R's Could Keep Near Unanimous Control of Council

... if Democrats and Independents Vote Republican instead of Commons.

Don't be fooled by "Blue Dog" Democrat Adam Smith's endorsement of John Drescher (R); not to mention so-called Democrat Rodney Tom's endorsement: if Drescher, a supporter of George W. Bush and John McCain, respectively, during the '04 and '08 presidential elections, is elected to the Newcastle City Council in a few weeks, the Republicans will keep near unanimous control of the Council, and the probable make-up of the Council would stay the same: 6 Republicans out of 7 council members.  However, if Mark Greene (Commons) is elected, the probable make-up would be 5 Republicans out of 7 council members.  These numbers are N.P.R. estimates, only, because it is hard to be 100% sure since Council positions are technically non-partisan.

[revised on 10/20/13]

Please vote for I-522 this November, YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW about whether of not the food you buy is genetically modified. If GM food is the greatest thing since sliced bread (according to them), then why don't they want it labeled?

And I-517 should also be passed, which strengthens the initiative system, the people's check on the legislature and the governor.

The Nation's Albatross

The Monsanto Corporation, the primary producer and sponsor of genetically modified (GM) food, is the nation's albatross.  They are presently trying to trick Washington into thinking that GM food is not harmful and thus trying to keep I-522 from being passed.  522, after all, is no more than labeling so that consumers can decide for themselves whether or not they want to eat and drink GM products, but it could lead to monumental changes in the entire nation's agricultural policies -- which Monsanto realizes.  Despite the sleight-of-hand that Monsanto and their supporters often use in saying that genetically modified or engineered food is normal, GM food is not the ordinary cross-pollination of crops, a technique that farmers have used for centuries, but instead is something that started over the last quarter century-or-so: a new scientific experiment in which the molecular structure, itself, of plants is manipulated, deformed and changed, an experiment in which human beings are the unwitting guinea pigs. GM food is a long-term health hazard to humans according to many top scientists, and tests have shown that animals (whose senses are often sharper than humans) instinctively avoid it when given an equal choice between natural food and GM food.  These animals, including birds, instinctively know better than to eat Monsanto's stuff when given a natural option.

If Monsanto and the lesser known companies that do essentially the same thing as Monsanto are not stopped, agriculture across the U.S. will inevitably be ruined further than what it already has been, and America will have to import much of her food from countries that have enough sense not to let this albatross on their farms.  The corrupt U.S. Congress has long let Monsanto have their way in devising our nation's farm policy, and the current Secretary of Agriculture (Tom  Vilsack) is Monsanto's #1 sympathizer.  Therefore the effects of Monsanto's and Vilsack's policies have caused  much of America's plants and crops to be despoiled, including alfalfa which was fairly recently unprotected from the GM frenzy, and these effects could be long lasting.  Now, however, Washington (trough Initiative 522) has a chance to be the first American state to trip up the albatross and Vilsack, and hopefully, lead the rest of the nation to the side of normalcy and naturalness for the sake of the survival of American agriculture and humanity.  This debate is no less critical than that.

[revised on 10/20/13]

Please vote for I-522 this November, YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW about whether of not the food you buy is genetically modified. If GM food is the greatest thing since sliced bread (according to them), then why don't they want it labeled?
 
And I-517 should also be passed, which strengthens the initiative system, the people's check on the legislature and the governor.

Finance Director Presents Preliminary Budget

City of Newcastle, WA -- Council Meeting of 10/15/13

 

Finance Director Christine Olson presented the Preliminary Budget for 2014 to the Council on Tuesday night, but N.P.R. was only able to stay for the very early part of the presentation because of the non-N.P.R. work schedule of the editor.  Therefore N.P.R. only has very sketchy details right now, but will try to get information from City Hall about the full extent of the preliminary plan.  This probably will be showcased on N.P.R. sometime next week once City Hall sends the relevant documents to us. 

One plan that was new was the intent by the city to hire a liaison for the Community Activities Commission at a price tag of $50,000 annually. This obviously would be somebody not on the Council, as presently is the case with the temporary liaison (Mayor Richard Crispo) and explained on a recent post, ironically: "Liaison Position on Community Activities Should Be Jettisoned."  Why they would hire a liaison after reducing the Parks manager's hours to part-time earlier this year would be a good question, but N.P.R. has little information right now (the Parks Commission was renamed to Community Activities, with added responsibilities, and is now under the purview of the "Parks/Community Activities" manager).

What would the new liaison be doing anyway?  Liaison sounds like a fancy name for doing whatever the mayor and the city manager wants done, or more generally, executive assistant for Community Activities.  Would the "liaison" post be under the part-time Parks manager as well, or vice-versa, or on equal footing?  The city should go to the plan outlined in "Liaison Position on Community Activities Should Be Jettisoned," including re-setting the position of Parks manager (Michael Holly) back to full-time, and perhaps hiring a part-time executive assistant or "liaison" that would be under the manager, if needed.

