Morning Fizz
We Have No Other Way to Bring About the Necessary Changes
1. John Koster, the Tea Party candidate running against U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-2), pulled out of a KCTS-9 debate that was scheduled to air live this Thursday night.
We have calls into Koster, but he canceled at the last minute (the debate had been scheduled for a few weeks from now) when he found out Everett Herald chief political reporter Jerry Cornfield was going to be one of the panelists. The Koster campaign apparently doesn't like Cornfield. The Herald endorsed Koster .
The other moderators slated for the hour-long debate were KCTS anchor Enrique Cerna and KPLU 88.5 reporter Liam Moriarty.
KCTS wouldn't comment, sticking with this formal statement:
The Herald reports on Koster's decision here .
2. During yesterday's afternoon city budget hearing, city council members expressed concern about Mayor Mike McGinn's proposed 2011 budget cuts to victims' advocates in the Seattle Police Department; intervention for domestic-violence perpetrators; and day reporting at Seattle Municipal Court for people charged with misdemeanor crimes.
"With the elimination of day reporting, there is a possibility that [more] defendants would end up going to jail," council staffer Bob Morgan told the council's budget committee. However, public safety committee chair Tim Burgess told PubliCola later that he's inclined to sign off on cutting day reporting as long as the city "keeps that option open" in the future.
3. Last night, disgruntled members of the Cascade Bicycle Club , calling themselves the Bike Club Rescue Squad, placed a petition on their website to recall the Cascade Bicycle Club board. The petition came in response to a decision by the board to fire Cascade director Chuck Ayers. As we've reported, the board reportedly fired Ayers, in part, because he wanted the group to focus more on advocacy than on recreational rides.
Although the board subsequently (and temporarily) reinstated Ayers in response to an uproar from Cascade members, the Rescue Squad faction was less than satisfied with the response to their organizing efforts from board chair Chris Weiss, who told them, somewhat dismissively, in an email, "I expect that the points raised in your letter will be addressed during [tomorrow's annual membership] meeting."
As part of tonight's meeting, Cascade members will vote on the board's membership. As we reported yesterday, the renegade group contends that the board has violated its bylaws by failing to announce the election four months in advance, and that board rules that allow the board to select all candidates make the board, in effect, a self-perpetuating institution.
In their letter to Weiss announcing the boycott, the group wrote, "It would appear that the board intends to conduct an election whose validity is in serious doubt. … Given the Board's actions, we have no other way to bring about the necessary changes expect to exercise our right under the bylaws to petition for a recall of the Board of Directors. We will commence immediately."
4. This report in from an Eastside Cola reader: At intersections throughout Redmond, campaign signs for Democratic candidates, including State Rep. Larry Springer (D-45), State Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45), and Eighth U.S. Congressional District candidate Suzan DelBene, have been defaced with black spray paint slogans such as "fuck," "no," and the ever-popular "no" sign or "X."
Whoever defaced the signs also added signs for long-past, mostly failed Republican campaigns, including US Senatorial candidate Mike McGavick (2006) and the campaign against Referendum 71, the 2009 measure affirming gay domestic partnerships.
5. Looking for PubliCola's picks for Nov. 2? Here's more than 50 endorsements. (And plenty more to come in the next several days.)
We have calls into Koster, but he canceled at the last minute (the debate had been scheduled for a few weeks from now) when he found out Everett Herald chief political reporter Jerry Cornfield was going to be one of the panelists. The Koster campaign apparently doesn't like Cornfield. The Herald endorsed Koster .
The other moderators slated for the hour-long debate were KCTS anchor Enrique Cerna and KPLU 88.5 reporter Liam Moriarty.
KCTS wouldn't comment, sticking with this formal statement:
The debate between Representative Rick Larsen and challenger John Koster scheduled to air live on KCTS 9 on Thursday, October 21, has been canceled. Representatives from the Koster for Congress campaign informed KCTS 9 that their candidate would no longer participate without changes to the panel.
We regret that voters in Washington’s 2nd Congressional District will not have this opportunity to hear from the candidates with less than two weeks to go before the November 2 general election.
The Herald reports on Koster's decision here .
2. During yesterday's afternoon city budget hearing, city council members expressed concern about Mayor Mike McGinn's proposed 2011 budget cuts to victims' advocates in the Seattle Police Department; intervention for domestic-violence perpetrators; and day reporting at Seattle Municipal Court for people charged with misdemeanor crimes.
"With the elimination of day reporting, there is a possibility that [more] defendants would end up going to jail," council staffer Bob Morgan told the council's budget committee. However, public safety committee chair Tim Burgess told PubliCola later that he's inclined to sign off on cutting day reporting as long as the city "keeps that option open" in the future.
3. Last night, disgruntled members of the Cascade Bicycle Club , calling themselves the Bike Club Rescue Squad, placed a petition on their website to recall the Cascade Bicycle Club board. The petition came in response to a decision by the board to fire Cascade director Chuck Ayers. As we've reported, the board reportedly fired Ayers, in part, because he wanted the group to focus more on advocacy than on recreational rides.
Although the board subsequently (and temporarily) reinstated Ayers in response to an uproar from Cascade members, the Rescue Squad faction was less than satisfied with the response to their organizing efforts from board chair Chris Weiss, who told them, somewhat dismissively, in an email, "I expect that the points raised in your letter will be addressed during [tomorrow's annual membership] meeting."
As part of tonight's meeting, Cascade members will vote on the board's membership. As we reported yesterday, the renegade group contends that the board has violated its bylaws by failing to announce the election four months in advance, and that board rules that allow the board to select all candidates make the board, in effect, a self-perpetuating institution.
In their letter to Weiss announcing the boycott, the group wrote, "It would appear that the board intends to conduct an election whose validity is in serious doubt. … Given the Board's actions, we have no other way to bring about the necessary changes expect to exercise our right under the bylaws to petition for a recall of the Board of Directors. We will commence immediately."
4. This report in from an Eastside Cola reader: At intersections throughout Redmond, campaign signs for Democratic candidates, including State Rep. Larry Springer (D-45), State Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45), and Eighth U.S. Congressional District candidate Suzan DelBene, have been defaced with black spray paint slogans such as "fuck," "no," and the ever-popular "no" sign or "X."
Whoever defaced the signs also added signs for long-past, mostly failed Republican campaigns, including US Senatorial candidate Mike McGavick (2006) and the campaign against Referendum 71, the 2009 measure affirming gay domestic partnerships.
5. Looking for PubliCola's picks for Nov. 2? Here's more than 50 endorsements. (And plenty more to come in the next several days.)
