West Seattle, Washington
12 Sunday
Perfect morning downtown for the annual Macy’s Holiday Parade; we checked it out to watch for West Seattle participants. Two were obvious – top video, it’s not a holiday parade without the Chief Sealth International High School Marching Band, directed by the award-winning Marcus Pimpleton; below, Salty’s on Alki team members with a few of the restaurant’s famous nutcrackers:
(If you were in the parade too, let us know in the comment section!) Kudos to everybody out in the early-morning chill to celebrate the holidays (including marching bands from as far away as Centralia, Sequim, and Canada …).
ADDED 3:28 PM: One more group we have on video – with strong West Seattle/White Center ties – Rat City Rollergirls:
Their next season opens at KeyArena on January 21.
Just added to the list of holiday helping/giving on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page: A toy drive starts today to collect presents for more than 500 kids in the South Park area, and there’s a collection site at Husky Deli in The Junction. It’s the Rick’s Toys for Kids drive, and they’re collecting through December 10th. Full details on this flyer!
(The Olympics, glowing in this morning’s light; thanks to Shannon for the photo!)
Today’s highlights are almost all holiday-related, with a few exceptions. From the WSB West Seattle Holidays page and Events calendar:
TRANSIT/TRANSPORTATION CHANGES TODAY: No West Seattle Water Taxi service; Metro is on the “reduced weekday” schedule … P.S. Parking meters/pay stations in Seattle DO charge today, no holiday.
GOVERNMENT NOTES: Most government offices are closed. Seattle Public Library branches are open (if they’re usually open on Fridays); city-run community centers are closed.
HIGH TIDES: This is the so-called “king tide” time of year; next high tide is around 3:30 this afternoon, 12 feet. (Here’s the chart.)
PARADE DOWNTOWN: Chief Sealth International High School‘s marching band is part of the lineup for the Macy’s Holiday Parade downtown, which starts at 9 am (more info here)
LOCAL BLACK FRIDAY DEALS: See the West Seattle Holidays page for a sampling of what West Seattle brick-and-mortar businesses are offering.
GIFT FAIR AT THE LONGHOUSE: The Duwamish Tribe invites its West Seattle neighbors to its Longhouse Thanksgiving weekend for a Native Holiday Gift Fair today through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. It is a chance to buy directly from native artists and craft persons. There will be lots of holiday spirit and a big lighted tree. Unique gifts in every price range. Fine art, native crafts, regalia, cards, jewelry, t-shirts, coffee and more. Lots of snacks–frybread, baked goods, hot chocolate and more. Free admission and parking. 4705 W Marginal Way SW. More information at 206-431-1582 or duwamishtribe.org.
SANTA PHOTOS: Daily photos with Santa at Westwood Village (breezeway just east of Bed Bath Beyond). Carolers today, 11:30 am-1:30 pm, and each Saturday thereafter. Giving tree for the Salvation Army. Hours and Santas listed here.
CHRISTMAS TREE SALES: The new Charlestown/California lot opens today; more listed on the Holidays page.
BURLESQUE: Special Friday show tonight at Skylark Café and Club, 9 pm (3308 Delridge Way SW)
LIVE MUSIC: Bob “Bobcat Bob” Rice at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), 6-8 pm (5612 California SW) … Black Bangs performs live with special guest Kathleen Wheeler at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 9 pm (6451 California SW)
It wasn’t a “polar bear swim” that sent an international group of visitors into the water off Alki Beach – it was a warmup, so to speak, for something more hardcore than even your average polar bear usually faces. In a story broadcast tonight, our friends at KING 5 covered a visit by swimmers getting ready for next summer’s “Meeting of the Sun,” a 50-plus-mile relay swim across the Bering Strait between Russia and the U.S. (here’s a map on the event’s official website). Check out extended video coverage we found on that site – albeit, in Russian:
Our water is tropical compared to what a group of 30 swimmers is expected to face next July/August – average temperature, freezing!
