Jolt
Afternoon Jolt: Public Access and Pedometers
Today's loser: Transportation advocates and public-records activists.
The state house transportation committee is currently discussing (and taking testimony on) the state's proposed 2011-2013 transportation budget. The only problem for those wishing to testify: The legislature just released the proposal at noon today, making it nearly impossible for advocates for various transportation projects to thoroughly review the budget, which runs into the hundreds of pages.
Transportation advocates contacted this afternoon were unable to comment in detail on the proposal, and just 16 people signed up to testify at this afternoon's ongoing hearing.
Several transportation lobbyists were hunkered down just hours before the hearing (and during the hearing) trying to make sense of the whopping document.
Today's winner: The city of Seattle budget office.
The budget office staff beat the city council's central staff in the city's 2001 Health Challenge by walking an average of 11,804 steps per day. City staffers wore pedometers for three weeks to measure how much they walked each day; the American Heart Association recommends walking 10,000 steps per day to maintain a healthy weight. Budget barely inched out central staff, which averaged 11,529 steps per day.
Side notes: The most dedicated walker was Nick Licata staffer Frank Video, who walked an average of 20,000 steps per day; and the most diverse team, in terms of both representing multiple city departments and achieving gender and age balance, was a team made up of members from the city clerk's office, administrative staffers, central staff and three different council offices.
The winners all get gift cards from Starbucks, and the budget office gets a pizza lunch paid for by central staff.
The state house transportation committee is currently discussing (and taking testimony on) the state's proposed 2011-2013 transportation budget. The only problem for those wishing to testify: The legislature just released the proposal at noon today, making it nearly impossible for advocates for various transportation projects to thoroughly review the budget, which runs into the hundreds of pages.
Transportation advocates contacted this afternoon were unable to comment in detail on the proposal, and just 16 people signed up to testify at this afternoon's ongoing hearing.
Several transportation lobbyists were hunkered down just hours before the hearing (and during the hearing) trying to make sense of the whopping document.
Today's winner: The city of Seattle budget office.
The budget office staff beat the city council's central staff in the city's 2001 Health Challenge by walking an average of 11,804 steps per day. City staffers wore pedometers for three weeks to measure how much they walked each day; the American Heart Association recommends walking 10,000 steps per day to maintain a healthy weight. Budget barely inched out central staff, which averaged 11,529 steps per day.
Side notes: The most dedicated walker was Nick Licata staffer Frank Video, who walked an average of 20,000 steps per day; and the most diverse team, in terms of both representing multiple city departments and achieving gender and age balance, was a team made up of members from the city clerk's office, administrative staffers, central staff and three different council offices.
The winners all get gift cards from Starbucks, and the budget office gets a pizza lunch paid for by central staff.
