November 7, 2017 General Election crib sheet
Welcome
to the November 7 general election ballot and recommendations
Its
an off-year election and there are very few positions in question in any single
location. As always, I’m behind because there are a lot of locations to be
covered. Ballots are (or should be) in your hands already. Don’t lose your
ballot in a pile of junk mail. Just do it and get the ballot turned in.
As
always, here’s the basic information:
Ballots
must be returned no later than November 7.
You can mail your ballot as long as
the postmark is on or before November 7. To be sure that happens, get your
ballot in the mail before 4:00 pm. Remember, it needs a stamp if you mail it.
New news on where you can drop your
ballot. A new ballot drop box has just been installed in Langley, right in
front of the post office. You can drop your ballot into one of the 6 special
collection boxes at:
Island County Elections Office
400 N Main
Street Coupeville
Oak Harbor City Hall 865 SE Barrington Oak
Harbor
Trinity Lutheran Church 18341 Hwy 525 Freeland
Langley Post Office 115 2nd Street Langley
Ken’s Corner Red Apple 4141 Hwy 525
Clinton
Camano Annex 121 N East Camano
Dr Camano
Deadline
for dropping in the collection boxes is 8:00 pm on November 7.
For
questions, contact elections@co.island.wa.us
or
phone 360-679-7366 M-F 9:00 – 4:00
Marianne’s usual disclaimer. I’m not telling you how to
vote. I’m just telling you how I would/will vote. You, obviously, will decide
for yourself.
Advisory Measures
Here we go again with the “advisory measures”. This is Tim
Eyman’s revenge against the people of Washington. His initiative requires the
bizarre and somewhat nasty language in the voters’ pamphlet, and mandates that
the first option is to “repeal.” What is happening here is that the legislature
has passed various fiscal bills. Eyman’s initiative demands that we all vote on
those bills. While the language says this will cost $X.00, what that
really means is that it will bring in $X.00 in revenue. Oh, and no matter how
the vote goes, it is merely advisory and there is no need for the legislature
to pay it any attention.
Advisory Vote No. 16 –
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1597. The legislature increased, without a vote
of the people, the food fish excise tax rate on certain salmon and game fish,
costing less than $1,000,000 in the first ten years, for government spending.
This tax should be:
__ repealed
__ maintained
The Office of Financial Management projects that this tax
will take in about $546,000 in the next 10 years. www.ofm.wa.gov/ballot The
Final Bill Report
( http://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1597&Year=2017
) explains that this is actually the result of the restructuring of wholesale
fishing license & permit fees. It was requested by Dept of Fish &
Wildlife. I trust that they know what they’re doing in this instance.
I
will be voting to __ maintain
Advisory Vote No. 17 –
Engrossed House Bill 2163. The legislature expanded, without a vote of the
people, the business and occupation tax and narrowed certain retail sales and
use tax exemptions, costing $565,000,000 in the first ten years, for government
spending.
This tax increase should be:
__ repealed
__ maintained
Remember that “costing” in this case means that the state
will be taking in this amount. The big issue here is not the B&O tax (well,
for Boeing it is). Rather, it is the fact that Washington will, as of 1-1-18,
charge sales tax on on-line purchases. That $500 mil represents the sales tax
the state is currently losing out on because Amazon and Ebay and others are
taking advantage of the loophole. So we’re closing a loophole here. Judging
from Bloomberg’s Washington Marketplace, they’re not thrilled. We should be.
Remember that the state is under a $100k/day penalty until it fully funds basic
education. Closing this loophole is a big part of meeting that obligation.
https://www.bna.com/washingtons-marketplace-sales-n73014461488/.
The Final Bill Report, found at http://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2163&Year=2017
gives more information than most of us want, including the legal basis for
imposing the taxes.
I know, it will be a drag to have to pay tax on eBay
purchases, but its got to come from somewhere, and the out-of-state tax
exemption actually hurts in-state retailers. I’m not thrilled with paying more,
but I do want to see education funded, so
I will be voting to ___ maintain
Advisory Vote No. 18 –
Engrossed House Bill 2242. The legislature imposed, without a vote of the
people, an additional state property tax for common schools, costing
$12,949,000,000 in the first ten years, for government spending.
This tax should be:
__ repealed
__ maintained
If $12.9 billion looks like a lot of $$, it is.
