Washblog

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.

Seattle -Who should replace Jim Compton

Jim Compton is resigning – Who should replace him

These names were mention in the PI:

Robert Rosencrantz - contributors -A big NO on this one! His campaign contributors included: Affordable Housing Council – Shill for BIAW, Warren Aakervik – Anti Bicycle and BG Trail, SALMON BAY SAND & GRAVEL COMPANY – Anti Bicycle and BG Trail. 

State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos – I don’t know her.

Sue Donaldson and Tina Podlodowski - as I recall they were Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce Representatives.

Mayoral candidate Al Runte Contributors

All I know is there are people in the History Department who wouldn’t elect him dog catcher.

Dwight Pelz, Contributors

Has been good on Transportation.

Darryl Smith, Contributors

I don’t know him.

What are your Opinions?

Good Legislation!

Today in the PI there was an article about Seattle City Council and legislation for new laws – from the PI:

“Currently, if a driver commits an infraction, such as speeding, and injures or kills someone as a result, that driver is likely to face nothing more serious than a $101 fine for negligent driving.

The new law would make such an act an assault, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.”

I wrote the council as follows - Council Bill Number: 115453

This is good legislation and I encourage you to support and promote it. This makes sense for justice and equity. For too long motor vehicle operators have been above the law. There is no justice if a person can disregard the rules of the road and harm others with impunity. Up to this point a driver could fail to yield and speed, hit a child and get nothing, but a ticket. Motor vehicle operators need to know that they are responsible for their actions and that those actions have repercussions.

This is also good policy, in general: the safer we make our streets for non- motorized transport the more likely people will be to choose that option. This makes for healthier citizens and healthier communities.

Once again please champion this bill!

City council emails can be found at: http://www.cityofseattle.net/council/councilcontact.htm

Once again in my opinion very good legislation and should be the law state wide!

Eat the State! Can't taste South King County

A pre-election endorsement article in Eat the State! (ETS!) ignored the King County Council races south of Seattle. Martha Koester took them to task. ETS! published her letter (after the election was over). But the title they assigned, We missed the suburbs, further illustrated how little ETS! understands this area.

SKC includes numerous cities. Kent, Auburn, and Federal Way are among the largest cities in Washington State. Kent, whose population doubled between 1992 and 2003, is on its way to being the fourth largest city in the state ... and includes the USA's third largest industrial area. We are undergoing tremendous population and demographic changes here in SKC -- and they have profound impact on Washington's electoral politics.

Seattle and eastside voters may be that 800 pound Democratic gorilla that makes for a progressive King County -- and a progressive Washington. But these voters don’t do it alone. Our election outcomes depend on voter decisions made throughout the state. Swing-district SKC is a crucial electoral hot spot.

Seattle get-together tomorrow night

So it's time for our monthly Washington Washblog (formerly Kossack-only) git-together.  We only have a Seattle option set up, sorry, but as we get more folks online in Eastern/Central WA, I'll try to coordinate with you folks so we're having fun at the same time.  If you're out East, contact me and let's get started getting monthly howdies put together.

This month, we're changing things up a little.  We're still meeting at 7:00pm tomorrow, Saturday the 12th.  However, instead of the Pike Brewery as advertised, we're going to start the evening at Uptown Espresso in Belltown.  (2504 4th Ave)

We'll eventually adjourn to Pike Brewery because we loves our brews, but it's too damn loud to talk there, so we'll make it a migration later in the evening.  This is a trial to see if we want to change the way we do things!  If it sucks, we'll go back to just having beer.

Lots to talk about, of course - big wins (and losses) on Tuesday, commiserating with our own Nigel on the unfortunate defeat of Dwight Pelz, celebrate the demise of I-912, and start chatting up 2006.  Etc, etc. 

So make it if you can, and if you can't make it, you suck!  (Not really, but I do want explanations so we know what's so important you can't have coffee'n'beer with your friends)

And for those curious folks who didn't know we do this...a bunch of us Kossacks adopted Washblog as our home blog, and are eagerly awaiting the scoop version.  We've been meeting monthly for about a year now, with the occasional hiatus, and we usually meet at Pike Brewery because politics goes down better with good beer.  If you want to be in on our conversations, join our Yahoo group today!

