This Isn't Jimmy Stewart's "Mr. Smith"

At the Newcastle Library Grand Opening, I was just a couple of paces away from Newcastle's soon to be new congressman, Congressman Adam Smith, as I was about to shake his hand and say hello before a woman reached him just ahead of me and started a conversation. Smith, my likely future Congressional opponent in 2014, took off before I could make a greeting, but he probably didn't notice me.  Smith and I last met in 2004 at a different library, Federal Way's main library, where we were in a Congressional candidate forum with two other candidates (Paul Lord and Robert Losey).  As you can see a small sample, further below, Smith's votes over the years in Congress are not impressive, to say the least, and he's certainly no "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" in the mold of Jimmy Stewart's famous character.  He is a "Blue Dog" Democrat, thus part and parcel of the Corporate Behemoth, and he marches in lock step with the Military Industrial Complex.  Even though he's the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, you would never find him questioning the generals or their strategy in these amorphous wars that our nation finds herself in.  My friends, the generals are suppose to follow the Congress and the Commander-In-Chief, not the other way around.

- by Mark Greene

[Revised on 12/23/12.]

"Blue Dog" Congressman Adam Smith voted for the following:

• 2001 "Patriot Act" and 2011 "Patriot Extension Act" ("Big Brother" as official policy)
• 2002 Iraq War resolution
• Gramm, Leach, Bliley Act (the law that dismantled the Glass-Steagall Act)
• Wall Street bail-outs
• Nuclear Energy Deal with India (Effectively, Congress and Smith undermining the Nuclear Anti-Proliferation Treaty, a treaty that India has never signed.)

[Updated on 6/1/15.]

Officially Running

Officially, I am running for the Newcastle City Council next year, Position No. 6, my first run for the council since 2007.  Going by the Public Disclosure Commission filings for the 2013 election, I believe I'm the first person to announce his candidacy, if not the only person thus far. This announcement will probably reach most of Newcastle through the January publication of the Newcastle News, but on the other hand they didn't say a word about my Lieutenant Governor run, in which I came in fifth of six places in this year's primary, a candidacy in which I received the endorsement of political activist and former strong candidate for Congress in the district that Newcastle is currently in (until Jan.), Darcy Burner.  I'm sure that the citizens of Newcastle will find out about this campaign before the August, 2013 primary through my own efforts and through the media, however.  I believe Newcastle should remain an independent city, therefore, I will never vote for merging with any other city, or even discuss the possibility of that any further than just saying no; therefore anti-annexation will be my number one platform issue.  I will stay with Position No. 6 throughout the election under all circumstances with the possible exception of an unlikely vacancy (meaning nobody runs) -- vacancy, not "open" seat -- in another position.  I will be going over my positions on other city issues on this blog and in the community as time goes by.

- by Mark Greene

[revised on 12/10/12]

Library Opens Amidst Much Applause and a Little Grumbling

A relatively large crowd of about a couple of hundred people gathered outside, in this town of 10,000 people, to attend the opening day festivities of the Newcastle Library, today, before filing into the brand new structure, complete with green energy elements.  Several dignitaries/politicians, such as Mayor Rich Crispo, "Blue Dog" Democratic Congressman Adam Smith (Smith officially becomes Newcastle's next congressman in January, taking over from Dave Reichert as the result of redistricting), County Executive Constantine's right-hand man, Fred Jarrett, State Representative Marcie Maxwell and others were there, including various King County Library officials.  The Girl Scouts and the Cub Scouts helped in conducting the Flag Salute and the Pledge of Allegiance, but one man in the throng was grumbling about all the showy patriotism and others were grumbling about too much speechmaking, which lasted for a little less than a half-an-hour before the library actually opened close to 10:00 A.M.  At least one critic, who witnessed the event from the other side of the street, said the whole endeavor was a waste of taxpayers' money as Newcastle didn't need a library.  Most people seemed to enjoy the showmanship and patriotism, however, and of course supported the library.  The library looked snazzy and good-looking, and coffee and cookies were being served to anybody who wanted to partake. The mayor checked out the first book, among hundreds checked out presumably, as classical musicians helped ring in a very busy first day.

Council Approves '13 Budget

City of Newcastle, WA -- Council Meeting of 12/4/12

With two council members absent from the December 4th Council Meeting (Mayor Rich Crispo and Councilman Steve Buri), and Deputy Mayor Lisa Jensen presiding, there was neither suspense nor surprise that the Ordinance Adopting the Final 2013 Budget passed with a fairly comfortable 4-1 margin, Councilman Bill Erxleben dissenting.  Erxleben said that the rules for the overall council processes were being ignored and there are mounting budget problems for the future, including his analysis that expenditures for roads in the 6 year financial forecast were understated by 2 million dollars.  Councilwoman Carol Simpson downplayed roads as a major problem, implying that the emphasis on streets and roads was overplayed, and saying that Newcastle's roads were not so bad.  Simpson also praised the Public Works Department for doing a great job, but then proceeded to nitpick about particular methods of job implementation by the city, generally, by recommending the use of more cost-effective means of transportation after a short critique of what she implied were wasteful methods. 

