Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Gregoire Trys To Push Back Against The Facts
It has been interesting observing Governor Christine Gregoire's aggressive response to a series of recent radio ads paid for by ChangePac, the political arm of the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), critical of her record on sex offenders and foster care. She has not responded nearly as aggressively on two other ChangePac spots related to traffic congestion and significantly increased taxes. I suspect that's because she would rather not remind voters traffic congestion has become massively worse since she has been in office, that she increased spending by 33 percent, and raised our taxes over $500 million, while turning the largest budget surplus in state history into a deficit rapidly approaching $2.5 billion -- in just four years.
The ads prompted this response from Gregoire: "We have hit rock bottom in this campaign and it is only June. I call on my Republican opponent Dino Rossi to denounce the BIAW and these ads and instead run a campaign focused on good policy and the issues."
If these mildly critical, but completely factual ads, are "rock bottom," then we've hit an absolute new low for pandering to the lowest common political dominator.
The Rossi campaign's response was immediate and directly to the point. "Gregoire and her political operatives have been shamelessly trying to smear Dino since before our campaign even began. The Washington Education Association ran radio attack ads against Dino in February, the Democratic Governor's Association and local unions have put more than $800,000 into the new Evergreen Progress PAC that will undoubtedly be used to attack Dino, and the State Democratic Party sends out almost daily press releases filled with distortions. Is Gregoire suddenly going to take a stand against all of these groups? I wouldn't count on it."
The response went on to mention the growing deficit, the 33 percent increase in state spending, the 3,100 released felons and those 1,300 missing sex offenders.
Gregoire has attempted to defend herself on the sex offender and foster care issues with faux outrage and by trotting out her endorsements from the Law Enforcement Administrators of Washington (LAW) and the Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs (WACOPS) -- two lobbying groups.
When that didn't work, she upped the ante and sent out a fundraising e-mail saying, "Governor Gregoire has been endorsed by EVERY major police and law enforcement organization in Washington."
That's a blatant lie. While organized labor is considered one of Gregoire's strongholds, Rossi, has actually been endorsed by a number of police unions, including the state's largest, the King County Police Officers Guild, as well as the Kitsap County Deputy Sheriff's Guild, Port Orchard Police Association, and the Renton, Lakewood and Skamania County Police Officer's Guilds. Look for even more police endorsements shortly.
But she couldn't resist taking it step further by saying, "It's clear that our Republican opponent and his friends will say and do anything to bring the failed policies of the Bush Administration to our state."
Oh please... Exactly what does George Bush have to do with sex offenders running loose in our state?
Through all her bluster, Gregoire still failed to address just how many of those 1,300 plus untraceable sex offenders are now accounted for by the State. If the number were significant, it's difficult to imagine her not using it to shoot back.
Meanwhile, Gregoire unveiled a her own attack ads shortly afterwards, coupled with a You Tube video from the state Democratic Party attempting to paint Rossi as a Mafioso -- compete with music from The Soprano's. The Italian-American community reacted angrily, demanding an apology, that Party Chair Dwight Pelz step down, and that the video be pulled immediately.
The Democrats offered a lukewarm admission of guilt, and pulled the video, but just imagine the righteous indignation, and how Rossi would have been vilified by the party that claims to pride itself on itself on acceptance of diversity, had this example of blatant bigotry come from the Republicans.
It appears to me Gregoire's defensive strategy is all about misdirection. She also knows her media friends will buy into that misdirection, which casts BIAW -- a tough, activist political adversary with a conservative bent, that's done battle with Gregoire over all the decades she's been in government -- as the issue. That's because she doesn't want to address the real issues that have been raised in the ads. So she manufactures outrage over independent expenditures -- even though her allies at the teachers union funded the very first attack ads in this campaign. Meanwhile, other labor unions, and extremist environmental groups will no doubt launch their own media offensives against Rossi.
Whether or not Gregoire's fake outrage and misdirection will play with the voters, still remains to be seen.
However this brings the issue of the tons of cash that will continue to be spent on both sides of the Governor's race -- cash neither Gregoire nor Rossi have much control over -- to the forefront. In spite of the candidate's rhetoric, it's not as if outside groups on either side of the governor's race are likely to become more polite between now and November.
In other words, no matter who you support for governor, this is going to get real ugly before it's all over..
Finally, it would be remiss to not quote state Democratic spokesperson Kelly Steele, because it puts this entire issue into perspective.
"Presumably people or groups supporting the governor share the vision of a majority of Washingtonians -- affordable health care, investments in public education and support for working families all across this state," Steele said. "Rossi's backers oppose that agenda and represent the narrow agenda of moneyed special interests."