The mid-afternoon high tide was receding when the wind started to pick up late today, but still good for some sea spray at Constellation Park south of Alki Point. The tide peaked around 3, but an hour later, it was still high enough to swamp a walkway at Jack Block Park:
Fran and Samuella shared the photo; that’s Samuella in the foreground – she says, “It was surreal, but also very, very beautiful.” (Tide-watchers please note, there’s a tide-tracking widget on the semi-new WSB West Seattle Weather page.) Though the wind’s had some powerful gusts this past hour, our area is not currently covered by any advisories or alerts, according to the National Weather Service. Tomorrow’s forecast? Partly sunny!
That’s Lee Bui, director of the Vietnamese Cultural Center in West Seattle, and daughter Lynda Bui. We photographed them late this morning at the encampment that calls itself Nickelsville – where a flock of volunteers from the Vietnamese community had come to provide both a feast …
… and flu shots (with the help of pharmacist Dr. Rosalie T. Nguyen)!
Lee Bui organized the huge Thanksgiving gift, explaining that every year, the center gets holiday solicitations for help, and usually donates money. But, he said, he drives by Nickelsville each day (taking his wife to work) – and after stopping to get a firsthand look, decided to organize something more meaningful this holiday season. (He says they’ll be back for Christmas, too.) The volunteers gathered under canopies for the operation; the only place to warm up was a campfire nearby:
The Vietnamese Cultural Center is in its sixth year of operation at 2236 SW Orchard just west of the Tug Inn, north of Home Depot; they’re open to the public for visits/tours noon-3 on Saturdays.
(P.S. A chance for you to help residents of Nickelsville is coming up on December 3, when Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights has organized a “stuff the bus” event – here’s our recent report with details.)
Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering‘s kitchen at The Hall at Fauntleroy is bustling right now – we dropped by to see the comings-and-goings shortly before they started serving their traditional catered free Thanksgiving dinner (everyone’s welcome, till 3 pm, 9131 California SW). In addition to T&TS team members, volunteers abound – including those sorting through donating clothing items that are available for anyone in attendance who needs them:
This is one of three free-dinner events in West Seattle extending an open invitation to anyone and everyone this afternoon – the West Seattle Eagles are serving a “Thanksgiving to Remember” at their aerie (4426 California SW), and Good News Christian Fellowship invites everyone to the free dinner they’re serving 1:30-5 pm at the St. James building, 9421 18th SW.
(Click to see larger image)
One of the MANY things we have been thankful for every moment of every day (and night), in the course of four years of running WSB as a community-collaborative news service, is the fact that people share wonderful photos like this one from Mark Campbell, who wrote, “We spotted what we think is a snowy owl that was perched on a home at the corner of Stevens and 52nd.” He says it flew away just before 9:30 am. Various online photos seem to confirm the ID, and our area does appear to be in its winter range. (P.S. Speaking of snow – on Thanksgiving LAST year, we still had some on the ground!)
