Even though December was John Ladenburg's last month as County Executive, that didn't stop him from weighing in on a farmland preservation conflict that resurfaced between the City of Puyallup and the county early in the month.

The City of Puyallup, poised to annex 365 acres of farmland on its eastern border, looks to be backtracking on an agreement they made with the county in 2004 to preserve 160 acres of the land as agriculture.

Ladenburg sent Puyallup officials a letter Dec. 12 telling them they should follow through with a resolution they passed to set aside the 160 acres, despite pressure from landowners who want to develop more of their property.

"Pierce County considers to view the resolution as expression of the compromise reached between our jurisdictions in 2004 after considerable negotiation," Ladenburg's letter reads. "Pierce County does maintain the intent of the agreement is for the preservation of farm lands."

"I urge the city to continue in its adherence to Resolution No. 1903." (That's the resolution we're talking about here.)

A little background: The land at issue is prime agricultural land, and includes the Puyallup Valley's last two daffodil farms.

Back in 2004, the county was ready to zone the entire 365 acres as agricultural land, much to the chagrin of land owners who wanted to develop it.

To satisfy everyone, Puyallup officials agreed that they would move to annex the land and set aside 160 acres of it as farmland.

But when that proposal came up for a vote last month, landowners again protested, and city council members voted to reconsider how much farmland they would preserve.

The city planning commission has since reviewed plans that would zone anywhere from 105 acres to 130 of the land as agriculture, but not 160 acres.

The issue may come up again before the Puyallup City Council next Tuesday.

I'll be writing about it in the paper before or around then.

I have calls out new County Executive Pat McCarthy and county planning officals to see if they feel the same way Ladenburg did about the issue.

I'll also be checking whether Ladenburg's letter has caused any Puyallup officials to reconsider their divergence from the 2004 agreement.

Read Ladenburg's full letter to Puyallup Mayor Don Malloy and the Puyallup City Council below.

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Tim Eyman said he had to front some money to the campaign to get it off the ground. (Did you notice that he has been assigned a number?)

He filed an initiative petition on Monday for a measure that seeks to limit the growth of overall revenue collections by the state, cities and counties to the rate of inflation.

Eyman said in an email a couple minutes ago,

Last spring I took out a $250,000 line of credit as a 2nd mortgage on my house. $175,000 loan is still outstanding with regard to last year's initiative, and today I'm taking out an additional $50,000 from that same line of credit for start-up money for the Lower Property Taxes Initiative. It's the only way we can get these initial start-up costs handled so there's no delays.

UPDATE: Eyman made a few more revisions today and clarified something that I reported on yesterday. Federal funds are not deposited into the state general fund, so the limit would not be affected by them, one way or another. Here are Eyman's e-mails:

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It has become a tradition – an unfortunate tradition – at the annual Associated Press legislative forum for the leaders to come up with a theme song. The origins are thankfully lost to history.

Dylan was mentioned twice. And the Ohio Players once.

Who said our legislators are stuck in the past?

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, a self-proclaimed audiophile, chose Dylan's "Everything Is Broken." She was attracted by the closing stanza:

"Broken hands on broken plows
Broken treaties broken vows
Broken pipes broken tools
People bending broken rules
Hound dog howling bullfrog croaking
Everything is broken."

Senate Ways and Means Committee vice chairwoman Karen Fraser suggested Dylan's "The Times They Are a'Changing."

On the GOP side, Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt proposed "Roller Coaster" by the Ohio Players. Most people do think of 70's Funk when they think of the GOP. Actually the song is "Love Roller Coaster" and Hewitt must have been thinking about these lyrics.

"Let me go down on the merry-go-round
All is fair 'n' a big fair ground
Let's go slow, let's go fast
Like a licorice twist gonna whip your ass."

Perhaps that last line was in reference to the March revenue forecast.

House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt chose a movie instead, "Pursuit of Happyness," in which Will Smith overcomes tremendous adversity through hard work and perseverance (and no government assistance).

OK, everyone at once ... "Ahhhhhhh."

Yes. I was pandering with that headline.

Patrick McDonald, on leave from the Washington Secretary of State's office, got his picture taken with Gov. Chris Gregoire while she was visiting our troops in Iraq yesterday.

