9th Congressional District candidate James Postma is having a town hall meeting tomorrow (Saturday) in the south meeting room at the Puyallup Public Library, 324 S. Meridian. It runs from noon to 2:00 p.m.

Postma is one of at least three Republicans hoping to unseat Rep. Adam Smith. Also running are state Rep. Tom Campbell and Pierce County Councilman Dick Muri.

Campaign Web site.

Hmmm. Never noticed before that the King County GOP picnic had different sponsors. If you'll recall, Tom Stewart, the former "sugar daddy" for local Republicans, used to host this annual event as his Vashon Island digs.

(I actually shook hands with then-presidential candidate, former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, at one such picnic, many years ago, before Dole started doing those erectile dysfunction commercials.)

(He also(?) suffered from electile dysfunction.)

Anyway, Stewart moved his corporate headquarters for Food Services of America to Arizona or Nevada or something, allegedly to protest Washington's "death tax." (That's how some of the local Republicans characterized it.) That meant most of his top executives were moving, too.

I always wondered if all of them were planning to die soon. I mean, the estate tax doesn't hit you or your family until after you're dead. Then again, I guess we never know when our number is up. Maybe they were moving "just in case."

2009 KCGOP Picnic
Sponsored by King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn

The King County Republican Party is proud to announce its 2009 KCGOP Picnic sponsored by King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn - 9th CCD. This annual event will be held at Homestead Park on Mercer Island from 11:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday, August 8th.

=> Read more!

Labor unions are still upset about how they were treated by the Democrat-controlled Legislature this last time around, so they no longer will give blindly to legislative leadership committees.

I missed the original announcement about the creation of the DIME (Don't Invest in More Excuses) political action committee. But Tom Geiger over the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 sent out a news release that said UFCW and the Machinists are buying into the concept.

"The DIME PAC is a way for unions to be able to control how and where our political contributions are spent. Up until now we have often given money to the Democratic Party’s various political funds, and then the Party leadership has determined who gets it or how it should be spent. It has proven to be a failed model."

Pretty strong language for the labor folks.

Here's some background on the DIME PAC, courtesy of the Seattlepi.com post on Monday.

It will be interesting to see how all this works out for the 2010 legislative races.

UFCW 21 and Machinists 751 issue statement on new DIME PAC

7/17/09
From: Dave Schmitz, President UFCW 21,
Larry Brown, Legislative & Political Director Aerospace Machinists 751

UFCW 21 and the Machinist Union are strong believers in the recently announced change in how we in the labor movement in our state will act in future elections. The DIME PAC is a way for unions to be able to control how and where our political contributions are spent. Up until now we have often given money to the Democratic Party’s various political funds, and then the Party leadership has determined who gets it or how it should be spent. It has proven to be a failed model.

=> Read more!

Just as the Tacoma council was finally approaching a vote on it's long-awaited changes to its mixed-use-centers zoning, council members offered amendments that will delay a vote.

The most significant change is from Councilman Jake Fey. It will spread new height limits through out the 17 mixed use centers. The planning commission had suggested the maximum heights – ranging from 65 feet to 85 feet depending on the neighborhood – to just the core of the districts. That was most-often the half blocks abutting the main arterials.

Supporters say this will further encourage more-dense development in these business districts such as Proctor, Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, 6th Avenue and South Tacoma Way. Opponents fear it will further damage the single-family neighborhoods that surround most of the districts.

Here is the notice from the city, explaining the changes and explaining how the public can comment.

Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy in inviting politicians and neighbors to a meeting July 27 to talk about Sound Transit's plans in Tacoma's Dome District.

More specifically, she is creating a forum in which neighbors can raise doubts about the transit agency's plans for putting Sounder tracks on an earthen berm rather than on an elevated structure.

Dome District residents and others think the berm will place a wall between the upper dome district and the lower dome district. Sound Transit thinks the current plan is the most affordable way of getting trains from Freighthouse Square to existing tracks on the south side of Pacific Avenue.

Those trains will then travel to stations in South Tacoma and Lakewood, hopefully by 2012.

Neighbors think Sound Transit and the city of Tacoma has stopped listening to their concerns. McCarthy, a member of the Sound Transit board, and wants staff to make a presentation on existing plans and then listen to concerns. The meeting will include a walk of the proposed route.

It will begin at 9 a.m. in the meeting room of Freighthouse Square.

Here is the pdf of the meeting invitation.

Austin Jenkins of Northwest Public Radio put in a request for public records on travel to see how the "ban" was working.

The Guv's original ban expired, then the Legislature imposed its own travel ban for a while, but that one expired June 30. Exceptions were allowed for critical stuff.

Now, state agency travel is limited by their lower budgets: If they think they can afford it, they do.)

Here is Austin's piece.