It's no secret political spokespeople are paid handsomely to come up with such serious sounding, but pinheaded, politically partisan, pap. But does any thinking person actually believe that the BIAW, the Association of Washington Business, the NFIB, the Farm Bureau and the dozens of other organizations that have endorsed Rossi -- not to mention all those police officers -- are simply "moneyed special interests," while unions, environmentalists, teachers, and all the other groups supporting the governor and her party's agenda are merely interested in the greater good? I think not. The voters just aren't that stupid.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 7/15/2008 06:37:00 AM
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The Airline Mess Up Close and Personal
Because of the automotive writing I do, I travel somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 miles annually. So for me to say I recently had one of the worst travel experiences in all of my years, is saying something
My preferred airline over the years has always been Delta, and I'm a Delta Gold Medallion Level Frequent Flyer. I have been both a Delta customer -- and stockholder -- of both the "old" and "new" stock. That preference as always been based on the extreme level of customer service Delta has always provided -- no matter what the situation. In my mind, Delta's people gave them a competitive edge, and even through all of the financial difficulties it experienced, I remained a loyal Delta flyer.
Not any more...
I was booked First Class from Seattle to Atlanta on June 29 on a 7:55 a.m. flight. I arrived at the ticket counter 50 minutes before my flight, and spent approximately 20 minutes as the "next" person in the First Class/Medallion line waiting to check one bag. While I waited, three people fooled around with the computer trying to resolve an issue for the person in front of me. No one else offered to wait on me. When I finally did get waited on, I was told my bag couldn't be accepted because I had missed the 30-minute window for baggage check. I asked the official time, and was told I had missed it by LESS THAN ONE MINUTE!
When I pointed out that I had been there in plenty of time, and missed this through no fault of my own, I was told, "We're sorry, there's nothing we can do." I asked about a gate check of my bag since it wasn't going to fit in an overhead bin, and couldn't be carried on, and was told that wouldn't be possible. When asking why not, the representative snapped, "Because it isn't."
Excuse me? This had been done for me several times previously, so why not now?
So asking, What do I do now?" I was told they could book me on the next flight, which was four hours later, but no First Class seats were available. There were First Class seats on the flight after that, but it didn't get in to Atlanta until almost midnight.
In trying to resolve the issue, I asked to see a supervisor. Although I physically could see her, it took almost 15 minutes of her joking around with other employees before she could be bothered to walk the 25 feet to see what my problem was. After telling her my story, and saying I believed I should be on my original flight. She just said, "Sorry, that's not going to happen. What do you want to do? Are you going to take the next flight we have or not, because I don't have time to waste on you."
What struck me right between the eyes at that very moment was how absolutely RUDE every single person I dealt with was. The "old" Delta people would have figured out some way for me to get on my original flight. These folks could care less if I ever got on any flight -- or if I ever fly Delta again.
I elected to take the next flight, which left 4 hours later, sitting in Row 37 instead of 3. While I was not happy with the situation, or the attitude of the people I was dealing with, I had little choice since I also had a 4-hour drive ahead of me after leaving Atlanta, and getting there at 7 p.m. was better than midnight.
When I asked about a refund of the difference in fares, I was told none would be forthcoming. I made an issue of this and finally was granted a refund of somewhere near $300. But if I hadn't insisted on it in such a strong manner, that wouldn't have happened.
However, as luck would have it, taking the second flight -- the one with a First Class seat available -- might have had a better outcome. Upon approaching Atlanta, we were told there was a weather problem and we circled for approximately an hour until we became short on fuel and were diverted to Huntsville, Alabama.
Now I understand weather is beyond Delta's control. However, the completely unacceptable situation at Huntsville wasn't. Upon our arrival, we sat on the tarmac for well over an hour. It was hot, and the passengers were not asked if they wanted any water once we were on the ground. No information on our situation was forthcoming from the cockpit either. The Captain finally came on the intercom and informed us that there were no gates available, and even if there were, they couldn't accommodate our particular aircraft.
Didn't anyone think about this BEFORE sending us to Huntsville? DUH!!!
Long story short, we finally got fueled and on our way almost 3 hours after we got there.
Upon arriving in Atlanta at somewhere near 11:30 p.m., we were told our luggage would take approximately an hour to arrive. It never did get listed on the board in baggage claim telling us what carousel it would be on. It was almost 1 a.m. by the time I got my bag.
All this aggravation over less than one minute in Seattle.
But it gets worse. I felt very strongly that it would be unsafe for me to begin a 4-hour drive at 1 a.m., after getting up at 4 a.m. the previous day to embark on this fiasco.
