How we finance the Stanwood Camano School District

On this cold rainy Saturday,  members and guests attended the monthly meeting of our local Democratic Party at the Viking to hear representatives of the Stanwood Camano School District - Ellen Hiatt, a parent on the school’s levy committee, Superintendent Jean Shumate and finance director Gary Platt   - outline the school district's financial needs and current funding

 On this cold rainy Saturday,  members and guests attended the monthly meeting of our local Democratic Party at the Viking to hear representatives of the Stanwood Camano School District - Ellen Hiatt, a parent on the school’s levy committee, Superintendent Jean Shumate and finance director Gary Platt   - outline the school district's financial needs and current funding

The State provides 65% of the funding and the Federal Government 10%.  In addition to local fees a local Levy pays 23%. This levy will expire in December 2011.  Voters are being asked to renew the levy by ballot in late January to be returned by Feb. 14th.  Voting in favor of the levy will provide our schools with student bus transportation, extra help for struggling students.  advanced placement classes , breakfast and lunch programs, utilities and building maintenance.   To determine how much the levy would cost your household,   you would multiply the assessed value of your house by .00217.  Seniors with an income less than $35k can apply for an exemption.

Members of the audience were concerned about what steps the district had taken to save money.  As with the City of Stanwood,  staff have been laid off .  All employees, including teachers have accepted a pay cut and/or furlough days while assuming additional duties resulting from staff reductions.  Where it was safe students have been required to walk farther to a bus stop to reduce diesel fuel consumption.   I asked questions about the school's ability to maintain scholastic performance under these cuts.  I was impressed by how the district was able to maintain standards with the help of local citizen volunteers.  The Washington State Report Card provides a detailed report on Student performance

Everyone interested in local Democratic politics is welcome to attend our meetings at the Viking Restaurant on the second Saturday of each month.

Anacortes - Reception for Rep. Kristine Lytton

Rep Lyttons constituents gather at the McCool Gallegy in Anacortes

Loved the Fall colors and pumpkin piles as I drove through the Skagit Valley to the  Ann Martin McCool Studio and Gallery in Anacortes - a beautiful place for a serious discussion about WA State economic challenges.   The Ann Martin McCool Studio provided artistic inspiration as we waited for Representative Kristine Lytton’s timely arrival.  Among the cheeses on the table we found the delicious fresh salmon and berry cobbler provided by Lona Wilbur

    

There was agreement among Kristine Lytton's supporters that some of the billions of dollars in cuts from the State budget did eliminate waste.   Rep. Lytton warned that future budget cuts would reduce support for senior's prescription drugs, kindergarden and higher education.  In order to fund K-12 education Rep. Lytton suggests that  the bank exemptions for the B & O tax be limited.  This would affect mostly out of state big banks.  Although  the limit has wide support,  a 2/3 vote of the legislature is needed to pass, because eliminating loop holes is considered a tax increase.  So Rep. Lytton is attempting to garner support from the public for the limit.   

Representative Kristine Lytton listens to a question from a constituent while Democratic National Committee Representative Lona Wilbur looks on.

Business Executive Lonny Heiner said the B & O tax as it is now structured was a hardship for his company.  The company had to move out of State.  He proposed that the B & O tax be replaced by a corporate tax.   There followed an animated question and answer session which Rep. Lytton fielded with aplomb.  She has found esprit de corps among the the freshman class of 10 elected Democratic State Representatives.  They had attended the Wellstone Training for progressive leaders together and found it effective.  

Stanwood 2011 Candidates Forum

Last Thursday the AAUW and the Stanwood Camano News held a forum in the Stanwood Middle School to present the candidates and issues for the election now taking place.   About 75 mostly older citizens showed up.  I was disappointed in the event because the format and presentations by most of the candidates did not help me decide for whom to vote.  Because so much was crammed into the two hour event, each candidate had only a few highly structured minutes to speak, much of which was taken up with describing how long they had lived in Stanwood, how many children and grandchildren they had, how much they all loved the proposal for a new YMCA and that Stanwood needed to attract new businesses (duh!).   As for the latter nothing more specific was mentioned by most of the candidates than working with the Chamber of Commerce and vague references to signage.   The most debated issue at the City Council level concerned the Salary Commission.  Candidate Larry Sather was for it. Candidate Roger Haskin argued that it was an unnecessary expense.  Being relatively new to Stanwood,  I could not tell from this forum who was right.   Sather and Haskins are running for different positions so that would not determine my vote.  Sather’s opponent Elizabeth Callagham did not address the issue.  Haskin’s opponent Steven A. Venema was not able to attend.