A Once in a Generation Opportunity

Back in June, the Seattle Monorail Project unveiled an awful financing plan that shocked everyone.

That was four months ago.  Some things have changed since then.  Some have not.

What Hasn't Changed
Our problems haven't gone away.  Traffic hasn't gotten any better.  Our city and our streets are still crowded.  Every time we fill up our tanks, our ideals are comprimised.  None of these things have changed, but we have a once in a generation chance to do something about it this Tuesday.

What Has Changed
The Seattle Monorail Project has new leadership, a new price and a real solution that will be up and running only four years from now.

A New Plan with a New Price
In only four years, Seattle can have a ten mile monorail line that costs only $3.9 billion including construction, operating and financing costs over 31 years.  These big numbers are hard to comprehend though. It's often better to talk about the cost in terms of how it will impact our friends and families.  Fortunately, we know what those costs are. The median cost for people paying their car tabs is $81 a year.  This is less than the cost of a couple tanks of gas.  Isn't $81 a year worth building rapid transit in Seattle?

New Leadership
Today, we have new leadership in the form of our new Executive Director John Haley, a guy with a list of experience so long, there's no one in this city who can match him.  He's worked on San Francisco’s BART system, Washington D.C.’s subway system, Atlanta’s transit system and the Twin Cities’ transit system.  He was the Deputy Director of New York and New Jersey’s Port Authority, the Commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Transportation and the General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.  Last but not least, he worked on the Newark Airport Monorail and lead the recovery effort for the Las Vegas Monorail.  This is expertise that doesn't exist anywhere else in our city.  Plus he's from Boston, accent and all, so we get to say he's wicked smart.

What This is Really About

It's easy to get lost in the details, but it's important to remember what the monorail is really about.  It's about less time in our cars and more time in our lives.  It's about cleaner air and water.  It's about less kids with asthma.  It's about not buying oil from corrupt and oppressive nations.  It's about having our city match our ideals.  It's about making Seattle into everything we know it should be.

It's not often you get a chance to make such a decision.
On Tuesday, vote yes on the monorail.

For more details and information, as well as a pro-monorail voting guide, head on over to 2045 Seattle.

UPDATE on bogus voter registration challenges

via Goldy at Horse's Ass, we find that the GOP has had to withdraw 140 names today, with more on the way.  As he says, though, it's too farking late!  (I know, I made it a little more family friendly)

Lori Sotelo is in a bad situation, here.  I haven't seen the form or the letter that folks are receiving yet, but if she signed a document under penalty of perjury that she knew people didn't live where, in fact, they do, she could be facing legal problems. 

What is it with Republicans and perjury?  Can they just not help themselves?

[UPDATE]  Eli Sanders has posted an excellent story at the Stranger.  My favorite part is when Chris Vance declares that since Lori Sotelo didn't do it on purpose (riiiiiight), she didn't commit perjury.  I hope a jury has the opportunity to decide that for us!

Oh, and Chris?  Since when did personal responsibility, the Republican hallmark, include throwing interns under the bus?  Should Lori take full responsibility for 'signing on the dotted line' without checking the list herself?  Crybabies, liars, cheaters and thugs.  That's all these people are.  You bet your ass we'll find more names, and the GOP is going to feel this for a while...

[UPDATE]  The Slog has another update, this time with a smackdown from Larry Phillips and Dow Constantine.  More importantly, they include these tips for what to do if you find you've been challenged:

Phillips also sent an e-mail late Friday to King County Elections Director Dean Logan asking for the estimated cost incurred by King County taxpayers as a result of the last-minute Republican Party action. "I presume these challenges will result in significant administrative and staffing costs including multiple postal mailings to the affected voters, opening the Elections Office an extra day on Saturday, November 5 to enable voters to defend their registrations before the election, creation of a special hotline to answer concerns of affected voters, and extra Canvassing Board hearings," wrote Phillips.

Phillips and Constantine urged those voters whose registrations were challenged to take one of three actions:

1. Take advantage of emergency Saturday office hours set up tomorrow between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. by King County Elections to assist those who received the challenge letters to update their registration address.

2. If you can't get to the election office on Saturday you can and should still vote. Your ballot will be double-checked to make sure you are properly registered before it is counted.

