Subduction Zone

Northwest Dealings

Category: Washington

Economics / Law Enforcement / Washington

Good Riddance?

She stole $143,000 from the Edmonds School District and is going to jail for 14 months: Lewin, a former district bookkeeper, has no criminal history, and she stood to spend just three months or less in the county jail under the state’s sentencing laws. By law, Bowden was able to go beyond the standard sentencing range because Lewin had agreed that what she did was a major economic offense against the school district. Deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell asked for only four months in jail. Lynnwood defense lawyer Michael Mulvihill recommended three months or less. Bowden acknowledged that Lewin cooperated with...

Campaign Finance / Washington

Red and Blue

Timothy Goddard notes: Regardless of what happened Monday morning, the gubernatorial election showed that Washington is very evenly divided between red and blue–but the fact that only a three of our nine person delegation to the House of Representatives is Republican doesn’t bear that out. However, there’s a man who aims to make that score a little bit more even. That man is Doug Roulstone, and he is challenging Rick Larsen for the 2nd District House seat. Based on the rest of the post he does look like a strong potential challenger to the the incumbent. But I’ll save discussion...

Washington

Instant Runoff Voting

I like the idea of Instant Runoff Voting. It makes a lot more sense than the voting variant enacted last election in Washington and certainly would have eliminated the long and wasteful argument over the 2004 Washington contest for governor. Brian at Washblog points out this animation that describes how IRV works.

City Government / Sequim / Taxation

What the Public Should Say

Sequim politicians are planning to build a new city hall: A new building would allow city offices to be consolidated into one building and could also provide space for expansion as the city continues to grow. And City leaders have promised that the public will have a say in planning for a new City Hall. The public should just say no! What happens in Sequim that requires 40 employees for a population of 4585? Perhaps the city would be wiser to scale back regulation and services and let the residents spend the money on things that lead to productive jobs....

Campaign Finance / dave reichart

Who Does reichart Represent?

The 5/30 King County Journal has a generally positive article on dave reichart’s (R-Wa, 8th District) first five months in office and notes: He has raised more than $250,000 in contributions from special interest groups, according to the online PoliticalMoneyLine — the most of anyone in the state’s congressional delegation. But he has lost at least one check because of a particular vote he took , one that he wouldn’t specify. In his mind, no strings are attached to the cash needed to run a winning campaign. Or so he says. If reichart is going to truely represent the people...

Washington

516 Bills?

Washington’s current governor is pretty excited: I just finished signing 516 bills passed by the Legislature, a new record. 516 bills?? A record?? This is something to be proud of? Did she veto anything besides the tobacco reallocation? Did any of these bills remove old, obsolete or inappropriate laws from the books? Sorry, I’m just having a little trouble visualizing how 516 new laws is a good thing. I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time. So, from time to time over the next couple years I’ll pull one up and we can evaluate it together. Via Josef...