History, politics, people of Oly WA
Almost a month now and no one has noticed that she’s filing PDC reports, she’s running for re-election. Does she need to notice a press release for anyone to really figure this one out?
Read about people getting mad about math.
She has $25K in the campaign kitty.
Guess who knows she’s running? City of Olympia Mayor (for now) Mark Foutch and Paul Allen (yes, that Paul Allen) of Vulcan Capital. Because they donated to her campaign.
State Auditor Brian Sonntag is going to hold a televised, teleconference with Washington State citizens. So says the first commenter at the Olympian on this:
How brave of this bureaucRAT . . . “Randomly chosen” participants. How ’bout a few town meetings across the state at your expense, Mr. Sonntag? If you have any balls to do it…
Seemingly pointing to the difference between an event where the participants choose themselves (by choosing to attend) and an event where the participants are chosen at random. Sonntag’s version is more interesting to me.
Daryl over at Hominid Views had a similar experience with Jay Inslee and enjoyed it.
Gov. Gregoire recently finished a series of forums that the Olympian commenter would have approved of (which also included a random panel at another level), but when your main group of participants is self-chosen, I’m wondering if your just getting a room full of axe-grinders.
The difference with Sonntag’s version is that it will be televised, apparently broadening the reach of the project. It would be interesting if they did this twice a year, just for consistency.
Interesting note is that Elway Research is behind this projects as well as the governor’s recent tour.
From Bruce Lund:
Join us for the December Meeting of Drinking Liberally this Monday, December 10th, 7 pm at the Bar in the Urban Onion in downtown Olympia.
The address is 116 Legion Way SE, and is located right across the street from Sylvester Park, next door to Happy Teriyaki. Please enter the bar directly on Legion street–that way you won’t disturb the restaurant goers.
Our discussion last week a wild round robin on a variety of issues. We didn’t spend a lot of time on the topic of the evening, Presidential Leadership, and I think it still has some value, so I propose picking up again on that topic.
++++++++++++
Here’s an excerpt from the last email I sent you:
The topic, in tune with the upcoming primary season, will be presidential leadership. What are the qualities that you view are critical for a president to possess, and what are the qualities that would be “nice to have,” but not a deal breaker. One site you might want to visit related to this topic is Dan Mulbern’s “A conversation on Presidential Leadership” website. I’m especially impressed with a post by Robert Fritz on the site. The website is at:
http://presidential-leadership.com/
++++++++++++++
Hope to see you Monday night. I hope you weren’t adversely affected by this past weeks weather (as I am writing this, snow is falling).
I wish you the best during this holiday season!
Dennis Kucinich is doing pretty well in an email straw poll to Washington State Democrats, coming in third ahead of Hillary Clinton. Edwards is leading the pack, following closely by Obama of Illinois:
John Edwards 780
Barack Obama 713
Dennis Kucinich 511
Hillary Clinton 505
Undecided 280
Bill Richardson 234
Joe Biden 112
Chris Dodd 27
Mike Gravel 6
These are “early” numbers since the voting is ongoing here. Go here before December 14 if you want to express your preference.
If you ask me, I wouldn’t vote in this poll since it seems to be a way to collect your data.
Fred Finn, who is running to replace Bill Eikmeyer in the 35th LD, has an update:
I just wanted to give you a quick update on our campaign.
After beginning my campaign on September 15th, I have received contributions from over 200 different individuals and organizations totaling over $50,000. I plan to actively begin fundraising in February.
Much of my time has been spent in attending a variety of auctions in North Mason and Kitsap Counties and service organization meetings and events including Rotary, Kiwanis and the Chambers.
Some of the events that I have attended include the openings of the Kitsap Community Resources new “green” building and the Harborside Condominiums in Bremerton. I attended the “Wild Salmon Hall of Fame Awards & Dinner” and the Kitsap League of Women Voters luncheon with Bill Gates Sr. as guest speaker. I attended both days of the first Puget Sound Partnership meetings held in Bremerton.
I have spoken at the Mason County Democrats meeting and attended the Kitsap, Thurston, Grays Harbor, and 35th Legislative District Democrats meetings. I spoke at the Kitsap Democrats meeting and the Mason County Women’s Democratic Club meeting.
Governor Gregoire and I met in Mason County at a fundraiser. I ‘ve also attended the “Maggie” Awards, the HDCC fundraiser, the League of Conservation Voters Breakfast as well as fundraisers for Congressman Norm Dicks, Kitsap County Commissioner Josh Brown and Rep. Sam Hunt.
I’ve had an article published in several of our local Democrat newsletters and attended various briefings on the S.E.E.D. Project, Belfair Bypass and various “Eggs & Issues” debates. I have spoken with a number of union and other organization representatives and will report more on this in coming months.
Thank you for your interest. This is fun.
To put his $50,000 into perspective, Tim Sheldon who ran for state senate in the same district, and who had a very competative primary race, raised $200,000 in the last cycle. His opponent raised $92,000.
Herb Baze, the former Mason County commissioner, has only raised $5,000 according to his latest filing.
No official announcement, so I assume no one in the media is writing that Terry Bergeson is running again for head of OSPI in 2008.
On top of her 15k plus, she’s raised $4,450 more (pdf file).
Also, looks like Judi Billings has decided not to run again.
Jim, this one goes out to you and all the debate nerds in the room.
I was already inspired to follow up this post when I read DonWard’s post from this morning:
Who’s conservative in Olympia?
