Morning Fizz
The Committee of the Grownups
1. State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36, Seattle) had planned to do a fundraiser for the No on 1082 campaign
this Wednesday. (I-1082 is the initiative that would add a privatized workers' comp option to Washington state's current system.) The fundraiser was canceled because there was not enough interest.
The anti-I-1082 campaign (there are two committees) has raised $2 million so far with about $1.6 million on hand. Top contributions come from the Washington State Labor Council, the Teamsters, several other trade unions, and trial lawyers.
The pro-1082 campaign has raised nearly $1 million and has $485,000 on hand with top contributions from the Building Industry Association of Washington and Liberty Mutual.
2. After abruptly halting a meeting of the Seattle city council's public safety committee, which was supposed to get a briefing from the Firearms Review Board about police shootings in 2008 and 2009 earlier this month, committee chair Tim Burgess has rescheduled the meeting for this Thursday at noon in council chambers.
While it doesn't deal with use-of-force incidents in 2010, including the recent controversial shooting of John T. Williams , citizen observer Rebecca Roe’s report, which says "All firearms discharges [in 2009] were found justified," is, in fact, critical of some police practices, including a "phenomena" when "too many officers" joined in on a chase to "get in on the act"—putting innocent bystanders at risk—and of an incident in which police shot at a moving car.
Burgess halted the earlier meeting because Roe didn't show up to the meeting on time.
3. Could anything top failed Seattle city council candidate Dick Falkenbury's awesome 2003 campaign slogan ("It's time for Seattle to be the future, again!")? Yes. The new name for the anti- tunnel campaign (coincidentally, also staffed by Falkenbury): "The Committee of the Grownups."
Admittedly, that may be an improvement on the group's previous name: Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel, or SCAT for short.
4. The Tacoma News Tribune sat down with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and GOP challenger Dino Rossi yesterday. Here's the video .
Picture taken from TNT video
The TNT's blog report from the interview focuses on Rossi's answer to a question about Department of Defense contracting: Should the DOD consider WTO rulings—like the finding that Airbus received unfair subsidies —when deciding on contracts? Rossi told the TNT, "No, not as far as I'm concerned. No."
The state Democrats pounced, releasing a press release titled:
Back in D.C. today, Murray is offering an amendment to the defense authorization act saying illegal subsidies must be taken into account in the Pentagon's contracting process for the next generation of air tankers.
5. Also at issue in the defense authorization act today: An amendment to allow the Pentagon to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell."
The TNT asked the candidates if gays should be allowed to serve in the military. Murray said "absolutely." Rossi would not answer the question, saying he wants to wait to see what a DOD report says.
TNT (third follow up, the 29:27 mark): "And if that [the report] supports it, you would support it yourself?"
Rossi: "If it looks in that direction, we'd have to see at that point in time."
Coincidentally, PubliCola had an email and phone call out to Rossi's campaign yesterday asking his position on "Don't Ask Don't Tell." We did not get a response.
6. The Seattle Times' Bellevue Blog —a solid, longtime source of information about what's happening on the Eastside—shut down quietly a couple of weeks ago. Citing "staffing changes" at the blog, former Bellevue blogger Nicole Tsong told PubliCola yesterday there simply weren't enough resources to keep it going.
7. It's time for a fundraising check in on the race between Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey in the 34th Legislative District (W. Seattle, Burien, Maury, and Vashon): Progressive favorite Fitzgibbon has a $20,000 advantage in money raised and in cash on hand.
Fitzgibbon, whose top contributors include lefty unions like SEIU and UFCW, has raised $68,000 with about $38,000 on hand. Some of Fitzgibbon's most recent contributions come from former Seattle Transit Blog writer Ben Schiendelman (a mass transit geek who works at Microsoft), conservative (by Seattle standards) Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess, and former council candidate David Ginsberg.
Heavey, son of former state legislator and current King County Superiour Court judge, also named Mike Heavey, has raised $49,000 with about $18,000 on hand. His top contributors include education reform group Stand for Children, the Master Builders of King County PAC (the Affordable Housing Council), and consultant Robert Gogerty. Some of Heavey's most recent contributions come from suburban Seattle liberal state senator Eric Oemig's campaign manager, Premera Blue Cross and Pemco Mutual Insurance.
