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. 

Stanwood Democrats July Meeting

 Senator Mary Margaret Haugen Addresses Residents

As frequently the case, the Stanwood Democrats Monthly Meeting  included an array of Speakers to educate us on issues vital to our town.

The featured speaker - Senator Mary Margaret Haugen (picture standing) - addressed about 20 Stanwood resident after breakfast at the Viking Restaurant.

Senator Mary Margaret Haugen addresses the Stanwood Democrats
during their month meeting at the Viking Restaurant .

Senator Haugen summarized the just completed session of the Washington State legislature.  Like other State governments our Legislature was forced to make brutal cuts to education, social services and government services.   She was relieved that State Democrats and Republicans worked together to make these painful cuts to balance the budget.  Budget cuts reduced but did not eliminate essential services.   She credited Senator Ed Murray for leading the successful Senate negotiation with the House. She was happy to find the WA new young legislators were among our nations increasingly rare moderate Republicans that support Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights.

In spite of the severe reductions in State revenues, Senator Haugen did report some good news for her District.  With the passage of SB 5639 WSU will be establishing a  branch campus  at Everett Community College making higher education more accessible to students in North Puget Sound.   She was also excited that SB 5742 to reform and fund the State ferries passed the Senate by a 34-10 vote. After a tough battle, the  legislation to improve our ferries sponsored by Senator Haugen was signed into Law by Governor Gregoire June 7th. 

Senator Haugen then led a general discussion of the upcoming redistricting of the State legislative districts.  There was some consensus that the 10th legislative district should include Camano Island,  Stanwood and more of Skagit County instead of Whidbey Island.  This would make the district more geographically compact and manageable. 


Candidates for Stanwood City Council

Since Stanwood city council elections are non-partisan, our Chairman Carol Ronken invited all 10 candidates for the 5 open positions on the council to address out meetings.  Three of the candidates attended: Larry Sather and Elizabeth Callaghan are running for position one.  Incumbent William Carlton seeks reelection to position 3.  

From Left: Candidates Elizabeth Callaghan and  William Carlton with wife Eileen at the Viking for the Stanwood Democrats breakfast & monthly meeting.

Eileen and William Carlton moved to Stanwood in 1999.  William was appointed to Stanwood City council in 2007 and was elected in 2008.  He is now seeking re-election. He has served on all standing committees.  His major interest is the finance committee.  He strongly supports Stanwoods   Economic Development plan. Carlton advocates simplifying City Codes and the  review of  zoning issues in preparation for growth that will inevitably ensue when the North Sound area pulls out of recession. 

Candidate Larry Sather addresses Stanwood residents
 at the Viking Restaurant

Candidate  Larry Sather reminded us that Stanwood has spent much on community planning for the future.  To benefit from those plans Sather  vigorously opposes issuing variances from those plans.  Sather recommended that Stanwood align with regional fire authorities but retain Stanwood fire fighters. Since Stanwood is plagued with annual flooding, Sather proposes Stanwood work with regional governments to control flooding.  Having worked with Larry on other committees,   Stanwood Democratic Chairman Carol Ronken endorsed Larry as the voice of reason on contested issues. 

Cherry Point Coal Terminal

In a letter to the editor of the Action News, Richard Austin questions RE Sources for Sustainable Communities  sponsorship of Bill McKibben presentation Tuesday in Fairhaven. The presentation was announced in the  Skagit Democrats Action Newsletter last week.   According to Richard: 

"The announcement about Bill McKibben contains opinions trying to pass as fact.  People have been working on perfecting the Cherry Point project for years. They are taking great pains to insure there will be no environmental degradation.  In my opinion, RE Sources is pursuing a position that is not consistent with facts. The organization is resorting to emotional hooks rather than honoring proven actualities.  Thousands of jobs would be created constructing the facility (the area was approved for such an undertaking years ago).  Hundreds of new, permanent jobs would be produced.  The state and the county would receive millions of dollars of tax revenues.  Currently, the coal is being railed through Washington into British Columbia.  The coal is going to China. That will continue with or without the Cherry Point project.  Why should we forgo those good-paying jobs?  Let’s keep them in the U.S.

The Northwest Washington Central Labor Council, and Jobs with Justice, and other worker-centered organizations have endorsed the project.  Members of those organizations are environmentalists by nature. They also need jobs."

