Morning Fizz
As If the Situation Wasn't Already Uncomfortable Enough
1. Just a week after going on KUOW and calling Bellevue develper Kemper Freeman an "anti-light-rail zealot" and urging listeners not to shop at Freeman's Bellevue Square, which he said was tantamount to "contributing to that [1125] campaign," King County Executive Dow Constantine had to share a stage with Freeman.
At a meeting of the Bellevue Rotary Club yesterday, Constantine, an extremely vocal opponent of Tim Eyman's anti-tolling Initiative 1125, was invited to join Freeman, the initiative's biggest funder ($1.3 million), onstage to judge a shouting contest among the tables. (The prize: free ice cream at the Bellevue Art Museum's arts festival this weekend).[pullquote]Sadly, though---unlike the infamous Eyman-Ron Sims hug of 2008---no one appears to have caught Freeman and Constantine's embrace on camera.[/pullquote]
As if the situation wasn't already uncomfortable enough, Freeman and Constantine shared an awkward hug; sadly, though---unlike the infamous Eyman-Ron Sims hug of 2008---no one appears to have caught Freeman and Constantine's embrace on camera.
2. I-1163, the health care workers initiative that reinstitutes training mandates that the legislature has refused to fund, is polling extremely well among all voters: 81 percent of Democrats support the measure, 77 percent of Republican, and 71 percent of Independents.
Pollsters Isaac Duer and Diane Feldman of the Feldman Group write:
This is not a surprise. The original 2008 initiative won with 72 percent.
The measure is being backed by health care workers union SEIU 775, which has already spent $1 million on the effort.
Here's the Feldman memo on the poll, which surveyed 600 likely voters.
3. At a Chamber of Commerce-sponsored debate on the proposed paid sick-leave ordinance last night, non-restaurant business owners---until now largely unheard in the debate over the ordinance, which would require all businesses operating in Seattle to provide paid sick leave to their employees---spoke out against the ordinance, arguing that: the city has moved forward too quickly with the ordinance; that the council should do an economic impact study; and that mandating a new benefit will drive businesses out of the city.
"There are incentivized benefits, and there are imposed benefits, and this is an imposed benefit," said Carl Gipson, director of the Washington Policy Center. "Maybe this is my cynical nature, but if you don't do a cost-benefit analysis, that shows me that you don't care about the cost, you only care about the benefits."
Proponents of the proposal, including Marilyn Watkins of the Economic Opportunity Institute and public school nurse Robin Fleming, argued that the law would improve public health by preventing the spread of disease and promote social justice by providing low-income workers the same benefits that higher-income workers currently enjoy. "There are sick children lying on cots in school nurses' offices all over the city, and for every child on a cot there is a parent who is going to receive the dreaded phone call," Fleming said. "I have had children so desperate for me not to call their parents at work"---because they don't want them to have to take unpaid time off work that they give me false phone numbers or fake instant recoveries."
Somewhat surprisingly, the debate---billed as sold out---was held in a mostly empty room. The audience seemed more or less evenly divided between proponents and foes of the proposal. This was also surprising, given that it was sponsored, and heavily promoted by, the Chamber, which opposes the sick-leave measure.
4. In response to the recent dustup between his fellow Jean Godden challengers Bobby Forch and Maurice Classen over paid sick leave (Forch and Classen have each accused each other of failing to sufficiently support the paid sick leave ordinance), another candidate in the race, lefty Michael Taylor-Judd, sent PubliCola his own response to a question from the Downtown Seattle Association about the ordinance. Here's what Taylor-Judd had to say, in part:
5. The US Senate unanimously confirmed former Washington Governor Gary Locke (most recently Obama's secretary of commerce) as the new Ambassador to China this morning. Locke replaces Jon Huntsman, who left to run for president.