3. Call the special hotline set up by King County Elections for voters to call for more information. That number is (206) 205-5686.

"The most important message to King County residents is vote," said Councilmember Phillips. "Vote provisionally if you must, but vote. Do not let a last minute partisan political attack keep you from the polls and your opportunity to cast your ballot."

King County GOP: Bullys, liars, thugs and cheats. Oh, and vote suppressors.

On the heels of last week's revelation that the King County GOP is laundering money for Rowley Enterprises to buy the Issaquah City Council (letting that corporation spend $1 dollar per voter to ensure they get a big fat contract to build a new road that residents don't want), we have more evidence of shenanigans and unfair dealing by the King County GOP.

Meet Kathleen Dolan. Kathleen is a soft-spoken woman who has lived at the same address on Queen Anne since she bought her house in 1975. With the exception of six years spent teaching at universities in Tennesee and Pennsylvania, she's lived in this house for thirty years. The last time she lived elsewhere was in the late '80's. In all that time, she has always been registered to vote at one address: the home where she lives. But this week, she received a letter from King County Elections telling her that her right to vote was being challenged by the King County Republican party.

Lori D. Sotelo, Vice Chair of the King County GOP and Chair of the "Voter Registration Integrity Project", claims that she has "personal knowledge or belief" that Ms. Dolan doesn't live at her address. Lori Sotelo and Kathleen Dolan have not met, and do not live near each other (Ms. Sotelo resides peacefully ensconced on Mercer Island with all the other liberal elites). Yet, Ms. Sotelo claims to have personal knowledge of where Ms. Dolan actually lives! Not only that, she apparently has "personal knowledge" that 1,942 other King County voters don't live where they say they live. She's a very industrious and social person, this Lori Sotelo!

Except it isn't true. I spoke with Theresa Bushnell, a resident at the home of Barbara Taylor, both voters who have also been challenged by Ms. Sotelo. Ms. Taylor manages a storage warehouse, and her home is onsite, as many storage facilities require their managers to live on the property. Ms. Taylor has four registered voters in her home including Ms. Bushnell, and has lived and voted at this address for at least eleven years. They have not met, nor do they live near Lori Sotelo, yet again she claims "personal knowledge or belief" that these validly registered voters are not qualified to vote OR don't live where they say they do.

[Clarification - text removed here. I have no personal knowledge of other media reports at this time.] It seems Ms. Sotelo and her "Integrity Project" simply got addresses for storage facilities and Personal Mail Box facilities (such as Mailboxes, Etc.), and cross-checked those with registered voters to find people whose addresses matched or, apparently, were close. Then, without bothering to contact these voters, drive by their homes to see if they were real, or do any due diligence other than checking columns in Excel spreadsheets, they filed challenges to these voters claiming "personal knowledge" of their living arrangements.

In other words, they went fishing. They know these are bogus challenges. They know they're in Democratic precincts. They know that, once again, they're cheating the system in order to deny legitimate voters the right to vote. They're lying, and acting like bullies in the hopes that they'll get their way.

Here's how the challenge works: Lori Sotelo, liar, cheat and bully, challenges your right to vote. You are notified that your registration has been challenged. You can still go vote, but your ballot is marked "challenged", and set aside. All non-challenged votes are counted. Then (this is the great part), you have to attend a hearing to prove you live where you say you live. Lori Sotelo, liar, cheat and bully, also has to attend these hearings, but I have my doubts that she will actually bother to try and substantiate her claims, because she has no actual knowledge of any of these voters' situations, and THAT is a truth that she undoubtedly has "personal knowledge" of. Once you've proved that you live where you say you live, your vote will be counted.

In talks with King County Records and Elections, we've learned that the phones are ringing off the hook as folks have received their challenge letters. KCRE confirms that at least a few have already decided not to vote at all, because they won't be able to attend a hearing and it just isn't worth it to them. Which, of course, is exactly what the King County GOP's gang of liars, cheats and thugs wanted all along. At least one challenged voter has challenged the challenge (!), because Ms. Sotelo, in her haste to cheat legitimate voters of their rights, forgot to date the challenge form itself as required by state law.

