Jeannine Roe Sworn In - Says "No" in Vote on Bentridge Development

Above: Jeannine Roe being sworn in as a new Olympia City Council member Tuesday night by Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander.

by Janine Gates
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Tonight's Olympia City Council meeting started off with the swearing in of newly elected Jeannine Roe to replace councilmember Joan Machlis. Machlis had been appointed to the council to fill a vacancy and lost to Roe by 96 votes.

Roe gave a statement thanking her daughters, Julia and Allison Dellwo, and her parents, Marilyn and Charlie Roe. She also thanked Machlis for her dedicated service to the city. "I take my seat on the council with humility and with confidence...I am humble to be assuming this leadership role and along with it the obligation to serve all Olympia residents - not just those who voted for me," said Roe.

Roe's first issue on the agenda, along with other councilmembers, was to decide whether or not to proceed with approving a proposed 72 acre neighborhood village project, called Bentridge, located off Boulevard Road near LBA Park and the Chambers Lake basin. This area is located where high groundwater, flooding, and stormwater runoff threatens existing homes. The proposal includes 501 residential units on 348 lots with a 12,500 square foot commercial building. The project proposal includes the building of 160 single-family homes, and other multi-family duplexes and townhomes.

According to a staff report dated July 13, 2009, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) map for the area identifies two flood zones on the Bentridge property.

The controversial project concerns neighboring residents and others who care about Olympia's future growth and development.

Gus Guethlein, a property owner on Wiggins Road, testified during the public participation portion of the meeting. "The site plan shows almost no stormwater capacity and the city is already facing dilemmas with several development projects that are stalled due to the current economic situation. And there is also the impact of added traffic from 500 new households on the Boulevard Road traffic system," said Guethlein.

Another member of the public expressed concern that the council was unwilling to consider the combined impacts of the multiple large developments that are already proposed for this area of the city.

The council discussed a report from the project's hearings examiner, Tom Bjorgen, who had reviewed the project proposal. Bjorgen recommended that the project be rejected on the grounds of "school concurrency" issues. He was concerned that the project was going to result in the arrival of more children than could be serviced by the existing schools. The staff and councilmembers debated whether the children moving into the proposed development should be served by schools in the neighborhood or in schools throughout the Olympia school district. In the latter case, students could be bussed across the city to attend a school.

In a protracted, technical discussion on this matter, Councilmember Rhenda Strub asked the clearest question of the evening that went unanswered by the city attorneys. She expressed concern about busing students and queried how this would fit into the Olympia comprehensive plan's emphasis on sustainablity, walkable neighborhoods and limiting unnecessary transportation.

Another issue of concern involved a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) migated determination of non-significance (MDNS), dated June 16, 2009. This called for specific measures in response to projected increased traffic. These included offsite traffic and pedestrian improvements within the city, and some traffic improvements in the county on the old Yelm Highway.

One concern was that the hearing examiner had not considered, or even been aware of, the MDNS for the project. Tom Morrill, the city attorney, said that it is not clear if the hearing examiner saw or even knew about the MDNS. "He didn't say if he had seen it or not."

"If he didn't see the MDNS, that's stunning," said Councilmember Jeff Kingsbury.

In the end, Kingsbury offered a motion, which was seconded, to approve the project master plan with a request for some clarification on whether the examiner had considered the MDNS. Councilmember Joe Hyer said that he wanted to more forward with the project but he would have to vote against the motion to support neighborhood schools.

Strub said, "I'm voting against the motion. There ought to be neighborhood concurrency (for schools). I am loathe to give the green light for development that will crowd schools or bus kids to the other side of town. I don't think 'horrified' is too strong a word...."

Although she did not participate in the discussion of the issue, Roe's first vote cast as a city councilmember was a "no" to the questionable development project. The motion passed with a final vote of four to three with Roe, Strub and Hyer voting against the motion.


Above: Mary Nolan, Executive Secretary to the Olympia City Council, left, and Terry Gregerson, middle, of the city's Information Technology Department, help Jeannine Roe get ready for her first city council meeting on Tuesday night.

It's Your Olympia (So Go Downtown, Things'll Be Great!)

Above: Patrick Mapp thanks Tas Jones for coming into his shop, Danger Room Comics. The store is celebrating its 15 year anniversary with a party on December 4th, 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. There will be food, beverages and video games, says Mapp.

By Janine Gates
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

They weren't exactly singing the 1965 Petula Clark song, "Downtown," but about 25 downtown business owners did get together on Wednesday night to socialize and commiserate on how they are managing to survive economically. They also heard details about a new downtown marketing campaign, “It’s Your Olympia,” at the Parking Improvement Business Area's (PBIA) fourth year anniversary annual meeting at the Phoenix Inn.

At one table, business owners Patrick Mapp of Danger Room Comics, Daisy Anderson of Pizzazz, Sarah Swartz of Fire & Earth, Ron Vansickel of Peppers, and Nancy Caifa of Nonna Rosa Cafe and Tea Room, met each other and chatted.

“For me, it’s been slowly getting better this year. We have to be optimistic…stubbornly optimistic,” said Mapp.

“We have to be nuts,” added Anderson, who has co-owned Pizzazz on Washington Street with her daughter Theresa Anderson, for 17 years.


Above: Theresa Anderson, owner of Pizzazz. Pizzazz’ business relies largely on the making of gift baskets using a wide variety of "Made in Washington" products, but would sure appreciate more foot traffic. Pizzazz has lots of affordable stocking stuffers! Pizzazz is located across from the Washington Center for the Performing Arts at 513 Washington St.

“It was a different city 15 years ago. It's gotten more busy - there are more people downtown. It has its ups and downs," says Mapp. Mapp has been in the same location in the Oddfellows Building on the corner of Columbia and Fourth Avenue at 210 West Fourth, for 15 years. “Our landlords are awesome. They are very invested in the community.”

Asked what the secret to his success is, Mapp said, “We work in a business with low overhead but I have to be careful about what I stock, and I have to sell a lot of it by knowing the product intimately and making good recommendations. Our business plan is really simple: we find good stuff and we try to sell it,” says Mapp.

The relationship between the city, the Olympia Downtown Association and the PBIA got off to a rocky start in 2006. The PBIA is a geographic area with an advisory board elected by the businesses in that area, and the city collects from each business an assessed yearly amount between $150 - $750. The PBIA advisory board makes a recommendation to the city on how to utilize the funds. The fee is based on number of employees and what downtown "zone" their business falls within. The PBIA's goals are: a clean and safe downtown, civic beautification, marketing, holiday focus and business retention.

Katherine Mahoney, outgoing president of the PBIA organization, gave an overview of the organization, its marketing efforts and budget situation in 2009 and 2010. The PBIA proposed budget to the city is $100,000 in 2010, as opposed to $143,500 this year. The budget is typically about $125,000; the extra amount this year reflects a rollover amount from 2008.

Next year, downtown will lose city employee Peter Spotts who operates the Green Machine sweeper, which helps keep downtown clean. "Peter has been an amazing ambassador for downtown...we will see a real difference in cleanliness next year and I encourage all of you to get out and clean up the area in front of your shops," said Mahoney.

