Olympia Tiny Home Village Takes Shape

Above: City of Olympia Councilmember Clark Gilman, left, and Scott Bishop, in green vest, lead a team in positioning a side wall for a tiny house at the new Plum Street Village for the homeless on Saturday. Yul Gamboa, a social worker with Molina Healthcare, is in the blue shirt. 

“Housing rights are human rights...this is direct action. Where is our morality if we don't help?” - Yul Gamboa

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Like an old-fashioned barn raising party, about 65 volunteers came together to get a lot done on Saturday.

The task at hand was to build tiny homes with porches and a community kitchen and meeting space for 40 homeless individuals at the new Plum Street Village in Olympia.

It is called the Plum Street Village because it is located at 830 Union Avenue SE near the intersection of Union and Plum Street, adjacent to the Yashiro Japanese Garden.

At least six of the tiny homes will have ramps and be accessible in accordance with the American Disabilities Act.

On November 27, the City of Olympia approved funding and leasing agreements with LIHI to operate the village, which is expected to open in January 2019.

While living at the village, residents will meet with LIHI case managers to obtain permanent housing, health care, employment, treatment, education, and other services.

To learn more about the project, the city is holding a public meeting on Thursday, December 6, 6:00 p.m., Room A, at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW.

Above: Shane Oprescu of Olympia operates a chop saw at the Plum Street Village work party on Saturday. She was responsible for creating 60 sections of wood, each 14 ½ inches long, to be used as support pieces under the community kitchen and meeting space, seen taking shape behind her.

Volunteers came from all over: Joint Base Lewis McChord, the Veterans Administration, local schools, churches, the Lions Club, and local nonprofits. Others were simply individuals who read about the opportunity to help.

Carpentry and painting were new experiences for some, but there were plenty of coaches on hand to show volunteers what to do. 

Shannon Noel, Tiny House Village painting director for LIHI, demonstrated painting techniques.

“All the paint we are using is donated,” Noel told Little Hollywood. “We take all the random exterior paints that people have donated and create new palettes. The colors are rich. Some tiny houses come pre-painted, but we have a say in how they are painted here,” she said.

Luke Reynolds, Tiny House Village Essential Needs Coordinator for LIHI, supervised the day’s activities. Two carpenters with ANEW, an apprenticeship and non-traditional employment program, led the work parties, ensured area safety and provided volunteers with structured assignments.

Several Olympia city councilmembers participated with the effort. In the morning, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones helped build several porches. Later in the afternoon, councilmembers Lisa Parshley and Jessica Bateman painted.

Councilmember Clark Gilman put his extensive experience as a carpenter to work all day, teaching skills and directing volunteers to do whatever task was needed. Gilman is a member of the South Puget Sound Carpenters Union Local 129.

Some tiny homes for the village are being built off-site. Reynolds said some of the homes are being built by Unitarian Universalist Church members and by pre-apprenticeship program volunteers at Purdy Womens Correctional Facility in Gig Harbor and Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Littlerock.

Each tiny house is about 8 x 12 in size and costs about $2,500 in materials to build. Each will have electricity, an overhead light and a heater.

Above: Dennis Urdaneta, a U.S. Army servicemember at Joint Base Lewis McChord, and his son Ayden Urdaneta, 11, straighten out a nail and helped with whatever was needed at the Plum Street Village work party on Saturday.

Yul Gamboa, a social worker with Molina Healthcare, said he has little carpentry skills but came to learn and help with the project.

“Housing rights are human rights - that’s my conviction. Society should make housing available just like insurance. It’s the same thing. If people are living in the streets, that means we’re not doing our work as a society. This is direct action,” said Gamboa.

“Where is our morality if we don’t help? We can all end up here at some point. I’ve been in really bad spots in my life. We want every human to live a life of happiness, no matter what,” he said.

According to LIHI and the Washington State Department of Commerce, there are currently more than 40,000 homeless individuals living in either shelters or out of doors in Washington State. More than 7,000 of these individuals are part of a family with children.