Kathleen Dolan is incensed by this intrusion into her life, and Ms. Bushnell is offended that Lori Sotelo, the lying, cheating bully, would claim any "personal knowledge" about her right to vote. These people are not activists. They are citizens, who have every right to participate in their democracy. Ms. Dolan had even planned a trip out of town starting today, and was going to sit this election out - hadn't even thought about it. She's cancelled her trip, and this election is front and center for her now. When I spoke with her, she was just about to call the Governor's office to complain. As she told me, the GOP's plan backfired - it made a Democratic activist where there wasn't one before. Ron Sims, you just picked up a vote.

Now, the King County Democrats wants to be sure folks who have been challenged know they have rights, and how to pursue the issue. If you have been challenged and, by some amazing coincidence, you actually do use a PO box or PMB as a mailing address, contact KCRE at 206-296-8683 to change your registration over the phone - that's it; challenge lifted. However, if you share Ms. Dolan, Taylor and Bushnell's dilemma and you've been cheated, SHOW UP, VOTE, AND GO THROUGH THE PROCESS!

Most importantly in the immediate: The King County Dems need to send a letter to all challenged voters before Tuesday to alert them of their rights and urge them to vote and go through the process. This needs to happen immediately, and will be a little expensive. Since the KC Dems don't have $400,000 on hand to harrass people as the King County GOP does, they could use our help. It's around $725 to get that mailing out today. If you want valid, legally registered voters to know their rights and believe the GOP has cheated, click here for their mailing address and send them a check.

{UPDATE} As I was about to post this, I was alerted to this post at Slog, the Stranger's blog. It seems they challenged every voter registration in an 80 year-old apartment building in Belltown. Some very interesting comments in there - she claimed this personal knowledge under penalty of perjury, so it seems Lori Sotelo, the liar, cheat and bully, can be held accountable for her actions!

Sims regains 7-point lead in KingCo Exec race

Dave Weigel posts at Kos (and in breaking news, fails to cross-post here...edumacation, we must embrace ye!)...

In one week, voters in King County - the massive chunk of Washington state that contains Seattle - will go to the polls to elect their county executive. According to a SurveyUSA poll, incumbent Democrat Ron Sims has surged to a 7-point lead over Republican and Green challengers. (Trends are from the mid-October poll.)

Ron Sims (D) - 48% (43%)
David Irons (R) - 41% (46%)
Gentry Lange (G) - 7% (8%)

Republicans in WA are still bitching about their narrowest of losses in last year's governor's race, and Irons is promising to overhaul the King County elections office if elected.

---

Here's Switzer's take on things:  This shift is due, unsurprisingly, to the revelation that David Irons beat his mother and is a liar.  Add to that some recent revelations about his support for Highway 605 and general mush-mouthed failurism, and the implosion was inevitable.  Of course, Sims could win 80-20 and the Republicans will cry a little, whiny river about elections, so (as always) they'll never believe that any Democrat was fairly elected.  But that's neither here nor there, and is just an opportunity to poke Republicans in the eye for being idiots. 

Another observation is that Gentry Lange's quixotic pursuit of the Executive seat is endangering Ron Sims - that 7% is coming directly from Ron's potential support.  If Ron loses, we can thank Gentry for it.  Thanks, Gentry, for not knowing when the time is right to do the right thing!

In response to Anonym's post about Gregoire's robo-call and non-stance on I-912, listen to this.  (Windows Media format)  In other I-912 news, Dave Ross had someone from KTTH on today, a real life conservative making a coherent conservative case against 912!  I think it was David Boze, but I'm sad to report that I don't actually remember.  I'm starting to think this election may go pretty well for our side!

King County Climate Change Conference: A Call to Action

The average temperature in the PNW, from Oregon to British Columbia to Alaska, is increasing faster than the global average, according to the Puget Sound Action Team of the University of Washington Climate Impacts group. Temperatures have increased approximately 1.5 Fahrenheit over the last century, with fisheries, agriculture, skiiing, and insurance industries significantly impacted.   Between now and 2050, Washington is likely to face additional temperature increases -- from between 2.7 to 5.8 Fahrenheit, according to the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group.  We will have more overall precipitation, more episodes of intense rainfall, less snow, and increased flooding and droughts.  Streams will continue to warm, stressing fish or perhaps destroying their habitat altogether. Surface water will evaporate more quickly. Coastlines will change. Snow pack, the heart of our hydrologic cycle, will melt earlier in the spring, diminishing the summer supply.