The Green Machine will be off the streets and kept in storage to await possible budget improvements in the future. A total of $10,000 is still budgeted in 2010 for the Green Machine's maintenance. The cost savings for not having Spotts and the Green Machine will be $40,000.

Other 2010 budget priorities include downtown cleanliness projects to be identified ($10,000), a steam cleaner ($2,000), flower baskets ($8,500), art bench project ($4,500), downtown marketing ($30,000), Olympia Downtown Association administrative support ($10,000), downtown cleanup ($5,000), holiday displays and support ($10,000) and probabtion crews/cleanup ($15,000).


Above: Artist bench project of the PBIA. This is one of 10 benches the PBIA spent$7,500 "beautifying" in 2009. This one is outside Last Word Books on Fourth Avenue. The PBIA has budgeted $4,500 on the bench project for 2010. The money went towards artist supplies and fees.

The marketing campaign of "It's Your Olympia," was designed by an Evergreen State College graduate, Eben Greene, who used to work at Archibald Sisters and now lives and works in Seattle. The words and logo are copyright free, which means anyone can use it. Banners with the theme are now hanging in the Olympia City Council chambers, and were hanging downtown, but were quickly damaged in last week's windstorm, so they were taken down for repair.

Lighted snowflakes, which made their debut last year, will be put up downtown next week. The city no longer lights the trees downtown for the holidays. "Finding access to power and weatherproof power boxes downtown is incredibly difficult," said Mahoney. The city will be placing more snowflakes on State Avenue this year, as well as Capitol Way. Businesses will not be hoping for a white holiday season, which ground downtown sales to a near halt before Christmas last year.

Joan Machlis, who recently lost her election campaign for Olympia city council to Jeannine Roe, attended the PBIA meeting and said to the group, "I've been very inspired by the PBIA. The city is cutting every discretionary program - programs that this community loves. This program assesses yourselves and you control the programs...this is only the beginning...."

Machlis also said that the former Department of Transportation lot on State Avenue will be striped and available for free parking for the holiday season. Machlis, who is now working for the Hands On Children's Museum on grantwriting and their capital financing campaign said, "I'm impressed and hopeful that the PBIA can build on their work. I intend to stay involved...I know the thrills and struggles of entreprenership."

The "P" is for Parking

“I was initially opposed to the PBIA when it was first pitched - it was different than what it became...it’s been kind of bumpy,” says Patrick Mapp of Danger Room Comics. Many downtown business owners would call Mapp’s description an understatement. Parking, the "P" in the Parking Business Improvement Area organization, is a major sore spot for many downtown business owners.

Many businesses refused to pay the assessed fee and late notices were sent to an out-of-town collection agency. Now, the PBIA's collection agency, Grimm Collections, is locally owned, and provides an option of paying in installments or by credit card. Some still don’t want to pay it.

Daniel Furrer, former president of the Olympia Downtown Association and manager of Archibald Sisters, is adament that the PBIA's assessed fee is a cost of having a business downtown, and says, "This is a constantly evolving process. If businesses have suggestions on what the fee is going towards, come get involved with the PBIA and help determine priorities. It's a volunteer board of 13 - 15 people...come talk to us and get involved."

Ron Vansickel, owner of Peppers, at 114 Cherry Street, was one of those businesses that did not pay the PBIA fee. Vansickel says, “I’m dismayed in general by the city council. Parking is a problem - and my business was headed to the Westside because of the perception of downtown being unsafe. On Friday, for example, there were zero nearby parking places available. We’re wedged between the port construction on State Avenue, and the building of the new city hall on Fourth. To add insult to injury, parking enforcement doesn’t give us a break. I feel like the enforcement is just a revenue stream for the city….it’s bizarre that we can have a downtown without parking.”

Vansickel, who first opened Pizza Time downtown 20 years ago, says parking was rarely a problem before. “I’ve heard that we’ve lost a total of 52 parking spots with the loss of Safeway, and parking on State and Fourth due to the construction….I can't believe we don't have a parking garage.”


Above: The new Olympia City Hall under construction, November 20, 2009. No doubt, Peppers (Mexican restaurant) will enjoy great foot traffic business once the new city hall is scheduled to open January 31, 2011, if they can hang in there until then.

An estimated one third of downtown's 337 free parking spots are used by owners and employees. Theresa Anderson of Pizzazz says she and her mom have witnessed for years the activities of one man who works at the Office of Superintendent for Public Instruction (OSPI) in the old Capitol Building on Washington Street: he comes out every one and a half hours to move his car to a new free location. Anderson described the man and his car. "He must have a timer on his computer because he comes out like clockwork. Think of the amount of company time he wastes to move his car every 90 minutes!" Free parking is scheduled to end in March with the installation of new meters.

Theresa Anderson said that 200 residents live in the Washington block of downtown Olympia. The old Hotel Olympian above Pizzazz has 50 apartments, and about 20 of those residents have cars. About ten of those residents are disabled so their cars are allowed to stay parked in one spot for several days in front of her store. Daisy Anderson added, "If the new city council doesn't see eye to eye on downtown issues, nothing will change."


Above: Signmaker Ira Coyne uses his talent on Saturday night to help Quality Burrito look spiffy.


Above: The PBIA and the Olympia Downtown Association is sponsoring a wide variety of activities downtown throughout the holiday season, November 29 - December 19. Come on down! Click to image to enlarge.

For more information on the Olympia Downtown Association and the PBIA, go to www.itsyourolympia.com.

For bus schedules, contact Intercity Transit at www.intercitytransit.com or 786-1881.

For more information on City of Olympia parking, go to www.olympiawa.gov/parking.

For a schedule of downtown activities, go to the Olympia Downtown Association at www.downtownolympia.com.

Janine Gates often walks downtown. Feeling uncharacteristically lazy, Janine drove downtown on what turned out to be a busy late afternoon on Saturday. She circled around and around for a free parking spot because she did not want to pay money to park at a Diamond parking lot, although there were many, many, many spots available. In fact, Janine has never in her 26 years in Olympia paid money to a Diamond parking lot. Parking is free downtown on Saturdays and Sundays and weekday evenings. Finally, she found a spot right in front of Old School Pizza and, being able-bodied, walked around for a couple hours to do some of these interviews. Afterwards, she got two great slices of pizza from Old School and headed home to write this article.

Imagine Olympia: Community, the Comprehensive Plan and Cake

Above: Mayor Doug Mah revs up the crowd to get excited about Olympia's upcoming Comprehensive Plan process.

By Janine Gates
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

"We're going to do it right, we're going to do it well, and we're going to invite all of you, and because this is Olympia, we have cake!" exclaimed City of Olympia Mayor Doug Mah at the Olympia Center downtown today.

The City of Olympia kicked off its “Imagine Olympia” campaign this afternoon to get the community engaged in the city’s update of its comprehensive plan. Mah's comments about 'doing it right' referred to the public participation process, perhaps acknowledging skepticism expressed by some on the city's ability to handle a major campaign using in-house resources and staff to effectively listen to and incorporate citizen input into a document that needs to be completed by 2011.