I've still got some Iraqi currency souvenirs (picturing Saddam Hussein) from his last visit.

Apparently, while we reporters were trying to find out where our governor was, she was having dinner with Patrick in at a mess hall in Baghdad.

McDonald is a special assistant to Sam Reed, who just happens to be filling in for Gregoire as acting governor. McDonald is also an U.S. Army Reservist, a master sergeant. He is helping oversee the provincial elections in Iraq. It's his second tour of duty as an election specialist assigned to a multinational force over there.

McDonald writes: "I had dinner with her at Camp Prosperity, Iraq in the International (Green) zone. She visited with a company of Washington National Guardsmen and I tagged along (I'm a deployed reservist and Assistant to Sam Reed) because I ran into her at the new US Embassy. Her visit was well received and greatly appreciated regardless of anyone's political affiliation or how one may feel about her politics or programs."

No word on whether he has located Muhammad Eyman, a local tribesman who makes his living ....oh, you know the rest.

The 40,000-member Washington Federation of State Employees already has sued Gov. Chris Gregoire for not forwarding their negotiated contract and pay raises to the Legislature.

So has Service Employees International Union 775NW, which wants the 47-cent hourly pay increase over two years that was approved by an arbitrator.

This latest lawsuit is from another SEIU local, the one that represents about 10,000 day care workers that are paid with state money to take care of kids for moms who are on welfare.

UPDATE: Gretchen Donart of SEIU 925 points out, and rightly so, that "To say that family child care providers care for children of 'moms who are on welfare' is a misleading. (As you recall, Bill Clinton ended “welfare as we know it”!) All of these parents (indeed mostly mothers) work, and child care may be the only assistance some receive."

All true. They are on the WorkFirst program, which is the state version of the federal Temporary Aid to Needy Families program, which is the replacement for "welfare" program. The new programs spend about the same amount of money, but now most of it goes to pay for child care while the moms look for work, work, or go to school and get trained for work.

The arbitrator sided with the union and awarded child care providers a 1.6 percent raise in 2009-10 and a 2 percent raise in 2010-11. But that has to be forwarded to the Legislature by the governor before workers can get the wage hike, and that didn't happen. Hence, the lawsuit.

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This post is a correction to the blog item I posted yesterday. I wrote that Mike Dunmire once again would be backing Tim Eyman's newest initiative proposal even though Initiative 985 was defeated in all 39 counties. (Dunmire has become Eyman's main financial backer in recent years.)

I was wrong. Eyman sent me an e-mail today, pointing out that a majority of Pierce County voters did, indeed, approve I-985. The margin was 235 votes.
There were 159,670 votes in favor and 159,435 against. It failed in 38 counties. It was defeated by a 60-40 margin.

My apologies, Tim. Pierce County truly is Eyman Country.

Here is the link to the county-by-county results for I-985. You don't have to look any further than the map. Pierce stands out all by its lonesome.

Water rates will go up sooner rather than later for Tacoma Water customers.

The Tacoma City Council plans to move ahead tonight with the rate increase already approved by the Tacoma Public Utility board of directors, despite a last-minute plea from Metro Parks Tacoma officials for relief.

But that doesn't mean council members were not sympathetic to the plight of the parks.

Council members said they want the city to work with agency to find ways to slow the rate of future increases.

Finding something other than drinking water to irrigate parks is probably the best bet, they said.

Councilman Mike Lonergan noted that much of what's driving the last several years' worth of Tacoma Water rate increases is the need to comply with federal drinking water standards. Covering McMillan Reservoir is part of that, and it's hugely expensive.

But the parks don't really need drinking water.

If the council had decided to hold off on adopting the new rates, it would have cost about $167,000, water officials said. That's because they were planning on making the new rates effective Jan. 19.

A delay by the City Council would have put off a rate increase until Feb. 9 at the earliest, requiring a larger increase.

Parks Chairwoman Victoria Woodards said Metro Parks did not want to hold up the process for everyone, but she asked for "whatever relief we can get."

The department's water rates have risen 97 percent since 2002, she said.

The overall increase is 5.4 percent, but it varies considerably by customer class.