In 2015, LIHI started building tiny house villages as a response to the homeless crisis and as a replacement for tents. There are currently eight tiny house villages in Seattle. These eight villages support over 1,000 residents annually.

For more information about how to sign up for future work parties, sponsor a tiny house, or donate materials, email the Low Income Housing Institute at tinyhouses@lihi.org and put Plum Street Village in the subject line or contact staff at (206) 276-3552.

For previous stories about the Plum Street Village, go to Little Hollywood at https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words in the search button.

Above: A mid-day group photo of volunteers at the Plum Street Village site on Saturday.

Amphibian Monitoring Program Benefits City, Science

Above: Newly trained citizen scientists search for amphibian egg masses at a 30 year old stormwater pond on the City of Olympia's westside last Saturday. The training was part of a Stream Team program activity to monitor the ecological health of area stormwater ponds and its inhabitants. Amphibians are a key indicator species that help scientists monitor the health of the environment.  

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“I found one!”

That was the excited shout by more than one newly trained citizen scientist on a field trip to a stormwater pond last weekend.

What was found was an amphibian egg mass belonging to the Pacific Tree Frog, in about 30 centimeters of water. 

The sighting was confirmed by City of Olympia Stream Team leader Michelle Stevie who called me over with my clipboard to record all the vital information: location and depth, type of egg mass, developmental stage in which the eggs were found, whether or not the mass was attached to anything, like a cattail, and other notes. 

As I moved slowly through hip deep water to record the finding, as well as another egg mass, I found one all on my own! It belonged to the Northern Red-legged Frog. 

With each new discovery, everyone shared in the joy. 

Above: The egg mass of a Northern Red-legged Frog. The scalloped-edged mass, about the size of a grapefruit, is being highlighted with a simple, white plastic lid attached to a bamboo stick. The stick has markings used to measure depth, and, if needed, keeps one upright in what can be a mucky situation.

Learning How To Monitor Amphibians

This is the fifth year for the City of Olympia's Stream Team amphibian egg mass monitoring program, and about 20 people registered for the first training of the season last Saturday held at the LOTT Clean Water Alliance. 

Volunteers play a key part in maintaining several city programs designed to restore and protect area streams, shorelines, and wetlands. Some folks not only participated in the compact, nearly three hour class lecture, they had the opportunity to immediately put their newfound knowledge to use.

The class was taught by Dr. Marc Hayes, herpetologist and senior research scientist with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Students of all ages, even children, learned about the frogs, toads and salamanders of Thurston County and the Pacific Northwest.

Hayes showed PowerPoint slides of the egg, larvae, metamorphic, and juvenile stages of the Pacific Tree Frog, Northern Red-legged Frog, Oregon Spotted Frog, Western Toad, American Bullfrog, Northwest Salamander, Long-Toed Salamander, Rough-Skinned Newt, Western-Backed Salamander and Ensatina.

The value of monitoring a particular species or its habitat has not always been appreciated. In the past, it was a neglected piece of the puzzle in restoration efforts.

“People are beginning to understand the connection between monitoring and restoration. If restoration is not successful, it is a waste of money. It’s important to do effective analyses, and understand the failures to potentially correct them in future efforts,” said Hayes, who has 43 years’ experience with frogs and salamanders.

Hayes gave a good natured pop quiz after the lecture, and the group proved it had retained an impressive amount of knowledge.

Threats and Issues for Thurston County Amphibians

There are about 7,000 amphibian species and a website at UC Berkeley actively updates their descriptions. Since 1985, about 48 percent have been described, most of them from tropical areas, with 17-20 amphibians added per month.

Amphibians are declining globally. Over 200 species have been lost in the last 25 years and it is anticipated that that 400 species will be lost over the next 20 years.

Emergent diseases are a direct or indirect consequence of climate change. A fungus that attacks salamanders in particular was just discovered less than two years ago in Europe. While it has not yet been found in North America, a fungus that interferes with an amphibian’s water balance, and the ranavirus, a viral disease that has the ability to move between fish and amphibians, is present in Thurston County.

