I went to Olympia on President’s day, using an earned vacation day to drive down from the Woodinville area. When I arrived, I discovered that parking was either inconvenient or almost non-existent. I drove around all over the place, and found restriction after restriction: This spot reserved; official use only; barricades; people directing traffic; parking garage for state employees only.

One could park for an hour or two (for free!) on residential streets, when a spot finally opened up, but then have to walk a long way to the Capitol, and worry the whole time about whether or not one could make it back in time before being ticketed or towed.

Stopping at the tourist information building, I was advised to drive to the other side of town and take the free bus back (one runs every 15 minutes). I drove across town, and found that parking was 50 cents an hour, but it, too had a two hour limit. Add in the half hour round-trip bus ride, the half hour total possible wait, and it ended up being an even worse option than the residential parking option which left a person having to walk many blocks! At least that was free – until time ran out …

Please don’t think me a whiner, I just grew up on the Eastside, where parking in my life out here has NEVER been an issue. Having that life experience, it seemed to me that this inconvenient parking situation in Olympia was by design, to discourage and minimize peoples’ ability to visit government in action. I would have LOVED seeing a single, large parking garage for tourists and visitors somewhere near the capitol, with facilitated access to “where the action is” or at least some wonderful, informative, mall-like “you are here” maps.

Next time I might take my bike with me, and park outside of town, then pedal in where I have no time limits except those of the call of nature.

Take care, Kirby, and may you get back on the air with a full time gig soon – if that is what you truly want.

Joel

WHAT THE STATE AND COUNTY NEEDS TO DO IS REDUCE ALL SALARIES BY 10 TO 15% ON THOSE EARNING OVER $50K A YEAR. IF THERE TRULY IS A JOB THAT IS NOT REALLY NEEDED, THEN IT IS OK TO LAY OFF THAT PERSON.

IF THE STATE WOULD JUST REDUCE IT’S LABOR COSTS BY 10% THEY COULD SAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

ALSO, REDUCE THE CADILLAC RETIREMENT PACKAGES THAT STATE AND GOVERNMENT WORKERS NOW RECEIVE. WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD IT. THE ONLY OTHER CHOICE IS FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON TO FILE BANKRUPTCY.

The governor thinks that by raising sales taxes she will generate more income, but if it gets much higher, people will quit buying stuff, and they will end up with less revenue than before!!

Dear Shelly,

Thank you for contacting me regarding Senate Bill 6843, the proposal to suspend Initiative 960. I know many people feel strongly about this bill and I want to be sure you know why I voted to suspend I-960. I appreciate the views of the voters living in my district and I always consider your thoughts as I make my decisions in Olympia.

I want you to know that I am fiscally conservative, both in dealing with my own money and that of the taxpayers of Washington. During my 46 years of marriage, my wife and I have budgeted in good times to save for the bad. When emergencies happened and my kids got hurt or sick, I had to invest in them, sometimes with money I didn’t have. But I did it because I had to. The well-being of my family depended on my ability to get the funds needed so that we could all get back to full health. I view the taxpayer’s budget as no different from that of my family.

Today, we are faced with worst economic situation I have ever seen and the citizens of our state demand our attention. Last year, we made difficult decisions to balance the state’s budget in dealing with a $9 billion shortfall. We made deep cuts to programs helping lay the groundwork for our economic prosperity, especially schools. We cut over $1 billion from our education budget, laying off teachers, closing down schools and preventing thousands of kids from getting the help they need to be successful in life. We cannot continue to make cuts and expect our children to get educated anyway.

We also made deep cuts last year to the help we provide to the most vulnerable in our community. We cut health care for our seniors, assistance to nursing homes and salaries for caregivers. We have laid off thousands of state workers, consolidated state agencies, and looked for every efficiency that we could find. We had to balance our budget and so we did, just as the law requires.

We’ve also made deeper cuts again this year – cutting pay once more for state workers, further consolidating state agencies and making other cuts to vital services to our state’s citizens. But I can’t do this anymore.
As an educator for 31 years, I have a firm belief that our country’s success lies with an educated populace. Our democracy depends on informed voters, a free press, and opportunities for all to find meaningful work. Central to this success is our investment in our schools. Education gives us a competitive advantage over other countries and I hate to see our country fall further behind the rest of the world. I can’t bear to see further cuts to our elementary schools, community colleges, and universities.

When I voted to suspend the provisions of I-960 for the next two years, I thought about my family. I thought about our students and our most vulnerable. And I thought about taxpayers. I thought about the perspective of voters in my district who, by the way, voted against I-960 in 2007. It was a difficult vote, but it was a vote for our state’s future.

My vote suspends I-960 until June 30, 2011. Just because we altered I-960, doesn’t mean we will take every advantage to raise taxes. We will use this opportunity to close tax loopholes that allow out of state companies to get off without paying taxes. We will focus on making polluters pay for the damage they cause to our environment. And we will be providing opportunities for the middle class to get an education and to get a job.
My vote to suspend I-960 was not an easy one. But it was a vote that I took for the future of our state.

Sincerely,

Paull H. Shin
Washington State Senator
21st Legislative District
Legislative Building (Room 407)
PO Box 40421
Olympia, WA 98504-0421

—–Original Message—–

Take pictures and video tape it if you can!

Gregoire, Brown, Chopp, and the rest of those progressives need to start with themselves and take huge pay cuts on their salaries. Then they need to start going line by line to cut back on the waste. Then they need to stand up to the unions who are practically running Seattle behind the scenes. We’d save a heck of a lot of money in this town without the unions! The unions make sure they have all the politicians in their pocket. We are going to end up just like California thanks to the politicians in this state.

Didn’t Gregorie say NO TAXES when she was debating Rossi? Why do they keep lying!