Posted by Scott "The Piper" St. Clair - July 27, 2010Here is the final installment of the analysis of Gov. Christine Gregoire's budget panel:
Suzanne Petersen, Vice President of External Affairs, Children’s Hospital – Nothing sucks down tax dollars more than health care, and nobody advocates on behalf of more and larger handouts than hospital executives. “Strong federal financial support is especially important to Seattle Children’s Hospital and the patients we serve,” said Peterson in a Children’s press release. Need we say more? Grade: MINUS – When asking what to do for those who constantly have their hands out, is it wise to ask those who constantly have their hands out?
Chief Don Pierce, Executive Director, Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs – With nearly 40 years in law enforcement, Chief Pierce has seen more than his share of budget imbroglios. While one might expect him to be someone who always wants more, there isn’t enough information available on the Internet to make an evaluation. Grade: QUESTION – Cops deserve a massive benefit of the doubt.
Stephen Reynolds, Chairman, President, and CEO, Puget Sound Energy – A career natural gas and electric power executive, Reynolds is also big on community involvement. While a lot of executives with regulated industries really like the cozy relationship they have with government, including keeping out the competition, there’s nothing to indicate that Reynolds would be anything other than the businessman he is. Grade: PLUS – Really, I just don’t want to risk getting my Puget Sound Energy bill jacked any more than it already is.
David Rolf, President, SEIU 775NW – Is this explanation really necessary? Rolf’s union represents tens of thousands of health care workers who are completely dependent upon state funding. Of course there’s no interest in reforming a system that plops largesse in his lap. Grade: MINUS, MINUS, MINUS – Fox/guard/chicken coop.
Orin Smith, former Chief Financial Officer of Starbucks and former director of Office of Financial Management – A Seattle scion if ever there was one, Smith served as director of the state Office of Financial Management under governors Dixie Lee Ray and Booth Gardner. He’s on more civic and business boards than five gallons of paint. Grade: PLUS – Noblesse oblige but with knowledge of a balance sheet.
Lyn Tangen, Director of Government and Community Relations, Vulcan – That she’s a Patty Murray campaign supporter pretty much says it all. I could say that her list of Facebook friends reads like a who’s-who of big-time pro-government-spending types, but I have a lot of the same folks as my FB friends – tolerance is a virtue. Grade: MINUS – Did I mention she supports Patty Murray?
Melinda Travis, Spokane community leader – The exact definition of “community leader” is unknown at this time. What is known is that Ms. Travis has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Berkeley; works to create “a sustainable, equitable and regional community,” whatever that is; and pumped well over $8,000 into Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Grade: MINUS – It’s that whole sustainable/equitable thing.
Remy Trupin, Executive Director, Washington State Budget and Policy Center – WBPC is described on its website as “an independent, progressive policy organization.” While that’s enough to flunk him, add the remarks he made upon being appointed to the panel: “One Fundamental reform that should be considered is justifying millions of dollars in tax breaks…In looking for savings, we should not abandon our values nor forget about our long-term well-being…The effects of the recession cannot be solely managed through cuts – it requires a balanced approach that includes revenue.” Translate: big government and high taxes forever. Grade: MINUS – My meds will have to be seriously adjusted for any of this to make sense.
Marilyn Watkins, Policy Director, Economic Opportunity Institute – EOI talks about “building public structures for the greater good,” which translates into single-payer health care and a high minimum wage. Never mind their effect upon the economy at large, you can always increase taxes. Dr. Watkins – she has a PhD in U.S. history – studies “the community basis of political reform movements.” Uh oh. Grade: MINUS – How about pondering the thesis is that the greater good is enhanced when fewer public structures are built and the people have more liberty and freedom?
Senator Joe Zarelli, Senate Republican Caucus – According to VoteSmart.org, in 2005 Sen. Zarelli supported the interests of the Freedom Foundation 100 percent. And he’s gotten good marks from many pro-taxpayer groups and bad marks from many pro-big-government groups. During the last legislative session, he was a voice of sanity. Grade: PLUS – There are a few legislators who aren’t solely interested in erecting monuments to their own folly.