Other threats include growth and urban development. According to a 2001 state Department of Fish and Wildlife study in King County, wetlands adjacent to larger areas of forests are more likely to have greater native amphibian species diversity. Amphibian richness is highest in wetlands that retain at least 60 percent of adjacent area in forest land up to and exceeding 1,640 feet from the wetland.

Invasive Species in Thurston County

The only native amphibian to be reintroduced to Washington State is the Oregon Spotted Frog, a species federally listed as threatened in September 2014.

Reintroduced at Joint Base Lewis McChord in 2008, the program has been somewhat successful, but is still under evaluation, said Hayes. In reality, there is a 97 percent mortality rate in the larvae stage for amphibians due to predation under normal conditions, so scientists would need to introduce thousands of the frogs to achieve some impact to the success of the species in the area.

Two amphibians that are present in Thurston County and are definitely not wanted is the American Bullfrog, an invasive species introduced to the area in the 1930s after a bullfrog farming craze phased out in California, and the African Clawed Frog.

The African Clawed Frog was discovered about a year and a half ago in three stormwater ponds on the St. Martin’s University campus in Lacey. Hayes said scientists are desperate to remove it because it breeds at an alarming rate and carries the ranavirus at a 70 percent frequency rate.

“They are voiceless, tongue-less burrowers with tough skin and can withstand a whole host of environmental insults,” said Hayes. 

Hayes said the species is used in labs, and it is suspected that the source of this population is the result of a pet dump from North Thurston High School. Goldfish were also present. So far, 4,700 African Clawed Frogs have been removed from the St. Martin’s ponds.

An extraordinarily stubborn species, Hayes said it took San Francisco scientists about 10 years to eradicate the African Clawed Frog from their area, but that also included the time it took to learn the system of what would be most effective in their removal. 

The method? Scientists capture the frogs, humanely euthanize them, put them in baggies, and pop them in a freezer for a week to guarantee they are dead. Then, the bags containing the frogs, are autoclaved, a process that is one of the most effective ways to destroy microorganisms, spores, and viruses. 

Most pet stores and online marketers do not educate consumers about the animals they sell, and are part of the problem with invasive species. Public outreach is a touchy situation and has to be done carefully to prevent consumer backlash and mass dumps of particular species, said Hayes. The state is doing outreach to educate students and teachers not to release pet animals into the wild.

At Last! Hands-On Learning

At the conclusion of the lecture, just when human brains were starting to get over saturated, the rain (literally) stopped, and perfect amphibian monitoring conditions prevailed.

Participants eager to locate, identify, and tag egg masses carpooled to the stormwater pond on Olympia’s westside near Hansen Elementary School. Hayes has been monitoring egg mass species there for about 16 years. 

Participants found their boot sizes and pulled on clean hip waders provided by the city. Those who brought their own boots had to wash them before entering the area. Everyone had to scrub their boots after being in the water to prevent water body cross-contamination.

Breaking up into small groups of four, all paired up with an experienced amphibian watcher and we slowly waded out, arms-length apart, into the pond.

A bamboo stick marked with measurements and a plastic lid attached to its end served to measure depth, find and see egg masses better, and use as a walking stick to prevent a potential fall into the muck.

Almost immediately, a Pacific Tree Frog egg mass was found, then another, this time, that of a Northern Red-legged Frog. A couple more egg masses were found, tagged, and recorded. 

Who would have thought stormwater ponds could be so much fun?

Stream Team activities are also available in Lacey, Tumwater, and Thurston County, and are financially supported by local storm and surface water utility bill paid by residents of those jurisdictions.

Amphibian monitoring continues until early April. For future trainings, and for more information other Stream Team monitoring programs involve purple martins, shorebirds, and stream bugs, go to www.streamteam.info or www.olympiawa.gov. 

Above: Janine Gates, newly trained citizen scientist, participated with a Stream Team sponsored amphibian egg mass training in west Olympia last Saturday, and found the egg mass of a Northern Red-legged Frog. An exhilarating day of learning and discovery helped inform science, benefit the environment, and potentially influence future land use management and policies. And to think I didn’t know a thing about amphibians when I woke up Saturday morning!