The Washington State Growth Management Act requires that cities develop plans to manage population and urban growth. The Olympia comprehensive plan is the city's blueprint for how it grows and accommodates citizen desires for the city to be a beautiful place to live, work and play. The city’s current plan was adopted by the City Council in 1994 after a two-year community involvement effort. As required by law, it is now time for the city to review and update the plan.


Above: Yea, the current Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map is kind of complicated, but it tells you exactly what's zoned where in Olympia.

About 200 people attended the event to learn more about city programs and priorities, meet city staff, and contribute their vision for Olympia's future. The city had staff at numerous tables around the room to discuss topics such as climate change and sea level rise, housing affordability, shoreline planning, and transportation. The Comprehensive Plan has thirteen chapters, but not all chapters will need to be extensively updated. Chapters on land use and the environment, for example, will take significant effort and time to update.

As City Councilmember Karen Messmer wandered around, she revealed an auspicious fortune inside her Dove chocolate wrapper: "Shape the future by dealing with the present."

City associate planner Jennifer Kenny handed out cloth bags that contained Imagine Olympia "home kit" host instructions for gathering comments from friends, family and neighbors on what they value about life in Olympia and what they would like the community to be like in the future. The kit contains information on projected growth statistics and visioning questions to use as talking points. The self-guided home meeting discussion should take about an hour or two. There is no firm deadline for hosting a discussion, but "the sooner the better," would be good, said Kenny.

Kenny says "Imagine Olympia" teacher curriculum packets are also available for teachers to use in the classroom and that she and Erin Scheel, Intercity Transit youth education coordinator are also available to come into classrooms to guide the process. "The goal of the curriculum is to get kids to think about the built environment and the big picture," said Kenny.


Above: "I'd like to see Oly retain its small town independent, quirky charm - I'd like buildings to be kept on the short size on isthmus or better yet a park - don't lose the artsy edge too!" (click on image to enlarge)

The only portion of the day's event that actually allowed community members to publicly express their vision for Olympia's future was on a wall of butcher paper. City staff member Kraig Chalem encouraged people to write their responses, on multi-colored sticky notes, to three city-offered questions that asked for their vision of Olympia with an assumed significant future county population growth.

The Thurston Regional Planning Council projects that Olympia and the Olympia urban growth area will grow by 20,000 people between 2010 and 2030. Some question this figure. A question posed by the city asked: How can we accommodate 20,000 more people and achieve the atmosphere you hope for? Some offered suggestions such as, "If we don't build it, they won't come," or "Send them to Lacey."

As Chalem struggled to keep the sticky notes affixed to the paper throughout the afternoon, he explained that the comments will be tabulated into general themes. "This is just a shotgun approach...we're going to have more events - we don't want to be leading people, we want people to give us their reactions."


Above: Butcher paper and sticky notes are pretty cheap - The City of Olympia has allocated $30,000 to develop and implement the two year Comprehensive Plan process. This note says, in response to what a city means to you, "This means where I know people wherever I go, where I feel kindness/friendliness (a hello and smile), where people care about their environment by keeping it clean and beautiful (more parks)."


Above: Kraig Chalem and Carlos Gemora at Saturday's "Imagine Olympia" event.

Carlos Gemora, 21, has lived in Olympia for five years and works in residential construction. Gemora says he came to the event because he has opinions on how the city should be run and likes the idea of neighborhood village zones that allow small retail areas within a neighborhood.

Gemora's mother, Teresa Staal, said, "I'm here because I feel like there is so much potential in Olympia that we are not fulfilling. We have intelligent, creative people here that we need to tap. We have the advantage that we are the state capital and have the potential to be the shining example of the state of Washington."


Above: Keith Stahley helps newly elected city council candidate Jeannine Roe get on board with the "Imagine Olympia" campaign by giving her an Imagine Olympia Home Kit.


Above: Kathy McCormick of the Thurston County Regional Planning Council speaks with former City of Olympia Mayor Mark Foutch.

Looking at various mixed land use models, former Olympia Mayor Mark Foutch ran down the list of options. "Look at this current land use menu - we can see what hasn't worked, and what has...Downtown housing hasn't panned out yet (but) when the market improves, and lending improves, we might see some action on those lots," he said, pointing to areas throughout downtown.

"These haven't worked not because the comprehensive plan is faulty, but because the market hasn't caught up with the vision of the last comprehensive plan. There are so many variables - what is the price of motor fuel going to be in ten years? Can we concentrate more jobs in Olympia so that we're able to provide a market for high density corridors without spilling over into neighborhoods?"

Asked what his vision of Olympia is, Foutch said, "I'd like Olympia to remain a place where everyone feels welcome, valued, safe, secure and heard. These things are not expressed just in the built environment - and this may sound corny - but by the hearts of the people who live and work and go to school here. Over the decades, I think we've done a good job in striving for that goal."

Longtime city Planning Commissioner Roger Horn attended the event and later said, "Clearly, there's a lot of interest in the process and we can maintain this (if) people feel like they are being heard. They are contributing to something that will have a big impact - it's a 20 year plan, but its impact will be felt for a long time - 50 years or longer."

The city will hold neighborhood meetings from January through March, 2010, and public hearings will be held at by the Planning Commission and the city council in 2011.

For more information, go to www.imagineolympia.com or call city Community Planning and Development staff at (360) 753-8314.


Above: For some, the day's events really was just about the cake - a little boy eagerly watches Keith Stahley, city Director of Community Planning and Development, serve up cake at the Olympia Center this afternoon.

Jolene Unsoeld and Citizen Activism: "What Are You Going To Do About It?"

Above: Former U.S. Congresswoman and citizen activist Jolene Unsoeld.

by Janine Gates
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Former Washington State Third District U.S. Congresswoman Jolene Unsoeld still won't be told what to do as she fought valiant attempts by Shanna Stevenson, Director of the Women's History Consortium, to attach a corded microphone onto her blouse. Unsoeld, telling Stevenson that she needed freedom to move around when she speaks, of course, got her way.

Not only does Unsoeld move around when she speaks, she gestures with animated excitement and passion. Her trademark smile and energetic spunk was warmly welcomed by a roomful of community members and local activists seeking her insight, guidance and advice in a freewheeling one hour conversation of current topics.

Unsoeld, 77, who lives in Olympia, was an unpaid, independent citizen lobbyist from 1971 to 1984, served in the Washington State Legislature from 1985 to 1989 and in the U.S. Congress from 1989 to 1995.

Unsoeld was the guest speaker today at the Washington State Capital Museum in a program coordinated by the Women’s History Consortium. The Consortium, an initiative of the Washington State Historical Society, recently funded the processing of Unsoeld's papers at The Evergreen State College. In 2008, Unsoeld received the Washington Coalition for Open Government's James Madison Award for her lifetime work protecting open government.

Unsoeld explained the beginnings of her activism, which, for many mothers, often begins with their children's interest in political affairs. "I got married young and had four children while my husband was in graduate school...then we went to Nepal with the Peace Corps....When we came back, we were really thrown off center. Our family was exposed to television for the first time - starving children in Biafra and the Vietnam War."

