Jeff Grubb's Blog, page 55

Political Desk: Wrap-up

So. How did thing go? (Stuff that went the other way than what I recommended is in Red.

I-1366 (Extorting the state to make raising taxes harder): NO in King County, but YES in the state as a whole. Cue the inevitable lawsuit is three...two... one.

I-1401 (Save the Pangolins!): YES

Referendums 10,11,12,13: YES (Barely), YES, NO, NO. But sadly, that doesn't change anything.

King County Charter Amendment No.1 Law Enforcement Oversight: YES

King County Proposition No. 1 Regular Property Tax Levy for Children, Youth, Families, and Communities: APPROVED

King County Assessor: John Wilson

King County Director of Elections: Julie Wise

Port Commissioner Position 2: Courtney Gregroire. 

Port Commissioner Position 5: Fred Felleman.

City of Kent Council Position No. 1: Tina Budell

City of Kent Council Position No. 3: Les Thomas 

City of Kent Council Position No. 6: Brenda Fincher (but this one is very tight, so it could change as final ballots come in).

Advisory Proposition No. 1: Sale, Possession, and Discharge of Consumer Fireworks in the City of Kent: YES

Kent School District No. 415 Director District No 1: Russell Hanscom 

Public Hospital District No. 1, Commissioner District No. 2: M. Chris Monson

Public Hospital District No. 1, Commissioner District No. 4: Lawton Montgomery

The numbers were really low this year, particularly in King County. There will be pearl-clutching at this, but I tend to feel that one of the joys of democracy is that we get the government we deserve. On to the next election!

More later, 

Political Desk: The Jeff Recommends

For those of you who bulled your way through the past couple weeks of this blog, huzzah for you! For everyone else in the "Too Long: Didn't Read" mob, below is a summary of my old-man opinions that I'm recommending for the upcoming election here in Washington State. But first, let me direct you to OTHER people who are telling you how to vote, including on matters that we don't cover here:

The Seattle Times is pretty much our pro-establishment, pro-business, mostly conservative paper. Oddly enough they put telling you how to vote behind a pay wall if you look too often. Yeah, that's just good business sense, and the way to get your message out.

The Stranger is becoming a shadow of its former self, its top-flight talent leaving for paying gigs, but it still musters the strength (and whatever reefer it can scrounge) to put together a list that looks surprisingly like the Times. Plus, they are totally enamored of pangolins (Note that "The Pangolin" is the name of a super-villain from my early MSH campaign, so hands off, Marvel!)

Seatllish combines its political commentary with gif pictures (hard "g", please), and uses language that makes the Stranger seem somewhat quaint and demure.

Crosscut summarizes and provides links for to their articles discussing the issues. Ballotopedia has turned into an interesting resource as well.

The Muni League, a non-partisan non-profit, rates people here and propositions here.

If you're an unabashed Progressive who is still steamed that Teddy Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party got the shaft, here's the Progressive Voter's Guide. Sierra Club is here. Washington Conservation Voters here. Seattle Bike blog talks about city council elections here, and Seattle Chamber of Commerce here. And Publicola (which came in after I made initial posting) here.

And with all that linkage out of the way, here's what we said at Grubb Street.

I-1366 (Tim Eyeman's change the constitution to make make his revenue-bashing schemes legal scheme): NO

I-1401 (Paul Allen's let's stop using elephant tusks as currency proposal): YES

Referendums 10,11,12,13: YES, (But it doesn't matter. Really. Just watch. Hey everybody! Non-binding state referendums over here! See? Nobody cares.)

King County Charter Amendment No.1 Law Enforcement Oversight: YES

King County Proposition No. 1 Regular Property Tax Levy for Children, Youth, Families, and Communities: APPROVED

King County Assessor: John Wilson

King County Director of Elections: Julie Wise

Port Commissioner Position 2: Courtney Gregroire. 

Port Commissioner Position 5: Marion Yoshino.

City of Kent Council Position No. 1: Tina Budell

City of Kent Council Position No. 3: Gwen Allen (as a write-in vote - I actually saw yard signs for her the other day!)

City of Kent Council Position No. 6: Brenda Fincher

Advisory Proposition No. 1: Sale, Possession, and Discharge of Consumer Fireworks in the City of Kent: Yes

Kent School District No. 415 Director District No 1: Russell Hanscom (Note - his opponent, Trisha Sanders, chose not to actively run back in July, as noted here.)

Public Hospital District No. 1, Commissioner District No. 2: M. Chris Monson

Public Hospital District No. 1, Commissioner District No. 4: Savannah Clifford-Visker

Got all that? Good. Now go vote.

More later,

Political Desk: Picking up the Spares

Now we are down at the bottom of the ballot School Districts, Water and Sewer, Public Hospital. The bulk of these are unopposed, and one of them might as well be.

