After watching last night's presidential debate, which may become known as the "Joe the Plumber" debate, we decided it would be fun to track down some plumbers named Joe who live in Pierce County.

It wasn't exactly an original idea. Based on a couple posts I read on a journalism listserv, it appeared reporters across the country spent part of their day tracking down plumbers named Joe.

It wasn't easy, either. But after a few false starts, I successfully tracked down one plumber named Joe who lives in Pierce County: Joe Barnhart, 28, of Puyallup.

Barnhart called me after he got home from work. He knew why I was calling, even though he didn't see the debate. He got a text message from a friend during the debate saying, "Hey, they're talking about you in the debate."

And he got some ribbing from his co-workers today.

Barnhart has been a plumber for five years. He has three boys, ages 2, 7, and 10. He said times are tough at work. His company, which mainly does new construction, has been laying off because of the downturn in the housing market.

He's paying attention to the presidential race partly because he hopes the next president can help turn around the economy.

So who does he like for president? Unlike the more famous plumber named Joe, Barnhart is leaning toward Barack Obama.

"He seems to have it together a little more," Barnhart said.

UPDATE: There's been a torrent of media coverage of the Ohio plumber named Joe. In case you aren't up to date, we ran this Chicago Tribune story today, which reports that Joe isn't really a plumber and Obama's tax plan may not hurt him.

Joe Wurzelbacher talks to a reporter as he walks to a neighbor's home in Holland, Ohio on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 16, 2008. Wurzelbacher is better known as "Joe the Plumber," the nickname Republican John McCain bestowed on him during Wednesday's presidential debate with Democrat Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Madalyn Ruggiero)

Something tells me I'll be seeing more about this come January, when the Legislature convenes for the 2009 session.

I wouldn't expect to see the Legislature give locals more money for health, not when they're facing a $3.2 billion deficit. But giving them more taxing authority or letting them form their own new taxing districts (like the ferry taxing district in King County)? That's quite possible.

Contact: Julia Patterson 206-296-1005
julia.patterson@kingcounty.gov

King County Board of Health identifies 12 ways
state Legislature can create stable funding for Public Health
State and local options would replace funding lost in 2001 from passage of I-695

In the face of a proposed $19 million cut to public health spending, the King County Board of Health today proposed 12 ways that the Washington State Legislature can provide public health programs with the long-term, stable funding source they need to operate.

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I asked David Ammons about the KIRO report after the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and others forwarded links to the TV station's report.

Purging the rolls of felons is done "prospectively" -- that is, when they get a report from the state prison system every three months, they check against the voter registration rolls to see whether a felon should be there or not.

But elections folks didn't purge the rolls retroactively, not from before 2006.

Check out KIRO TV's report at this link, and then read the rest of the news release from the Secretary of State's office.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Election officials hard at work cleaning voter rolls; felons a `work in progress’

OLYMPIA – Washington is making dramatic and steady progress on cleaning up the state’s voter registration rolls, particularly in removing duplicate or deceased voters from the lists, but the difficult task of culling ineligible felons remains a challenge, the state Elections Division says.

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A student called us earlier in the week to give us a heads-up on the forum, and teacher George Rother sent me this follow-up e-mail.

"We have received confirmation from candidates for the 3rd Congressional District, representatives of our gubernatorial and presidential races, State Insurance Commissioner, Thurston County commissioner as well as local legislative races," Rother said.

It's open to the public, he said.

Here's his full e-mail:

Since our school first opened we have sponsored a Presidential Election Year Candidate Forum. In 2004 we hosted the largest forum in the county and had candidates for state and local offices in attendance as well as representatives for the presidential campaigns.

We expect this year’s candidate forum to again be the largest in the county. In the past we have had several venues for candidates and enlisted the assistance of local Olympia dignitaries and personalities to introduce them to the students. We also combine a mock election with the event that we coordinate with the Auditors Office.

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Sen. Joe Biden is scheduled to appear at Cheney Stadium at 2 p.m. Sunday, according to Nathe Lawver, Pierce County Democratic Party chairman.

The gates open at noon. There is no cost to attend, but the Obama campaign asks visitors to RSVP at www.wa.barackobama.com. The stadium holds about 7,500 people in the grandstands and right field bleachers, said Mike Combs, public assembly facilities director for the City of Tacoma.

Biden, Barack Obama's running mate, is also appearing in Seattle on Sunday, according to this item from The Seattle Times' Politics Northwest blog.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is locked in a tight race with Republican challenger Dino Rossi, also will be at the Cheney Stadium event, Gregoire spokesman Aaron Toso said.

Pierce County Council candidate Joyce McDonald is the latest beneficiary of a new political committee established by local builders.

Records filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission show McDonald has benefited from nearly $13,000 in spending by Better Pierce County, a committee established by the Master Builders Association of Pierce County and its political allies. Records show the political committee spent the money on a campaign mailing for McDonald.

McDonald, a Republican, is running for the 2nd District county council seat against two Democrats, Carolyn Merrival and Al Rose.

Better Pierce County is the same group that has spent nearly $49,000 to assist county executive candidate Pat McCarthy, a Democrat. That spending drew criticism last week from executive candidate and fellow Demoract Calvin Goings, who says builders are trying to buy the election.

By law, Better Pierce County’s expenditures are independent of the campaigns it supports.

It’s official: Pierce County politics is a million-dollar industry.

That’s according to the latest reports that candidates for county offices have filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission.

According to the PDC, the 22 candidates for Pierce County executive, council, assessor-treasurer and sheriff have raised a combined $1,048,882. The four candidates for county executive – Shawn Bunney ($323,106), Calvin Goings ($290,628), Mike Lonergan ($41,470) and Pat McCarthy ($106,731) – account for nearly three-quarters of the total raised to date.

Collectively, all county candidates have spent $859,330 to win public office.

Want more detail? Here’s an Excel spreadsheet showing contributions to and spending by all of the candidates.

Periodically, people send me e-mails to point out what they consider ironic, or hypocritical, or nonsense. The Washington Policy Center and Evergreen Freedom Foundation are among the regulars.

This one comes from someone else, who asked not to be identified. He questions how Gov. Chris Gregoire can be freezing all personal service contracts when the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development can spend $35,000 to extend a contract with a Dutch firm to encourage tourists from The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to visit Washington and spend money.

CTED got to extend the contract to include the final four months of this year.

I don't have time to look into all these things, so I'll just post it here.

I do know that both the Policy Center and EFF and pleased as punch that there is now a Web site that shows all this stuff, part of the transparency of government. The governor and Legislature made it easy for people to see what's going on.

UPDATE: Victor Moore, the governor's budget director, just called to point out that "economic development" is one of the exemptions to the contract freeze. "We want people to come here and spend money, (and pay taxes)" he said.

WASHINGTON STATE
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY, TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

CONTRACT AMENDMENT 4

The purpose of this Fourth Amendment to contract number 05-71600-003 between the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (DEPARTMENT) and BuroSix Communications, a Dutch Corporation (CONTRACTOR), is to extend the contract for an additional 4 months, 9/1/08 through 12/31/08, add $35,000, and provide additional services.

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