Category: Olympia (Page 12 of 13)

The Puget Sound Partnership, a new state agency, will be located in Tacoma. The only part of the division of state government that will actually be located in Olympia is the headquarters:

…Governor Chris Gregoire today announced that the Puget Sound Partnership will open an office in the City of Tacoma’s Urban Waters marine research center on Thea Foss Waterway. The satellite office will operate in close proximity to Tacoma’s environmental services division labs and UW-Tacoma research labs.

Satellite? Won’t the Tacoma office include the agency’s executive director, and some 30 people?

Yes and yes.

But it appears officials are tip-toeing around a provision of the state constitution that requires the headquarters of state agencies to locate in the capitol. That usually means Olympia, but Tumwater and Lacey qualify, too.

Thus, the “headquarters” of the Puget Sound Partnership will likely remain in Olympia. But only on paper. In this case, the satellite will be larger than the mother ship.

Why the location yoga? Historylink:

Some state agencies began simply drifting away from Olympia; as early as 1899 the Board of Health moved to Seattle. After World War II ended in 1945, the trend of agencies leaving Olympia accelerated. By the mid-1950s, 13 agencies had moved their headquarters to Seattle. Once again the matter ended up in front of the Washington Supreme Court. On August 3, 1954, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that state agencies must headquarter in Olympia. “The decision, a new and stunning climax to the century-long fight by Olympians to be the center of state government, was written by Justice Charles T. Donsworth” (The Daily Olympian). In a 33-page decision, the court wrote: “We feel certain it was the intention of the framers of our state constitution and the people … that the whole of the executive department should be located in the seat of government” (The Daily Olympian).

The case was controversial enough to generate a written dissent. The four dissenting justices argued that the capital question was one for the Legislature, not the court, to decide.

Good legal rundown here.

30 jobs worth suing over? Well, no.

But, what would stop state agencies from leaving northern Thurston County all-together and just keep a one office “headquarters” intact in the state capital? How much of the PSP’s work do you think will actually get done in Olympia?

Ok, this is obviously what Rich Nafziger was talking about.

If you’re into that kind of thing, the comments are one-sided against the Nafziger split on this whole thing:

If Nafziger really said what the Olympian reported, he has no business being on the board. Being a board member means you make REAL decisions and take action, not that you are a rubber stamp for the superintendent. Nafizger wants to just go along and watch, not to lead. Why is he interested in holding public office?

I thought it was interesting when folks were noting that Oly’s Rich Nafziger got a new job in the political hierarchy, that no one noted his blog. That’s too bad, because while Rich often takes months of weeks between posts, when he does get something up, its usually worth the read.

No exception this week (or now at this link or this link I guess):

Olympia is one of the strongest school districts in the State of Washington. Ask the parents, teachers, and community members in Olympia….

But if you ask Board directors Russ Lehman, and Bob Shirley, they will tell you that the district is mediocre at best. They argue that voters should elect the candidates they are working to elect (Jeff Nejedly and Lucy Meltzer), give them a majority and then heads will roll and the district will move forward to excellence.

I worry that if they gain a majority on the board, the Olympia School Board will become the Seattle School Board. A board that is infamous for its negativism, political correctness and disdain for the teachers and other employees of their district.

The post is called “burning down the house” and it doesn’t seem to pull any punches on what Rich thinks of Lehman and Shirley. It seems to be in reaction to this situation in which Lehman and Shirley are asking to start a much needed budget discussion sooner rather than later. But, maybe not, Nafziger never really talks about the budget.

There are two contested school board races this year in Olympia: incumbent Carolyn Barclift is facing off against newcomer Lucy Gentry-Meltzer and Jeff Nejedly and Frank Wilson are facing off for an open seat.

From what I know, Barclift and Wilson are supported by Nafziger and Gentry Meltzer and Nejedly are supported by Lehman and Shirley.

Just for the record, the teacher’s union is supporting Frank Wilson.

On a side note, the local school board is probably one of the more mysterious local government agencies to me. I keep a close eye on the city and the port always seems to be in the news, but its interesting to see so much school board stuff popping up in blogs.