The Making of Olympia's Newest Police Officer: Wally Noel

 

Above: City of Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts, left, welcomes Wally Noel, Olympia's newest police officer, after administering Noel's oath of office.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

A brief, formal swearing in ceremony yesterday marked the beginning of a new chapter for Olympia's newest police officer Wally Noel and his family.

“We're seeing a whole new generation of police officers,” said Olympia city manager Steve Hall, after the ceremony.

“We have officers who have worked at Starbucks, in banks, served in the military…it’s really exciting in terms of the diversity in background….This is the future of our force.”

Noel, who will retire in a month as a Major from the Army, lives in Tumwater with his wife, Betheny, son Deven, 14, and daughter Kiran, 10. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration and a Master of Arts in Business and Organizational Security Management.

Noel spent 20 years in active service as a military police officer. He served in the Army prison system for 10 years, went through several deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, served in detention operations at Guantanamo Bay, and was assigned to Joint Base Lewis McChord two and a half years ago.

“We love the state of Washington, and Olympia. This is where I’d like to retire. My kids and wife absolutely love it here,” said Noel.

After witnessing the ceremony, Olympia police department administrative assistant Marianne Weiland noted the longevity of officer's careers and said that Olympia went through a big hiring of officers 20 to 25 years ago.

“Many of them are now retiring...it’s been exciting to see the changes,” she said.

Noel’s Family

After the ceremony, Noel’s family was all smiles. I asked Deven what he likes best about the Olympia area.

After some reflective thought, and sighing, he said, “Finally, we don’t have to run around.” Deven, who wore a tie and a white, long sleeved shirt, plays trumpet for the Tacoma Youth Junior Symphony, and will go to Black Hills High School next year.

“We’re finally in one spot,” Kiran agreed. She says her favorite hobby is going out to eat. Asked what her favorite local restaurants are, mom Betheny mentioned Vic’s Pizza, any place with sushi, especially spicy tuna, and Lacey’s new Jimmy John’s. Kiran heartily agreed.

As relative newcomers, Betheny described her impressions and passion for the South Sound community.

“After 20 years of traveling, this definitely is our home. We’ve been a lot of places, but this is the only place we feel people have open arms. We’ve lived in Germany, Italy, Hawaii, the Midwest, and the South, and people here are very open, even the homeless people. I walk by and they say, 'Good morning!' I’m very impressed.”

A fulltime wife and mother, Betheny is busy with her children’s activities and parent teacher organizations, volunteers in their classrooms, and is active in Tumwater school issues. She says she has high expectations for quality education.

“We’ve lived in Dupont, Pierce County, Lacey, and Tumwater and I’m really impressed, overall, with how the community here supports the whole child, offering support to military families, taking the time to talk to students, and caring about their emotional well-being.  This is also a community where the arts are supported – that’s important to me. When you’ve been a transient family for so long, we need outlets. Not all kids like football.

“I believe all kids, whether they come from foster homes, the military, or are bouncing around due to divorce, need the schools and the community to work together to disseminate information, to have sources for opportunities….”

She says when Deven starts at Black Hills next year, he will have attended eleven schools.

“When children move around and change schools, they lose credits,” she said. She is already looking forward to Deven's attendance at New Market Skill Center’s free summer classes, which are available for students entering 9th through 12th grade, and later, the Running Start program.

Running Start is a program designed for eligible juniors and seniors to enroll in college level courses at South Puget Sound Community College to receive both high school and college credit.

The Training of a City of Olympia Police Officer

On July 1st, Noel will head to a five month training in the police academy, then begin Olympia’s three to six month training, and begin an 18 month probation process, all before he can go solo on the streets of Olympia as a patrol officer.

Amy Stull, senior program specialist for the Olympia police department's community programs, says an officer candidate has to be hired by a law enforcement agency in order to attend the training academy.