Kent School District No,. 415 Director District No 1 pits Russell L. Hanscom versus Trisha Sanders. I think. To be honest, I've got nothing on this one. Ms. Sanders did not respond for the Voter's Guide, and the sole article in the Kent Reporter contains a lot of information on and quotes by the incument Mr. Hanscom and note that Ms. Sanders did not respond. I don't think a JD Salinger approach works in local political office, so let's just say Russell L. Hanscom.

The only other racers in this category with identifiable opponents are for the Public Hospital District No. 1 (which we call Valley Medical), Commissioner Districts Nos. 2 and 4. Valley has a very good medical staff and serves the community well. The board of trustees, however, ranks up there with the Port as fall as questionable shenanigans, up to and including a sudden merger with UW Med that reduces the effectiveness of the elected commissioners in the fact of appointed trustees (such appointees include guys that lost in the face of an indignant voter populace),

So it is ins versus outs. In District 2, the In is incumbent Carolyn V. Parnell and the Out is M. Chris Monson. And their Voter's Profiles are interesting in that they are BOTH saying the same thing. Mr. Monson says that the UW Med has taken over Valley and this is an outrage, while Ms. Parnell says that UW Med has taken over Valley and that this is good thing. I raise an eyebrow at a lot of the things that Mr. Monson lays at Ms. Parnell's door and what Ms. Parnell's defines as success, so I'm going with M. Chris Monson.

It is not so easy in District 4, where the UWMed Candidate got nailed in the primary, and the two condidates are Savannah Clifford-Wisker and Lawton Montgomery, Both are running on a platform that the execs are getting paid too much, the nurses need to be paid more (and have more say in staffing decisions), and the current CEO who has been running things needs to go. Both are newcomers, but I'll go with Savannah Clifford-Wisker on this one.

And that's my ballot. Yeah, I will summarize one more time before the final voting, but I recommend all reading this to do your own homework as well - there may be something I skimmed over that is vital to your decision making progress. Good Night, and Good Voting,

More later

Political Desk: Kent Advisory Proposal

So this is an advisory vote that I can get behind, if nothing else because it is asking the voters' advise BEFORE making the decision (as opposed to all those state advisory referendums this year). In this cast, the mouth-filling Advisory Proposition No. 1: Sale, Possession, and Discharge of Consumer Fireworks in the City of Kent is asking what the people think before taking action.

And I favor this proposition, which will remove the bulk of skyrockets and boomers, confining them to local shows and licensed affairs. I find it interesting that the bulk of the candidates not only support the concept of a ban, but have horror stories about pets, family, and neighborhoods freaked out by the noise and trash from such private operations.

When we first moved into Panther Lake, it was part of unorganized King County, one of the many bits and pieces of territory that didn't belong to nearby municipalities. As a result, the Fourth (and New Years. And Flag Day. And anything else) was an excuse for an excess of fireworks. Not just setting a few off in the school parking lot - I'm talking navigating the street like you were on patrol in the Mideast to avoid running over any caltrop-like bases while cordite-scented fumes drifted through the vehicle. This dropped off severely when the neighborhood became part of a community that was not as overtaxed with responding vehicles, though it is still loud, proud, and potentially dangerous. With a solid ban, I expect it to drop off even more.

So yeah, I'm going to vote YES on this one, and recommend others do as well.

More later,

Political Desk: Kent

And now back to the show:

Let's get local. Very, very local. I write this up knowing that fives if not tens of people will be reading it. We're talking about the Kent City Council.

The Kent City Council is a body of seven people who govern Kent with the mayor. And I will be honest, they've done well in the past - measures like establishing the Kent Commons downtown, dealing with having to sandbag the Green River when the Hanson Dam was in trouble, and absorbing our Panther Lake neighborhood into the larger community. Downsides? I worry that they are more concerned with the valley than the surrounding neighborhoods on the hills, and tend to be a bit pro-business, but that just comes with the territory.

So, we have two positions currently up, plus an incumbent challenged by a write-in. The match-ups are: Toni Troutner versus appointed incumbent Brenda Fincher, Tina Budell versus Hira Singh Bhullar for an open seat, and incumbent Les Thomas, who is challenged by a write-in candidate Gwen Allen.

And for most of us, what we know about the candidates is a bunch of red, white, and blue lawn signs and (if we read them), the write-ups in the voter's guides, which tend to be a bit innocuous. Missing major scandal, there are no "throw the dastards out" movements, and finding some light between them is kinda challenging, though not through lack of trying. The Kent Reporter put out a questionnaire on major local issues, and has covered questions about the fireworks ordinance (more on that later), so here goes.

Tina Budell vs. Hira Singh Bhullar was pretty much dead even in my mind the last time I looked, and the additional information hasn't moved either one of them down in my estimation. I will go for Tina Budell due to previous experience, but shan't be offended is Hira Singh Bhullar gets the votes.