Unfortunately its not enough to fully fund education in this state, but it’s a
good start. Yes, its coming out of the hides of property owners, and that is a
drag. ESB 2163 (see above) is closing the sales tax loophole, which helps raise
another half billion. Its got to come from somewhere, and the people and
government of Washington seem adamantly opposed to a state income tax.
The state of Washington is between a rock and a hard place on the issue of
funding education, and I have to say that the Republicans who dominate the
Senate are not making this any easier. They are claiming that the McCleary
mandate (that $100k/day fine) has already been met and that this property tax
is unnecessary. Oh yeah? Even with this tax, its still not enough to meet the
needs of basic education. Within the antediluvian and terribly unfair tax
structure, this is the best anyone has been able to come up with. Again, I’m
not thrilled at having to pay more in taxes. But at $100k/day, the state is
losing $36.5 mil/year on nothing, while teachers remain underpaid and under-supported
and the kids get less than the education they need and deserve. Until we reform
the entire tax structure in Washington and re-order the state’s priorities,
this is the best we can do.
I will be voting to ___ maintain
Tax Levies
Proposition 1 – Island County Fire
Protection District #1 – Property Tax Levy Lift. https://www.camanofire.com/
I won’t write out the whole thing, but this would authorize
the Camano Fire District to increase its property tax levy from the current
$1.10/$1000.00 assessed value to $1.35/$1000.00 assessed value.
https://www.camanofire.com/levy-lid-lift/ Not surprising, really. Population has
increased. Number of emergency calls has increased. Tax rates by law (thank you
Tim Eyman) are not allowed to increase by more than 1% without a vote. Since
inflation is a lot more than 1% (my yogurt just went up 8% overnight), there is
no way the fire district, or any other service district, can keep up. So they
ask for a levy lift. Personally, I like the idea that if/when something really
bad happens, there is someone available whose business it is to help. Its sort
of like buying insurance. Sure, you could do without it, but you sure miss it
if you need it and don’t have it.
I can’t vote on Camano, but unless there is something going
on that I don’t know about,
I would vote Yes.
Proposition 1 – North Whidbey Fire
and Rescue Property Tax Levy Lift
https://www.facebook.com/northwhidbeyfire/
This one is asking for an increase from $0.76/$1000.00
assessed value to $1.11/$1000.00 assessed value. This is pretty much the same
issue and the same pitch as the Camano levy lift, except that North Whidbey has
a whole lot more controversy around the issue. A former fire commissioner
insists that the current board is wasting money and wouldn’t need the levy if
they were more frugal. This is one can of worms into which I refuse to dive.
Sorry folks, I can make no recommendation because I just don’t have the time or
energy to research all the ins and outs of this particular situation. It sounds truly gnarly. Given the fact that
both candidates for the only contested fire district position oppose the levy,
I am inclined to agree with them.
Luckily, I can’t vote on north Whidbey. If I could, I would
vote no.
Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue
General Obligation Bonds, $7,376,000.00.
Same story, different chapter. Instead of a levy lift, the
Central Whidbey fire district wants to go with a bond, mostly for capital
improvements. The thing about bonds is, you have to pay them back. In this
case, that will be done by a $0.22/$1000 increase in the levy. The plan is to
double the size of the Race Road fire station and replace 3 fire engines. At
least they’re specific about how they’re going to spend the money.
Evidently
the Coupeville fire station, right on Main Street, is staffed by volunteers. It
was enlarged not all that long ago and has overnight accommodations. The Race
Road fire station is staffed by paid people but has no overnight
accommodations. So it becomes a question whether it requires $7 mil to upgrade
the Race Road fire station and buy 3 new fire trucks.
And since I
just found out, the Central Whidbey fire district runs from just north of
Mutiny Bay to just south of Libbey Road.
I have now
listened to the League of Women Voters discussion on this topic, and know a
whole lot more. The vote-no folks say that most of the increase in call-outs
has been in Coupeville (which makes sense since that is where most of the
people are) and that upward of 80% of those call-outs are for medical
emergencies and not for fires. They point out that Whidbey General provides EMS
services and that there is unnecessary duplication. Which leads me to conclude
that the bond issue is premature. It would be good for the agencies to sit down
together and determine who will do what. Based on such a determination, the
fire district could then decide on its future needs. I suspect people would be
far more ready to vote for a levy increase after such consultation.