In other Council news, it was announced that the Eagle Scouts are hard at work developing the Crosstown Trail.

Mayor Rich Crispo announced the resignations of Craig Belcher and Jesse Tam from the Community Activities Commission.  There will be at least 2 new volunteer commissioner slots open on Community Activities, now.  If interested, apply at City Hall or go to their website for more information (must be at least 18 years old).

Councilman Bill Erxleben said that the King County government is no longer planning on plowing secondary roads during a future snow storm, but will only plow primary roads.

[revised on 10/17/13]

Please vote for I-522 this November, YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW about whether of not the food you buy is genetically modified. If GM food is the greatest thing since sliced bread (according to them), then why don't they want it labeled?

And I-517 should also be passed, which strengthens the initiative system, the people's check on the legislature and the governor.

Position 6 Election Is a Toss-Up

Despite John Drescher's (R) apparent and commendable hustle -- he claims he's door-belling the entirety of Newcastle -- and despite his much more greater spending of money compared to my campaign, not to mention his ability to get the Washington Establishment in his corner, amazingly the Position 6 Newcastle Council race looks like a toss-up.  I have personally met at least 10,000 Washingtonians over the course of a decade in politics, here, who have affirmed their support for me, and a good portion of those have been Newcastlers (especially in 2013), although I don't door-bell, and thus don't disturb people in their homes.  I prefer to meet voters at our various community centers, and I have met thousands over the past couple of years and the past decade.  Another 90,000-or-so have joined those 10,000 by voting for me in various elections.

All the signals are telling me that this is a 50-50 race, and that's not just wishful thinking.  People are telling me they are tired of the Establishment and their special interest friends whose needs take priority over the commons as a whole.  The commons is all-inclusive and takes care of the entire community's needs, places like public libraries, post offices, public schools and the streets we drive on, to name a few.  The Party of Commons stands for maintaining and strengthening the commons, and alternatively trying to make sure that it is not depreciated by narrow special interests who would like to privatize much of the commons for their own profit, thereby making it harder for citizens to stand together as a community in the interest of building and maintaining a great civil society for the needs of everybody, not just a privileged few.  Our name, however, has a double-entendre meaning, because Commons also means the common person or, simply, commoners.  After all, the high and the mighty have two parties looking out for them and are, in fact, primarily for them.  They go by the names of Democratic Party and Republican Party, so there should be at least one party that looks out after the interests of common citizens, and it's us.  Come and join our party by sending me an e-mail, showing up for our meetings, and casting a vote for me in this election.  I'm not guaranteeing a victory, but it's going to be close, and the common people of Newcastle and Washington state might just be celebrating a victory on Nov. 5th.

- Mark Greene (Commons), Candidate for Newcastle City Council, Position 6
  
Please vote for I-522 this November, YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW about whether of not the food you buy is genetically modified. If GM food is the greatest thing since sliced bread (according to them), then why don't they want it labeled?

And I-517 should also be passed, which strengthens the initiative system, the people's check on the legislature and the governor.

Liaison Position on Community Activities Should Be Jettisoned

With the coming of the election ballots just days away, N.P.R. will be writing nearly every day until the weekend just before the official Nov. 5th election date.

Regarding the changes that were made to the formerly named Parks Commission earlier this year, some may have been necessary since the duties of the commission were expanded, but it would have been better to start a third and separate commission altogether, and to leave Parks to just overseeing parks.  The Parks Manager should have remained in a full-time status instead of the reduction to part-time that occurred, and thus his role could have been expanded to include whatever duties a new, third commission (probably "Community Activities" without the parks) would have been handling.  The Council can still enact these changes.

The Council Liaison position, currently held by Mayor Rich Crispo, should never have been created in the first place (only Councilman John Dulcich, to his credit, voted against it), as there should be a strict line between the Council and the Commissions, which would, among other reasons, lessen any possibility of conflicts of interests, an issue that Councilwoman Carol Simpson brought up during the discussions regarding the changes.  Moreover, it's discriminatory to say that one commission needs a minder (which is really what the liaison position amounts to) and another doesn't.  If any commission needs a minder, it's the Planning Commission, not Community Activities, but there should be no "liaison" for any commission and the Council should not extend this position pass the sunset date of 12/31/13 (or thereabouts -- N.P.R. isn't sure of the exact sunset date).

A revamped Community Activities Commission (with Parks on its own) could handle the library, the proposed historical society, and the proposed Environmental Enhancement Project as offered by Council Candidate Mark Greene, among other responsibilities and duties.

Please vote for I-522 this November, YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW about whether of not the food you buy is genetically modified. If GM food is the greatest thing since sliced bread (according to them), then why don't they want it labeled?

And I-517 should also be passed, which strengthens the initiative system, the people's check on the legislature and the governor.