“Completing the academy gives them state certification. If they don’t pass, they don’t retain their employment.”

The academy, coordinated by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, is in Burien. All law enforcement officers attend that academy, except for the Washington State Patrol, which has their own version.

Stull wrote about the new officer training process for the Olympia Police Department newsletter in February, 2013:

In the 1990’s, standard training was done by field training officers. New officers would be assigned one field training officer after they completed the state Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA). In recent years, the Olympia Police Department has transitioned to the police training officer model.

One of the goals was to better mesh with the Academy’s movement towards integrating more adult learning concepts. New recruits now go through training after the Academy and during their 18 months of probation. 

Under this new model, teaching is based on four substantive topics: police tactics, criminal procedure, report writing and emergency response. Within these categories are fifteen core competencies – use of force, local procedures (laws and policy), leadership, problem solving, community-specific problems, cultural diversity, legal authority, individual rights, ethics, observations skills, multi-tasking, police vehicle operation, conflict resolution, officer safety, communication skills and lifestyle stressors.

The training period is divided into four phases with a mid-term and final evaluation. Each phase takes two to four weeks. Phase one is focused on non-emergency operations, the second on emergency response, the third on criminal procedure and the fourth on patrol activity, which encompasses everything learned during the training. After the first two phases, a different police training officer evaluates the recruit’s progress. Yet another officer takes the recruit through the next phases and a fourth police training officer does the final evaluation.

The goal of the program is to put recruits in learning situations that allow them to use their level of knowledge and problem solve. Training officers look for opportunities to create problem-based learning exercises that involve multiple core competencies. This makes it possible to carefully evaluate each new employee’s chance for a successful career at the Olympia Police Department.

Current Olympia Police Department Officer Statistics

When asked for specific statistics on current officer demographics regarding gender, race, and language diversity, Olympia police department spokesperson, Laura Wohl, provided the following information:

“We now have eight female officers. As for languages, we have one certified Spanish interpreter. We also have several bilingual or semi-bilingual people who are not certified. Certification requires a test and then allows one to interpret in court. Because they are not certified, we don’t have a formal record of these officers, so I’ll give you the best that I can remember: of those who speak a second language, we now have two officers who speak sign language and we have two or three who speak Spanish.”

After some research by the human resources department, she said that in the last 25 years, the department has employed 12 African American officers and corrections officers, three Hispanic/Latino officers and corrections officers, and four Asian/Pacific Islander officers and corrections officers.

“We have had African American police officers at different times in the last 25 years. We did have a period recently when we had no African American police officers on the force – between November 2012 and April 16, 2014, when Wally was sworn in,” said Wohl.

Above: Noel's police badge.

For more information on the Olympia Police Department or law enforcement issues, events and activities, and past statistics, go to Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search button.

One Year In: Is Congressman Heck Giving 'Em Heck?

Above: U.S. Representative Denny Heck (D-WA10) listens to remarks at a swearing-in ceremony for Thurston County officials on December 28, 2013.

 

By Janine Unsoeld
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

United States Representative Denny Heck (D-WA10) went back to the other Washington earlier this week, but during his two week Christmas break, he was home in Olympia.

Congressman Heck visited Quixote Village, Thurston County’s new permanent community for the homeless, made several speaking engagements, toured local businesses and non-profits, and relaxed with someone he calls his best friend, his wife, Paula.

The timing seemed to be right to check in with Heck after the completion of his first session of the 113^th Congress as a freshman from the newly created 10^th district. Little Hollywood requested an interview and appreciated Congressman Heck making time for this opportunity. 
 
The 10^th district, created after the 2010 census, encompasses parts or all of Thurston, Pierce and Mason Counties, with Joint Base Lewis-McChord thrown into the middle.

According to the website OpenCongress, Heck voted with fellow Democrats  93.1 percent of the time.

Accommodating a range of political and philosophical viewpoints, Heck ranked among the highest 15 percent among all representatives in joining bipartisan bills, and of the 115 bills that Heck cosponsored, 39 percent were introduced by someone other than a Democrat, according to the website GovTrack.us.