Unsoeld described the pivotal moment that led to her future political activism: "My eldest son, then 16, was so (emotionally) decimated by world's affairs, and had many discussions with his parents about what he could do. His queries were usually answered, 'No, I don't think that will work; no, going to jail won't stop the war...' "Finally, out of absolute disgust, he asked at the dinner table one night, "Well, Mom and Dad, what are you going to do about it?"

When they moved to Olympia in 1970, Unsoeld says she literally wandered into the state Capitol Building out of curiosity and it wasn't long before she got involved in the political process.

From her first hand experiences, Unsoeld says the lesson she learned, one that will remain constant despite the era or issue, is for activists to learn to follow the money in political campaigns.

Unsoeld's early work included helping successfully spearhead I-276, the Public Disclosure Act, which later resulted in the establishment of the Public Disclosure Commission, which monitors candidate fundraising activities.

Describing her research work in pre-computer days during the election cycles of 1974 and 1976, Unsoeld monitored and tabulated about 400 candidates on a daily basis as reports came in, using card files and large notebooks.

"I was learning a lot as I looked at these reports coming in," as Unsoeld noticed significant conflict of interest connections in an Eastern Washington race. The local newspaper ignored her information, but Unsoeld says she appreciated the fact that KING-TV and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer took notice of her work.

Almost singlehandedly, Unsoeld then created a grassroots booklet on her Underwood typewriter called, "Who Gave, Who Got, How Much?" which summarized her findings. Many names and addresses of contributors were, at first glance, seemingly unconnected, but were discovered, through Unsoeld's research, to be directly connected. "What I learned is that the grassroots efforts that is represented by lots of small individual contributions could overcome the mass of high contributions by vested interest groups."

Audience member Alan Mountjoy-Venning asked Unsoeld about the impact of Glenn Beck forcing certain candidates forward when more reasonable candidates are available who are actually interested in true dialogue. Unsoeld responded, "I think the liberal wing of the media and the public is not fully recognizing the danger here. There is just enough of the extreme element to stomp on the majority...."

Unsoeld said that the Democrats need catchy slogans like those created by Republican wordsmith and strategist Frank Luntz, whom she described as "a genius the Democrats have never had." Luntz creates small focus groups and finds out what phrases people will respond to, "although they have nothing to do with reality," like "death tax," "public option," and "government takeover."

"Words are words, and they can be positive ones, but Democrats have not found their words to make their message on healthcare, or Wall Street or any of those issues, to find a solution."

Speaking of Tim Eyman and the initiative process, Unsoeld said, "The initiative process used to be a process of the people rising up and speaking out on an issue. Do you think it is anymore? No....We are all interest groups, but I'm talking about monied, vested interest groups that have the wherewithall to take over the process...Eyman is making a permanent living off of it - I think it's a real fluke, fortunately, that he didn't succeed this time, but there is a real danger there, and there is a lesser ability for people to make more of a difference...."

Unsoeld asked the audience to ask themselves, "What is it that's coming up this next session? The money is already flowing...there are those forces at work....We must follow the money ahead of time, before the issue arises...(but) with the lack of investigative reporting, the news media can't do it right now...the people need to lead. There isn't any shortcut...."

An audience member asked what are the sources of truth. Unsoeld, who had read passages from the New York Times, the Washington Spectator and quoted "her hero" public affairs commentator Bill Moyers, said, "The problem is that there are a lot of good public interest groups that do good, but when an issue gets too hot and costs them membership and contributions from good government types, they back off...."

"There is no substitute for an informed, participatory public. It just takes dogged, dogged work, and we're all tired, our age group particularly, so we've got to get those youngsters going. They were out in the last campaign but they've got to stay there....it's a long haul. Those are the battles that have to be fought for social justice and they are so important. If you try to stay on the sidelines, you're just deceiving yourself...so you have to find that that inner strength to keep going."

"We have to be willing to get muddy to understand how it all works...as long as you have people on all sides who have (gotten muddy), then things will be fairly balanced and honest...There is no absolute right or wrong on any issue. You have to struggle with every step to keep your values and goals in your mind...."

And as people left the room and went out into the blustery weather that left some areas without power this afternoon, Unsoeld, whose talk was punctuated by applause several times, had clearly succeeded in delivering the challenge to her audience to get muddy and make a difference.

To learn about the Women's History Consortium, contact the Washington State Historical Society at www.wshs.org or www.WashingtonWomensHistory.org for more information.

To "follow the money" and see who contributes to candidates and how much, go to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission at www.pdc.wa.gov.


Above: Former U.S. Congresswoman Jolene Unsoeld speaks with audience members at the Washington State Capital Museum today.

The Night's Not Over....

Above: Karen Rogers, Candidate for Olympia City Council Position #4, and John Whalen, video producer for Thurston Community Television (TCTV). Whalen called TCTV to let the station know that Rogers was available for an interview.

by Janine Gates

Olympia City Council candidates held election night parties at local venues such as the Urban Onion, Oyster House, Procession of the Species and Rambling Jack's, but city council candidate Karen Rogers held her party at a private home in the Eastside neighborhood.

At 9:30 p.m., Thurston Community Television (TCTV) completed its coverage, and Karen Rogers, candidate for Olympia City Council Position #4, held a slim lead tonight with 4,662 votes to Karen Veldheer's 4,421. Although the race is too close to call, Rogers was asked how she was going to celebrate. Rogers, with her typical dead-pan humor, said, "I'm going to get a cat after Thanksgiving. I'm going to go visit my family in Florida. Then I'm going to go down to Animal Services."

Turning serious, she said, "I'm honored that the Olympia voters have put their trust in me - what I can promise is that I will continue to work as hard on the council as I have on the campaign and continue to listen."

The final city council race numbers for the evening in other races are:

Position #5:

Stephen Buxbaum 5,595
Jeff Kingsbury 4,049

Position #6:

Jeannine Dellwo Roe 4,649
Joan Machlis 4,566

Position #7:

Joe Hyer: 5,514
Tony Sermonti: 3,564


Above: Janine Gates takes a picture of Karen Rogers while she is talking with Thurston Community Television (TCTV).

Senior Citizens Conference Raises Health Care, Taxes and I-1033 Debates - Senator Rodney Tom Says He Would Vote For a Tax Increase

Above: Governor Christine Gregoire addresses the day-long Senior Citizens Foundation Conference in Seattle on Friday.

by Janine Gates

Passions and tensions ran higher and higher as the day worn on at the Senior Citizens Foundation 2009 Annual Fall Conference held in Seattle on Friday.

Health care dominated the discussions as the interconnectedness of senior issues, the national health care bills, the potential impact of Tim Eyman’s I-1033 on Washington State, the pending state revenue forecast and talk of various revenue raising options hit home.

The Washington State 2010 Legislative Session will be grim as the state faces a $2 billion shortfall, and there is a temptation to eliminate state-only funded services such as the Senior Citizen’s Services Act and the Family Caregiver Support Program. Debate ensued on all aspects of revenue and expenditures and there was even mention of a possible state income tax.

