Six New Year's wishes
New leadership, new hopes. And how about some smart decisions on some key issues?
This is the time of year for resolutions and wishes. My resolution is simple: To remain healthy in 2009 and contribute usefully to my community. My wishes are numerous and may, in fact, be shared by many of you.
1. That able opponents will materialize to challenge Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council incumbents in the fall elections. A complacent council has yielded too often to a willful mayor, and the interests which fund his campaigns, over his two terms of office. Just as at national level, it is time for change here in Seattle. Several prospective mayoral and council candidates have surfaced. Those truly interested need to jump into the ring early in 2009. Their early entry will, if nothing else, generate needed debate about policy options in a time of difficult choices. Among those choices are those involving go-no go calls on expensive public-works schemes such as Nickels' proposed Mercer Project and streetcar-line extensions. (I would vote no on both.)
2. That the current state-government budget crisis will result in a genuine review of priorities. Gov. Chris Gregoire has, at the outset, announced her intention to cut education and social-service programs. This is a usual political tactic in such circumstances, intended to generate a flurry of protest among those who benefit from such programs — and, thus, kindle support for cuts elsewhere or new taxes the governor is afraid to propose on her own. Gregoire, as previous governors, has pledged to review the billions in state tax benefits and subsidies extended to favored companies and sectors. Removal of even a few would cover the entire state budget hole the governor and Legislature are trying to fill. This is the time to do it.
3. That the Alaskan Way Viaduct and 520 Bridge issues will be finally resolved. These are state highways and fall under the governor's and Legislature's jurisdiction. Nonetheless, the City of Seattle, King County, and numerous private stakeholders have become involved in decisionmaking. (A bored tunnel is my own preference for a Viaduct replacement.) Whatever option is chosen, construction needs to proceed ASAP. Same for 520 bridge modernization, which is much less further along in the decision process.
Inevitably, it seems to me, tolling will have to be imposed on both highways, and perhaps on others, to make up for the funding shortfall that is sure to develop for these projects. A decision on the Viaduct is supposed to be forthcoming by the end of this month. It is roughly seven years late and both the Viaduct and 520 bridge present safety hazards.
4. That Seattle Public Schools will return to a genuine "neighborhood school" concept. The present debate about school closings and/or consolidations could lead to discussion of the common-sense option that always seems to be discarded — namely, the reestablishment in the city of a genuine neighborhood-school system in which students of all ages attend the schools nearest their homes.
We are spending school-transportation money, breaking neighborhood cohesion, and loosening parent-school relationships by assigning kids so routinely to schools which may be miles from where they live. This is all in aftermath of the late-1970s voluntary move by the Seattle School Board to desegregate the system by busing. The move took place, ironically, at about the time the rest of the country had given up on busing. The result here was the same as had occurred elsewhere. As kids were bused away from their neighborhoods, and academic standards fell during the process, parents who could afford it put their kids in private school or moved to suburbs with stronger school systems. We have yet to recover from the policies established then.
Here is a thought: How about setting high educational standards for all schools in all neighborhoods? We might find parents wanting their kids to attend them. We also might find the schools returning to their traditional roles as rallying points for their communities and neighborhoods.
5. That our dreary local sports scene will brighten. If other things go badly, solace often can be found by rooting for our Huskies, Mariners, and Seahawks. Husky and Seahawks football and Mariners baseball, entering 2009, are about as dismal as they can be. The Sonics are gone, and good riddance to them. We shall see how our new professional soccer franchise develops. Husky basketball appears headed for a respectable 2008-9 season. But new leadership presents new hope for both Husky football and the Mariners in the coming year.
Tyrone Willingham drained Husky football of all spirit and competitiveness. Steve Sarkisian, the new coach, has a can-do, enthusiastic demeanor which can only bring improvement — if he also can coach (and most who have worked with him say he can). Even a sub .500 record, with a Pac-10 win or two, will be enough in 2009 to revive enthusiasm of Husky alums and fans. The oft-vilified Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong appear to have hired a professional management team for the Mariners in general manager Jack Zduriencik and manager Don Wakamatsu. They are assembing a roster that, already, appears superior to that which ended the 2008 season. Additional new talent is on the way.
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Comments:
Posted Sun, Dec 28, 12:43 p.m. inappropriate
America like most other western nations has been tearing its ** Whole Natural Biological FAMILIES ** apart for generations
Top of most Children's list caught in the destruction of their Family would be **I want my Mum and Dad **
Should we not listen and put the re-Building of our ** Whole Natural Biological FAMILIES ** 1st on our wish lists.