David A. Zeeck, President and Publisher, The News Tribune – When it comes to the media, we always hope for objectivity and no evidence of partisan leaning. With Zeeck, we might have that since his long and distinguished career in the newspaper business is exceeded only by a total absence of information that evidences his opinion on anything other than journalism. Grade: ZERO – Zeeck is the only toss-up I could find.
The final total: eight PLUS, 18 MINUS, 5 QUESTION and one ZERO.
May I see the hands of anyone who thought the result would show a balanced panel? What…no hands? The deck chairs on the Titanic are being rearranged all over again.
The Piper
Posted by Scott Roberts - June 28, 2010
It took four years for Sound Transit to acquire Barbara and Ken Miller’s property by eminent domain. Now all that remain for the Millers are memories from their nightmare legal battle. Sadly, the Miller’s legal bills soaked up what little money Sound Transit was required to pay them.
Ken recalled Sound Transit’s attitude when they first met. “Sound Transit makes it clear that if you don’t yield to them, they are going to make you wish you had,” he says. “They have four lines they tell you: We are going to take your property. There is nothing you can do about it. Here is what we are going to pay you. If you don’t take what we are offering you now, we will take you to court and you will wish you had taken our original offer.”
He admits, “If you go to court in this state, you will have a hard time prevailing.”
It’s a hard choice for most citizens. The state provides two distasteful options. The first option is to sell your property at an initial low-ball offer. Accepting this offer leaves the property owner feeling that a higher price could be obtained on the open market.
The second option is to go to court. A property owner may go to court and try to convince a jury that his or her property is worth more money. The second option comes with substantial uncertainty and financial risk.
One of the big problems in taking the state to court is the recovery of legal fees. You may recover your own legal fees if the jury awards a value of at least 10 percent more than the State’s last offer. The Millers didn’t meet that threshold and weren’t able to recover those costs.
The State uses this lever of uncertainty to scare people into accepting unreasonably low offers for their property. And the state makes examples of people like the Millers to enhance their scare tactics.
Barbara Miller has a friend on the Eastside that is in a similar situation. She says her friend would rather take a low offer than risk losing everything in court.
The Millers purchased their property in 1978. They owned and operated a small wood products manufacturing company and made products that were sold all over the world. Their small business employed up to eight people.
Sound Transit began a condemnation action in 2004 to purchase the Miller’s property and prevailed after a four-year legal battle. The Millers were paid, what they felt, was about half of the fair market value. Unfortunately, what money they did receive was used to pay the enormous legal bill required to challenge Sound Transit.
According to the Millers, their property was not the best for the parking lot Sound Transit will create because a railroad track is in between the station and the parking lot—a hazard that could have been avoided. Ken said, “There was a vacant lot that was directly next to the proposed station.” Mr. Miller argued in court that there was a better option for Sound Transit, but he lost that argument as well.
Today, the Lakewood-to-Tacoma line remains unfinished. Sound Transit has not acquired all the property necessary to finish the project and the station remains vacant. The Miller’s parking lot is primarily used as a bus stop. When I visited the site, only a few cars were parked there.
“Sound Transit has unlimited money. They want to force people to accept low-ball offers. If you resist, they will spend any amount of money to make an example of you.” said Ken.
The Miller’s lived through two trials that spanned over four years. They ultimately failed because Sound Transit was able to find a small fault in their appraisal. The Miller’s trials touched on many problems with our current eminent domain laws and shed light on possible areas of reform. We are considering model legislation that will close the loopholes our state uses to abuse citizens in this process.
Even though he has lost nearly everything, Ken still gives this advice, “I would still tell them to resist. These guys (Sound Transit) can scare the socks off of you, and you might lose your money, but you just can’t let this go on.”
Posted by Scott "The Piper" St. Clair - June 10, 2010Green capitalism sounds like an oxymoron, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, the “green” in the green movement may well be the cash generated by enthusiastic and savvy entrepreneurs capitalizing on increased public concern over the environment.
This was evident at the third annual Green Festival, which was held June 5 and 6 at the
Washington Convention and Trade Center in Seattle.