Governor Christine Gregoire welcomed 400 health care and senior advocates and agency staff to the conference and when the topic soon turned to health care, reminded the audience that even she, as a recent breast cancer survivor, could be excluded from future health care coverage because of her now “pre-existing condition” even though, she says, “she’s as healthy as a horse.”


Above: The Washington State Council on Aging named Margaret Casey, lobbyist for the Seattle-King County Aging and Disability Services, as a recipient of the 2009Excellence in Action Award for her work and service to senior citizens. Governor Gregoire presented her with her award on Firday.

Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler also addressed the group saying, “It is critical that we see Congress act on health care before they recess. If we fail, we’re putting it off for another decade.” This prediction was agreed upon by many health care area experts, legislators, and advocates in the room throughout the day.

One in five Washingtonians do not have health care insurance, equaling one million residents, “but that number doesn’t tell the whole story,” said Kreidler. One out of four don’t have enough money for full coverage and choose between paying their mortgage or coverage. The number one reason people go into personal bankruptcy, Kriedler said, is because of health care costs.

“The ones who are most impacted are those 19 to 64 (years of age). They are working, they are contributing, but they’re the one’s getting shafted the worst. They are supporting us - the rest of the population….We’re in a position right now to bridge the generations….We need change - we need universal coverage. The system is failing and the opportunity is now. There’s a lot of agreement out there that doesn’t make the news…I believe we’re going to have transformational health care reform,” said Kreidler.

Kreidler said he is putting together a commission called, “Let’s Make It Real,” a coalition of 15-20 doctors, advocates, local elected officials and administrators to present recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature about how the state can best implement health care reform. “It won’t be a ceiling, it will be a floor…” said Kreidler.

“When I go to bed at night, I think about what if we (as a country) don’t take this step toward health care reform - we’ll spend $33 trillion dollars in the next decade and look like a Third World country. We’ll be outspending our competitors two to one - that’s a recipe for disaster for the U.S. economy.” said Kreidler.


Above: Washington State Commissioner Mike Kreidler.

Denny Heck moderated two health care discussion panels, saying he too, is not immune to the health care crisis. As a former legislator and chief of staff to Governor Booth Gardner, Heck, 57, says he retired six years ago and has a well-known health care coverage carrier, but has seen his rates go up from $700 a month to $1500 a month for his family of three. “And it’s not a high end plan. Now you know why I’m looking forward to Medicare,” Heck joked.

National HealthCare Debate

There was considerable discussion about the two bills now facing the U.S. Congress in the House and Senate. The House released its consolidated bill today and could be voted on next week. The Senate version is expected to be released soon. And when could a final bill be forwarded to the White House? “If we’re lucky, it will be a Christmas present,” said panelist Lee Goldberg, Policy Director for the Long Term Care Division at Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

“Is this really going to happen?” asked Heck.

“If I had a farm, I’d bet the farm that this is going to happen,” said Goldberg.

“With all due respect to Kreidler and the Governor, they are way too optimistic but we’re on the right path…this is the first of a series of efforts and luckily our commander in chief is still a community organizer,” said panelist Aaron Katz, University of Washington lecturer, Department of Health Service.

Ingrid McDonald, Advocacy Director for the AARP Washington, said that there was a delay in the progress of the conversation because "here has been a tremendous amount of fear-mongering to scare seniors - there is nothing in these bills that will cut Medicare benefits,” McDonald assured.

“Anytime you hear ‘The Medicare sky is falling,’ consider the source,” agreed Goldberg. “No matter what, states are going to be the big winners in this health care reform because it will pump money into state programs.”

Representative Sherri Appleton, D-23 District, said she is a big supporter of universal health care and detailed amendments Senator Maria Cantwell dropped into the Senate bill.

Aaron Katz lamented that there is nothing in these bills that will actually reduce health care costs. Ingrid McDonald said cost reduction would require more federal involvement than we would want, saying “unfortunately, there is a financial incentive to over-serve.”

So what can we do? Get in touch with your representatives on a national and local level, write letters to the editor, and emphasize, if you are, a senior citizen and that you support health care reform, panelists suggested.

On the House side, Representatives Rick Larson, Brian Baird and Adam Smith are still hold-outs. “If you live in their district, you need to break their arms,” said Appleton.

“I’m sure you mean that figuratively,” clarified Heck.

“Just don’t break the arm they vote with,” joked Goldberg.

“The only way we’re going to get health care reform is if the people demand it, so get out there,” said Katz.

Washington’s I-1033, Taxes, and the 2010 Legislative Session

The conference's afternoon session got even testier as State Senator Rodney Tom, D-48th District and Vice Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee expressed frustration with I-1033, asking the audience, “If I-1033 passes, do you want me to break the state’s obligation to K-12 or do you want me to break the initative?”

Nora Gibson, Executive Director of Elder Health NW was blunt, saying “People will die if this goes forward - if you whittle down their level of support, bad things will happen.”

“We are a humanitarian society…we need real, non-hysterical, non-finger pointing conversations with the public that says we have to have revenue. What are you willing to pay for? Do you want our most fragile population out in the ice? We have to tell it like it is,” said Senator Rosa Franklin, D-29th District.

“If I-1033 passes, “it will force a tax increase this session,” said Senator Tom.

Tom says he would vote for a tax increase. “We need to get real. We have a lot of corporate loopholes to look at.” Tom suggested that he would close the car trade-in allowance, saying “it’s a $200 million giveaway. That’s real money. The problem with that is there are car dealers in all 49 districts who will say ‘that will put us out of business’ but I don’t think it will make a difference - people will either buy a car or not.”

“If I-1033 is defeated, we are not going to fill the (state budget) hole with taxes. “There will have to be a mixture of loophole closures and sin taxes,” suggested Tom. Tom pointed out that churches and synagogues do not pay property taxes. “We need to look at these loopholes…we are making cuts we’ve never dreamed of.”

Franklin added, “These cuts (we made to the budget) were not easy…there were tears.”

“I’ve committed myself to not be part of an all-cuts budget. We’ve done all the harm we can do. We need to be compassionate. Maybe we can’t have a balanced budget. Maybe we should bond that debt,” said Representative Appleton from the back of the packed room, which caused a major stir of conversation.

“I’m brave but not stupid,” responded Tom. “We have a lot of bonds out there. We have one of the best bond ratings out there and if we change that, they will downgrade…We need to be straight with the public: this is how much government costs, and here’s the revenue…Mathematically, we have to take everything off to get to $2 billion. You are going to see some new revenue.”

“People have to take leadership, overcome fear, say the “T” word (taxes) and have a state we can be proud to live in,” Nora Gibson agreed.

When asked what will happen during session, Franklin said that the Governor will eventually say, “Bring me a bill…." Franklin added, "We have no where to go. We have no money (and) we can not have an all-cuts budget. The Governor has a heart and she will do the right thing.”

“We can’t continue to do what we’ve been doing - we have to bite the bullet and have a real conversation about our state tax situation without the rhetoric and talk show hosts,” Franklin said. This was greeted by applause from the audience. “We have to engage the community: What do you want? What are you willing to pay for, and what are you willing to delay? We have an unsustainable tax structure that does not support the services you expect,” said Franklin.