I can’t vote on central Whidbey, but I would vote no, with the caveat that the hospital and fire
district work up a memorandum of agreement and resubmit an appropriately
amended levy proposal.
North Whidbey Park & Recreation
District Operation and Maintenance Levy
The current levy of $0.17/$1000.00 is expiring. The district
wants to extend that expiring levy. North Whidbey Parks & Rec has something
I dearly wish we had here on the south end – a public swimming pool. Its fairly
old and fairly expensive to operate. Its not all the parks & rec district
does, but it’s a big part of it. And there are those who do not love a swimming
pool and have been lobbying against it for years. I’m not at all clear on their
reasoning. No levy = no pool. This levy
rollover was on the August primary ballot and went down then. This is the
second try.
I would be only too happy to vote Yes.
Candidates
I’m not
going to comment on candidates who are running unopposed. Unless I know and
like them, I do not vote for unopposed candidates.
Coupeville Town Council, position 4
Christine Crowell christinecrowell@whidbey.com
I have not been able to find as
much as I would like about Ms Crowell. Her facebook page makes clear that she
shares many of my values. She’s a retired attorney who was recognized
for her many hours of pro-bono work. She’s been in Coupeville since 2004 and
loves the small-town-ness of the place. She is going through a personal/family
crisis which is making her very much not available, unfortunately. In the
Whidbey News-Times archives I found a great poem she wrote as a letter to the
editor just before last year’s fateful federal election. In a letter this
February she called herself a proud liberal and an avid patriot who respects
and supports the Constitution. I found a phone number for her, but it went over
to a fax screech. My sense is that this is someone who, as a ‘recovering’
attorney has the background to understand how governments work. I wish I could
find information on Coupeville-specific issues.
Brett W Rebischke-Smith brettwrsmith@gmail.com
I was able to contact Mr Rebischke-Smith via email and he
was very forthcoming. He directed me to the League of Women Voters’ Coupeville
event (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu9vqJAu2c0) at which he was able to present a statement
but was not allowed to take questions because his opponent (or, as Mr
Rebischke-Smith put it, his alternative) was not available. My sense, from his
statements at the event and in response to my email, is of someone who is intelligent,
well intentioned, and who cares a great deal about the town. I’m not sure how
much he knows about the workings of government. He does not express an opinion
on any specific issues. He does say that he has a knack for cutting through
positions to find solutions, which he says could be incredibly useful in
Coupeville, especially right now. I wish I had the time to ask him what he
meant by that.
If I voted in Coupeville, I would be in a deep quandary.
Lord luv a duck, what a problem. You’ve got two great candidates. I think
Coupeville would do well with either one.
Langley City Council,
position 1
Burt Beusch burtbeusch@gmail.com
I attended the League of Women Voters’ candidates’ night (Thank You for
organizing these!) in Langley. There were many questions
about the sewer system. Some months ago the mayor, in an off-the-cuff
statement, suggested offering Langley’s sewer capacity to Freeland. Candidates
were asked their opinion of this offer. Mr Beusch made the startling statement
that such an arrangement would offer the city additional revenue, but that it
would not be a long term arrangement, that Langley would want to take back that
capacity as it grows. Huh? So after some years, and a bunch of new construction
in Freeland, Langley is going to pull the plug? This was either a colossal mis-statement or Mr Beusch really does not
understand some important fundamentals. He also expressed opposition to the
idea of a safe injection site for opioid addicts. In response to a question
about how to deal with the empty commercial buildings in downtown, Mr Beusch
seemed to imply (and maybe I’m reading in here) that the city was at fault for
the Dog House not being renovated. He said that the Historic Register had
become a problem. In response to a question about whether Langley should
institute a minimum wage, Mr Beusch became a bit heated, saying that was the
state’s business, that the city has no right to dictate wage levels, and that the
minimum wage was not intended to support a lavish lifestyle ($15.00/hour is
lavish?) but was intended to be a low floor. Ok, that got me going.
On the question of the high sewer hook-up fees Mr Beusch
said they were preventing growth and infrastructure improvements and were
imposing a hardship. He said he would work with council and staff to deal with
this issue. This is yet another issue which fries my cookies. There is a reason
hook-up fees are high. They are intended to reimburse the city for the huge
capital expense it undertook in building the sewage treatment plant and sewer
system. Its got to come from somewhere, and hookup fees are the only real
source for recouping that outlay. The treatment plant was supposed to cost $1.2
mil but came in at $5.8 mil. Clearly Mr Beusch has not done his homework on
this issue. In fairness, he is not alone in that.