At a meeting of the Bellevue Rotary Club yesterday, Constantine, an extremely vocal opponent of Tim Eyman's anti-tolling Initiative 1125, was invited to join Freeman, the initiative's biggest funder ($1.3 million), onstage to judge a shouting contest among the tables. (The prize: free ice cream at the Bellevue Art Museum's arts festival this weekend).[pullquote]Sadly, though---unlike the infamous Eyman-Ron Sims hug of 2008---no one appears to have caught Freeman and Constantine's embrace on camera.[/pullquote]
As if the situation wasn't already uncomfortable enough, Freeman and Constantine shared an awkward hug; sadly, though---unlike the infamous Eyman-Ron Sims hug of 2008---no one appears to have caught Freeman and Constantine's embrace on camera.
2. I-1163, the health care workers initiative that reinstitutes training mandates that the legislature has refused to fund, is polling extremely well among all voters: 81 percent of Democrats support the measure, 77 percent of Republican, and 71 percent of Independents.
Pollsters Isaac Duer and Diane Feldman of the Feldman Group write:
Initiative 1163 is very well received by Washington voters. It begins with support from more than three-fourths (76 percent) of the likely 2011 electorate based on its initial title and summary alone with only 12 percent opposed. The initiative maintains strong majority support (56 percent yes, 36 percent no) following a battery of negative messages designed to simulate an absolute worst case campaign scenario – clearly unlikely – in which voters hear exclusively negative messages about the initiative.
This is not a surprise. The original 2008 initiative won with 72 percent.
The measure is being backed by health care workers union SEIU 775, which has already spent $1 million on the effort.
Here's the Feldman memo on the poll, which surveyed 600 likely voters.
3. At a Chamber of Commerce-sponsored debate on the proposed paid sick-leave ordinance last night, non-restaurant business owners---until now largely unheard in the debate over the ordinance, which would require all businesses operating in Seattle to provide paid sick leave to their employees---spoke out against the ordinance, arguing that: the city has moved forward too quickly with the ordinance; that the council should do an economic impact study; and that mandating a new benefit will drive businesses out of the city.
"There are incentivized benefits, and there are imposed benefits, and this is an imposed benefit," said Carl Gipson, director of the Washington Policy Center. "Maybe this is my cynical nature, but if you don't do a cost-benefit analysis, that shows me that you don't care about the cost, you only care about the benefits."
Proponents of the proposal, including Marilyn Watkins of the Economic Opportunity Institute and public school nurse Robin Fleming, argued that the law would improve public health by preventing the spread of disease and promote social justice by providing low-income workers the same benefits that higher-income workers currently enjoy. "There are sick children lying on cots in school nurses' offices all over the city, and for every child on a cot there is a parent who is going to receive the dreaded phone call," Fleming said. "I have had children so desperate for me not to call their parents at work"---because they don't want them to have to take unpaid time off work that they give me false phone numbers or fake instant recoveries."
Somewhat surprisingly, the debate---billed as sold out---was held in a mostly empty room. The audience seemed more or less evenly divided between proponents and foes of the proposal. This was also surprising, given that it was sponsored, and heavily promoted by, the Chamber, which opposes the sick-leave measure.
4. In response to the recent dustup between his fellow Jean Godden challengers Bobby Forch and Maurice Classen over paid sick leave (Forch and Classen have each accused each other of failing to sufficiently support the paid sick leave ordinance), another candidate in the race, lefty Michael Taylor-Judd, sent PubliCola his own response to a question from the Downtown Seattle Association about the ordinance. Here's what Taylor-Judd had to say, in part:
"I am a strong proponent of the currently proposed paid sick leave ordinance, and I applaud our local leaders for bringing workers and employers to the table to help craft and improve the ordinance prior to its passage. We have ample evidence from other cities that have gone before us – such as San Francisco – that this benefit can be implemented with little harm to existing businesses, and I believe it will lead to better public health and a more stable base of workers."
5. The US Senate unanimously confirmed former Washington Governor Gary Locke (most recently Obama's secretary of commerce) as the new Ambassador to China this morning. Locke replaces Jon Huntsman, who left to run for president.
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