I called Delta Special Member Services and said I believed Delta should provide a hotel room for me -- something they had done several times previously over the years in similar situations. The representative laughed out loud. She told me to go to Customer Service at the airport and take it up with them. When I went past the desk in the concourse, there were approximately 200 (no exaggeration) people in line, and I was already in Baggage Claim when were talking, which would have meant trying to go through security with no valid boarding pass. I know better than that.
I asked her to call and see what could be done. She refused, saying there was no way for her to reach anyone in the airport. I know this was a lie, as it has been done for me in the past. I asked what would happen if I got in my car and got in an accident. She said, "I guess you'll just have to sue us."
After almost 20 minutes, she apparently got tired of talking to me and just hung up. However, she did suggest I get a room and turn the cost in for a reimbursement. I did so, and that was rejected in a very condescending, cut and paste response from a Jerry P. Brown, from a department -- that I can only think must be an inside joke -- called "Customer Care."
So here I am, in Atlanta, at 1 a.m., tired, hungry, highly annoyed, with a 4-hour drive ahead of me, and getting absolutely NO satisfaction out of Delta, but a LOT of rudeness and attitude -- which began at a little after 7 the previous morning.
The return trip was almost as bad -- but not quite -- 2+ hour delay in Atlanta. While a weather-related delay is understandable and is one of those things beyond Delta's control, again, the rude treatment the customers received is not.
We could not get the Delta personnel at the gate to give us a reason for the delay or any kind of expected departure time. They just kept extending it on the board behind the desk, but didn't even bother to update the screen above the boarding line. When asked what was going to happen and why things were like they were, the woman manning the desk simply ignored us as if we weren't even there.
At one point, she did make some kind of an announcement, but it was competing with another announcement being made in the concourse, so no one could understand what she said. Myself and a couple of other passengers went to the desk, told her this, and requested she do it again. She simply shrugged her shoulders and said. "That's the way it goes."
That's crap -- but seems to be the way the "New Delta" is being run.
Upon calling Special Member Services and asking for information since none was forthcoming at the desk, I was put on hold while the representative said she would call the airport and ask. Now remember, I was told by Special Member Services when I called from Baggage Claim on arrival they couldn't do that. So who is lying here? When she returned to the line, she informed me my flight was in the boarding process. We didn't board for almost another hour.
At this point, I am much more than an unhappy customer, and am not someone who is satisfied with a condescending, cut and paste, insulting response that attempts to make all this my problem. So part of the solution to me, is using this forum to make you all aware of what you might expect if you fly Delta.
You've been warned...
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 7/15/2008 06:33:00 AM
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
How Disappointing...
I have worked very hard over the years using my column here to promote local business. I have been especially hard on local governments, insisting they purchase locally at every opportunity. I've never advocated that local businesses should just be handed business by the government if they aren't price competitive, but that they should always be given the opportunity to compete -- which hasn't always happened.
In fact, when it comes to buying services, Kitsap County and some of our other quasi-governmental agencies, seem to have a belief that there isn't the knowledge and/or expertise here to make it even worthwhile to look within our county. They also appear to think that if they don't pay big money (our tax dollars) for something, it must not be as good as what's available elsewhere else. My experience has been just the opposite. What I have found is that many service providers located here originally came from Seattle -- and in many cases California -- in search of a better quality of life. It hasn't diminished their ability to deliver high quality services, but it has in many cases reduced the price. Understanding Kitsap isn't Seattle and doesn't command the prices most service providers there can charge, many of those people have willingly traded money for quality of life.
In Port Orchard, I have instituted a simple purchasing policy. Assuming cost competitiveness, our purchasing priorities are to look first within the City itself (that way, we can at least recapture a portion of the sales tax we pay), then South Kitsap, Kitsap County, Washington State and then elsewhere -- in that order.
So it was a major disappointment to me when the City posted an RFP to redesign our Web site and out of 28 bids received, only three were from Kitsap-based firms and two from Seattle. The rest were from out of state and came from as far away as Atlanta, New York City, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, and of course, California. We also directly contacted a number of local Web designers whose work we were familiar with, encouraging them to bid as well. Not a single one of them did.
After reviewing the bids we did receive, we decided to revise the specs somewhat and will re-advertise the project hoping to draw additional bidders. Hopefully, this time some will be local.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 5/15/2008 07:48:00 AM
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Monday, March 10, 2008
Lantz pulls the plug, Abel to run
With the state legislative session grinding to a close, longtime 26th District Representative Pat Lantz (D-Gig Harbor) has announced that she will not seek a seventh term.