The anti-I-1082 campaign (there are two committees) has raised $2 million so far with about $1.6 million on hand. Top contributions come from the Washington State Labor Council, the Teamsters, several other trade unions, and trial lawyers.
The pro-1082 campaign has raised nearly $1 million and has $485,000 on hand with top contributions from the Building Industry Association of Washington and Liberty Mutual.
2. After abruptly halting a meeting of the Seattle city council's public safety committee, which was supposed to get a briefing from the Firearms Review Board about police shootings in 2008 and 2009 earlier this month, committee chair Tim Burgess has rescheduled the meeting for this Thursday at noon in council chambers.
While it doesn't deal with use-of-force incidents in 2010, including the recent controversial shooting of John T. Williams , citizen observer Rebecca Roe’s report, which says "All firearms discharges [in 2009] were found justified," is, in fact, critical of some police practices, including a "phenomena" when "too many officers" joined in on a chase to "get in on the act"—putting innocent bystanders at risk—and of an incident in which police shot at a moving car.
Burgess halted the earlier meeting because Roe didn't show up to the meeting on time.
3. Could anything top failed Seattle city council candidate Dick Falkenbury's awesome 2003 campaign slogan ("It's time for Seattle to be the future, again!")? Yes. The new name for the anti- tunnel campaign (coincidentally, also staffed by Falkenbury): "The Committee of the Grownups."
Admittedly, that may be an improvement on the group's previous name: Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel, or SCAT for short.
4. The Tacoma News Tribune sat down with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and GOP challenger Dino Rossi yesterday. Here's the video .
Picture taken from TNT video
The TNT's blog report from the interview focuses on Rossi's answer to a question about Department of Defense contracting: Should the DOD consider WTO rulings—like the finding that Airbus received unfair subsidies —when deciding on contracts? Rossi told the TNT, "No, not as far as I'm concerned. No."
The state Democrats pounced, releasing a press release titled:
Dino says WTO ruling about illegal European subsidies doesn’t need to be considered in tanker bid process
“Is Dino ready to make Bastille Day a national holiday, too?”
Back in D.C. today, Murray is offering an amendment to the defense authorization act saying illegal subsidies must be taken into account in the Pentagon's contracting process for the next generation of air tankers.
5. Also at issue in the defense authorization act today: An amendment to allow the Pentagon to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell."
The TNT asked the candidates if gays should be allowed to serve in the military. Murray said "absolutely." Rossi would not answer the question, saying he wants to wait to see what a DOD report says.
TNT (third follow up, the 29:27 mark): "And if that [the report] supports it, you would support it yourself?"
Rossi: "If it looks in that direction, we'd have to see at that point in time."
Coincidentally, PubliCola had an email and phone call out to Rossi's campaign yesterday asking his position on "Don't Ask Don't Tell." We did not get a response.
6. The Seattle Times' Bellevue Blog —a solid, longtime source of information about what's happening on the Eastside—shut down quietly a couple of weeks ago. Citing "staffing changes" at the blog, former Bellevue blogger Nicole Tsong told PubliCola yesterday there simply weren't enough resources to keep it going.
7. It's time for a fundraising check in on the race between Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey in the 34th Legislative District (W. Seattle, Burien, Maury, and Vashon): Progressive favorite Fitzgibbon has a $20,000 advantage in money raised and in cash on hand.
Fitzgibbon, whose top contributors include lefty unions like SEIU and UFCW, has raised $68,000 with about $38,000 on hand. Some of Fitzgibbon's most recent contributions come from former Seattle Transit Blog writer Ben Schiendelman (a mass transit geek who works at Microsoft), conservative (by Seattle standards) Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess, and former council candidate David Ginsberg.
Heavey, son of former state legislator and current King County Superiour Court judge, also named Mike Heavey, has raised $49,000 with about $18,000 on hand. His top contributors include education reform group Stand for Children, the Master Builders of King County PAC (the Affordable Housing Council), and consultant Robert Gogerty. Some of Heavey's most recent contributions come from suburban Seattle liberal state senator Eric Oemig's campaign manager, Premera Blue Cross and Pemco Mutual Insurance.