(UPDATED LATE AFTERNOON after a drive around WS revealed a few more “open” signs)
(Photo by Machel Spence, mushroom in Lincoln Park at sunset)
Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s our first round of showcased info from the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, which is where you will find even more info, including free workouts, free dinners, church services…
WHO’S OPEN FOR COFFEE: Here’s who told us they’d be open:
Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), 4410 California SW, 8 am-2 pm
(Barista George on duty this morning @ C&P)
C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), 5612 California SW, 7 am-1 pm
Beachside Café, 61st/Alki, 8 am-1 pm
Bird on a Wire Espresso, 35th/Henderson, 7 am-2 pm
Caffe Fiore,, 2206 California SW, 7 am-noon
Caffe Ladro, 7011 California SW, 7 am-2 pm
Café Rozella, 9434 Delridge Way, 7:30 am-noon
Cupcake Royale, California/Alaska, 8 am-noon
Diva Espresso, open 8 am-1 pm
Freshy’s Coffee, 2735 California SW, 8 am-1 pm
Java Bean Organic Coffee House, 2920 SW Avalon Way, 7 am-2 pm
Pioneer Coffee, 2536 Alki SW, 7 am-11 am
Red Cup Espresso, 4451 California SW, 7 am-noon
Starbucks Alki, Morgan Junction, Admiral Way, 5:30 am-4 pm
Starbucks drive-through on Avalon Way, 5:30 am-5 pm
Thriftway coffee bar, California/Fauntleroy, open 5 am-4 pm (updated closing time)
Tully’s on Alki, open 6 am-4 pm
Uptown Espresso at California/Edmunds, 6 am-2 pm
Uptown Espresso at Delridge/Andover, 7:45 am-3 pm
GROCERY STORES OPEN TODAY:
Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor), 2320 42nd SW, open til 2 pm
QFC, 42nd/Alaska and Westwood Village, open til 6 pm
Safeway, 4754 42nd SW/2622 California SW/9620 28th SW, regular 24-hour schedule
West Seattle Thriftway, California/Fauntleroy 5 am-6 pm
RESTAURANTS OPEN TODAY: Note, this is by no means an all-inclusive list – it’s who answered our calls for “let us know if you’re open” plus what we found online.
A Terrible Beauty (hours ?)
Be’s Restaurant, 8 am-2 pm
Christo’s on Alki 8 am-1:30 pm
Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 4 pm-2 am
The Thaitan, with full menu and delivery
The Bridge sent the most detailed announcement:
The Bridge will be open from 4 pm-2 am on Thanksgiving with bar service only. We are offering our full menu till 1 am, as well as our fresh sheet, which features an all-out tribute to Turkey! Turkey Chili, Turkey Tetrazzini, Open Faced Turkey Sandwich, Turkey Dinner (Green Bean Casserole, Cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy). For dessert, we are offering Pumpkin Cupcakes with a caramel center topped with a spiced cream cheese frosting!
(added 4:23 pm) Just drove around town looking for “OPEN” signs and saw a few more: Puerto Vallarta and Maharaja in The Junction; Admiral Pub with a marquee “free dinner till 6, donated money goes to diaper drive”; Alki Tavern; and even Admiral Jack in the Box)
Again, check the WSB West Seattle Holidays page for today’s free workouts and dinners.
TRANSPORTATION P.S. No Water Taxi; Metro is on Sunday schedule; Washington State Ferries have varying schedules; metered city parking is free today.
Elsewhere in the city, several big events will offer traffic challenges – as well as fun! – over the 4-day weekend, so SDOT has provided a weekend traffic-alert list just like the ones it routinely sends in summertime. Friday’s parade downtown and Sunday’s marathon are just part of it – read on:Read More
On Tuesday, after we reported SDOT‘s long-awaited answer to the question “when will the new 1st Avenue South ramp from the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct open?” (see the story here), three questions emerged in the comment section. Below, the answers, via SDOT’s Rick Sheridan:
Q: When SDOT shifts traffic to the new structure to repave the existing one, will we lose the eastbound 4th ave on-ramp?
A: When we repair and then resurface the deck of the old structure, closures of the eastbound off-ramps will be required to safely facilitate the work. This will impact the eastbound First Avenue S off-ramp and the new Fourth Avenue S off-ramp, though we will not close both at the same time. One of the two eastbound off-ramps will be available for use during that work.
Q: Is the much-later ramp completion going to result in any kind of penalty for the contractor, or was that not a component of the contract?
A: No. This is because major utility relocation work necessary for the ramp’s construction was outside of our control. The delay, however, does have financial implications for the contractor as a longer project phase incurs more costs.
Q: Who’s the “steel subcontractor”?
A: The subcontractor is Stinger Steel from Montana.