Lantz issued a press release just after noon on Monday, stating, "I believe it is time to turn my full attention to my family -- my husband, my three children, and five wonderful grandchildren."
Within hours, former Port Orchard Mayor Kim Abel announced that she would seek the seat Lantz is vacating. There had been some speculation when Abel declined to run for a second term as Mayor, that she would file for the county commission seat being vacated by Jan Angel. Instead, she will face off against Angel, who announced her intention to challenge Lantz some months ago.
Lantz also endorsed Abel, said as a part of Abel's press release, "Kim Abel understands the needs of our district, cares deeply about our families and communities and I am delighted to offer her my support." Lantz said she actually made the decision not to seek another term back in September, but didn't want to announce her decision and be viewed as a lame duck during the legislative session, which is scheduled to end on Thursday.
That wasn't really news to Angel, who said, "I had heard when I threw my hat in the ring that she (Lantz) was not running for another term."
Angel stated, "The last eight years have given me a real good foundation. I understand the needs and issues of the 26th District."
Without going into a lot of detail at this point in time, I'll just say that as the guy who inherited what Abel left in Port Orchard, I'll be supporting Jan Angel.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 3/10/2008 08:36:00 PM
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Monday, November 19, 2007
Restoring the One Percent Cap
The Washington State Supreme Court has once again demonstrated its elitist contempt for the voters of this state by insulting our intelligence and overturning Tim Eyman's I-747. Its rationale was that we voters are too stupid to understand what we passed by a landslide back in 2001 -- in spite of the fact it more than likely kept a much stronger tax revolt at bay as property values soared in recent years.
That certainly created a serious election-year dilemma for our esteemed Governor, Christine Gregoire -- who has never seen a tax she didn't support -- and said previously she'd like to increase the one percent limit imposed by we voters.
The ink wasn't even dry on the Supreme Court ruling before her 2008 Republican opponent, former State Senator Dino Rossi, immediately called upon the governor to convene a special one-day session of the legislature to reinstate the one percent lid -- much the way former Governor Gary Locke did in 2000, instituting $30 car tabs after the court handed down its decision invalidating I-695. But Gregoire stonewalled Rossi's call for almost three weeks, leaving taxpayers at risk for big local increases. "The incumbent is not leading, she is reacting -- and slowly," Rossi chided.
Right after the Supreme Court ruling, Gregoire minimized the situation, saying she would work with lawmakers to re-impose a limit, without giving a specific number, and creating the impression she was open to something more than one, but less than six percent.
As late as June of last year, Gregoire pushed a compromise increase, stating six percent begins taxing people out of their homes (conveniently neglecting to mention it also doubles the amount of taxation every 12 years), but insisting that in spite of continually escalating property values, one percent forces cutbacks on local services.
The political reality is any compromise on the percentage is a no-win for Gregoire, who barely beat Rossi in 2004 -- and as we all know, under highly questionable circumstances. If Gregoire and the Democrats passed even a two percent cap they'll be crucified in the court of public opinion for doubling property taxes.
The Friday after Election Day, Rossi and the Republicans were spinning themselves as champions of the taxpayers. Tim Eyman, fresh from his I-960 victory, was bombastically crowing, "People are in no mood to compromise. They're ready to rip politicians' lungs out." So Gregoire issued a four-sentence e-mail saying -- for the very first time -- she supported a one percent cap.
"The voters approved Initiative 747, it has been in place for five years and I think we need to leave it in place," she said. She reportedly later told the AP -- with a straight face -- that's been her position for the past year. Perhaps she should have gone public much sooner, because that's the very first time anyone ever heard her say that.
What provoked Gregoire into action, was the fact the old six percent law went back into effect. Numerous local taxing districts had "banked" unused taxing authority, and several King County taxing districts quickly moved to use it, ignoring Gregoire's lame request not to.
Kitsap County Commissioner Chair Josh Brown also floated a trial balloon hinting Kitsap might look at increasing property taxes as well, but cooler, more experienced heads, prevailed.
In spite of the myriad of special interest Democratic constituencies pressuring the governor for an increase while the door was open, Gregoire was between the proverbial rock and a hard place. While Democrats detested Rossi and Eyman dictating Olympia's agenda and its timing, they couldn't risk their supermajorities in both houses next fall either. Openly challenging the clear will of the voters was simply an unacceptable risk.
