The school board races in Olympia and North Thurston were a lot more interesting than these races usually are. Oftentimes, it seems, competitive school board races are debates are played under the table. Door-belling and interpersonal connections see to matter more than clearly stated policy position and interest-group endorsements. But, that was before Moms for…
From an interesting kind of map to more typical maps in Thurston County’s general election (Prop 1 and County Commission races)
The maps for this year’s general election cover the range of fairly typical results and one rare kind of result. Prop 1 Proposition 1 won 56 to 44 percent, which is a pretty decisive win in county politics. But it also reconnected parts of the county that aren’t normally voting together. Proposition 1 was mostly…
The (mostly) lack of evidence of the impact of race in Badillo-Diiorio/Scott race in for North Thurston Schools
For me, the most interesting election in the county this year was between a candidate for the North Thurston School district and her opponent, who had endorsed here. In a more perfect world, no one would have voted for Stephanie Scott. She did not campaign and had endorsed Esperanza Badillo-Diiorio weeks before the primary election….
Why Sixty-Five Road?
As roads go, Sixty-Five Road is a short one. On Olympia’s far Westside, it covers the gap between 20th Avenue NW and 14th Avenue NW. If you’ve ever been out to Hansen Elementary or Marshall Middle, that’s the road you’ve been on. It also serves as the western boarder to the Goldcrest Neighborhood and the…
Why did denser neighborhoods vote for the Regional Fire Authority?
Yesterday, the detailed precinct-by-precinct data for the recent April 25 election was released, and a certain trend became evident when I mapped out the results. This exercise serves as an essential reminder that even so-called “blowout” elections can have nuances that are crucial to comprehend if we aim to understand our community. Here are the…
How our history of downzoning is an argument against “local control” in the legislature and has huge impacts on racial discrimination in housing
Eastside Olympia in the midst of large downzone. As the legislature discusses zoning reform that would allow for modest density increases in exclusionary singe family neighborhoods, it is important to focus on the history of so-called “local control.” The ability for local governments to determine their own zoning fate has become the primary argument…
Why we don’t see the news
Say you live in a neighborhood with older, educated people. The kind of people who make up the majority of print newspaper subscribers. Would you be afraid if you saw the newspaper deliveryman in the early morning? Would you recognize him? During the same period of time we have seen the evaporation of local news,…
Three ways to think about pedestrian deaths in Thurston County between 2006 and 2020
Somewhere back in the peak of the pandemic, there was a popular Facebook post here in Olympia that I thought was interesting. The post pointed at the signs distributed by Intercity Transit asking people to slow down. The social poster asked why we didn’t have signs asking for people to stop committing other crimes. The…
How an incumbent sheriff loses
Sheriffs have incumbency power. A lot of elected officials do, but with the acquittal of Sheriff Ed Troyer in Pierce County last week, it is worth looking into how sheriffs stick around and how some of them lose. Troyer survived the court case (which would not have kicked him out of office), and will also…