When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the initiative by a 7-2 vote, several judges warned the state that it must implement the law so that it didn't lead to voter confusion. That is, if voters thought a candidate was somehow the official candidate of a party, that party could have grounds to challenge the system again.

So after hearing comments about the proposed rules, the Secretary of State altered the original draft and added a remedy for both implied endorsements and profanity.

WAC 434-215-120 Political party preference by candidate for partisan office. (1) On a declaration of candidacy, a candidate for partisan congressional, state, or county office may state his or her preference for a political party, or not state a preference. The candidate may use up to sixteen characters for the name of the political party. A candidate's party preference, or the fact that the candidate states no preference, must be printed with the candidate's name on the ballot and in any voters' pamphlets printed by the office of the secretary of state or a county auditor's office. (2) If a candidate does not indicate a party that he or she prefers, then the candidate has stated no party preference and is listed as such on the ballot and in any voters' pamphlets. (3) The filing officer may not print on the ballots, in a voters' pamphlet, or other election materials a political party name that is obscene. If the name of the political party provided by the candidate would be considered obscene, the filing officer may petition the superior court pursuant to RCW 29A.68.011 for a judicial determination that the party name be edited to remove the obscenity, or rejected and replaced with "states no party preference." (4) A candidate's preference may not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party, or that the party approves of or associates with that candidate. If the name of the political party provided by the candidate implies that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by a political party, or that a political party approves of or associates with that candidate, the filing officer may petition the superior court pursuant to RCW 29A.68.011 for a judicial determination that the party name be edited, or rejected and replaced with "states no party preference."

Ruston Mayor Michael Transue resigned at tonight's Town Council meeting, the Ruston Home blog is reporting.

Ongoing tensions between Transue and the council have boiled for months and apparently ultimately led to his resignation. Transue had a year left on his term.

"Our town government is presently functioning neither cohesively nor in a fashion that benefits the good people of our town," Transue wrote in his resignation letter. "A hostile, rancorus and sometiems ill-manned environment permeates many of our Town Council meetings and study sessions.

"I have worked hard to guide this council and our community and to provide thoughtful insight, but to little avail."

The town's government has undergone much upheaval in recent months.

Transue fired Police Chief Jim Reinhold in January after he disagreed with Reinhold's handling of a high-profile case of alleged electricity theft and the chief's run-in with a Town Council member who requested copies of public records from the case.

Two days later, Councilman Bob Everding resigned with two years left in his term. In his resignation letter, he called the town's government "presently dysfunctional."

We'll have more on our Web site Tuesday morning.

I've taken the liberty of rearranging parts of the news release sent out by the County Council today. There might be as many as a dozen charter amendments on the general election ballot.

Testimony today was led by Commission co-chairs Mike Lowry and Lois North, both of whom are former County Councilmembers. North was one of the freeholders who wrote the original charter. Voters who adopted the County Charter in 1968 provided for a citizen commission to be assembled every 10 years to review and propose charter updates to the County Council. The King County Charter is the foundation of county government and serves a role similar to that played by the U.S. Constitution.

The Council will continue its review of the proposed charter amendments with a special Town Hall meeting in Federal Way on Monday, June 16. The Town Hall, a special meeting of the Council’s Committee of the Whole, will be held at the Federal Way Community Center in the Community Room, 876 S. 333rd Street, Federal Way. The public is invited to meet face-to-face with King County Councilmembers at an informal reception starting at 6:00 p.m. The Town Hall will begin at 6:30 p.m.

For those of you who wondered what Mike Lowry was up to.

=> Read more!

Want to see Pierce County’s new ethics ordinance translated into the paperwork? Take a look at the county auditor’s new Public Disclosure Division web site.

The law requires lobbyists to register and disclose their salaries, monthly expenses and other information. The auditor’s site includes PDF versions of the forms the lobbyists must fill out. It also allows you to search an index of reports filed by elected officials and lobbyists, though you can’t download the actual forms they filed.

Auditor Pat McCarthy says her staff worked for three months to devise the forms and get the web site running by June 1, when the new ordinance took effect.