As Heck stated at a recent swearing-in ceremony of local officials in Thurston County, “Never stop looking for common ground and always be civil – you have so little control over all the rest.”

This interview was conducted on January 4 at Batdorf and Bronson coffee shop on Capitol Way in downtown Olympia, the day after Boeing machinists approved a ten year contract.

Since the interview, some of the issues we discussed have already transpired, such as the Senate’s confirmation on Monday of Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve, and yesterday’s movement by the Senate to extend federal unemployment compensation benefits.

Jumping right in, we stuck to my organized list of about 20 topics: questions about Boeing, the government shutdown, the federal minimum wage indexing bill, Syria, China’s ban on geoducks and the privatization of our shorelines for a growing shellfish industry, coal export terminals, Puget Sound cleanup efforts, his role on the House Finance Committee, and more.

I also prepared for our interview by looking over Heck’s re-election financial reports submitted so far, and, as a result, asked him about his thoughts about the movement to amend the U.S. Constitution to keep big money out of politics.

Is Heck really giving ‘em heck, as his campaign slogan promised?

Northwest Issues and 2014 Priorities

Not surprisingly, Heck was positive on the approval of the Boeing machinist’s new ten year contract.

“In the 10^th district in Fredrickson, Boeing builds composite wings, and will be one of the competitors as the 777X project develops….We now have an opportunity to create up to 4000 well-paying jobs in Fredrickson…the kind of jobs you can buy a home and take a vacation and send your kids to college, so we now have an opportunity for significant middle class jobs wage jobs to be expanded, and that’s a good thing….”  (The Boeing PAC has already given Heck $10,000 in 2013).

Asked what his priorities will be going into the 2014 Session, Heck said, without hesitation, first, to extend the unemployment compensation benefits to 1.3 million families, which were discontinued December 28, 2013, and affects 3,472 job seekers in the South Sound.  

“Letting that go was not the best thing to do economically or morally – we could be doing better by them…No single dollar that the government spends is circulated more times than unemployment benefits….”

To check in with constituents, Heck said he has held about six to eight town hall meetings and several telephone town hall meetings so far, the latter of which he prefers because thousands of people are able to call in and be part of the conversation, rather than 50 – 100 who can attend meetings in person. Heck says he’s able to answer questions over the telephone just as ably as in person. Still, he appreciates and welcomes all forums.

“(Regarding extending the unemployment benefits) I do hear several people say it’s the right thing to do, and I agree. Despite some of the flaws, the House passage of the Murray-Ryan deal mitigated sequestration….The austerity approach won’t work…”

“I’m also focused on the farm bill – that’s a great battle with serious consequences. We seem to have relative agreement on reforming the farm subsidy program – we’re essentially going to provide fewer subsidies to large corporations that are otherwise pretty profitable…but the problem is that the House Republican majority wants to devastate the program….It’s now in conference committee to work out the differences. I am cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to work it out…. If we don’t fix the farm bill, come March, April, May, anybody who is the parent of a child 12 years or younger is going to feel it big time because milk prices are going to double….”

He said he also heard from his constituents regarding to topic of Syria, because he specifically solicited their opinion when it was looking like diplomatic solutions may not work:

“….I cannot imagine any more sobering responsibility by a member of Congress than to decide whether or not to engage in an act of war which will take lives, and my family has been personally affected in this way….”

Heck, who said he lost his brother to cancer as a result of exposure to Agent Orange while serving as a Marine in Vietnam, said he reached out to constituents about Syria, and was enriched by those conversations.

In the end, he said he felt that the President has not made the case for a military intervention in Syria.

Economic and Financial Issues

Last January, Heck gave up the chance to be appointed to other committees such as the Budget and Judiciary Committees. Instead Heck jumped at a last minute opening on the House Finance Committee and feels it’s his niche.

Most notably, Heck saw his bill, HR 2167, the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013, pass in June - no small feat for a freshman congressman.