Perennial Flooding in Stanwood was another issue brought up by two of the candidates -  Larry Sather and Jenna Friebel.  Friebel, a hydrologist with an engineering degree from the Univ. of WA, warned that the flood planes in Stanwood were an impediment to downtown development.  To improve the quality of life and make Stanwood more of a tourist (a.k.a. shoppers)  destination,  Friebel also endorsed a shoreline Master Plan.  

Candidates for City Council Position 5 - William Carlton and Jenna Friebel - at the Stanwood Middle School evening forum

All the candidates have solid roots in Stanwood  with relevant and impressive experience.  So just based on what I gleaned from the forum,  in some cases I would have to pick the candidates based on looks and charm.  Not happy with that practice, I am looking for other sources of information.  As always the Snohomish County Local Voters Pamphlet was some help. 

In addition to the City Council races much time was spent presenting the opposing arguments on various initiatives,  debates between Candidates in the Snohomish County Races and presentations by unopposed School board candidates.  The best point made about any of the initiatives was the emphasis on the difficulty of selling bonds to finance highway construction if I-1125 passes. I-1125 makes the unusual requirement that the legislature instead of an independent agency set highway tolls. Investors in toll revenue bonds see the independence of toll-setting bodies as an essential credit requirement.   On other initiatives my time would have been better spent studying the detailed State of Washington’s Voters’ Pamphlet on these issues.  There was more insight into the County Candidates Mike Hope and incumbent Aaron Reardon on Up Front with Robert Mak on King 5 News.  (now available online) Unfortunately there were some ad hominem attacks on Mak's show. 

Candidates for Snohomish County Executive - Aaron Reardon and Mike Hope -
 at the Stanwood Middle School evening forum

In general I think the Forum would have been more helpful if it had cut out the time given to the initiatives and unopposed candidates, allowed more time for the city council races, and been more flexible in asking questions.  For instance the organizers  asked the same two questions of each candidate and got basically the same answer.  They could have saved a significant amount of time without any loss of information by just asking all the Candidates that favored the  construction of a new YMCA facility to raise their hands.  The same for the question as to whether the City should maintain its current City Hall.  Every candidate basically said the we should retain the current building until the city could afford to build a new one.   This type of question response would probably require that all candidates be seated at the stage at once, but the stage was certainly wide enough.  It would also have provided for more interaction among the candidates that was sorely lacking. 

Snohomish County Democrats Annual Gala

Saturday I attended the Snohomish County Democrats “Phantom of the Opera Gala”.  In the spirit of the opera many of the Ladies wore beautiful black gowns or sequined dresses except me.  Not knowing the opera I wore Fall colors.  Oops.

      

 I was thrilled to meet so many of our elected officials that were in attendance.   Our State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen encouraged me to visit the next session of the State legislature in Olympia this winter.  

WA State Attorney General Candidate Bob Ferguson addressed the crowd. As usual Ferguson was applauded when he said his first priority as Attorney General would be to withdraw WA from participation in a lawsuit initiated by Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna.  If successful the lawsuit would block the new federal health care legislation.  ....Candidate Ferguson's  family has deep roots in Everett.  His grandfather owned a meat market in the location where we were now dining at the Comcast Center.

US Congressman Rick Larsen  gave the keynote address.  He believes in the will of the people over the will of the Tea Party e.g. “We must keep the light on at the end of the tunnel” to get through hard times.  Congressman  Larsen thus voted against H.R. 2587  that curbs the National Labor Relations Board's legal authority.   Congressman Larsen argues that  “Congress should not be attempting to influence the NLRB process for political gains.”

Congressman Larsen is worried about  Republicans from other States targeting the State of Washington for the 2012 elections.  Democratic WA State Candidate Jay Inslee’s campaign for governor will be the most targeted race in the country.  Larsen's own reelection  opponent  has received $600,000 from mysterious out of State sources.  Our Democrat State Senator - Mary Margaret Haugen - however, has won elections against great spending odds because she is a great speaker and has a good ear for the “will of the people”.  Congressman Larsen also has demonstrated these same talents at various events I have attended.  So I still hope the mysterious donors are wasting their money. 