To his credit, Mr Beusch recognized that some of Langley’s
bluffs are “scary” and that the aquifer is precious and must be protected. It
bothered me that he consistently ran overtime. It felt like he was intent on
having his say in spite of the clearly laid out rules. Oh, and he vehemently
denied having donated $5k to Trump.
Christy Korrow christy@whidbey.com
Checking out Christy’s Facebook page I see that she has used
the questions from the LWV forum as a jump-off point for more in-depth
discussion. This is a good thing. She is obviously already thinking about the
issues which were raised.
On a personal note, Christy arrived at the forum in rather
an upscale dress (to my downscale way of thinking). I commented and she assured me it was Good Cheer’s finest.
Since 90%+ of my clothes come from Good Cheer I could only applaud her fine
taste. I feel I can understand Christy because, while she has business sense,
she does not have business (stuffed shirt) head. I know her from her
participation in Upper Langley. To have home-schooled her kids is a major
accomplishment (I’m the mom who used to yell in frustration at her son because
he couldn’t spell). She’s an organic farmer, which as a co-founder of Whidbey
Tilth I really appreciate. To have worked through the entire process of
actually developing a co-housing project and having people living in houses in
the project is a major accomplishment as well. The reason their neighbors’
place is called Talking Circle is because of the many years those folks spent
talking before actually doing. I know Upper Langley went through a similarly
long process.
On the specific matter of sewer hook-up fees, Christy had
the info at her fingertips. She cited the various city staff who had presented
information to the PAB. She stated clearly that hookup fees fund capital
improvement while utility fees fund operations. Good start. Christy was the
only candidate who was aware of the County Wide Planning Policies and how those
influence the allowance of individual septic systems and sewer expansion. I do
disagree with her that sewer expansion will lead to protection of the bluffs,
but that opinion was expressed by all the candidates.
All in all I like Christy because we share similar
background experiences and it feels like when I talk to her she listens. That
is a good thing. And incidentally, she studies the issues and the options for
dealing with them.
If I could vote in Langley I’d vote for Christy Korrow
Langley City Council,
position 2
Bill Nesbeitt wdnesbeitt61@hotmail.com
Mr Nesbeitt was a no-show for the LWV candidates’ forum and
his facebook page has not a single word about his ideas or position. He did
provide a statement which was read out, and my notes are pretty negative. He
said that Langley is beautiful, he was asked to serve, he wants a happy,
healthy, safe, surviving, and thriving community with a strong business base
focused on small business. He knows taxes are necessary but says they must be
wisely allocated for fiscal and social health.
Ok, I got exactly nothing out of that. Reading the report in
the Record, Mr Nesbeitt stated that the city wasted a lot of money debating the
Sanctuary City proposal. While he’s willing to go with the inclusive resolution
which was passed, he felt even discussing Sanctuary City was an example of bad
government management. For me the bottom line is the closing line in the Record
article. He says he’s seen both good and bad in Donald Trump. Sorry. Lost me
right there.
Dominique Emerson domqingov@gmail.com
I have dealt with and watched Dominique for years and years.
We have different viewpoints on many issues affecting Langley. We share a rock
bottom respect for human rights. I’m thinking of circles of agreement. While
people can argue, if they are within a circle of agreement they don’t need to
argue about the fundamentals. Inside the circle there is a certain set of
beliefs, standards, ways of thinking on which all agree. Dominique and I are
inside the circle of caring about what happens to people and the environment
which supports them. And we are inside the circle that says there is nothing
good about the current occupant of the White House.
If I could vote in Langley I would vote for Dominique Emerson.
Langley City Council,
position 5
Peter Morton peterforlangley@gmail.com
Peter is relatively new to Langley, although he has lived on
the south end for some time. He’s a retired Boeing engineer and manager who has
both the tech background and the strong progressive bent to be able to address
major issues comprehensively. He’s definitely an info sponge. I am a bit
notorious for overwhelming people with info. Didn’t bother Peter a bit.
I attended an interview with Peter by Whidbey Island
Progressives. Very interesting. He was definitely comfortable with people who
self-identify as Progressive. He’s come up with a phrase to describe any issue
which polarizes Langley. He calls it a funicular. Makes sense to me.