The original report is here. As noted, SDOT originally had said the ramp would take at least 16 months to build, but if the “not fully open until July” holds true, that will be 26 months. Last February, concrete work on the ramp had to be torn out and redone because of an alignment error, but at the time, SDOT said that wouldn’t affect the project schedule.
Be extra-aware of burglars this holiday season. So warned the most recent newsletter from Seattle Police crime-prevention coordinators citywide. Though the burglary rate has dropped lately, according to Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen, a couple of cases have attracted attention these past couple days – some of which might even play into a citywide “pattern” that police are trying to break right now. We have that story plus a followup on a stolen car (including what the thief did with a card also stolen from the victim) – read on:Read More
In a recent update on the almost-200-unit project that’s begun construction in North Delridge, we mentioned they were working on a new name, since “Cooper at Youngstown” turned out to have a nearby conflict. Today, Steffenie Evans from Legacy Partners says they’ve chosen one: Youngstown Flats.
After initially spending a lot of time and energy to find a name that was both rooted in the history of the neighborhood and not already in use, we were a bit surprised to learn that the artist housing at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center was called Cooper Artist Housing at Youngstown.
We immediately scheduled a meeting with the artists in residence to discuss the name we had chosen an what impact it might have on their community if we kept the name. It became very clear that even though their brand is not visible in internet searches or on-site signage, they had a strong identity with the “Cooper” name.
Wanting to be sensitive to our community, and a community that we had especially hoped to engage in our search for incorporating local art into our building, we decided the right thing to do was to re-name our project.
We had initially included “Youngstown” in our name because it was the historical name for the North Delridge neighborhood and ties back to the Youngstown School that has been at the heart of the community for decades, and to the energy of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. The name “Youngstown Flats” celebrates the history of the community and the immediate neighborhood that the project is joining. Like the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, it provides a connection between nature, the arts and history.
The crew working on the site at 26th/Dakota is wrapping up excavation for the building’s garage, and the construction crane is expected soon. Legacy and Barrientos LLC took over the site after it had been granted permits a few years ago as a condo project; it’s being built as apartments with a few live-work units and a relatively small commercial space, as well as a mini-park on unused right-of-way across the street. They also recently announced art-procurement plans that will get into high gear around February.
(Photos courtesy Jessep Bangham, unless otherwise credited)
By Bill “Hutch” Hutchison
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“N’awlins” flavors are coming to West Seattle in the form of a new restaurant named the Fleur de Lys Café.
The new venture will share the upstairs of Shipwreck Tavern, at 4210 SW Admiral. Before you ask, yes, the Shipwreck is still in business and will remain so – they’re just renting out the upstairs as a separate business to Jessep Bangham and his girlfriend Liz Bowman, to start their tribute to the great cuisine of New Orleans.
The opening date is not set in stone, but they are aiming for mid-January. Liz was born and raised in NO and now lives here in Seattle. Jessep, an Alaska native, is now working as a Microsoft program manager, and is the driving force behind the operation. “The idea is to marry Northwest fresh produce and some seafood with some authentic New Orleans ingredients and prepare the best New Orleans’ style food outside of Louisiana,” he explained.
No major events today/tonight – but we have some holiday reminders and updates:
PUT THE GIVING IN THANKSGIVING: Last chance today to help out your local food banks before Thanksgiving. White Center Food Bank, we’re told, is low on everything – turkeys, boxed food, canned food, you name it. The yellow tent in our photo is in their parking lot for holiday food distribution; just head on over to 8th and 108th and drop off whatever you can give, by 7 tonight.
OTHER GIVING OPPORTUNITIES: We’ve got a list on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page – and we also got a tip that WestSide Baby is out of coats. (Their ongoing “wishlist” is part of our giving list – and if you know of more giving opportunities, please keep ’em coming so we can add to it.)
