Morning Fizz
An Impressive List
Caffeinated news and gossip. Your daily Morning Fizz.
1. City Council candidate Dian Ferguson (she's taking on incumbent Sally Clark) issued a statement yesterday against the proposed $60 car tab fee, which will likely be on the ballot in November.
Ferguson says the fee is regressive (true), says it's the wrong time because of all the other financial hits to voters (the King County car tab fee and the city families and education levy), and criticized spending money on bikes and streetcar planning ("Roads... should be a far higher priority than more underused streetcar lines or bicycle projects ... it's time to balance our support for bicycles and streetcars with other transportation needs.) "[pullquote]For the record, of the $204 million: $18 million is going to streetcar planning (8.8 percent); $13.9 million is going to bikes (6.8 percent); and $59.7 million is going to road work and traffic safety (30 percent).[/pullquote]
For the record, of the $204 million: $18 million is going to streetcar planning (8.8 percent); $13.9 million is going to bikes (6.8 percent); and $59.7 million is going to road work and traffic safety (30 percent).
2. Yesterday, Fizz reported that embattled Bellevue City Council member Claudia Balducci (anti-light rail Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman is backing Balducci's opponent, Patti Mann) got a $500 contribution from Microsoft VP Brad Smith.
In response, we got this text from Balducci, who has raised $52,000 overall vs. Mann's $26,000:
Indeed, Overstreet, president of General Microsystems, Inc., contributed $250 in late August. Balducci's nemesis, Freeman, owns Bellevue Square.
3. State Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-44, Lake Stevens), who's perceived as the moderate Democrat in the pack of current state legislators jockeying for US Rep. Jay Inslee's open seat, including green Rep. Marko Liias (D-21, Edmonds) and drug reformer Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45, Kirkland), announced endorsements from two liberals yesterday: state Sen. Karen Keiser (D-33, Kent), chair of the health care committee, and former state senator Claudia Kauffman, the first female Native American state senator.
Hobbs has put together an impressive list of endorsements from his colleagues in the state legislature; Goodman is picking up endorsements from legislative colleagues as well, while Liias is falling behind.
A fourth Democrat, former state legislator Laura Ruderman, is also running.
4. Now that we've hired Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, the Seattle Times is starting to pick up PubliCola's crime reporting too.
Times reporters Steve Miletich and Jeff Hodson went with Jonah's startling story about the Seattle firefighter who's been reassigned to desk duty after University of Washington police caught him having sex near Drumheller Fountain on UW’s campus and found methamphetamines in his car.
Look for more on this story from Jonah later today.
1. City Council candidate Dian Ferguson (she's taking on incumbent Sally Clark) issued a statement yesterday against the proposed $60 car tab fee, which will likely be on the ballot in November.
Ferguson says the fee is regressive (true), says it's the wrong time because of all the other financial hits to voters (the King County car tab fee and the city families and education levy), and criticized spending money on bikes and streetcar planning ("Roads... should be a far higher priority than more underused streetcar lines or bicycle projects ... it's time to balance our support for bicycles and streetcars with other transportation needs.) "[pullquote]For the record, of the $204 million: $18 million is going to streetcar planning (8.8 percent); $13.9 million is going to bikes (6.8 percent); and $59.7 million is going to road work and traffic safety (30 percent).[/pullquote]
For the record, of the $204 million: $18 million is going to streetcar planning (8.8 percent); $13.9 million is going to bikes (6.8 percent); and $59.7 million is going to road work and traffic safety (30 percent).
2. Yesterday, Fizz reported that embattled Bellevue City Council member Claudia Balducci (anti-light rail Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman is backing Balducci's opponent, Patti Mann) got a $500 contribution from Microsoft VP Brad Smith.
In response, we got this text from Balducci, who has raised $52,000 overall vs. Mann's $26,000:
FYI, I was really pleased with the donation from Earl Overstreet, the chairman of the Board of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce (offices located in Bellevue Square :- ))
Indeed, Overstreet, president of General Microsystems, Inc., contributed $250 in late August. Balducci's nemesis, Freeman, owns Bellevue Square.
3. State Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-44, Lake Stevens), who's perceived as the moderate Democrat in the pack of current state legislators jockeying for US Rep. Jay Inslee's open seat, including green Rep. Marko Liias (D-21, Edmonds) and drug reformer Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45, Kirkland), announced endorsements from two liberals yesterday: state Sen. Karen Keiser (D-33, Kent), chair of the health care committee, and former state senator Claudia Kauffman, the first female Native American state senator.
Hobbs has put together an impressive list of endorsements from his colleagues in the state legislature; Goodman is picking up endorsements from legislative colleagues as well, while Liias is falling behind.
A fourth Democrat, former state legislator Laura Ruderman, is also running.
4. Now that we've hired Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, the Seattle Times is starting to pick up PubliCola's crime reporting too.
Times reporters Steve Miletich and Jeff Hodson went with Jonah's startling story about the Seattle firefighter who's been reassigned to desk duty after University of Washington police caught him having sex near Drumheller Fountain on UW’s campus and found methamphetamines in his car.
Look for more on this story from Jonah later today.
