Washblog

Greg Rodriguez set to endorse Mark Hintz?

The latest in the developing saga that is the race for state party chair - Greg Rodriguez will endorse Mark Hintz, current chair of the Snohomish County Dems. This is far from a done deal as some have thought, and should prove for an eventful day at the Unity Caucus forum on the 8th in Renton.

In getting to know Mark over the past year, I believe he is a great leader for the Snohomish County Dems, and would have no doubt he could lead the state party to further success, although I am going to guess that some of you may not be very familiar with him. This is not an endorsement of Mark, but just my personal observation of him. I'll throw my two cents in on who I think should be chair after the Unity Caucus forum (FYI, $1.50 and my endorsement will get you a hotdog at Costco).

Mark has raised thousands of dollars for the Snohomish County Democrats, including hosting a $100 per plate gala that grossed over $20,000. Attendees included Senator Cantwell, Governor Gregoire, Jay Inslee, and Rick Larsen, along with many local electeds. Not bad for a county organization that was throwing its first such high-end event.

Participation by electeds in Party affairs is rising in Snohomish County because Mark has made the Party more relevant, as shown during the recent nominating conventions. He's reached out to every faction and consults the E-Board and Central Committee prior to making major organizational decisions. Mark Hintz is from the grassroots - he's chaired at the district and county levels, recruited PCO's, raised money, recruited candidates, and he knows what it takes to win up here in Freedom/Deliverance County, where there is a large urban/rural divide.

Mark also graciously allowed me to come speak to the County E-Board about blogs in the fall prior to the elections, and embraces technology instead of being scared of it. This led to much more information sharing and collaboration for the final weeks leading to November, to which I believe was an impact in Dave Somers victory over the grotesquely well-financed Republican Jeff Sax.

Salutations

I would like to thank Brian for extending me the opportunity to post on Washblog. As a newly elected local official, it is always a special privilege to have direct access to such a rich forum for debate, discussion, and analysis. I must also admit that I have been extremely flattered and appreciative of the support that Brian lent me in my recent campaign.

For those of you that are more new to the site, you will probably be surprised to find out that this blog is less than a year old. Brian tells me the anniversary is coming up in January sometime, which to me is amazing. In less than a year, this site has attracted high level discussions that have ended up in the local press, and believe me, this site has been mentioned by more local and state elected officials than anyone here would imagine.

In closing, I would say to all of you: keep up the good work. I am truly humbled to be a part of such a unique community in our state's political discourse, and I hope that I will be able to contribute a small measure of the insightful analysis and discussion that are already the hallmark of Washblog. Oh, and I would love an invite to that anniversary party!

Best wishes to you all in 2006, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on more substantive issues in the days and weeks to come.

Marko Liias
Mukilteo City Councilmember Elect

Seattle Times and fact checking don't mix

A recent article fawning over the ousted and disgraced Jeff Sax reveals yet more laziness by the Times to get their facts straight:

Sax says it's improvements to all sectors of the county's law-enforcement and corrections system that represent his finest hour. The county has added about 50 positions to the Sheriff's Office and more than 100 for corrections.

Dean Nielson rightly points out that falsehood, among others:

... even on the way out he clings to the myth that he's hired new deputies. During the campaign he claimed that 40 new deputies were hired  in his tenure. In the Seattle Times story, it's up to 50 positions (jeesh, Times, you should have fact checked this one). The facts are that in his tenure as Chairmans of the Law & Justice/Human Services Committee that only 4 full-time deputies were added.

Sax's slime campaign against Democrat Dave Somers was chocked full of such lies, and even went as far to pull last miunute dirty tricks by going around placing stickers on Dave Somers yard signs (the few Sax's campaign thugs left standing by election eve) claiming he was 'Gay Endorsed'. Fortunately for us, Snohomish County voters saw right threw the lies and sent Sax packing. It is unfortunate the Seattle Times glosses over who Sax really is.

Serve The Servants

Interesting article for IRV/RCV by Krist Novoselic, a board member of the Center for Voting and Democracy and a Washington state resident (oh and former member of Nirvana, too), posted on the Pierce County Charter Review Commission Blog:

There is a battle in Federal Court regarding our primary elections. The struggle is between two principles. But Washington State need not choose between free association and more choices with our elections.

Ranked Choice Voting is a versatile electoral system with many benefits. It’s an idea worthy of the Pierce County Charter Review Commission’s consideration.

Here is an overview of where things are and where they can go.

More about the Unity Coalition

Yet another fantastic article by Lynn Allen of Evergreen Politics, this time regarding the Unity Coalition and the opportunity for the grassroots of the party to be heard:

A Unity Coalition of several different Party caucuses, including the African American, Agriculture Rural, Asian Pacific, Disability, Federation of Democratic Women, Hispanic/Latino, Jewish, Labor, Progressive, Stonewall, Veterans and Young Democratic caucuses, is planning to hold a Candidate’s forum and try to get the people running for Chair to come and talk with the Coalition and answer some questions.

Luis Moscoso, Secretary of the WA State Dems, has this setup to be an open and engaging event. No endorsements, ask questions and make up your own mind. Your chance to help mold the future of the state party, regardless of stature.

His idea is that the caucuses that participate in the forum will not endorse any particular candidate.  They will talk about what they want the new Chair to do and they will ask a series of questions to each of the candidates.  The questions will have to do with internal Party protocols as well as specific issues.

More rumor and innuendo

Will Mark Hintz throw his hat in? Rumor abound that the current chair of the Snohomish County Dems may announce his candidacy soon. As the husband of Senator Cantwell's regional representative and as a current County Chair with a good reputation for fundraising, not to mention a good dose of popularity, Hintz is a viable candidate.