My opinion on Toni Troutner vs. Brenda Fincher was very influenced by the questionaire, in which Ms. Fincher went into detail on his positions, even if her position and that of Ms. Troutner were similar. Also, Ms. Fincher is both pro-marijuana store in Kent (Indeed, the fact that localities can block such legal outlets results in things like illegal growhouse operations still being effective in South King County), and anti-fireworks, while Ms. Troutner wishes to bargain on the first issue, and equivocated on the latter. Let's go for Brenda Fincher.

Les Thomas has been in the council for as long as anyone, and if one is going to run a write-in campaign, it will be an uphill fight, if for no other reason because Mr. Thomas is the only name is on the ballot. Still, I like what Gwen Allen has to say on the issues, again coming down on positive for marijuana use and negatives for private fireworks. Take the extra five seconds and write in  Gwen Allen.

More later,

Commercial Break

We break now from our thrilling (yawn) political coverage for this commercial message:

The first expansion for Guild Wars 2, Heart of Thorns, goes live this week. It you play Guild Wars 2 (also known around here as the Day Job), you know that it is an exciting, rewarding, fun (and well-written and inspired) MMO, and should be looking forward to the next expansion*. If you don't play Guild Wars already, I will note that we've gone Play For Free for the core game, and this is an excellent time to see what all the huggamugga is about.

Buckle up, folks, it is going to be a heckuva ride.

More later,

* Did I mention that MMORPG.Com declared GW2 to be the second-greatest MMO of all time? Well, I just did.

Political Desk: The Port

The Port of Seattle has been in the news recently mostly for the wrong reasons. Stuff like moving through the permission to have a Shell arctic drill rig park here without telling the public, or fighting against the $15 dollar wage at the airport or talking about oil and coal trains running through downtown. So yeah, this is one of those moments when a good stiff shock to the system will bring them back into line.

Two positions are currently in play. Position 2 pits Courtney Gregroire (incumbent and daughter of the former governor, so that's where you heard the name before) against perennial candidate Goodspaceguy. Now everyone expects this to be a blowout against Goodspaceguy, but let's put the jokes aside and let's hear from perennial candidate himself in the Voter's Guide:

There are several people (some brilliant) who have been writing and producing under Goodspaceguy’s name (perhaps to cause him vote loss?) This is entirely unnecessary because Goodspaceguy can lose votes all by himself just by saying that the anti-free-market, minimum wage should be abolished so that less-productive, disadvantaged people can easily get work at their low market value.

Sigh. OK, bring back the jokes. His argument is that we can have full employment if only we don't have to deal with actually paying people for their work.  Let me be honest, Goodspaceguy has for years run on the idea that our answers lie in space. Now it is apparent that, having surveyed all of space, the model we should emulate is the Spice Mines of Kessel. So. Courtney Gregoire it is!

Over at Position 5, we have a real race between Marion Yoshino and Fred Felleman. Both are good, and Fellemen is stronger on the environment from his background. But Ms. Yoshino comes from the airport side of the equation, and makes a valid point that our airport is part of the port system, but doesn't get a lot of attention or representation on the board. Let's change that - Marion Yoshino.

More later,

Political Desk: A County Amendment and a Proposition

Two items are on my ballot as far as county measures are concerned One is an amendment, changing the county charter, and the other is a proposition to raise the property tax levy.

King County Charter Amendment No.1 Law Enforcement Oversight takes an existing process, the civilian-run Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO), and formalizes it, giving it some real teeth to deal with misconduct in county law-enforcement (this is for the county - local municipalities have their own process, as does the City of Seattle). OLEO was founded back in 2006 after some significant probs in dealing with bad cops, but was soon reduced in effectiveness through collective bargaining with the police guild.

This measure has the support of just about everyone EXCEPT the guild, including the State Attorney General, the Stranger, the Muni League, The Seattle Times, and kinda sorta the county sheriff himself (Chief Urquhart, who has made no bones about cleaning up the department and actually bouncing seven officers for various offences, supports the idea, but notes that any changes will have to be worked out with the guild, which pulled the fangs of the original OLEO). I'm going with YES on this one.

King County Proposition No. 1 Regular Property Tax Levy for Children, Youth, Families, and Communities (Yep, that's a mouthful - it is known as "Best Start" in shorthand) provides funding for a slew of youth-oriented services including healthy pregnancy, crisis prevention, homelessness, as well as renovating juvie hall. This is a nine-year plan that again, mostly everyone supports (if you want a tone-deaf, teeth-grating argument against, the idea, look no further than the voter's guide, where the opposition forces make the case that the money is more needed for more cops to deal with the results of not funding such youth initiatives.).