When President Elect Barack Obama, Gov. Chris Gregoire, etc. put the Re-Building of the real foundations of America on top of their list, tear ALL Law and Social Policy that negatively effects Family and those who profit from it out of Judiciary and Bureacracy we will see America become its founders dream.
Sign the World-Wide ** Equal Parenting ** Petition
Go http://petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet;=4275
Onward –Jim
Posted Sun, Dec 28, 5:31 p.m. inappropriate
I am trying to think of our last non "wilfull" mayor. Paul Schell, maybe. I think Mayor Nickels (who I did not vote for) perceives some things that elude his critics; namely, that new, well-paying jobs can help Seattle in a lot of ways. Mr. Allen (I didn't vote for him either), for whatever reason, is investing in a lot of office space that he will eventually rent to employers, probably employers who pay decent wages. Mr. Allen may not enjoy healthy profits on his ventures in the Cascade-Mercer area for a long time but he is patient and can, apparently, afford to be. This is a benefit to Seattle if the well paid jobs materialize.
Mr. Nickels probably perceives this and is willing to invest taxpayer money to encourage it. I think he is probably doing the right thing.
Posted Sun, Dec 28, 6:35 p.m. inappropriate
yep, and to top off the experience, those well paid types can live nearby to work, in the new seattle ghetto !
as long as you can buy your shoebox condo high up enough you'll never have to worry, once you do get 'home'.
Posted Sun, Dec 28, 8:38 p.m. inappropriate
I'm wishing for garbage collection in 2009. It's been since Dec 11.
Posted Sun, Dec 28, 11:45 p.m. inappropriate
I am hopeful that the interested parties in the Seattle Center master plan start to compose actionable plans and that look to the future. I am hoping that KeyArena will find a way to be a better asset to the Seattle Center and the city after the loss of the Thunderbirds to their new arena in Kent, and the payoff of the debt from the settlement with the Oklahoma City Rustlers.
That whole thing is uninviting to me and my family right now.
Posted Mon, Dec 29, 4:58 p.m. inappropriate
Ditto on your wish for "a genuine review of priorities." Governor Locke did it in 2003, and it really isn't that complicated.
Here's what building a sustainable budget looks like: http://www.effwa.org/files/pdf/prioritiesofgovernment.pdf
This can be done without tax increases. It is also far superior in terms of purchasing outcomes rather than just spending willy-nilly.
Also agreed that the tax system of loopholes and preferences needs an overhaul. There are currently almost 600 loopholes in Washington. Lawmakers tend to engage in predatory taxation for products/services where demand tends to be inelastic...take liquor, for example, which, though considered a "luxury commodity" in some ways, has actually proven to be relatively recession-proof. In fact, liquor sales tend to go up during recessions--go figure. Hence, a new or increased liquor tax is a primary target for lawmakers when things get rough. Clearly, it's also a very regressive tax.
The problem with the current tax system is that lawmakers are responding to the undue tax burden of citizens one at a time, rather than levying low, flat rates for everyone. Right now, the industries with loud lobbyists and special interest groups can seek relief in legislative loopholes. A little squawking goes a long way. Taxpayers as a whole don't have the same incentives to squawk since overall tax increases may not be sufficient to change behavior (witness the 0.5% sales tax increase for Sound Transit...not exactly contact-your-legislator material at approximately $7.00 per month for the average person).
Though most people can't agree on what a "fair" system of taxation looks like, most can agree on two guiding principles (unless you're a tax attorney or accountant): Simplicity and predictability. Simplicity lowers compliance costs for individuals and businesses and predictability makes long-term planning and entrepreneurship possible. If these two elements are missing, as I believe they are for the most part in our current system, people will find ways to circumvent the law, or will unknowingly break it. They may also waste valuable time and effort in an attempt to comply with tax laws that are overly complex or unpredictable.
Simplicity and predictability in taxation are necessary, but not sufficient, for a thriving economy of trade and entrepreneurship. There are other solid economic principles on which to base a structure of taxation, but I've already taken up my fair share of space.
Anyway, tax deficiencies are not an excuse for profligate spending. Some lawmakers want to eliminate tax loopholes as a way to close the manufactured deficit, rather than owning up to the unsustainable spending choices they made to begin with. Using one-time-available funds to pay for recurring programs is a terrible idea, but lawmakers do it all the time.
We're all tightening our belts. The legislature should too.