Regarding the Federal Reserve, Heck said he thinks the Federal Reserve is a functional institution. "I’m an unabashed fan of Chair Bernanke and I think I will be of Janet Yellin as well. Both are smart, balanced people…tasked with keeping inflation and unemployment down, and this year Chair Bernanke was clearly concerned about employment levels….”

In early December, Heck signed onto the federal minimum wage indexing bill H.R. 1010 to raise the minimum wage to $10.10.

“It won’t kick start the middle class by itself…but 1 percent of our nation’s population has 20 percent of its income and the top 1 percent has 40 percent of its net worth…and two-thirds of our economy is built on consumption…. that’s a recipe for economic disaster….”

This comment provided a perfect segue to ask his opinion about the movement to amend the U.S. Constitution. Heck said he could support it depending on what it said, adding that Citizen’s United was just “plain wrong and is bad for the country” but seemed to feel the movement was an uphill battle.

“Let’s change it as we can.”

Minty Fresh, Green Businesses

Asked what local businesses provide him with a sense of where we should be heading with a clean, green local economy, Heck said he appreciated businesses like I.P. Callison & Sons in Lacey, which provides mint related products throughout the world, Ice Chips Candy in Yelm, which was spotlighted on the television show “Shark Tank,” and Allafia, also headquartered in Lacey, whose fair trade health and beauty product production is the second largest employer in the African country of Togo.

“Allafia told me the other day that they gave 6,000 bikes to high school girls to commute to and from the village and raised high school graduation rates from nine percent to 95 percent - now that’s changing the world!”

Speaking of green businesses, I asked about the state legalization of pot. Heck says he is devoting his energy toward removing the federal barriers for marijuana related businesses so they can access the use of depository institutions.

“That’s where I’ve concentrated my efforts…I will also say that we seem to be decades beyond the point that marijuana should be a Class 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act. I don’t think that’s supported by the science.”

Local Environmental Issues

Heck was asked a variety of environmental questions that he seemed to answer in terms of being an opportunity to discuss the issues.

Asked about China’s recent ban on geoducks, Heck responded, “I spoke with Ambassador (Gary) Locke a couple times…and our repeated tests were showing something different…Given the data I’ve been presented with, I’d be comfortable consuming that product….”

About the increased privatization of South Sound shores to the shellfish aquaculture industry, Heck said he prefers to think of it in terms of what the industry is doing to help global warming and ocean acidification.

“I tend to have a different view of shellfish farming - there is no stronger proponent of doing something about global warming than shellfish farmers and the reason for that is ocean acidification and what it does to the shellfish. In fact, I think shellfish is the water quality 'canary in the mineshaft.'  But if you believe, as I do, that global warming is one of the greatest threats to civilization, then that helps us spread the word….”

When pressed that what activists are talking about is the intensity and method that the shellfish aquaculture industry uses to scour the shoreline of native species, Heck said he knows people have strong feelings on both sides of the issue.

Asked for his opinion on the coal export terminals being proposed in Washington State, Heck said, “We are proceeding exactly as we should be, with the state Department of Ecology and the Corps of Engineering determining the outcome. I always use the question about coal as an opportunity to talk about global warming. Whether or not hauling that much coal traffic through our communities is environmentally damaging will hopefully be indicated by the results to these efforts that are currently underway."

Little Hollywood: “It doesn’t sound like you’re coming out against them…”

Heck: “What should be inarguable to everybody is that global warming is real and coal is a significant contributor and if we do not recognize that, we will pay a price beyond our imagination….”

LH: “But we’re aiding and abetting China to continue what they’re doing and it’s going to come back to us in the form of ocean acidification.” 

Heck did not respond.

Bringing more global issues local, I asked Heck how we can move to a healthier economy if our own Port of Olympia stays complicit in the degradation of our environment by accepting contracts to move raw logs to China and accept ceramic proppants from China, destined to be used in fracking. Heck was unfamiliar with this issue and/or the port’s role, so I provided him with several past issues of the South Sound Green Pages.