Simpson and the pro-annexation (for merging with Bellevue) councilman, Erxleben, dominated this rather mundane meeting, although, the new Community Development Director, Tim McHarg, made an introductory appearance, and Amy Maxim, the city's Assistant Planner, made a presentation about proposed revisions to the Capital Facilities Plan.  Finance Director Chris Olson made comments about the budget and finance concerns, generally, and seemingly agreed with those council members (Deputy Mayor Jensen, Simpson, and John Dulcich) that defeated an Erxleben motion that would have limited capital projects, as part of the 6 year financial forecast, to only those that have been applied for and permitted (Councilman Gordon Bisset was Erxleben's only ally regarding that matter).  Unfortunately, N.P.R. had to leave during Maxim's presentation and before the Council's consideration of a resolution approving Indigent Defense Standards, but may have further updates on this post, later this week, about what happened.

UPDATE:  N.P.R. made a mistake on this post, now corrected, regarding the name of the Assistant Planner for Newcastle, Amy Maxim, mistakenly getting her mixed up somehow with another Amy (Walen), who is a politician in Kirkland, Washington.  Sorry, Amy (also, an apology to Kirkland's Amy).

[revised on 12/15/12]
 

Council Rejects 1% Tax Increase

City of Newcastle, WA -- Council Meeting of 11/20/12

The Newcastle City Council rejected a 1% property tax increase, given as an option, by a vote of 6 - 1, Councilwoman Carol Simpson dissenting.  Before the vote approving a motion for a status quo levy without the 1% increase, Mayor Rich Crispo suggested that small (such as 1%) gradual increases in the levy would be better than a bigger increase somewhere down the road if it came to that, but voted to keep the taxes unchanged nonetheless. In defense of her position, Simpson said -- in so many words -- that the city should not be content to just rely on maintaining basic services, but should aspire to various improvements and projects that would help the city, also emphasizing that infrastucture is more than just streets and roads.

City Manager Rob Wyman announced that Newcastle received a $400,000 grant from the state's Transportation Improvement Program (T.I.P.)  Afterwards, the Council discussed how that money should be apportioned to Newcastle's particular transportation needs.  Pro-Annexation Councilman Bill Erxelben said that the $680K-or-so already applied to the preliminary budget for roads should be used for streets and roads other than Coal Creek Parkway, and that the $400K from T.I.P. should be used for Coal Creek Parkway.  The Council eventually agreed on a transportation motion from Councilman John Dulcich that passed 6- 1 with Simpson dissenting.  At this time, N.P.R. is not certain about the specifics of Dulcich's motion or whether it addressed the newly arrived T.I.P. funds, but it appeared to be some modificaion of Erxleben's plan, aforementioned.

Peacock-strutting Erxleben, ordinarily blunt, gruff, articulate, and outspoken, had some testy exchanges with the City Manager and the Mayor in the overall Council Meeting, but his transportation plan seemed to be the most easily understood, transparent and sensible.

Parks Commission Chairwoman Diane Lewis said that the Parks Commission attendance issue has improved since the commission membership level was recently reduced from 9 to 7, thereby making quorums easier to make.  She stressed that even though commissioners were serving voluntarily, they had a duty to meet the conditions of their job.

[revised on 11/25/12]

Why I Voted For Rocky Anderson

I voted for Rocky Anderson for President and Luis Rodriguez for Vice-President, of the United States of America.  Although the Anderson-Rodriguez ticket had little chance of succeeding as far as actually winning is concerned, it was a campaign based on earnest principles of human and civil rights, environmental protection, non-imperialism and respect for the Constitution.  I respect that, so I voted out of pure principle -- nothing else.

Barack Obama, despite showing courage as a politician, is a neo-liberal adventurer and a willing pawn for the corporate behemoth.  Despite the incredulous Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded, he has greatly escalated the number of weaponized drones being sent into various countries, and despite the stated aim of going after terrorists, these drones have also killed innocent civilians by the hundreds, if not thousands, in the Obama and Bush II years. This kind of inevitable indiscrimination is not only bad policy, but immoral as well.  Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, have also passed on prosecuting torturers and Wall Street hooligans, and Obama has thrown the Bill of Rights under the bus with the proviso to the National Defense Authorization Act that allows for unconstitional arrests of American citizens or others without any due process required at all.  It's amazing that this "law" passed with so little uproar by Americans. 

As for Mitt Romney, his statement behind closed doors about 47% of the population said all you really needed to know about him.  If he would have been elected, he would have been a very divisive leader in a nation that needs to come together more than ever.

I could have voted for one of several other third party or independent candidates besides Rocky Anderson, but the Anderson-Rodriguez ticket impressed me as being very genuine and honest, not that most or all of the other third party or independent candidates weren't.  Sorry, you didn't win, Rocky, you should have.

- by Mark Greene

[revised on 11/18/12]

"Report" Sidetracked by Other Work

Northern Pacific Report may be less comprehensive about Newcastle government affairs than I would like it to be as a result of new work obligations that I have taken on, particularly during hours when it is least advantageous for this journalistic endeavor.  This is the only reason why I missed yesterday's Park Commission meeting and why I may miss further commission and council meetings, in general, in the near future.  As a result, N.P.R. may come to have less news and more opinion in it, at least until January of 2013, but at this date I am not certain how this blog will develop as a result of the new and changing circumstances.  I will keep readers informed, however.  None of this changes anything about my expected plans to run for the Newcastle City Council or other offices.  I plan to make an announcement on this blog about my council plans on December 10th. 

- by Mark Greene, Editor of Northern Pacific Report

[revised on 11/17/12]