But, then Andrew posts this:
Olympia’s Democrats have lost their way
When I read Don’s headline, I thought the was talking about our discussion over at Olyblog parsing the difference between the really liberal neighborhoods in Olympia and the neighborhoods that only vote Democratic 70 percent of the time (you know, the conservative ones).
But, no Don was talking about conservatives in the state legislature. Conservatives who don’t come from Olympia, but rather to it.
And, of course Andrew wasn’t talking about certain Thurston County living Democrats going off the beaten path, but rather legislators:
Olympia failed the people of Washington State.
You can’t imagine the emotional spasms I experience when I read sentences like that. I know it sounds juvenile when I say it, but Olympia didn’t fail anyone!
Olympia was sitting there innocently drinking coffee while a bunch of folks from out of town came by (except three or maybe four) and passed a couple of laws.
They’re using Olympia as a metonymy for the broader statewide political landscape, but specifically the state legislature. As I learned a few days ago, from the above mentioned nerd-king, metonymy is “is the use of a word for a concept with which the original concept behind this word is associated.”
Like “press,” which is literally a way to print something, also means the news media, Olympia has become a lazy-ass crutch for people when they could be saying something else.
No one else cares, but I’ll care.
Repeat after me:
The state legislature is not Olympia.
The state government is not Olympia.
Not really sure how I missed this one, but the Roaring Land, in parts my favorite history of Washington State, is available for free on the internet archive.
Best chapters to read included (of course) Chapter 2, Steamboat Era, and Chapter 7, Center of Gravity.
Center of Gravity, which details the early history of the Kent Valley, includes this illustration of the differences between Kent (at the time) and Yakima:
Eighty or ninety years ago, many of the Oregon Trail pioneers reached the Puget Sound country starving and ragged and destitute. No one thought the less of them for that; those who had arrived earlier welcomed them and shared what they had. …. The same thing will be true again before another eighty years are passed. Meanwhile, here is an example of community attitude toward the new, destitute pioneers. The item is taken from the front page of the weekly Kent News- Journal of October 30, 1941 :
IMPOVERISHED FAMILY NEEDS KENT’S “GOOD SAMARITANS”
A story of destitution and suffering not paralleled since the worst days of the depression was brought to the attention of a number of people of Kent and vicinity the latter part of last week and the first part of this when a family composed of a husband, wife, and seven children ranging from 15 years down to one year, arrived from California, with no bedding to speak of, no clothes for the members of the family, practically no food, and $1.50 cash capital.
The family had tried to get work in the orchards of the Yakima country and, although capable workers, were evicted from camps because of the seven children. Kent residents fed them Friday and secured living quarters in a vacant house, partially furnished, on East Hill. Monday the place was sold and the family had to move quickly to give possession to the new owner. The father skirmished around and secured another house in the vicinity
…
The Princes organization yesterday investigated the case and is giving assistance. However, the need of the family is so great that other assistance must be obtained to enable the four children of school age to attend school and supply them with food stuffs to tide them over until the father can secure work. At present he has an opportunity to cut wood as a temporary employment measure.
A resident of the district requests all persons desiring to make contributions to telephone 745-R-3 and a car will call to pick up all articles contributed.
One of the technical requirements of a good news story is the name of the chief actor in the first line. This is surely a good story, yet there are no names in it, only people. There are things to think about in the story. One of them is the fact that the parents were refused work and evicted from camps in the Yakima country because they needed work to feed their seven children. Presumably, there was fear that the family might stay and become a charge on the community, and that the children would go to school on taxpayers’ money. As a result of that fear, those very things happened, but in a different community. And the community where it happened accepted the family as it was, without questioning its right to be there. More positively, the Kent community assumed that children must not go hungry and naked and shelterless, and that a father should have the right to work. The News-Journal story gives almost a day-by-day account, as if every day in which people suffer is important to everyone in the community. And something happens almost every day: Friday, the family arrives and is fed by residents of the town, and a house is found ; Monday, the house is sold over their heads, and the same day another is provided; Tuesday, there is an emergency call for food to keep the family from starvation, and for clothing; Wednesday, the “Princes” investigate and go into action; and Thursday, the weekly newspaper makes the welfare of the family the concern of everyone in the community.
Over at Olyblog, we’re sort of talking about the recent election and why some neighborhoods voted one way. Former city council member Matthew Green posted up and gave a great comment. He fell apart in my mind when he said that SE Olympia lacks community because of the lack of small community businesses.
This may be a circular argument, but SE Oly lacks small businesses because it lacks the zoning for these sorts of businesses. If the city wanted small community shops down here, they could have designed them in.
Here’s what I’m talking about.
Northeast Olympia
Northwest Olympia
This area includes the Harrison commercial area, but also the west side Food Co-op is located right in the middle of a neighborhood. Also, notice the gray zoning along the water, which is mixed use commercial.
Southeast Olympia
Two maps for this side of town, so its an even more startling example of homogeneous zoning that excludes the kind of small local businesses that Matt was talking about. Up on the north side of the top map is the Pit Stop Market, and aside from the Boulevard Nursery, there isn’t another local business on this side of town. Weird that the nursery is actually zoned residential.
So, here’s the question, which comes first: the zoning or the business? Does the zoning come along because someone wants to open a business in a particular location? Or, does the zoning allow a business to be opened? I’d say the second one is more likely in my mind.
If the city were to allow a certain number of businesses to open in residential areas, then maybe we’d see more local businesses in SE Olympia.
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