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Posts published in “Day: January 9, 2006”

Two out

January 9, 2006

A stunner to match that of the announced resignation of Washington Democratic leader Paul Berendt:

Chris VanceNow Chris Vance, leader of Washington's Republicans since 2001, says he will resign as of next month. He said he will move into a private-sector job.

Some provocative comments - on the minutiae and structure of party politics - were strewn in his resignation letter to the party:

I am most proud of two things we have achieved. The first is our renewed focus on grassroots politics. Through the use of cutting edge technology, and old fashioned hard work, we are giving our candidates the vital help they need in terms of voter identification and turnout. We are now matching and surpassing what our opponents are doing “on the ground.” In the last five days before the 2004 election we made over 500,000 volunteer voter contacts. We are already preparing the same type of effort for this year’s election.

The second is the progress we have made in the suburbs. The results of statewide elections in 2000 clearly showed that we were losing ground in the vital “suburban crescent.” We responded with the groundbreaking Crescent Conference through which we sharpened and refined our message among suburban voters. While we continued to experience some disappointing setbacks in suburban legislative races, our efforts have paid off. We comfortably elected Dave Reichert to Jennifer Dunn’s open suburban seat despite the Democrats’ spending well over $1 million. In addition, Sam Reed, Doug Sutherland, Rob McKenna and Dino Rossi all won pluralities in every single suburban Puget Sound legislative district. The suburbs are America’s political battleground and we have shown that we know how to compete and win.

Both parties, now, will be under the pressure of adapting to new leadership just as a relatively hot campaign season gets underway.

Idaho SoS: small

January 9, 2006

Alongside an often ambitious and even impressive program in Dirk Kempthorne's Monday State of the State speech, sits an odd and puny abdication, of what probably is the hottest subject in Idaho politics at the moment.

That is property taxes, which for many homeowners have been rising fast. The reasons don't have to do with any sudden leaps in spending by local governments (which in Idaho are almost exclusively the recipient of property taxes); the aggregate amount of property taxes paid has been rising but not superfast. The increase in residential payment has more to do with the way the property taxes are - under state law, and the counties have scarcely any room for discretion - supposed to be assessed, and the way exemptions are doled out. Those have had the effect, in steadily increasing fashion over the last generation, of diminishing the share paid by business and other organizations, and increasing the share paid by the residential sector.

Kempthorne's central comment on this: "If citizens believe they are paying too much in property taxes, that debate belongs in the county courthouses and the city halls."

Not, in other words, with the legislators who write the property tax law. Consider not (then) how the tax is assessed, or whether various taxpayers are paying their fair share, only whether another meatax can be swung at it.

That was not all he had to say about it; for the aged and disabled he offered another government assistance program. And he didn't warn of a veto if lawmakers choose to revise the law.

But his message evidently was: If you're taking on the property tax, you're going to do it on your own.

Idaho SoS: large

January 9, 2006

There is a certain temptation to read a long-range mindset into this evening's Idaho State of the State, Governor Dirk Kempthorne's last. It starts with one fairly well established bit of information, that Kempthorne wanted to be governor of Idaho a long time before he reached that office. And it goes on like this.

Dirk KempthorneThat Kempthorne wanted the job not just for the title and ceremony of it but because he had ambitions, big ambitions, ways he'd like to see the state progress, and ways, he doubtless thought, a governor could push through. He had the idea of becoming one of those governors who were much more than mere caretakers or tinkerers. He wanted to make a difference.

All of that is speculative, may or may not be true. But it would make sense of the arc of the Kempthorne governorship, which would lend some poignant drama to the three months that lie ahead. (more…)

Tech three

January 9, 2006

The top high-tech state in the country is California; that should come as no surprise, since it was home of the initial boom and still home to more top firms in the field than any other state. Second place goes to Washington, home of the biggest single tech company (Microsoft) and so many more.

For a number of years, third place may come as something of a surprise: Arizona, home to large semiconductor operations and other activities (the Silicon Desert). But the turndown early in this decade hurt some of these operations, and now third place goes to the home of the Silicon Forest - Oregon.

A good backgrounder on the shift has turned up in the Phoenix Arizona Republic.

Tri-Cities or not

January 9, 2006

People who visit the Tri-cities from outside the area commonly know they're visiting the Tri-Cities, as such, and except when looking for a specific address typically concern themselves little with whether they're in Kennewick, Pasco or Richland (or baby sibling West Richland). They're all bunched together; and what, really, is the difference anyway?

Tri Cities areaIt's the story of the fleas: He knowns if it's a he or she, and so does she. People who live in the cities can wax eloquent on the variations between the cities, and even some of us from outside that area can draw some distinctions. (Richland is a little more tech-oriented; Pasco more ag-oriented and has a stronger Hispanic presence, and so on.) But the Tri-Cities identity is strong, too.

Which will make noteworthy, locally anyway, the argument by former presidents of the Greater Pasco Area Chamber of Commerce that the organization must not merge with the Richland chamber - yes, they each have separate chambers and the chamber in Kennewick, which is called the Tri-City Area Chamber of Commerce. The merger proposal is being sought by the three chambers, and depends on a membership vote on Thursday; two-thirds in favor is required for approval.

There's a little bit of a European Union kind of thing here: To what extent should we give up our local distinctions in then interest of more clout in larger size? The proponents say there won't be any loss in local services, and all the local events - an ag event in Pasco and a desert even in Richland, for example - will continue on. But there will be a change in mindset, a little more sense of Tri-City and a little less of three separate ones. If it passes. The results will be notable.

Drop ins

January 9, 2006

Drop-in time on some Saturdays at Boise City Hall is a new thing from Boise Mayor Dave Beiter, a casual and informal slot in his office time when Boise citizens can walk in and have a few words with the mayor. It's good politics - who knows how many seedling problems were snuffed with a little face time? (we know of a few) - and also good governance.

There's a limit, as you go higher up the political chain, to how far you can push this (though, once upon a time, even presidents used to do something similar). A straight equivalent for Bieter's drop bys may not be entirely practical for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. But maybe, easy re-election last year or no, he should consider trying it.

The thought might even occur to some mayoral staff after reading a blistering Seattle Times piece on access to the mayor's office, on the nightmare story of one Seattle resident who just wanted to be treated with a little respect: "To the lifelong teacher it cuts to the core of what citizenship is all about. First people are discouraged from participation by phone mazes, forms, handoffs and unanswered messages. Then they're marginalized as irrational, he says, just for continuing to knock on the door."

Such stories often pass under media radar, since visibility in newspapers and broadcast outlets is sought after even by the Nickels of the world; Seattle Times reporters usually get a callback from city hall. But tales of lack of access, and of bureaucratic indifference, add up and eat like termites into the strongest of political superstructures.