Crediting voters with a gullibility factor between 7 and 8 on a scale of 10, Democrats cranked up their spin machine to put the best PR face on the situation. The KPBJ received identically-worded press releases from every Democratic House member in the 23rd, 26th and 35th Districts telling us how they were listening to the voters and supported Gregoire's efforts. Only the names were changed. Senator Derek Kilmer however, came out for restoring the one percent cap almost as soon as the Supreme Court decision was announced.
Republicans running for election in 2008 will leverage the very real fear of even higher taxes. If Gregoire does prevail next November -- which polling indicates is far from certain right now -- in spite of re-imposing the cap, there's nothing except an unlikely Gregoire veto preventing a Democratic-controlled 2009 legislature from increasing it.
But just once, wouldn't you love to see a political leader step up and do what's right -- without political considerations -- for NO other reason than because it IS the right thing to do? In my view, that's what true leadership is all about.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 11/19/2007 05:39:00 PM
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Sunday, April 29, 2007
Endresen To Resign in June
Amid a lot of local speculation about whether or not she would seek a fourth term, County Commissioner Chris Endresen surprised everyone by announcing on Sunday, April 29, that she will resign in June. According to onlne reports from the Port Orchard Independent as well as as the Kitsap Sun Web sites, Endresen has accepted a position as the State Director of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's office.
In her new position, Endresen will oversee five offices across the state -- Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Everett and Tri-Cities, from her office in the Federal Building in downtown Seattle. She will reportedly oversee 18 people in those locations. She said she will continue to reside in Poulsbo and commute.
The 50-year-old Endresen is the current vice president of the Washington State Association of Counties (WASC), as well as representing Kitsap County on a myriad of local, regional and statewide boards and commissions. She is also a recent graduate of the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.
In March, two-term Republican Commissioner Jan Angel announced she wouldn't seek a third term. With Endresen out of the picture, 26-year old Democrat Josh Brown will become the county's senior commissioner. Angel and Brown, will appoint Endresen's replacement within five days of her resignation. If they can't agree, the appointment will be made by the governor.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 4/29/2007 10:28:00 PM
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Monday, April 23, 2007
Time For A Progress Report From SEED
With the money former county commissioner Tim Botkin has secured and has committed from the Feds, the state legislature, the Port of Bremerton, Kitsap County and all the other 100 percent taxpayer-funded sources, SEED should be approaching the $4 million mark in funding.
Meanwhile all a Google search for Kitsap SEED finds is a link to the Port of Bremerton, with a small number of press releases, and a defunct website for the project itself.
With that kind of money at stake, isn't it time Botkin named the companies he's actually got signed on the dotted line for this project, the number of prospective jobs they'll bring to Kitsap County, and when we can expect to start seeing them -- before he gets any deeper into the taxpayer's pocket?
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 4/23/2007 08:40:00 AM
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Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Misinformation and Lies Win. ISC Withdraws Track Proposal
"We just don't see any point in beating our head against the wall any more," said a resigned Grant Lynch, vice president of International Speedway Corporation (ISC), in discussing the news that the Daytona Beach, Florida speedway developer was shutting down its efforts to build a NASCAR-style speedway in Kitsap County.
It is a clear victory for for the purveyors of misinformation and blatant lies -- not to mention a complete and total lack of political cojones on the part of our elected officials. I believe it is a very sad commentary on the state of our county and our legislature when what amounts to 12 or so people can organize a disinformation campaign so effective it intimidates our public officials to the point of pure cowardice.
Phil Rockefeller, Sherry Appleton, Pat Lantz, and Larry Seaquist have proven they don't deserve to represent us. However, instead of having the humility to be ashamed for their gross inadequacy as representatives, they'll be doing a victory dance as they vote to raise our taxes again -- when they could have funded what they'll make US pay for from the revenue the speedway would have generated.
We got what we voted for... Cowards.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 4/03/2007 10:29:00 AM
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Abel to Bow Out as P.O. Mayor
In a press release issued the afternoon of April 2, Port Orchard Mayor Kim Abel announced she will not seek a second term as mayor.
She has been rumored for some time to be considering a run for county commissioner, to try and capture the seat being left vacant by Jan Angel's surprise announcement on March 28 that she wouldn't seek a third term.
However, Abel told the Business Journal that she hasn't made a decision on doing running for commissioner -- and doesn't intend to make one in the near future. She was careful to not rule out the possibility, and did say she might revisit the commissioner's race as the time got closer. But she also stated there were other opportunities that she would like to explore as well, besides being an elected official.
More if it develops...
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 4/03/2007 10:27:00 AM
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Friday, March 09, 2007
A Provocative New Local Blog
I received an email through what's known as an anonymous remailer alerting me to a new blog called 614 Division Street. Just click the link to go there. I was also surprised to find a link to our WestSound Politics blog -- as well as some others -- when I looked at it.