Asked by Heck to make a prediction on I-1033, Senator Tom replied, “I predict on Tuesday we’ll reject I-1033.”

“We can’t let people like Tim who feed on fear to control what happens,” concluded Nora Gibson.

A State Income Tax?

An audience member asked about a state income tax, to which Tom replied, “We are going to be forced into that conversation. The B&O tax, which is unique to Washington, is 19% of our revenue. Do we lower a business's rate or do they leave the state? They have a gun to our head every time….Microsoft came to us last year asking for a tax rebate in Quincy and we said no and they went to Texas! We’re seeing that more and more - that's what’s going to force this change.”

Another asked about the Boeing decision to take its business to South Carolina. Senator Tom quickly retorted, “I do not believe Boeing left because of the B&O…Boeing is a military contractor. That’s what this is about - this gave South Carolina taxpayers $175 million and Boeing gained two new senators in this deal - it was not about our tax structure.”

South Sound Activists

Ruth Shearer of Lacey, came to the conference as a member of the Senior Citizen’s Lobby to help with registration. “Health care - it’s so important to understand what’s going on. Shearer said one of her grandsons was born with tumors that, at age three, turned cancerous. A treatment was successful and her grandson, now 26, is healthy, but “has a pre-existing condition that will affect him forever.” Her grandson’s health affected his parent’s job choices his whole life because they needed a large enough company that has a group plan, at a high cost for very little coverage, that would cover the whole family and his pre-existing condition.

Former Senator Don Carlson lives in Olympia and is now a lobbyist for the Washington State School Retirees Association. “I have kids and grandkids. Health care is not just an old person’s problem - it’s the young person’s, too. (They) need to protect their children."

Carlson said he is helping to coordinate a health care forum series in Olympia that will be sponsored by all Olympia faith congregations. It will start January 12, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at First Christian Church, and run for eight sessions over a period of two months. “The House and Senate leadership, professionals and advocates will participate, encourage civil dialogue and answer people’s questions about health care,” said Carlson.

Gene Forrester, 81, of Olympia is the immediate past president of the Washington State School Retirees Association. Forrester also served on the AARP National Policy Council for eight years and says he’s most concerned about cost reduction of the health care system.

“I’m a rarity that I don’t have to take any prescription drugs but it’s currently illegal for Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for reduced prices, and that’s something I’d like to see changed in the final bill,” said Forrester.


Above: Olympian Gene Forrester is quite a guy. Besides volunteering with the Kiwanis Club's Food Bank, he just returned last week from Phoenix where he played seven games in the World Softball Tournament. His team, the Northwest 80's" came in third place.

For more information, contact the Washington State Senior Citizens Lobby at www.waseniorlobby.org, or (360) 754-0207.


Above: Senator Rosa Franklin chats with a participant of the Senior Citizens Foundation conference on Friday.

Potential NorthPoint Developer Has Not Seen City Sea-Level Rise Maps, Data

by Janine Gates


Above: Former Olympia City Councilmember TJ Johnson speaks with MJR Development partner Mike McClure at an open house at the Olympia Center Wednesday night.

The second of three public open houses was held Wednesday night for a development firm to present its proposal for redevelopment of the NorthPoint area on the Port of Olympia’s shoreline in downtown Olympia. The third and final open house is Thursday, October 29, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Tumwater Comfort Inn.

The Kirkland-based developer, MJR Development, gave a slide show depicting two alternatives for the property that includes a one story restaurant and a three story hotel and/or office-mixed use option.

The public has until November 4 to comment on the proposals. Port staff will compile comments and present the information to port commissioners on November 9. The commission may make a decision on the proposal at its meeting November 23 or in early December.

The open house did not include an opportunity to collectively offer input in a way so everyone could hear the public’s questions or concerns. After the formal presentation, people looked at maps and development concepts and spoke one-on-one with developers and port staff.

The presentation revealed an ongoing, alarming disconnect between public desires and profit-driven out-of-town developers unfamiliar or unconcerned with city issues. Absent a comprehensive vision for the city of Olympia and the port of Olympia, several environmental shoreline management concerns went unanswered in private conversations throughout the evening.

Speaking after the presentation with MJR Development partner Mark Lahaie, who lives on the westside of Olympia, Lahaie was asked how his proposal addresses future city sea-level rise issues. Lahaie responded, “We don’t have a plan for sea level rise - this is very conceptual….” When asked if he has seen the City of Olympia’s sea level rise data and maps, he admitted he has not seen them and asserted, "We haven’t even been chosen yet. The commission needs to decide if they want to go forth."

When asked if he knew that Andy Haub of the City of Olympia was going to give a presentation to the Olympia City Council at its meeting November 10 about updated sea level information, Lahaie said he did not know that either.

According to the City of Olympia, sea level is rising in Olympia by about one foot per century due to post-ice age warming of the oceans, and will increase with global warming. Much of downtown Olympia is at risk, lying only one to three feet above the current highest high tides.

Andy Haub, said via voice mail earlier this week, that his upcoming presentation to the councilmembers on November 10 "will be consistent with past reports and will include more detail and a better analysis of land elevations."

Former Olympia city councilmember TJ Johnson asked MJR Development partner Mike McClure, who lives in Woodinville, about sea-level rise issues. When Johnson asked McClure how he can reconcile his organization’s mission of social responsibility with putting buildings in this location that is going to be impacted by sea-level rise, McClure responded, “I’m not going to get into a debate about global warming…global warming is still a debatable issue.”

McClure said, “We’ve had our eyes on Olympia as a development firm for a long time. We’re bullish on the future.” MJR offered a proposal for the proposed development on East Bay but it did not win. The winning proposal went instead to Taragon.

“These people are out to lunch,” said TJ Johnson later.

Out of 500 Port-issued invitations, only two firms, MJR and another development company, True North, responded to the Port’s request for proposals, which was issued September 10. The deadline for proposals was October 12.

When asked if this was a typical turnaround time for a request for proposals, Mike Reid, Port Property Development Manager, said, “that’s pretty quick.” Reid staffed a table that contained a stack about 10 inches deep of True North’s 18 page application. True North’s application was not accepted, Reid said, because it did not meet the Port’s requests on questions related to community benefits and market analysis.

The community benefit and market analysis questions were answered, but apparently not to the commission’s satisfaction. Both answers clearly state that due to the lack of time given to respond to the proposal, “there must be a discussion with the Port of Olympia before a true scope of project can be developed” and that they will do a “complete market analysis…once the scope of the project is defined.”

When asked why the turnaround time for the proposal request was so quick, Commissioner Bill McGregor said, “Usually it’s a bit longer, but our commission wanted to move forward…we’ve had public comment (regarding this area) in 2004, 2005, 2008, and at a work session August 26. There was a roomful of people so we took public comment.”

When asked why MJR's proposal does not address future sea-level rise issues, McGregor said, “They will have to engineer a solution. The Hands-On Children’s Museum is raising its floor two feet, so maybe that’s something that’s happening here - I don’t know.”