The Festival was a grab bag of preachy environmentalism, an uncomfortable amount of radical politics – former Weather
Underground bombers and friends of Obama, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, were featured speakers – practical tips on how to lower your light bill and an old-fashioned commercial exhibit worthy of a state fair.
Entering the Convention Center required running a gauntlet of old-line communists and radicals armed with bullhorns through which they bellowed tiresome chants. Once you got through that smelly ordeal and into the building, it was time to pull out your wallet and
shell out the green to get in – the cheapest general admission pass was $15.
Once in you had options: workshops on discovering tools and strategies to improve your home environment, 200 speakers, the Kids’ Zone or the exhibits. Having neither kids nor a need to see a
composting toilet in action, I opted for the exhibits. And I wasn’t disappointed.
The Festival featured 300 commercial and other exhibitors hawking every conceivable product line or service. Food, clothing, building materials, health and beauty aids, financial services and more were being peddled by a combination of cause-oriented small-business people and hustling entrepreneurs.
Berkeley, CA-based To-Go Ware sells reusable and non-plastic food storage
containers and utensils. Owner Stephanie Bernstein (pictured far right) has had the company for six years and employees seven people. She said that the company’s sales top $1 million.
Bernstein described herself as an environmentalist over a capitalist. “Products can be a way to share ideas and information,” she said.
She said she subscribed to a triple-bottom-line business model: people, planet and profit. By selling products (that are made in China) that benefit the planet, she creates jobs and makes a living, she said.
There was no reason why you shouldn’t be able to re-use food storage containers and eat well, she said.
Janicy Howard (pictured left without jacket) of Atlanta was at the Green Festival because she decided to bail from the corporate world while doing something about her daughter’s skin condition. She said she follows what she called “the green circuit” selling a line of skin-care and other beauty products that are made from natural ingredients obtained from West and Central Africa.
Her company, Shea Butter Secrets, has been in existence for two and a half years and has 10 part-time employees in Atlanta. Her booth was attended by family and friends, including her husband and children.
During her first year in business, Howard said that she grossed $80 thousand. This year she expects to see $125 thousand, but she plows everything back into the business in order to grow it.
Calling Shea Butter Secrets “a business, not a cause,” she said her goal was to grow it to where she could work at it full time and create a good place to work for others. If she makes a lot of money in the process, then she’s all for that, too, she said.
Howard described herself as a fan of free enterprise. She said she welcomed competition from other health and beauty aid companies since competition drives them all to do better and be successful
“Try it,” she said. “Find something you have a passion for, and try it.”
But at the same time show some respect. “If we don’t take care of the world, we won’t have anything at all,” she said.
While many of the exhibitors were from out of town and , like Howard, follow the green circuit, there were several with a Northwest bent. At the booth for Good Sense Design was Nancy Myers,
a Eugene, OR native and natural saleswoman with an infectious smile.
Her product was LunchSense, machine-washable lunch boxes that come complete with strong plastic food containers and a re-usable ice pack. When asked why anyone would pay $35 for a lunch box when you can get one for $10 anywhere, Myers saw the sales opening and ran for daylight.
“They’re durable,” she said. “They’re lightweight, colorful and they don’t wear out.”
Schools don’t like students bringing glass containers for lunch since they create waste and can be hazardous. While some environmentalists look askance at plastic anything, Myers knows that parents want and need the convenience plastic containers provide.
Her own experience with her three children tells her that packing lunches in sealed containers as opposed to plastic bags or wrap saves her hundreds of dollars each year in food costs. Less waste means less she has to purchase.
“I’m here to bring attention to food waste and packaging waste issues – and I’m here to sell lunchboxes,” she said.
An accountant and entomologist (insect scientist) by training, Myers became an inventor out of frustration. Lunchboxes wore out, she said, and the bean counter in her hated the food waste, so she came up with a better idea.
At it for three years, Myers is the whole company. Reluctant to discuss sales figures, she did say that 2010 may be the year when she can start paying herself.
When asked about sales growth, she said, “A lot of people here say that flat is the new growth, but I’m not flat.” In other words, when many are content to tread financial water, she is making upward progress. And she’s doing it with no outside debt.
Saying that she’s having the best time of her life, she attributes it to what every entrepreneur seeks: being her own boss. “I’m in charge – I’m in control,” she said.