To those unacquainted with anonymous remailers, they are a way to send untraceable email through a third party source. I assume it came through the remailer because the author wishes to hide his or her identity. If the first post is any indication of what's to come, I can understand why.
From the looks of it, this could get real interesting...
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 3/09/2007 12:11:00 PM
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Who was Abel Speaking For?
Those members of the Port Orchard City Council who made it a point to chastise Mayor Kim Abel for appearing before the Washington State Legislature to express her unhappiness over the proposed NASCAR track in South Kitsap, were right on the money,
As a private citizen -- and an American -- Abel certainly owns right to her opinion, and to voice it. But as the mayor -- as she well knows -- she doesn't have the right to represent herself as speaking for the citizens of South Kitsap on this issue. Had she made the distinction to the legislature between private citizen and public official, it would have been one thing, but she didn't. She made it appear that her position was that of the city -- and that is a flat out lie.
In my view, the council should have publicly censured Abel for such a blatantly politically-motivated action, and sent a letter to the legislature stating that the mayor was wrong in appearing and making it exceedingly clear her testimony was her own opinion and in no way represented the position of the city.
Abel isn't the mayor of South Kitsap, and there has been no public opinion poll to learn the feelings of City of Port Orchard residents -- Abel's only constituency -- on the track. And the Elway poll taken by the county suggests a 50-50 split on the issue when measured countywide, with a majority in South Kitsap in favor of the proposal. Approval numbers also go up countywide when the "public financing" lie is clarified.
In essence, Abel intentionally lied to the legislature about exactly who she represents. She shouldn't be allowed to get away with that.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 3/09/2007 10:47:00 AM
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Sunday, December 31, 2006
Brown's dishonesty comes back to haunt him...
All the questions about newly elected County Commissioner Josh Brown's qualifications to hold office may become moot if a lawsuit filed by Central Kitsap resident Robert Ross is successful. In the suit, Ross claims Brown lied about his official residency and doesn't live in the district he was elected from, nor has he ever lived in the apartment he gave as his residence.
When asked why he filed the suit, Ross simply answered, "If he'll commit fraud to get elected, there's no telling what he'll do once he's in there." Ross then referred any additional questions to his attorney.
Brown's honesty and ethics were also an issue during the campaign. There were questions about his college degree, plus well-documented evidence of him taking opposing positions on the NASCAR issue. When speaking in front of environmentalists, Brown claimed to be opposed the project, while favoring it in front of business leaders, stating he believed the county could cut a better deal than the one being offered.
I have editorialized about what I view as Brown's basic dishonesty on numerous previous occasions, and won't bore you with it again. But I do believe it has come back to bite him in the ass. But from the information I was able to gather writing this story, there's a LOT more than what went into it. I was basically restricted by time and space considerations, so all the details couldn't be reported. But based on what I've personally seen and the folks I talked to, the facts are there and it appears they've got a pretty solid case against Brown. There's been a lot of work done documenting the evidence, and I don't think they would go out on that kind olimb without having the documentation and facts to back it up.
What could perhaps be the biggest local news story of 2006 -- including the election of Brown -- was reported first by the Business Journal. The story broke literally minutes before presstime, and appears on Page 5 of the print edition of the January issue. It also was sent out in a special breaking news email to the paper's regular email subscribers on December 29.
The suit was filed in Kitsap County minutes before the official close of business for 2006. According to Ross's attorney Michele Rodosevich of the Seattle law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, only Brown was named in the suit, and not the county. Normally, county officeholders are defended by lawyers from the prosecutor's office. But since the suit was filed before Brown officially took office and didn't name the county, it also means the taxpayers won't pay to defend him, and Brown will need to engage and pay his own defense attorney.
"The lawsuit doesn't contend the county did anything wrong," stated Radosevich. "What's wrong is that Josh Brown gave the wrong information on his Declaration of Candidacy. You have to give the address where you actually reside and you have to live in the district from which you run. There's been some investigating done, and it appears he actually lives with his parents in Poulsbo, which is in Commissioner District One."
That information was verified by Larry Walsh of Bayside Professional Investigations. Brown claims to live in an apartment in an 18-unit complex on Perry Avenue in Bremerton. But according to Walsh, although Brown's name appears on the building's roster, he believes the apartment is vacant and has not been lived in. Walsh claims to have visited the apartment on at least 15 different occasions, at various times of the day and night, and that he never witnessed any activity at the unit, and that no one ever answered the door. "I suspect he rented it, or someone else rented it for him," Walsh said. "All the blinds are drawn and there's no lights on."