Residential customers will see a 2.3 percent hike this year, followed by a 1.7 percent rise in 2010. The parks/irrigation class, which covers the majority of Metro Parks' water, will go up 10.7 percent this year, and 8 percent in 2010.

County Councilman Shawn Bunney has decided not to seek the Pierce County auditor’s job for now. But he won’t rule out a future bid for the office.

In an interview this morning Bunney confirmed he is not among the 13 applicants for the auditor’s job to be considered by a committee on Wednesday afternoon. Instead, the Lake Tapps Republican said he will remain on the council and will ask to be named chairman of its Economic and Infrastructure Development Committee.

As committee chairman, Bunney said he wants to implement an economic stimulus plan he championed last year. And he wants to advocate for important transportation projects like a proposed extension of Highway 167 from Puyallup to the Port of Tacoma.

Bunney had been considering an appointment to the auditor’s job since losing the county executive’s race in November. Auditor Pat McCarthy vacated the post after she won the executive’s race.

A five-member committee will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday to recommend three finalists for the auditor’s job. The County Council is expected to appoint a new auditor on Jan. 13.

Though he’s bowing out for now, Bunney will have other opportunities to become auditor. Whoever wins the council’s appointment must stand for election next November and again when McCarthy’s full term expires in November 2010.

“I think the auditor is a good job,” Bunney said. “It’s one I’ll continue to consider in the future.”

Tacoma firefighters are in line for the same raise that the city’s police officers just received – 6.2 percent this year, followed by two years of pay hikes tied to the Consumer Price Index.

A proposed three-year contract between the city and the Tacoma Firefighters Union Local 31 also gives members of the department’s specialized technical rescue team an extra 2.5 percent pay premium starting in 2010, and an additional 2.5 percent in 2011.

The union had previously sought premium pay for the rescue team members, but the independent arbitrator who decided the last contract denied the request.

Tad Jackson, the union’s new president, said the negotiations were “straightforward and professional,” and he praised the city team that City Manager Eric Anderson assembled.

The proposed labor deal is similar to the one just given to the union that represents most of Tacoma’s police officers. It gives firefighters a 6.2 percent raise this year, maintaining the department’s position as the second-highest paying among comparable departments.

The police contract gave officers a 6.2 percent hike this year, maintaining its position as the highest paying among comparable cities.

Firefighters will receive raises in 2010 and 2011 equal to 100 percent of the Consumer Price Index, with a minimum 1 percent and maximum 5 percent.

The union membership agreed to the terms, even though they understand that it means the department will slip from its second-highest position by the end of the contract, Jackson said.

“We understand where the city is at,” Jackson said, referring to the sagging economy.

The City Council is expected to vote on the contract tonight.

Looks like we’ll know the three finalists for Pierce County auditor on Wednesday afternoon.

A committee that will review applications will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the County Council Chambers, Room 1045, County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave. S. The five-member committee – headed by incoming County Council Chairman Roger Bush – will recommend three finalists to the council.

Council attorney Susan Long said the council received 13 “complete and timely” applications for the job. Others applied but didn’t complete their applications.

The committee may meet in closed session to discuss their qualifications. But it will pick the three finalists in open session. The County Council is scheduled to appoint a new auditor on Jan. 13.

Last month the council approved a nonpartisan process for selecting a replacement for Auditor Pat McCarthy, who was sworn in Friday as county executive. They note that voters made the office nonpartisan by approving an amendment to the county charter last year.

Local Democrats claim that because McCarthy was twice elected as a Democrat that the council must select an auditor from among three candidates nominated by the party. Chairman Nathe Lawver said party members will attend Wednesday’s committee meeting.

I was talking yesterday to Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, because I wanted to get her reaction to Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed transportation budget for 2009-11.

More on this later, but suffice it to say, the budget adopted by the Legislature will be much different from what the governor is proposing, Clibborn said.

She also said she had thought of proposing a motor vehicle excise tax and a "tiny" increase in the gas tax to come up with enough money to pay for all the projects that were promised by the Legislature when they raised the gas tax by 5 cents in 2003 and approved another 9.5-cent increase in 2005.

