Frankly, there's nothing I can do to write in an interesting way about an proposed amendment to Tacoma's interlocal agreement with LESA – the Law Enforcement Support Agency, which handles dispatching, records and other services for 15 local police departments.

So I'm not going to write about that directly. But I am going to tell you why it's important and where it fits into larger problems at LESA.

Mayor Bill Baarsma, who is also on LESA's Executive Board, said during a Government Performance and Finance Committee meeting Wednesday afternoon that LESA was clearly underfunded and understaffed compared to the level of service it is expected to provide.

LESA operators handle more than twice the volume of calls each year than the state average, a recent performance audit found. (More on that later, I just got a copy of the 234-page beast today and haven't had a chance to read it.) The agency had one round of layoffs in March and unless someone waves a magic wand, it looks like they might have more layoffs this summer. Which would only decrease the level of service they're able to provide.

Update: Here's a link to the handouts from yesterday's meeting, including a summary presented by LESA, figures on funding by agency and a copy of the proposed amendment language.

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I got this questionnaire from the Faith and Freedom folks, and I was struck by the Stuart Elway poll results, the one that said 59 percent of Washingtonians between 18 and 35 years old approve of gay marriage. That reflects nationwide sentiments.

Opponents of Senate Bill 5688, the bill that would give same-sex couples all the civil rights of heterosexual couples -- except marriage -- have launched an effort to repeal the measure once Gov. Chris Gregoire signs it into law, which she is expected to do soon.

The Faith and Freedom Network is alarmed by the high level of support for gay marriage among younger people and wants to see if they have enough public support to launch a campaign to change the minds of younger folks who "are not developing a biblical worldview."

Here are the questions.

1. Do you support the effort of Referendum 71 to protect marriage in Washington State?

2. If you replied "yes" on the previous question, how are you willing to support Referendum 71?
Financial
Circulate Petitions
Pray

3. In the recent Faith & Freedom Elway Survey of Washington State, we found that 59% of those surveyed between 18 - 35 years old approved of homosexual marriage and 39% did not approve.

These numbers are consistent nationally.

Clearly our youth are not developing a biblical worldview. Faith & Freedom is considering developing an ongoing resource program to help develop that worldview among our youth in the Northwest.

Would you financially support this ministry?

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The Washington State Liquor Control Board voted this morning to raise its "mark up" on the price for a bottle of booze from 39.2 percent of the wholesale cost to 51.9 percent of the wholesale cost.

The increase will take effect on Aug. 1 and will remain in effect at least through the end of the 2009-11 biennium, or June 30, 2011.

Liquor Board spokesman Brian Smith said only 2 of 3 liquor board members were present at the meeting in Lacey this morning, but the vote was unanimous.

The move was necessitated by the Legislature's taking nearly $80 million from the Liquor Board's revolving fund to help balance the state operating budget. The higher liquor prices are expected to replenish the fund, Smith said.

Board members decided for an across-the-board percentage increase rather than a flat $1.05-per-liter increase that had been proposed to the board, Smith said. That way, the increase will have a lesser impact on customers who purchase "value" liquor and a bigger impact on the high-end products, he said.

I've asked Smith to get back to me with a couple specific examples -- on Monarch Vodka and Cutty Sark Scotch -- just because the pricing for booze it so complicated -- for me, at least. I'll update this post when he gets back to me.

UPDATE: Cutty Sark Scotch (750 ml) would rise from $23.95 to $26, while Monarch Vodka (750 ml) would rise from $9.95 to $10.75. Monarch Vodka is the most popular product at state liquor stores.

In other news, the state budget authorizes the Liquor Board to open 5 more state-operated stores and to contract with private operators for 10 additional stores. The governor is expected to sign the budget May 18 or 19.

Smith said this upcoming year, many more liquor stores will be open on holidays, except for Christmas.

The Guaranteed Education Tuition Committee is meeting on campus at 1 p.m. Monday to set new prices for pre-paid tuition purchases.

Although Gov. Chris Gregoire has not yet signed the state budget, she is expected to approve the 14 and 7 percent tuition hikes authorized for four-year and two-year colleges, respectively, for each of the next two years.

So, the GET Committee no doubt will set rates that reflect those tuition increases.

GET Committee to meet in Olympia on May 11

OLYMPIA – The Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) Committee will review unit pricing assumptions and set next year’s unit price at a public meeting in Olympia on Monday, May 11.

Committee members will also hear an update on GET investments and approve the FY2010 budget.

As a 529 prepaid college tuition plan, the GET program allows Washington families to prepay for future college expenses. The state guarantees that a family buying one year of college tuition today (100 GET units) will have one year of college tuition in the future. The program encourages families to start saving for their child’s college education.

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So where might Pierce County Auditor Jan Shabro’s quest for cost savings eventually lead? Think ranked choice voting.

After Tuesday’s County Council vote rejecting her request to close the polls for budget reasons this year, Shabro said she has about $600,000 in her budget dedicated to implementing the system voters approved in 2006 and used for the first time in 2008.

In November voters will consider an amendment to the county charter repealing ranked choice voting. County officials say voter confusion about the system contributed to long lines at the polls last November. Ranked-choice voting supporters say the auditor’s office blamed the system for its own mistakes.

Even if voters repeal the system, it won’t help Shabro balance her budget this year. Her own job will be decided by ranked choice voting this November.

But Shabro said the repeal would save money next year, when the county budget may be in even worse shape.

Look for the cost savings to be an issue – and hotly debated – in the run-up to November’s vote.

Everything was going swimmingly at the Council of the Whole meeting at Tacoma City Hall Tuesday afternoon until the discussion turned to the subject of upcoming improvements to the Council Chambers.

The $30,000 job will move the podium from Siberia at the left side of the room to directly in front of the mayor. A new "pony wall" with three gates will divide the public from the electeds (and staff). The City Manager and City Attorney's seats will move onto an extended platform to the Council's right (from their perspective, the left from the audience's). And the council dais will be resurfaced with new plastic laminate.

Things started to unravel when Mayor Bill Baarsma pointed out that dais was misspelled on the plans.

This brought on a discussion of the proper pronunciation of the word.

"It's day-is," Baarsma said. Others said die-is. (Merriam-Webster says it can go either way: \ˈdā-əs, ÷ˈdī-\.)

The discussion went downhill from there.

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