Port commissioner George Barner, who voted against the whole idea of development on NorthPoint at this time, an area that offers beautiful views of Budd Inlet, and the Olympic Mountains, said, “This is ridiculous! We need to slow it down and have a community dialog about what we want this place to look like. So here we are with one proposal! That's not a broad analysis. When I look at these sketches, what jumps out at me is asphalt! How gentrified can NorthPoint become? Look at the parking lots for the restaurant and hotel - they should be integrated into the building. NorthPoint could be a true recreation destination, for relaxation.”

Indeed, both proposal alternatives contain large amounts of impervious surfaces - one parking lot alone is nearly 40,000 square feet, to accommodate parking for the proposed restaurant, mixed-use office building, and/or hotel.


Above: MJR map detailing NorthPoint development Option #1

In describing development alternative #2, Lahaie romanticized his vision for a potential 100 room “boutique hotel," and offered a slide of the Inn at Port Ludlow as a model. “This is East Coast architecture, which I think is interesting....The hotel could offer locals an opportunity to enjoy jazz nights, cooking classes, and discounted weekend getaways, away from the kids.” Development alternative #1 features an office/mixed use option that "would attract engineers, architects, doctors, dentists and attorneys."

The proposed restaurant would be a one story, 5,500 square foot family friendly diner that could offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. This type of restaurant option at NorthPoint would be likely since the area already has the more expensive fine dining experience offered by the HearthFire Grill.

A special events outdoor area could accommodate weddings, community gatherings, outdoor dining events, musical performances, “and be a pocket park when not in use,” said Lahaie.


Above: The view of the Olympics from East Bay Drive, near NorthPoint, at sunset.

For more information, go to http://portolympia.com/about/northpoint or contact Heber Kennedy at 528-8070.


Above: Port Commissioner George Barner takes a few business cards of MJR Development partner Mark Lahaie.

Think Global, Act Local: Climate Action Activities in the South Sound

by Janine Gates


Above: People used various modes of transportation to get to William E. Bush Park on Yelm Highway to bring awareness of climate change issues on Saturday.

October 24 marked an international day of action to bring about a global awareness of climate change, and South Sound residents met that challenge in full force this weekend with several events. The activities were organized to acknowledge climate change and the personal efforts one can do to bring down carbon dioxide levels in the world.

Worldwide activities were organized to highlight the number 350, as in parts per million, which is the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. It is currently 390 parts per million.

There is an urgency to bring about awareness of the global warming issue before world leaders meet in Copenhagen, Denmark in December to finalize a new treaty on cutting emissions. The draft treaty now includes 350 parts per million as a goal for discussion.

Internationally, 4,500 climate change events were planned in 170 countries - about 1800 of them were scheduled to occur in the United States, in all 50 states - and expected to be the biggest demonstration in terms of number of events in a single day on any issue.

Bike and Walk for Climate Change Action

Many climate change activists walked or bicycled on the Chehalis Western Trail to meet this morning to hear speakers at the William E. Bush Park on Yelm Highway.


Above: Michael Dempster, a recently retired science and music teacher at Lincoln School, arrives by bicycle at William E. Bush Park.

Thurston County Commissioner Sandra Romero gave an overview about Thurston County’s efforts to help stop global warming.

“Is it politically possible to accomplish 350? You bet it is - it is our board goal in every action we take that we assess climate change," Romero told the crowd.

“Thurston County takes climate change very seriously. We just received a $617,000 grant from the federal government that will be used to hire two additional staff members to develop climate change policy, programs, and projects, perform energy audits on county facilities, develop green residential and commercial development codes, develop the county’s climate change response plan, and make energy efficiency improvements and retrofits to county facilities,” said Romero.

Romero also highlighted Thurston County’s efforts to support grassroots, activist-led organizations such as the Cool Thurston Campaign, which hosts periodic “global warming cafés” to educate community members on personal commitments one can do to make a difference in reducing one’s “carbon footprint.”

The county will also be converting to hybrids as new vehicles need to be purchased. The goal for 2010 is to receive a Green Fleet Certification through the Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition and Evergreen Fleet Organization.

In terms of land conservation and prairie protection, Romero mentioned recent efforts to preserve 600 acres of wetlands near Tilley Road, and that the county temporarily changed current regulations to better protect prairies and oak woodlands until permanent regulations can be brought forward with the Critical Areas Update.

“We are walking the talk, by joining Kazakhstan, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, Guyana, Ethiopia, China, Antartica, Dominican Republic, Tanzania, Micronesia, the Maldives, Egypt, and many more, to stop global warming,” concluded Romero.

Several organizations including the Interfaith Works Earth Stewardship Committee, Washington State Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice, and Earth Care Catholics organized the event.


Above: Bernie Meyer, who spoke as Mahatma Gandhi, and Thurston County Commissioner Sandra Romero on Saturday.

Blue Line March


Above: Environmental activists begin their "Blue Line March" at Olympia's Farmer's Market, tracing the predicted future shoreline along Marine Drive, Plum, State, Cherry, 5th Avenue, past the new city hall, 8th Avenue, Jefferson, Capitol Way, Legion Way, Water Street, 4th Avenue, ending at the Fourth Avenue bridge.

Another climate change awareness event, the Blue Line March, began at the Olympia Farmer's Market with about 200 people walking an outline of downtown Olympia that is predicted to be underwater based on the prediction of a four foot sea level rise during an 18 foot high tide and a 100 year flood.

If this prediction sounds unlikely, it is not. Olympia has had several 17 foot tides, and has had 100 year floods for the past two years. According to City of Olympia sea-level reports, much of downtown Olympia is at risk, lying only one to three feet above the current highest high tides.


Above: Blue Line March activists pass by the new Olympia City Hall, which is under construction on Fourth and Cherry St., and is predicted to be under water according to the City of Olympia's own sea-level rise reports.

Elaine Sanders, who uses oxygen and a walker, walked the Blue Line March, with the help of her partner of 25 years, Mickey Mooney. Asked why she came to the event, Sanders, who has lived in Olympia since 1980, said, "Because they need to hear us - all the world leaders, our Congress - they need to back the Clean Energy Jobs bill!"


Above: Mickey Mooney, left, and Elaine Sanders, participated in the Blue Line March on Saturday.

Barb Scavezze, coordinator for Cool Thurston Campaign, and an organizer and participant in the Blue Line March, said later, "I thought it was a fantastic event - it brought together young and old and everyone in between to show how much they care about taking action on climate change."

Cheryl Crist, who helped tie signs on poles along the Blue Line March, said after the event that she was thrilled with the day's events. "This is a good way to demonstrate what could happen with sea level rise and why we need to change our behavior. I am concerned because we need to hurry up. We lost a lot of time with the Bush administration denying the science. We need a treaty in Copenhagen and the U.S. must participate. No more standing aside as we did Kyoto."


Above: Teresa Mosqueda, left, and Cheryl Crist tie signs on a pole on the Fourth Avenue bridge at the conclusion of the Blue Line March.

What You Can Do:

There are many organizations and activities in the South Sound area to learn more about climate change.

Locally, the Earth Care Catholics and Interfaith Works Earth Stewardship Committee is sponsoring an extensive list of Earth Care videos, conversations, and presentations through next May at Traditions Cafe, 300 5th Ave. SW, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. For more information, call 459-5825.