And what about Phil Talmadge? Word from one insider: "People are mad that he (Talmadge) hasn't sent out anything and I have it firsthand from him that he will not be making any phone calls or going anywhere."

Oh well. I wonder what that means for the 'draft Phil' campaign?

How to feed a false narrative

Seattle P-I reporter Gregory Roberts' latest article about the new elections database struck me because of the false meme embedded in it - that 2004's gubernatorial election is still in doubt, and King County is to blame.

The extremely close 2004 governor's race turned a bright light on the elections process and revealed numerous flaws, including several directly related to voter registrations: hundreds of felons registered and voted despite a state constitutional ban; deceased voters were still on the rolls, with some ballots filled out in their names; and voters registered more than once and cast more than one ballot.

Numerous flaws? Gregory should have put this in the proper context, especially when referring to an election that had nearly 3 million votes cast. Anytime there is an election that comes down to 129 votes, you are going to have controversy, but a good reporter should mention the statistical relevance of a few dozen votes. Does Gregory mention that the felon votes went for Rossi? No way, because that blows up the meme. The paragraph helps set up the falsehood that the 2004 election was rife with fraudulent votes, that Gregory conveniently glosses over in the next paragraph.

The Republicans raised those issues in their court case contesting the election of Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire, who prevailed by 129 votes only after two recounts of the more than 2.8 million ballots cast. A judge rejected the lawsuit in June.

The Republicans accused King County of election fraud, Gregory. The judge threw out their ridiculous claims because they had no proof, whatsoever. Also, the Repubs' proportional voting theory used was laughed out of court. No mention of that, either.

In October, the GOP challenged the registrations of more than 1,500 voters in King County, claiming the forms did not list valid residential addresses, as called for in state law, but addresses for private mailboxes and self-storage units. Authorities have upheld 51 of the 192 challenges so far.

Notice how the number conveniently drops from 1,500 down to 192, with no explanation of why so many of the challenges were thrown out on their face? Gregory does not explain that situation either, why not? 51 out of 1500, Gregory. That is called a fishing expedition, or voter intimidation, but the meme 'King County is screwed up' sticks because Gregory leaves that little fact out.

Seth will make a Fine judge

I will make one endorsement today - Seth Fine for Snohomish County Superior Court. Seth has served as a staff attorney with the Washington State Supreme Court and for the last 22 years has been in charge of criminal appeals for the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office. The Governor makes this appointment, so hope springs eternal.

Gregoire's office has not said when she will make an appointment. Her general counsel was in Everett last week speaking to judges about the applicants. Presiding Judge Thomas Wynne said he has told the governor's office he'd like to have an appointment before the end of January.

Seth is a very nice man whom I've have gotten to know as very thorough, detail oriented, but not 'lawyer like' in his demeanor, if you know what I mean. He reminds me of my other favorite lawyer, Paul Lehto, and comes highly recommended from folks in Snohomish County who have known him for a lot longer than I.

Reserving judgement

As you may know by now, Greg Rodriguez has decided to withdraw his name from consideration for the Democrats State Party Chair, in part due to comments made about him on this blog and elsewhere. It is unfortunate, but this change in events allows for a hopefully strong vetting process, one that will begin on January 8th with the Unity Caucus's candidate forum.

What are we really looking for in a chair? Some folks mention that all that matters is for the individual to be able to make rain and keep the PDC books in order. Is that really all? Its true that the state party has had trouble with in recent years is keeping the books straight. From a PR prospective, having to pay fines to Olympia - with money that was donated to the party - is a black eye that needs to be remedied. I don't know very many people that are willing to give money to a political party just to see the party squander it.

From what I have heard the candidates are now Dwight Pelz, Laura Ruderman, Bill Harrington, Jean Brooks. No official word that Phil Talmadge is actually running, but there are rumors of a 'draft Phil' campaign. Given that field, a nomination from the floor is possible and could even be viable, so this could get quite interesting. If I was running for state chair, I would make contact with each and every LD's committee-persons right away to gage their support and ask questions. It doesn't appear that the any of the current candidates have done so, yet.

An air emergency? Or an outsourcing emergency?

''Alaska Airlines Flight 536 was 20 minutes out of Seattle and heading for Burbank, Calif., Monday afternoon when a thunderous blast rocked the plane.

Passengers gasped for air and grabbed their oxygen masks as the plane dropped from about 26,000 feet, passenger Jeremy Hermanns said by phone Tuesday''

The plane got down safely.

''An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said baggage handlers had bumped the plane's fuselage with loading equipment and caused ''a crease'' in the side of the aircraft. The handlers are contract workers hired to replace unionized workers in May.

About 20 minutes after takeoff, the crease blew into a 1-foot-by-6-inch hole, said Jim Struhsaker, an NTSB senior air-safety investigator...

...Alaska saw an increase in ground-damage incidents at Sea-Tac after it replaced 472 unionized workers in May with workers from Menzies Aviation, based near London, the airline said. The switch contributed to a sharp increase in delayed departures from Sea-Tac.'' (from the same article in the Seattle Times).

My take home lesson from this? Maybe workers are NOT interchangeable corporate cogs. Maybe a union baggage handler working for Alaska would have felt some responsibility to report hitting the airplane (AND have been trained enough to know how important that reporting was).

But hey, some business major vice president probably got a promotion for firing those union workers and saving Alaska Airlines a few bucks. Ask these passengers if it was worth it..

Big Time Patriot