Peter raised what he considered the 3 main issues in his
campaign: 1) leadership and action. He feels that Thomas does not take enough
of a leadership role, and intends to do so. 2) he sees the Comprehensive Plan
and the city’s budget as action documents which lack mission and focus. He
wants to develop a clear mission statement and focus for the direction of the
comp plan and the budget. 3) he claims that Langley has a reputation as being
business unfriendly and he wants to change that. He wants to encourage
multi-family housing and simplify the permitting process.
I like what I see in Peter Morton. As ever, we may disagree
on some specifics, but I am convinced that he is open to facts and able to draw
reasonable conclusions from them.
Thomas Gill thomas.gill@whidbey.com
I’ve known Thomas for years, both in his capacity as a city
official and in his unofficial capacity as the guy who keeps the tech working.
He performs a great service, the value of which I’m not sure city officials
fully appreciate. When I first met him he had that typical tech-guy libertarian
lean. I’ve watched that change over the years to a more community oriented way
of thinking.
I’m actually sorry to see Peter and Thomas running against
each other. I would like to see both of them on the council. Since that is not
going to happen this time around, if I could,
I’d be voting for Peter Morton.
North Whidbey Parks
& Recreation Commissioner, position 2
I could find absolutely no
information about this person.
The website is that of Oak harbor
High School, where Mr Chargualaf teaches civics and American government.
Doesn’t tell me a whole lot about what he would do on the Parks & Rec district,
but it does tell me that he deals with high school students every day.
Mr Hoffmire charged the Parks
& Rec chair with conducting an executive session 9-28-17, at which she ordered Mr Hoffmire to conform to the opinions of the majority or be removed. Quite the story in the
News-Times. I know the rules of public conduct and it sounds like Mr Hoffmire
did the right things and the chair did all the wrong things. I’m amazed he
hasn’t lost his taste for this. I admire a fighter who knows the rules and uses
them. I think he is trying to salvage the Parks & Rec district in the face of some serious mis-management.
Knowing nothing else, I would vote
for Shane Hoffmire. He deserves it.
North Whidbey Parks
& Recreation Commissioner, position 5
I could find no facebook page or
website, but found several letters to the editor in support of the swimming
pool and other activities for kids. Good for her.
Evidently Mr Brown is passionate
about the pool and has little patience for the current chair of the Parks &
Rec commission. One has the impression that he is not alone in that opinion. It
is possible he could use a little anger management therapy but obviously his
heart is in the right place.
With the limited information I
could find, as much as I admire Mr Brown and hope he continues to be involved,
I think a vote for Patricia Hardin would probably lead to a more functional
board. Luckily both of them are passionate supporters of keeping the pool open.
If I voted in Oak Harbor, I would
vote for Pat Hardin.
South Whidbey Parks
and Recreation Commissioner, position 5
Bigi Giese – bigigiese@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/bigigiese
The only relevant information I was able to find about Ms
Giese was in today’s Whidbey Record. The Facebook page is strictly personal. It
appears that Ms Giese has a fair amount of experience in sports. Not sure how
well that may translate into overseeing a parks & rec agency. She’s been on
the island all of a year (is my old-timer snottiness showing?) which seems like not long enough to know how things work here.
Matt Simms – matthewesimms@eaton.com
There are lots of hits on Google relating to the Parks &
Rec district and Matt’s role there. He’s been on the board for many years. If I
had any complaint about Matt, it would be that he, like most other Parks &
Rec people, has a stronger focus on the rec part than the parks part. I, of
course, want more land protected in an undeveloped state. But that’s just a
quibble.
I think its important for people to have more than a short
history on the island before jumping into positions of management/authority. I
want to know that they understand how things work here and what is important to
most of the people. I think Matt has been doing a good job for us.
I’ll be voting for Matt Simms
North Whidbey Fire
and Rescue District, position 1
T.J. Lamont – tjlamont49@gmail.com
Gerald Smith - smithgd359@gmail.com
I think you would do well with either of these men. They
seem to agree that the district has been mis-managed until recently and that
throwing more money at it will not cure that. I’m beginning to sound like a
broken record (how’s that for archaic? No one even has records anymore, and
kids don’t even know what they are) but if North Whidbey Fire & Rescue
finds itself tripping over other agencies, its time to sit down and work out a
Memorandum of Agreement about who covers which base. We want all bases covered.
We don’t want agencies tripping over each other to do that.
Thank you Marianne!
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