Richard Austin also asked why the discussion is being advertised in our Newsletter.  I published the McKibben event because the Skagit Democrats Sustainability and Environment Committee has been asked to look into the Cherry Point coal terminal issue and how it will affect our community.  Committee Chairman Steve Crider felt the event “will be our best opportunity to educate ourselves about the issue and who is engaged on various sides.”  However,  since the Skagit Democrats have not taken an official position on this issue McKibben’s presentation should have been and will be listed under Community Events rather the Democratic Events.  Thanks go to Richard Austin for pointing this out.   I began to edit the action news this winter - so I have just begun to publish the discussions about Cherry Point.  The Whatcom County Democrats have a summary of the approval process for the Cherry Point facility on their website.   Another description of the jobs vs the environment debate was published this year by Floyd McKay

Congressman Rick Larsen visits Stanwood Democrats

Saturday morning, May 14th Representative Rick Larsen of WA 2^nd Congressional District made a special appearance at the Stanwood Democrats monthly meeting at the Viking Restaurant.  Among others, Stanwood Democrats  listened to Representative Larsen’s visions for the future of our country and the Democratic Party.

Larsen reinforced WA 1^st District Congressman’s Jay Inslee’s fervent claims last week at the Skagit Dems Gala.  Both WA Congressmen believe that clean energy along with modernized infrastructure and  manufacturing will again make our country competitive in the World market.  Larsen worked for over a decade to create jobs in Western WA by helping the Intalco Alcoa plant in Ferndale reopen with reduced energy rates. 

When asked by a Stanwood Democrat about the Apollo Alliance Project  award this week of $2.02 billion for high speed rail,  Congressman Larsen endorsed the Project as 

a source of Job creation and much needed public transportation

The Skagit Democrats Gala

Last Saturday 220 Skagit County Democrats packed the the Cotton Tree Convention Center  singing the Pete Seger classic "If I Had a Hammer" accompanied by a smooth Jazz trio - violin, guitar and keyboard.  About a dozen local chapters of various national and local labor unions were represented at the Gala as well as the Swinomish Tribal Community and our Latino Outreach Committee.

The dinner featured local produce which was exceptionally fresh and flavorful.  Never knew red potatoes could be so good.  A delicately dressed curly kale salad was unique and just the right accent for the beef noodle and chicken main courses. 

After the silent auction and dinner,  Chairman David Goehring introduced King County Councilman Bob Ferguson (pictured right) , who is actively campaigning to succeed Republican Rob McKenna as Attorney General of Washington State. 

To hearty cheers at the Gala, Ferguson promised that if elected he would withdraw WA from the Republican lawsuit A.G. McKenna joined against President Obama’s new health-care legislation. 

The Keynote Speaker was US Congressman Jay Inslee's (below left) , who represents WA 1st Congressional District.  Inslee now serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee because he believes a clean energy economy can create jobs.  As one example Jay cited the Stimulus money spent on lithium ion batteries.  These high tech batteries will be manufactured in Holland MI and employ laid off auto workers.  Jay has worked to get funding for this and other clean energy technology projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  According to Jay: “It is real clear that there is going to be a huge market for clean energy. We want to make sure that those jobs and those products are created in America. Now, if we do what Darrell [Issa]wants to do, which is to not act for another 10 or 20 years, China is going to eat our lunch. Good jobs are going to go to China.”  (Darrell Issa is a California Republican Congressman in control of the US House Oversight Committee.  As Chairman Darrell Issa has chosen to work closely with the oil industry).   Congressman Jay Inslee reports that the GOP members of congress have not passed one bill that will create jobs.  

Proposals for Sustainability in Skagit County

Project Manager for Envision Skagit -Kirk Johnson - welcomed about 50 members of the general public to a presentation at the Lincoln Center on April 28th.  This was the latest in over a half dozen community meetings Envision Skagit 2060 Community Outreach has held since the beginning of 2011.
The best attended meeting was held this week in Mt Vernon. The discussions were held in Spanish.  Obviously our Latino neighbors care about the sustainable development of their adopted communities.


Senior Resident Fellow for Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy Urban Land Institute in Washington D.C.    Mr. McMahon inspired the audience with slides of small towns around the country that had made dramatic changes in the visual appeal of their communities and subsequently their town revenues.  He had an impressive array of statistic to illustrate how aesthetic appeal is tied to the revenues of a region.    But lovely and lovable communities don’t just happen.  Town and County governments need a plan.  Without one more of Skagit county will look like Aurora Blvd in North Seattle (pictured )

and less like Fairhaven and La Conner.  Ed McMahon posed the rhetorical question with many slides of similar locals to compare: “Where are people more likely to hang out and spend money”.   He believes that with a development plan we will have the courage to say “no” to what we don’t want because we can simultaneous say “yes” to what we do want as our area expands and redevelops to accommodate a growing population.   McMahon encourages us to not to “let the multinational corporations bully us into letting them construct cheap boxes”.  His slides showed how towns across the country encouraged, cajoled and insisted that famous brands like McDonald, Loews & Target locate in restored historic structures or build smaller places with architectural designs that complimented the town plan.  We need to rethink our zoning and transportation so our lands are not totally paved over.

Ed McMahon spoke  quickly to put forth his many ideas about how to change our approach to zoning and land development.  Fortunately his slides were clear and easier to absorb than a thousand words.