I'm going with APPROVED on this one, but again with a caveat. This one-at-a-time form of levy building, whether for education, fire halls, EMT protection, parks and the like drills down deep to targets specific needs, but by the same token we (the people, through their representatives) must make sure that we get our money's worth. This is point on which conservative thought should thrive - Not about whether we spend the money (I think we should), but to serve as a sentinel to make sure the money spent has value for the community. A good very recent example are fire stations which were to be renovated as a result of a 2003 levy, and now, twelve years on, are still unfinished and over-budget. That's pretty serious stuff, and will make votes think twice before their wallets again. The standard argument against such increases is always that a cold-hearted declaration that this is a blank check, while the better argument consists of how we're going to hold the costs down and live within the commitment that we are willing to make.

As I said, APPROVED, but I am moving towards a "Trust, but Verify" position. Now if you don't mind I'm going to go chase some darned kids off the lawn.

More later,

Political Desk: County Offices

Hey, kids, Let's get back to actual things that appear on the ballot. While the state level is as barren as new ideas from Congress, we do have a couple really hard choices at the county level.

County Assessor pits Lloyd Hara, who currently holds the position against John Wilson, who was his assistant. Both men have experience. Both men have a mixed bag of strong endorsements from across the political spectrum. Both on paper and from experience, these guys can do the job, and indeed, until the parted company over using an iPad app versus a PC solution to the job, they were working together well.

Fully aware of the dangers of giving a big shrug at the position, I was split on this one. But the Seattle Times, of all people, actually makes a good case for John Wilson. Take a look. And go with John Wilson.

Similarly, the power of incumbency looms large over the County Director of Elections position as well, and it too troubles me. We went to the trouble of making this an elected position (a decision which, if I remember correctly, I declared a "bone-headed"), and then have voted in the incumbent each time, anointing the decision of the bureaucracy. Which is what we had in the first place. The current incumbent, Julie Wise, was not elected to the position, but graduated when her predecessor stepped down. Sort of subverts the whole election thing. Yet, Ms. Wise has done a good, balanced job, which is something that I like in Elections, regardless of who is running them. So, despite my reservations on the system, I am going with Julie Wise.

Finally, we have half of the King County Council running for re-election. Grubb Street is in the other half, so you the rest of you guys are on your own.

More later,

Political Desk: Executive Branch

Like the state legislature and the courts, nothing is going on over in the executive branch for the election. Washington State elects all its major positions for the executive, and does so on a four-year cycle, which coincides with the presidential elections. Which is why we haven't seen a Republican Governor since 1980, and our executive has been overwhelmingly Democrat (interesting exception -Secretary of State. which tends GOP)

And that's cool. The legislature, as a body, has more collective power than the governor, and the various executive positions are expected to obey the basic laws of politics - Do a good job, and for god's sake, don't embarrass us. But, for the first time in many years, we have an honest-to-goodness scandal on the executive side. Which you have may missed, because we are just so darn polite about it.

Meet Troy Kelley. He's our state auditor, though he is on a leave of absence at the moment. This is an elected position which oversees government spending, handles financial information, and you know, audits. He was elected back in 2012, and at the time, this blog gave him a shrug and a whatever, as both candidates presented themselves as strong, sober, pro-business types.

Which I suppose should always be a warning sign. If someone pitches himself as a good businessman, and therefore should be good in government, you should start counting the spoons in the executive cafeteria.

Anyway, Troy Kelley is currently under ten counts of indictment on a variety of charges involving financial shenanigans in his previous job, up to and including hiding over 2 mill from the IRS. This stems of an investigation of a co-worker who Mr. Kelley had later hired when he was in state government. Now, the case has not been resolved, but having multiple indictments against you for your financial dealings makes it difficult to maintain a position where you are responsible for overseeing the state's financial dealings. Practically everyone in Olympia, regardless of party, has demanded his resignation. Mr. Kelley, as I have mentioned, has taken an unpaid leave.

Unpaid leave? Can't you just get rid of him? Well, no. He's an elected official, and his service is not contingent on pleasing the governor, the legislature, or anyone else. There is also the chance that he is innocent of the charges, but maybe I'm just whistling past the graveyard now. If he is convicted of a felony, he can be impeached. He can also impeached for malfeasance, but only for actions taken in his state job. And he may resign and be replaced by the governor. But he hasn't resigned, so we don't really have a state auditor (his second in command, an appointed position, is running things).

Yet this is all so polite, in part because it feels so bloodless and white-collar. There are no suspicious deaths, no tawdry assignations, no hostile twitter feeds. He's been pretty much described as not hard-core political, but just a guy who showed up interested in the job. With the exception of the Seattle Times wanting to remind folk that this is a DEMOCRAT in hot water, things are fairly leisurely, and I don't even know if it will be an issue by this time next year. We shall see.

More later,