---

Last Thursday nearly 700 people gathered for the King County 2005 Climate Change conference at the Qwest Event Center in downtown Seattle.  Convened by the County Executive’s Office and presided over by Ron Sims, it addressed climate issues on a regional level and was attended by people from across the state.   It was held at the club level of QWest, overlooking expansive views of Puget Sound, the city, and the Stadium . Several newspapers, including the Seattle Times, PI, and King County Journal, covered the event. The PI article reported that “the event sought to underscore the need to start planning now for a climate that already has grown hotter.”

This PI take -- that the conference was “underscoring" a need to plan, gets at the theme of the conference (the Seattle Times and King County Journal seemed to miss this theme entirely). But it understates it. This conference was an explicit:

1. Convening of key players. Planners, resource managers, business people, politicians and other policy makers, engineers for infrastructure such as wastewater systems, farmers, fisheries managers, etc. were encouraged to attend. It was a successful summons – 500 attendees had been planned for and, contrary to the PI account of 560, nearly 700 answered the call.
2. Call to action. Attendees were asked to do whatever it takes to wrap their minds -- and professional M.O.s -- around this climate change thing because all indications suggest that we may be in for a wild ride here, and it is our ethical and professional responsibility to start planning now.
3. Working meeting with the goal to jumpstart a consensus and lay the groundwork for a new collective approach to climate change risk management between now and 2050. Attendees were provided with a white paper providing essential data, contact information for follow-through, and suggestions for sector-specific actions.. The breakout sessions – which focused on areas such as agriculture and fisheries, were designed for brainstorming and participant input was captured for use in ongoing county planning.

Climate change prophet and Stanford University scientist, Stephen Schneider was the opening speaker after Sims’ introduction.  Schneider and his journalist wife Lynn Mesirow, authored what was perhaps the first popular book on climate change in 1976, The Genesis Strategy: Climate and Global Survival.  The strategy they recommended in the book, planning for the shocks that may come – for example, strengthening our agricultural system – was essentially, the mandate of this conference.  Schneider is also the founder of the scientific journal, Climatic Change.

I’ve struggled here to come up with a pithy explanation of just how trenchant and moving Dr. Schneider’s presentation was. I can’t do it, ach!  It had to do with his nearly deadpan relaying of scientific information that he has, evidently, been screaming out in various ways for 30 years.  It was related, also to the clarity of his thought and expression that distilled complexity into simplicity and that captured the absurdities. It was related to the ethical weight of his message –- his recognition of the moral crossroads we stand upon and the central role of social equity. And, finally, it was related, perhaps, to his competence -- and the probable overall competence of most of the conference attendees, people who operate in the “reality based community” -- at a time when it is so obvious that our national leadership runs on ideology and incompetence.

Schneider and Terry Williams, a Tulalip fisheries expert –- as well as several other speakers -- noted how significant it was that they were able now to stand before a large crowd of people who are finally able to receive their message.  Such meeting of minds has been impossible until recently because tremendous cultural and economic resources have been applied to discrediting those who warned of climate change.  This cultural pressure is undoubtedly one of the chief factors responsible for our late start in halting climate change and planning for its impact.

Williams' presentation, as moving for me as Schneider's, evoked a potential future world in which the American Indian is an historical concept rather than a living reality, and linked this possibility with climate trends as an additional stress added to all the others, most notably affecting the fate of the salmon.  He invoked the promise of Governor Stevens, in the 1855 treaty that the US would protect the tribes “forever” and contrasted that promise with the current endangerment of the salmon, the struggle for subsistence among current Indians who once were so rich because they had the time and resources to build cedar homes, and pursue art, ceremony, trade, travel according to their cultural needs. He spoke of the legal restrictions that prohibit Indians, who once travelled at will, from following the salmon as they migrate away from warmer waters. And he spoke of the effort among Indians to use both traditional knowledge and communication – as well as modern science -- to deal with climate change and the survival issues it poses. It is not only the scientific community, he said, that must deal with intellectual property issues at a time when the ability to share key knowledge may influence our survival. Traditional cultures, which relay information in stories, songs, and spiritual practices that are culturally protected, also deal with this intellectual property issue.