Tom Riggs' Campaign for 10th LD State Rep

Tom Riggs (far left) announces his Candidacy for 10th LD State Representative at the Stanwood Democrats monthly meeting Feb. 11th

At their monthly meeting Saturday morning the Stanwood Democrats welcomed the announcement of Tom Rigg’s Candidacy for the 10th Legislative District. 

Having served 18 years as a Park Ranger in the State of Washington,  Tom Riggs brings a unique perspective about WA State’s social and physical landscape.  Like most of us he emphasizes bringing more employment to Washington State. He suggests that our State government could in source more State contracts within its borders.  More about his  specific proposals can be found in the Heraldnet.  

Candidate Riggs is not certain if he will be running against Rep. Barbara Bailey or if Rep. Bailey will run for the State Senate against Senator Mary Margaret Haugen.  I commented that the two legislators take opposing views on the recently passed legislation providing marriage equality for Gays and Lesbians.  Rep. Bailey voted against the legislation and is encouraging a referendum to repeal it.   Candidate Riggs sides with Senator Haugen in supporting the legislation.  I emailed Rep Bailey saying I was disappointed in her vote against marriage equality. 

Carol Ronken - In Memoriam

 Stanwood Democratic Party Chairman, Carol Ronken, passed yesterday.  Even though she was ill, she continued to provide us with passionate and inspired leadership to the end.  Her friendly devotion will be sorely missed.

Stanwood Democratic Party Chairman Carol Ronken welcomes our US Representative
 Rich Larsen to our monthly meeting at the Viking Restaurant.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27 at Camano Lutheran Church.

State Rep. Barbara Bailey's Coffee Talk for Stanwood Residents

 

Friday afternoon I and about a dozen other Stanwood Residents went to the Scandia Cafe on Rt. 532.   There we listened to 10th District State Representative Barbara Bailey (pictured far right) announce the need for the State Legislature to be called back into session this November to balance the budget.  The focus was on the trends in State revenue and spending since the beginning of the last decade.   Revenue and spending both increased but were balanced until  2008 when spending far outpaced revenue.  Rep. Bailey saw the revenue bubble in home construction coming but could not convince her colleagues on the House Ways and Means committee that the bubble would burst and that the State would not be able to  sustain all the new programs that had been introduced into the budget.   Sounds like she had a "Cassandra" predicament.  She was right.

Like Republicans nationwide,  Rep. Bailey proposed limiting taxes, cutting back on spending and streamlining regulation.    Generally,  I like to know how new programs are going to be funded and who will be adversely affected by budget cuts.  I have found regulations can be a good or bad idea.  So I can't respond to general statements about them.

  Rep. Bailey believes there could be changes in how some programs are structured that would save money without cutting services.  I asked for examples.  She mentioned early childhood education and health care.  She also felt that cuts should be more weighted towards service administrations rather than service staff  as cuts have been in the past.   We did not have time to go into more detail but I hope to read more about these ideas.  So I signed up on her email list.

After her presentation, much of the discussion was about how Democrats and Republican are working together.   While there are basic differences between the parties,  she observed that individual votes do not follow strict party lines.  As examples she points to her own appointments to important subcommittees such as Pensions and Veterans' Affairs - even though as a Republican she is in the minority.

Another  interest among residents was the interface between our education system and employment in the State.   Just as Boeing is now being awarded major contracts to build new planes,  many of their top engineers will be retiring.  The company worries about there being the educated work force they need here.  One gentleman wanted to know how much will taxpayers be required to help Boeing.   I expect that local economists can figure out how much it would cost to expand the engineering departments of our Universities and the effect that would have on the State budget if graduates were hired by Boeing.   I wonder whether we will have  enough high school grads ready for the challenges of Science education.  When I looked at State math scores they were not impressive.  I warned the others at the coffee talk that there were only two of us from WA State when I was taking graduate Statistics at the Univ. of WA.  About half the class was from China.

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.