“I sell my product, not my soul. No business is good business if it doesn’t make money, no matter its philosophical stripe,” she said. “A well made product that’s worth the money – that’s always in style.”
Brothers Josh and Mark Richardson own Karmaboxx, a Seattle-based company that rents and delivers eco-friendly moving supplies. Instead of using, then discarding, cardboard boxes, Karmaboxx provides heavy-duty plastic totes and other containers to clients for their moving needs. The company delivers them to clients then picks them up once a move has been made.
When asked how he got into the business, Josh said that his was a typical corporate downsizing story. “I’m not a good employee,” he said. “I want to be my own boss.”
Figuring out what he wanted to do, Josh (pictured right) quickly decided that he wanted to go into
business with his brother.
The business is breaking even, and the Seattle Green Festival is their first trade show, Josh said. While catering to a socially-conscious customer base – Karmaboxx donates two percent of its gross to Northwest Harvest, a social service agency that runs food banks – basic business principles govern, he said.
“What we do must make business sense first – we have to make money at it,” he said.
Proud to call himself a capitalist, Josh said that capitalism offers the best way to make a difference. “We need to build business models that fix our own problems,” he said. “We can look at challenges as an opportunity or an obstacle – the deciding factor is us. I choose whether to be greedy or to be a responsible citizen,” he said.
“Consumers vote with their dollars as to what they want,” he said.
The entrepreneurial “can do” spirit of these independent business men and women wasn’t in evidence, however, at a large display sponsored by the city of Seattle, Seattle City Light and other agencies.
A volunteer named David said that their mission was to change people’s behavior to get them to use less. But instead of offering better products or market incentives, David said he was content to force change by artificial means such as making some behaviors cost prohibitive.
Sara Wysocki (pictured left), the Climate Action Now Manager for the city of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment, who saw that David was struggling to explain their message, said that they encourage behavioral change through incentives. But if they didn’t see enough change, they were prepared to resort to disincentives
Saying that she believes in the role of government to make people do what they should, she said that she was comfortable deciding what choices should be made and then incentivizing people to make them.
If that wasn’t a bucket of cold water on what had been a spark of free-market hope, then nothing was. What, then, was the answer - the capitalist model of creating and selling good products that are environmentally friendly, or the government model of coerced behavioral change?
According to Green Festival director Denise Hamler, it’s a bit of both. Defining “green” as a combination of what she called “social justice,” sustainability and environmental integrity, she said that the Festival wasn’t just a trade show.
The Festival has strict standards for who will be allowed to exhibit, she said. Some 20 to 50 percent of the companies that apply are declined. And the fees charged to those who are accepted range from zero to several thousand dollars.
Saying that the Green Festival supports free enterprise, she also said “a diversity of strategies to solve our most pressing ills” was necessary. Whether that meant governmental coercion to change behavior was unclear. She did say that government can be a help or a hindrance. “We make a lot of stupid laws,” she said.
Hamler said that in tough economic times the first to suffer and the hardest hit are small businesses like the ones exhibiting at the Green Festival. These businesses need access to capital in order to invest and grow, she said, and excessive levels of taxation are, in her words, “anti-green.”
The parent organizations of the Green Festival, Green America and Global Exchange, are interested in identifying and promoting green economic alternatives such as B2B barter systems. They want to encourage strong, local, living economies, she said.
But the question remains open as to who defines “strong, local, living?”
Limited to the commercial exhibits, the Green Festival sounded like a home for advocates for free-market policies and limited government – none of the business owners interviewed for this piece said they sought or wanted government assistance of any kind. In fact, a common theme among them was their desire to be left alone to pursue their passions and practice their beliefs.
No handouts or bailouts need apply.
But when you got into the political side of the program, the bright light dimmed to the point of
being extinguished. The next piece in this series will describe how much of the theoretical underpinning of the green effort is nothing more than re-tread 1960’s, bomb-throwing (literally) radicalism courtesy of people like former Weather Underground fugitives William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn (pictured right).
Washington, D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee (pictured right) 
In a sure sign those days are long gone, The (Tacoma) News Tribune has released a searchable 