The building has six units on the second floor where the apartment is situated. Walsh said he interviewed four of the five other tenants directly adjacent to the unit, including the man across the hall and the woman next door, showing them 8 x 10 color photos of Brown. All of them claimed never to have seen Brown, or his vehicle, at the complex. They also claimed not to have seen or heard anyone in the apartment in question for several months, with most of the neighbors believing it was still empty. "The last any of them knew, it was still vacant, and one neighbor said the last tenant she recalled living there was a Mexican family," said Walsh.
Subsequently, three of the five other tenants on that floor have given legal depositions stating those facts as well.
"I'm fairly sure he's still living with his parents." When asked why he believed that, the investigator answered, "I found him at his parent's house on more than one occasion and know for a fact he spent the night there." When questioned how he could be so certain, Walsh answered, "Because I would see him leave the next morning."
The case will have to wind its way through the legal system, so it may be some time before it's resolved. In the event Brown is found to have misrepresented his residence, he will have to step down as commissioner and could possibly face criminal charges as well. "It appears he lied to the elections people as well as the Department of Licensing about his true residence," said Walsh. "Those are crimes."
What happens if Brown steps down? The remaining county commissioners, Jan Angel and Chris Endresen, will appoint someone to fill the position until the next general election in either 2007 or 2008. If it's 2008, that raises the possibility of all three commissioners being up for re-election at the same time, as both Endresen and Angel face the voters then. However, there is an election in 2007, but it's unclear if it meets the standard for a "general election" for the purposes of electing a county commissioner.
I'm willing to bet that they appoint former commissioner Patty Lent, a moderate, who was ousted in the Republican primary by conservative property rights activist Jack Hamilton. Brown kicked Hamilton's butt by almost 6,000 votes.
According to Radosevich, there is also no law governing the political considerations of the appointment. Usually, the political party of the person vacating a public office nominates three people for consideration and the commissioners pick from those. However, after researching the statues at the request of the Business Journal, Radosevich could find no specific county or state statue dictating the political party of a commissioner had any standing, and in fact, it appears they are specifically exempt from the statue governing other political appointments.
"The commissioners will have to find someone they both agree on," she said, "regardless of political party. It appears the political parties have no standing in this matter." She added that the law states that in the event the commissioners couldn't agree on a replacement, the governor would select the successor.
Due to the timing of the filing of this lawsuit -- minutes before the start of a major holiday weekend -- neither Commissioners Chris Endresen or Jan Angel could be reached for comment, nor did Brown respond to several attempts to contact him before presstime.
In my view, this is just another shining example of the failure of the forced primary system that brought us two generally unacceptable choices. Yes, Brown beat Hamilton by a huge margin. However, the sheer number of Democrats in Kitsap County, coupled with the nationwide Democratic tide, were also a factor.
And you have wonder... Convential wisdom said Patty Lent was "safe." She beat former incumbent Democrat Tim Botkin like a red-headed stepchild in 2002, meaning thousand of Democrats crossed over and voted for her. She was also popular with a lot of local D's because she tended to vote with Democrat Chris Endresen more often that Republican Jan Angel. So, what if Jim Rye hadn't challenged Sheriff Steve Boyer in the Democratic primary? Since there was no Republican challenger, the primary dictated the winner of that race. Would all of those Democrats -- and more than likely a fair number of Republicans -- that took Democratic ballots to insure the popular Boyer stayed in office, taken Republican ballots instead to vote for Lent?
I believe Jack Hamilton beat Lent because a small but vocal Republican minority was unhappy with her votes on the Critical Areas Ordinance and Impact Fees, and mobilized that unhappy core group. While she was thought to be "safe" because Hamilton is thought of as an extreme right-winger who under ordinary circumstances wouldn't have made the ballot, that proved to be a thinking error because voters were more worried about the challenge to Boyer than Lent.
Had Lent faced Brown instead of Hamilton, I believe she would have cruised to re-election, but the Boyer-Rye primary race was the monkey wrench that brought this whole situation about.
This also makes you wonder about Brown's political future. Democrats from Norm Dicks on down to the mayors, to union leaders, to the precinct committee people, all put their personal credibility on the line to support this guy. Now they're sitting there with serious egg on their faces. Will they give him a second opportunity to embarrass them?
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 12/31/2006 09:43:00 AM
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Thursday, November 30, 2006
Failure to Pass the WASL is an Indication of a MUCH larger Failure
I was appalled to see that Queen Christine has stepped in to decree a three-year delay in the requirement that students in our state be required to pass the math portion of the 10th-grade WASL as a requirement to graduate. The goal that every student pass all three portions of the WASL -- the "three 'R's" if you will -- reading, writing and math, was set in 1993. Here we are almost 14 years later, with almost 30,000 high school sophomores in danger of failing to graduate in 2008.