But then the economy went into the tank, so that's now off the table, she said.

But it will be back, I suspect. (The Legislature and then-Gov. Gary Locke repealed the state MVET in March 2000 even though it appears the courts were going to rule that Tim Eyman's Initiative 695, which voters passed in November 1999, was unconstitutional. Actually, one King County judge did say that. But there was so much support for repealing the unpopular car tax.)

Clibborn, at least, is starting to acknowledge what others are ducking: higher cost of materials and smaller gas tax collections are pushing many of those 400-plus projects off the table. They are not going to get done without another revenue increase.

Carpool lanes on Interstate 5 from Tacoma to Fife, the Yelm bypass, property acquisition for the extension of Highway 167 from Port of Tacoma to Puyallup -- those are just some of the projects that are being partially put off into a future where there will be no money for them.

What's still on track? Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct, the Highway 520 bridge (although there's still a shortfall there), Interstate 90 across Snoqualmie Pass, and the Highway 519 project in downtown Seattle.

The overall shortfall for the 400 projects projects is well over $2 billion. I gotta run now for the Associated Press legislative preview. More later.

Yes, it turns out the Gov. Chris Gregoire was in Iraq, visiting the troops.

That makes Adam Wilson, Olympian reporter, 2 for 2 when it comes to lost governors. In his blog yesterday, Wilson reported that the last time he lost a governor (the governor of Idaho), that governor was in Iraq, visiting troops. Hmmmmmmmm.

Here is Adam's post from Monday.

What did Adam know and when did he know it?

Of course, one way to throw reporters off the track is to deliberately mislead them. That's what Pearse Edwards, the guv's top flack did yesterday, when Associated Press reporter Rachel La Corte asked him flat-out whether Gregoire was in Iraq.

I did tell Rachel that the Governor was not in Iraq yesterday when we spoke. The security on this was critical and I was under strict instructions not to release that information by Dept. of Defense.

Pearse

OK. I understand. Still, that kinda thing does damage to one's credibility with the Olympia press corps. Edwards said technically, the governor wasn't there when he answered the AP question. The guv was merely en route.

Mystery solved: Gov. Chris Gregoire is visiting National Guard troops in Iraq.

The governor had raised questions by scheduling an announcement from out of state this morning, when she had been scheduled to appear at a press event in Olympia. The governor's staff refused to reveal her whereabouts or the purpose of her trip.

Here is her press release; We'll have more later.

Gov. Gregoire visits Washington troops in Iraq

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire this week met with Washington Army National Guard troops in Iraq. The governor is visiting Iraq with a delegation including Governors John Corzine (D-NJ) and Rick Perry (R-TX).

“In August, I had the honor of participating in the farewell ceremony for the Washington Army National Guard troops in Yakima as they left to serve Operation Iraqi Freedom. I promised I would visit them and it is with great humility that I acknowledge their critical service for our state and our country,” Gregoire said. “These servicemen and -women show the utmost courage and strength as they face unimaginable circumstances each day. On behalf of all Washingtonians, I thank the troops, as well as their families at home, for their great sacrifice.”

While in Iraq, Gregoire and the delegation met with service members from Washington state and around the United States, senior military and public officials. Prior to leaving, the delegation met with Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. Secretary Gates thanked them for their continued support of the troops and making this important visit a priority.

Approximately 2,500 members of the Washington National Guard are currently serving in locations around the world. Of that number, about 2,400 are members of the 81st Brigade serving in Iraq. The Brigade’s focus in Iraq is convoy security and force protection operations. The 81st also served in Iraq from March 2004 to March 2005.

“We come away with a better understanding of the incredible circumstances the troops face each day and how we can better support the troops and their families while they are abroad,” Gregoire added.

Gregoire reminds all Washingtonians that these citizen soldiers are our friends, neighbors and co-workers, and deserve our utmost support.

Later this week the governor’s video message to the troops will be available for viewing on www.TroopTube.tv and www.governor.wa.gov</blockquote>

That's what Joel Connelly reported after his examination of the state Public Disclosure Commission reports.

Connelly also takes a look at fundraising and spending for other statewide races.

Here's a link to the Post Intelligencer story.