The Washington State Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice is holding a legislative conference, which will include the issue of global warming, on Saturday, November 7 from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation. For more information, contact Rev. Carol McKinley at coordinator@uuvoiceswa.org or www.uuvoiceswa.org.

Olympia based organization Climate Solutions urges people to call Senator Maria Cantwell at (206) 220-6400 and Senator Patty Murray at (206) 553-5545 to urge Congress to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Bill and learn more about global warming at www.climatesolutions.org.

A Cool Thurston Cafe will be held on October 27, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., location to be announced. Learn about the "Low Carbon Diet" program to help you lower your carbon footprint, and learn how to form a low carbon diet “EcoTeam” with friends, colleagues, or neighbors, take on “cool lifestyle practices” that reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and more. For more information, contact Barb Scavezze at barb@scavezze.com or call 360-878-9901.

Transition Olympia holds regular climate change awareness events. To learn more, go to www.transitionolympia.ning.org.

Andy Haub, City of Olympia Public Works, will be presenting the city's latest sea-level rise information to Olympia City Council members and the public on November 10, 7:00, Olympia City Hall.


Above: The Artesian Rumble Arkestra (ARK) musicians keep things lively during the Blue Line March on Saturday, meeting marchers at various locations along the way.

Trans-Alta and Ecology Reach Proposed Mediation Agreement on Mercury and Nitrogen Oxide Emissions

Above: Acting Superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park Randy King speaks with Jim Wilcox of Trout Unlimited, after the public hearing last Tuesday evening in Olympia.

The Washington State Department of Ecology held a public hearing last Tuesday night in Olympia about the new proposed agreement between Ecology and Centralia’s Trans-Alta coal-fired plant to reduce Trans-Alta’s mercury and nitrogen oxide emissions. Ecology air quality staff Sarah Rees and Alan Newman were on hand at the public hearing to explain the agreement process thus far and hear public testimony.

Several concerned citizens and representatives of various organizations gathered to comment on the agreement. Public comment will continue to be taken until November 9.

Trans-Alta, which began operating in 1971, is the state’s only coal-fired power plant, and provides enough power for one out of every 12 homes and businesses in Washington State.

The state recently renewed Trans-Alta’s operations contract for an additional five years. A report on the operational permit negotiations was recently heard in a work session of the Washington State Senate’s Environment, Water & Energy Committee in early October. TransAlta materials, distributed to members, highlight Trans-Alta's “sustainability in action” plan and touts its recent investment in a $300 million “flex-fuel” equipment upgrade to reduce its sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions. The plant also achieved a goal of recycling 50 million gallons of wastewater.

According to the agreement between Ecology and Trans-Alta, the Canadian-owned corporation will voluntarily reduce its emissions, self-report its progress, and reduce its emissions by 50% by 2012. The agreement does not address Trans-Alta’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Several environmental organizations and agencies have criticized the agreement, saying it lacks teeth because it is voluntary and doesn’t go far enough to curb emissions. Trans-Alta is known to be the largest source of mercury pollution and haze-causing nitrogen oxide pollutants in the state, accounting for a full 10% of the state’s global warming causing carbon dioxide emissions.

Organizations such as the Sierra Club say the negotiations were flawed from the start by not including the public earlier in the process. State mediation with Ecology began in 2007.

Several people took advantage of the opportunity to ask staff questions and receive answers prior to the beginning of the public hearing.

Students from The Evergreen State College spoke to the very nature of mercury emissions into the atmosphere. Adam Fleischmann commented that the mercury here in the Northwest comes from Asia, and Trans-Alta contributes to mercury emissions that go to Asia. “Mercury is a bioaccumulative. It strikes me as immoral to put our mercury on someone else.”

Student Maya Face said that Ecology wasn’t doing everything it possibly could to lower emissions, saying “any level is unacceptable." She asked Ecology staff why emissions could not be eliminated altogether. Rees replied, “That would require the facility to shut down altogether and that’s not where we were going with this agreement.”


Above: Washington State Department of Ecology staff member Elena Gilfoil, back to camera, talks with student Maya Face and Adam Fleischmann after the public hearing.

Jim Wilcox, president of the Olympia chapter of Trout Unlimited, agreed with Fleischmann and commented, “Are we not good neighbors in Washington?”

Mark Quinn of the Washington Wildlife Federation, advocated for a clean energy economy, calling coal “the dirtiest source of energy on the planet. Coal filters groundwater. It should stay there.”

Donna Albert of Montesano, a civil engineer, was the first to present testimony, but broke down in tears when she started reading the names of her four grandchildren, citing them as the reason why she was there. Ecology public hearing facilitator Jerry Thielen acknowledged that this was an emotional issue for many people. She completed her testimony later, saying, “we must stop burning coal…coal free energy is possible now.”

Doug Howell of the Sierra Club expressed frustration about the public process, saying he could not get Ecology to even put a phone into the room during the public hearing so people could call in with their concerns.

Randy King, Acting Supervisor of Mount Rainier National Park, testified in uniform and took issue with the description of Trans-Alta using the “best available retrofit technology” (BART) to reduce emissions.

Although Ecology and Trans-Alta agree that Trans-Alta is using the best available retrofit technology, this point is in dispute. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has the final say over state plans and whether or not a proposed technology meets BART standards, has stated that Trans-Alta’s nitrogen oxide burners do not meet BART requirements.

In strongly worded testimony, King said he was also testifying for the superintendents of the Olympic National Park and the North Cascades National Park and expressed concern that the agreement was negotiated without the participation of federal land managers.


Above: Autumn colors of the Cascades in September.

King questioned whether or not the process met the requirements and spirit of the federal Clean Air Act. “…The proposed (agreement) does not require the best technology to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide (which is) a key component of visibility impairment at the parks…. King suggested that a selective catalytic reduction technology is the preferred method to improve visibility.

“…A reduction of nitrogen oxides would lead to a direct improvement in visibility at Mount Rainier National Park, as well as contribute to…decreased health effects from fine particulate matter region-wide….(as) we are also concerned with mercury deposition…throughout the region,” said King.

While King made clear that the National Park Service is not asking Trans-Alta to close its plant, he did emphasize that it requests that the Department of Ecology take a “strong leadership role.”

According to King, over 1.1 million people visited Mount Rainier National Park in 2008, creating extensive economic benefits totaling in the millions, throughout the region. Mount Rainier National Park is 50 miles away from the Trans-Alta plant.


Above: Aerial of Mt. Rainier.

“National parks and wilderness areas not only guard the national and cultural assets of our Nation, but they are also our most sensitive gauges of environmental stewardship. Harm to these resources that our nation strives hardest to protect must signal an alarm for other resources and for us,” King concluded.

For more information, or to comment on the proposed agreement, contact Sarah Rees of the Washington State Department of Ecology, Air Quality Program at (360) 407-6823, sarah.rees@ecy.wa.gov or see more information at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/TransAlta/TransAltaAgreement.html.

The Sierra Club also has a new website to address the coal-fired energy plant issue at www.coolstatewashington.org.