Some of you probably saw this one coming:

By RACHEL LA CORTE
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Seattle attorney and Democratic National Committee member David McDonald endorsed Barack Obama for the party’s presidential nomination on Monday, saying Obama has brought “astounding new energy and hope to the Democratic Party nationwide.”
McDonald, one of 17 superdelegates in Washington state, had been holding off making an endorsement until after this past weekend’s rules committee meeting in Washington, D.C. He was one of 30 members deciding what to do with the disputed delegates from Michigan and Florida.
McDonald said he felt it was important he remain neutral until that decision was made. The states were being penalized for holding their primaries in January when they weren’t supposed to vote until Feb. 5 or later.
The panel ultimately ruled to seat the disputed delegations, but gave each delegate only one-half vote rather than the full vote sought by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
“This was not an easy choice,” McDonald said in an e-mail statement to The Associated Press. “Both of the candidates who remain in contention are capable of winning the general election and would likely do so if selected as the nominee.”
But Obama “has shown a remarkable ability to organize and mobilize Democratic voters and focus their efforts on the key task of persuading independent voters around the country to join us in changing the White House agenda.”
McDonald represented Gov. Chris Gregoire during the recount that followed her disputed 2004 election. Gregoire, another state superdelegate, also has endorsed Obama.
Obama now has the support of eight Washington superdelegates, while Clinton has six. Three remain officially uncommitted.
Obama leads Clinton nationally, and is less than 43 total delegates away from securing the nomination. If Tuesday’s final two primaries don’t put Obama over the top, additional superdelegates would have to supply the nominee’s final margin of victory.
The Democratic winner will then face Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

At the state Republican convention on Saturday, people started streaming out after the platform was adopted. It was somewhere north of 3 p.m., and delegates seemed worn down. The convention was scheduled to end at 5 p.m. anyway, and the stack of resolutions was thick.

But was there more to it than just tired delegates who didn't care about resolutions wanting to get home? Maybe. You tell me.

A delegate just called to tell me his theory – a theory I heard from a few others at the convention – that those who left were McCain delegates. Why would they leave? The caller said that what they cared about was getting their delegates seated and passing a serviceable platform. After that, they thought they could make a mass exodus and force the meeting to end (because there would no longer be a quorum... The problem: After they left, there was still a quorum, so the meeting went on for a bit. I digress.)

The caller told me something similar happened in Nevada and the King County Republican convention.

I don't know if that's what happened, and I can't speculate. But, if you were a delegate, maybe you know. And if you know, do you care?

This just in from Senate Republicans about Sen. Dan Swecker:

Swecker returns home from hospital after successful heart surgery

OLYMPIA… Rochester Republican State Senator Dan Swecker has returned home after being discharged Sunday from Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. Swecker underwent open-heart surgery May 29 to replace his aorta valve.

=> Read more!

Here's a link to a month's worth of news releases.

Please check it out. Click on a few of the news releases. May 30 was a particularly busy day.

UPDATE: Try this link instead. They crossed me up. This link will show all of May's news releases. The other one just has those for June 2.

If I've done this right, you'll have links to find candidate filings for:

King County

Pierce County

Washington State

I'm working on a story about cell phones and driving and ran across this list of states where you can't talk on the phone while driving. (Actually, you can still talk on the phone, but you can't hold the phone in your hand. You must have a hands-free device.)

There's not enough room in the paper to print this whole list.

Washington's law will take effect on July 1. It is a secondary offense, which means you'd have to be doing something else wrong before you can be cited for talking on the phone while driving.

It's a $124 ticket.

California, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey have statewide laws that make talking on a handheld cell phone a primary offense.

Here's a link to the Washington Secretary of State's page, showing which candidates already have filed for office.

UPDATE: And here's another link to get candidate filings in Pierce County. By state law, legislative candidates whose districts are confined to a single county, have the option of filing with the county auditor or the secretary of state. Candidates whose districts include parts of more than one county must file with the state.

Congressional District 6 (Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap*, Mason*, Pierce*)

Norm Dicks (Prefers Democratic Party)

=> Read more!

It only took four years, and will probably do little to change anyone's behavior, but the case involving attack ads against Deborah Senn has ended. The U.S. Supreme Court decided against reviewing the case, which means the state Supreme Court decision stands.

The question in the case was whether a committee formed to pay for ads critical of a candidate must disclose the donors to the committee. Senn was a candidate for state attorney general, eventually losing to Rob McKenna.

Here is the Associated Press story from this morning.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court declined Monday to step into a dispute over a Washington state law that requires political committees to disclose the names of donors behind ads critical of a candidate for elected office.
The Washington Supreme Court ruled last year that a political committee backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce broke state campaign finance laws when it refused to disclose the donors behind ads in the 2004 state attorney general’s race.
The U.S. Chamber, working with a state group called the “Voters Education Committee,” paid for advertisements criticizing Democratic attorney general hopeful Deborah Senn during the 2004 primary campaign.
Voters Education Committee initially refused to register as a political campaign group with the state or reveal the source of its money. The committee later reported a $1.5 million donation from the U.S. Chamber, which in turn declined to reveal any of its donors, saying it didn’t raise any money specifically for the Senn campaign.
The justices did not comment on their action Monday.
The case is Voters Education Committee v. Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, 07-1153.