A little frustrated, perhaps, Heck added, “I don’t want to substitute my judgment all the time, ahead of time, for people whose job it is to evaluate this stuff – I mean, before their work product comes out, the state Department of Ecology and the Corps – yea or nay….”

Lastly, Heck was questioned about the slow cleanup efforts of Puget Sound, the Puget Sound Partnership, and his role with Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA06) as co-founders in June 2013 of the Congressional Puget Sound Recovery Caucus.

Heck said, “Not too much is happening yet, and that’s fair…In part, we see ourselves as defenders and advocates of appropriations designed to help with habitat restoration and the like, but we can also play a soft power role of being the ones who can prod improved coordination between these agencies….”

Heck described a Tacoma town hall meeting devoted to the topic of Puget Sound clean-up efforts, and a Washington D.C. based meeting between the state Partnership and the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 10, at which many of the parties had not met before.

“In terms of how I spend my time, it was a whole lot more than approving a press release – we are actually poking and prodding, trying to figure out how it is we can make a difference.”

Looking Toward Re-Election

Heck is running for re-election, and no Republican has stepped forth to challenge him. The primary is August 5. His last election against Republican Richard Muri cost a little over $2 million.

Freedom Foundation executive director Tom McCabe said last week in a meeting of Republicans at Panorama that they do not yet have anyone to run against Heck, but hoped someone would step forward. He acknowledged that the 10th district would be difficult for Republicans to win.

Toward his re-election campaign, Heck has already raised $603,335, according to a federal financial report filed October 14, 2013. Over half, $332,110, is from political action committees (PACs), and $271,225 is from individuals. Heck has $494,429.16 in cash on hand. His next financial report is due January 31.

I pointed out that in this last report alone, he has received thousands of dollars from the PACs of the very banks and financial institutions, such as Bank of America, Capital One, Citigroup, American Express, Ernst and Young, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs, that he is empowered to oversee and investigate as a member of the House Finance Committee.

Other corporations reporting contributions this quarter include Verizon, Walmart, General Electric, and $10,000 each from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. 

I asked him if there is anyone he would not accept campaign monies from.

“I don’t know, really…I’d probably have a hard time if cigarette companies come knocking, and I’ve never gotten any money from Big Oil, but my record ringing the bell on global warming is well established, and my advocacy for closing some of the tax preferences Big Oil has is pretty well known, so maybe they’ll never come, I don’t know….”

Asked about his opinion on public financing, Heck said he’s conceptually supportive but if one’s position is that this is a good thing because it will impact policy in a good way, then all one has to do is look at Arizona. “They had a form of that for a while…and Maine…I’m not entirely convinced….”

When asked if accepting money from the aforementioned financial institutions doesn’t suggest a conflict of interest or leave him open to corruption, Heck said, “I am more than content to leave this up to the voters…I give thanks for being a member of Congress. I am not somebody who is going to retire post Congressional term to be a lobbyist…this is my home….I sleep pretty well at night.”

The House 113^th Congress, Second Session is in session for only 11 days in January, and 112 days total this year, for which Heck is paid $174,000.

On Wednesday, January 15, the Finance Committee will hold a hearing to examine the impact and potential unintended consequences of the recently finalized Volcker Rule.

On Tuesday, January 28, the committee will hold a hearing to receive the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau semi-annual report.

While many of the issues we discussed are far away from the minds of many South Sounders, Heck will be there, and giving ‘em heck, or at least, some pokin' and proddin'.

For more information about U.S. Congressman Denny Heck, go to his website at www.dennyheck.house.gov.

His congressional Thurston and Mason County office is located at Lacey City Hall, 420 College Street SE, Suite 3000, Lacey, Washington 98503, (360) 459-8514; Pierce County office is located at Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main Street SW, Suite 3B, Lakewood, WA 98499, (253) 208-6172; Washington D.C. office, 425 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20215, (202) 225-9740.

Full disclosure: Janine Unsoeld is a board member of the South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH) that publishes the South Sound Green Pages, a quarterly environmental magazine. For more information, go to: www.oly-wa.us/greenpages.