Why That Fish You Ordered is Holding Up the State Budget

Yesterday afternoon, the Everett Herald’s Jerry Cornfield reported that the delay in approving a Washington State budget was truly fishy: “Boeing’s opposition to fish study a sticking point in budget,” went the headline. With a government shutdown to come in fewer than five days, it might seem strange that negotiations are getting hung up on a mundane study of how often people eat fish. Continue reading Why That Fish You Ordered is Holding Up the State Budget

Business, News, Politics

Washington Senate: Hey, Tourists, Leave Our State Alone!

While the Senate budget proposal does include a “sales tax exemption on the purchase of clay targets by non-profit gun clubs,” there’s no money in it for the Washington Tourism Alliance or any tourism programs. Tourism, according to the New York Times, is the fourth-largest industry in our state. Continue reading Washington Senate: Hey, Tourists, Leave Our State Alone!

News, Politics, Transportation

Op-Ed: Could the Tunnel Elect Mayor Mike McGinn Twice?

But, just over a year out, McGinn has just one challenger: Charlie Staadecker, a former hospitality executive who sounds like a political rookie himself. And events seem to be conspiring in McGinn’s favor. Continue reading Op-Ed: Could the Tunnel Elect Mayor Mike McGinn Twice?

News, Politics

Op-Ed: Frank Chopp to Try to Defend State Democrats’ Craven Retreat on Progressive Issues to Actual Progressive

Laissez-whatevs state law allows a candidate to, you know, go with the flow in terms of the voting public’s captious inclinations, so Sawant, issuing press releases at every juncture, has finally ended up with a debate scheduled against Chopp tonight while Pedersen gets to sit at home with the kids watching Matthew Perry in Go On. (Tonight he plays hockey!) Continue reading Op-Ed: Frank Chopp to Try to Defend State Democrats’ Craven Retreat on Progressive Issues to Actual Progressive

News, Politics, Sports

Top 5 Reasons Why the New “Sonics” Stadium is Safe for Seattle

I’ve seen some strange arguments put in play myself. There are the people who wonder whether Seattle–the city that supported the Sonics from 1967 to 2008–can now afford to support “another” team, as if the previous 40 years didn’t exist. That’s a bit of a head-scratcher. There’s the concern about congestion in the stadium district–my god, congestion! Continue reading Top 5 Reasons Why the New “Sonics” Stadium is Safe for Seattle

Education, News

Seattle Public Schools to Parents: Psych! Now You Give Us $1 Billion?

While I was trying to make sense of this dishearteningly stupid story, Seattle Public Schools made a new announcement: “New proposal calls for return to current 2011-12 transportation plan and minimal impact to current bell times.”

Seattle Schools Community Forum, which has been watchdogging the district on this, calls the statement a “remarkable piece of dis-information.” It’s hard to argue with their concerns about how transportation logistics became a last-minute fire drill. Continue reading Seattle Public Schools to Parents: Psych! Now You Give Us $1 Billion?

News, Politics

Why the City of Seattle Can’t Budget

I realize that with a headline like that, you expect to be told why the City of Seattle can’t budget. But–and here is where things get very devious indeed–my thesis is that most likely you already know why. So the real reason that the city keeps facing deficits is not because leaders simply don’t know how, but because they correctly understand that the populace would rather they dither than decide on a less reversible course. Continue reading Why the City of Seattle Can’t Budget