Superintendent Terry Bergeson has openly acknowledged that the expected spike in math scores had not materialized. Additionally, she admitted that nearly half of those sophomores were not even close to passing. While a summer retake would mean a few more students could pass, nearly half of all members of the class of 2008 will still most likely fail. Meanwhile, our questionably elected governor has said she will push for legislation in the next legislative session to postpone the math requirement for three years.
Gregoire's proposal is to allow students to graduate if they can pass the reading and writing portions of the WASL along with rigorous math classes through their senior years. "This thee-year period will give us time to overhaul our math instruction," she said.
In a phone interview, Bergeson told the Kitsap Sun, "We've already got some changes lined up." She also said she is confident a rejuvenated math program will pay off for the class of 2011.
What about the classes of 2008, 2009 and 2010?
I am no education expert, but it seems to me if they couldn't accomplish this in 14 years, another three isn't going to make much of a difference unless those changes include dumbing down the entire math curriculum to the lowest common denominator. I oppose that.
Bergeson, the former Central Kitsap Schools superintendent, was also quoted as saying, "It was disappointing for everyone. It wasn't due to a lack of effort among teachers or students. We were just not ready."
What does that mean exactly? And more to the point, after 14 years, WHY are we "just not ready?"
Bergeson added, "It showed us that it wasn't a matter of motivation. Those same students scored nearly 90 percent in the reading and writing portions, so they were clearly trying. It just became evident that we as a state had not properly prepared them for the math portion."
I am more than a little reluctant to accept that "we as a state" crap. You and I didn't have anything to do with this other than paying our taxes to fund this colossal failure. How about putting the blame where it belongs? And naturally, when we are talking about educational accountability, the Washington Education Association (WEA) -- which is always demanding more of our tax dollars and shaming liberal lawmakers to either hand them over or miss out on election campaign funds -- is conspicuously silent about its failure to educate our students properly.
More than HALF of the entire state budget is already devoted to education. The theme of just about every Democrat elected in November was that we need to support education even more. To me at least, it's painfully obvious that we aren't getting our money's worth now. So will someone explain to me how throwing even MORE money at the problem is going to solve it?
Bergeson went on to say that if the schools that had failed, it's not fair to punish students by not letting them graduate. Yeah, that makes sense -- let's send them off to college and/or out into the "real world" without a proper education and pat ourselves on the back for doing the right thing. Sorry, but that just doesn't fly with me. In my view, Bergeson, the legislature, and the WEA, all deserve a failing grade.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 11/30/2006 10:53:00 AM
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Monday, November 13, 2006
A Brief Explanation...
I have had an unexpected number of people contact me personally as well as talk to my wife, about my posting both here and in the paper about my recent health incident.
In spite of the rumors, I did NOT have a heart attack. t wasn't anything even remotely like that.
What happened was actually kind of bizarre, and in the name of simplicity, I'll give you the abbreviated version.
My grandson's day care called and said they thought he was coming down with the chickenpox -- something I never had as a child. I called my doctor who told me to go to the Kitsap County Health Department and immediately get a certain kind of vaccination. So I drove right over there and got a shot.
Without going into a lot of detail, what resulted was a severe reaction to that shot. After several days of not feeling well, I ended up with a temperature of 106 and was unable to breathe. My wife called 911 and South Kitsap Fire-Rescue was dispatched. They took me to Harrison, where I spent five days being treated for severe dehydration and a massive kidney infection.
We're still not sure if I received the wrong vaccination or if the vaccine I received was somehow contaminated. The technicians at Harrison -- where I received excellent care by the way -- sent a sample off to the CDC in Atlanta just to be sure.
So there you have it. No heart attack -- but certainly a freak occurrence. However, it taught me the importance of being certain that all the people in my life who I care about know they are loved.
And once again, I want to extend the sincerest "Thank You" to the folks at Harrison and especially to the people at South Kitsap Fire-Rescue. They saved my life.
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 11/13/2006 10:53:00 AM
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Saturday, October 28, 2006
Back In The Saddle
Please accept my humble "Thank You" to all of you who called and wrote after learning I was temporarily taking some forced R & R. I am fully recovered after that slight bit of unpleasentness and back to work.
Thank you for your patience and understanding...
THE ABOVE ARTICLE POSTED BY West Sound Politics @ 10/28/2006 10:21:00 AM
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