Given the serious challenges and outcome of the elections in 2012,  it is no wonder that our elected officials - US Congressman Rick Larsen (left) and State Senator Mary Magaret Haugen  - look concerned even at the Gala. 

Stanwood City Council Elections

Candidate for Stanwood  City Council - Larry Sather,

A concerned group of residents began to work in earnest this week on Larry Sather’s campaign for position one on the City Council.   Knowing Larry,  we believe he can provide the leadership Stanwood needs.  In addition to his proposals outlined on my July 13th coverage of the candidates,  Larry recommends the re-establishment of the salary commission so that city council members do not set their own salaries.  Clarifying another point, he proposes that Stanwood firefighters become  members of the Rural Fire District 14 Regional Fire Authority to provide firefighting and EMT service for Stanwood residents.  Larry and the other candidates for North Snohomish County and Camano Island elected position will be discussing these and other issues at the Candidates Forum sponsored by the local chapter of AAUW and The Stanwood Camano News.

CANDIDATES FORUM

WED., OCTOBER 19, 2010 at 6:30 PM

PLACE: STANWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL CAFETERIA

9405  271^st ST., STANWOOD, WA

Democrats at the Evergreen State Fair

While manning the Democrat's booth at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe WA the Party's Legislative District Chairs Ray Miller (left) of the 10th LD and  Rick Bligh of the 39th LD review the Democrats Celebrity Cook Book . My favorite recipe was the 1779 election cake which called for 1 quart of yeast.  People back then had to travel several days to the city to vote and needed a big cake to keep fed.  Our forebears were robust about voting.

    When I arrived 10 a.m on Tuesday, August 29th at the Evergreen State Fair,  Chairman Rick Bligh had already set up the Democratic Party booth for the day.  Rich explained about a half dozen simple things for me to do.  As I stood in the booth that day, it was obvious that not everyone was interested in politics, but we did attract a variety of people.  A small group of men gathered around Chairman Ray Miller for an animated discussion about what Democrats were going to do to increase employment.  I was busy with other visitors so I only heard the end of the conversation.   Ray's organization has posted a strong platform on Economic Justice and Development.  Among the 22 items listed in that section of the platform are three directed specifically at job development:

• Support for small businesses, including tax credits, low interest loans, and non-profit micro-lending.
• Targeted economic development incentives to businesses that provide verifiable, immediate, and lasting benefits to our communities.
• opposing tax advantages to companies that outsource American jobs.

Meanwhile I was busy registering voters.  I decided to take Tom Sawyer's approach to painting fences.   When people asked if they could register to vote,  I told them we don't allow just anyone to vote.  I required that they  count up the goats and roosters at the fair and report an accurate census to me.  About a dozen people pushed pass me and filled out the forms.  My request didn't stop anyone.  

Democrats March in Stanwood Parade for Gubernatorial Candidate Jay Inslee

Before leaving for the Stanwood Parade yesterday,  I listened to Northwest Public Radio. They were reporting changes in the way WA State's 1.5 billion medicaid budget will be administered.   The changes worried me.

photo by Susan Ronken

I walked 1.5 mile to the staging area for the Stanwood Annual Parade where I and other local Democrats were gathering our signs and putting on our T-shirts in support of our Candidate for Governor - Jay Inslee.   As I was getting ready, Candidate Inslee came up and introduced himself.  I was still thinking about medicaid and asked him (and others) if they had heard about the changes.  With all the many things he and his campaign had to coordinate that day, I felt a little crazy bothering him but he graciously said he would look into it.  I am sure the issue will come on our future governor's agenda because medicaid  equals  about 3% of total State government expenditures.  You can check my calculations with the Governmental-wide Financial Statements.  I am taking note that total WA State government expenses for 2010 was 46 billion, so I can place all other discussions of spending and revenues in context.

The weather was perfect as we all joined the Parade.  Candidate Inslee showed boundless energy for greeting the spectators along the route who varied from polite to enthusiastic. There was a good turnout.  Everyone in town seemed to enjoy being outside together.  Just wish I could have seen more of the parade, but one cannot both march and watch.  I did see some polished rehearsals in the staging area.

Candidate Jay Inslee and local Stanwood Democrats Jennifer Kelly and Marsha Armstrong seem to have some serious thoughts about politics just before joining the parade.