FREE THANKSGIVING DINNERS: The Hall at Fauntleroy, the West Seattle Eagles aerie, and St. James Annex are three places you’ll find them tomorrow, all also on the Holidays page. We don’t have any current calls for volunteers, but the Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes-catered dinner at The Hall at Fauntleroy always welcomes pies and cookies to be dropped off, today, or tomorrow morning. (9131 California SW)
THANKSGIVING ‘WHO’S OPEN FOR COFFEE’ LIST: It’s done! We’ll post it on the home page tomorrow morning for quick reference, but today, if you’re making a plan, find it on the Holidays page.
THANKSGIVING RESTAURANTS LIST: We have a few on the Holidays page and are putting out the call one more time – if you own, or know of, a restaurant that will be open for all or part of Thanksgiving, please let us know so we can add it. We’ll be making phone calls later but a quick note would be appreciated if you see this first! P.S. Shoutout to The Thaitan, whose proprietor Pop was the first to e-mail us to say he’ll be open with a full menu AND delivery tomorrow.
SPEAKING OF RESTAURANTS: Shop local on Black Friday and you’ll get 25 percent off your meal at Fresh Bistro (WSB sponsor) that day for showing a West Seattle shop receipt for $50 or more.
WEST SEATTLE LIGHTS ANNOUNCES SPECIAL GUEST: Update on the popular synched-to-music Helmstetler Family Spectacular/West Seattle Lights show that starts this weekend (here’s our check-in from last Sunday) – Jim Winder sent word that Zach Scott of Seattle Sounders FC will be the special celebrity guest for the lighting ceremony at 7 pm Saturday (across from the Charlestown water tower). As Jim notes, that’s particularly appropriate since they’re collecting donations this weekend for the family of Ed Kingston, the volunteer soccer coach who died suddenly last month while coaching his son’s team at Riverview Playfield. (Zach made a West Seattle visit back in September, at the Lafayette Elementary playground dedication.)
TRANSPORTATION NOTES: No West Seattle Water Taxi tomorrow or Friday; Metro will be on a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving, a reduced-weekday schedule on Friday.
7:15 AM: Right now it’s calmer than it’s been for a while, but as you head out this morning, beware the aftermath of all that rain – we have one report, for example, of fairly deep water as you go from the eastbound bridge to 99. The National Weather Service still has a “flood advisory” in effect in our area for this kind of problem (as well as for possible “small stream” flooding as rain continues through the day). As the advisory warns (caps theirs), “DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF FLOOD WATERS. STANDING WATER JUST A FEW INCHES DEEP CAN CAUSE LOSS OF CONTROL OF A VEHICLE.”
ADDED 9:08 AM: Quick clip of one prime example of “ponding” – the Fauntleroy/Juneau/39th curve just northeast of Morgan Junction.
For the first time since 1998, the SWAC Cougarettes cheer squad went to the big regional competition at Pacific Lutheran University last weekend, after a lot of hard work, reports Felicia, who shared the photo and a recap:
Coaches Alicia and Roxie were wonderful with these girls, and treated them like family. The girls practiced 3 times a week as well as cheering for all the games on Sundays from 8 am to sometimes 6 pm. Many of the other competing squads have a cheer squad for each of the football divisions. These kids worked so hard and even though they didn’t win a trophy, they deserve just as much hoopla. The thing that struck me was that these kids were sad for like a minute, but then were sincerely happy for the teams that placed, and thrilled to be in the moment. My daughter Chloe’s takeaway was that the experience itself was worth all the hard work. I’m sure each and every one of the families are as proud as I am of our girls and so grateful to Alicia & Roxie for their dedication!
Felicia says 9 teams competed, and a squad from Kent won the championship.
(WSB’er photo shared November 22, 2010)
The anniversary seemed to pass unnoticed – maybe because we’re dealing with different weather woes at the moment. Tonight marked exactly a year since the November 2010 snowstorm that snarled the evening commute. Roads were impassable, buses got stuck, some folks wound up walking – like the person who posted this today in the WSB Forums:
One year ago today I was walking up West Marginal Way in the snowstorm and woke up in an ambulance. Apparently in the meantime some people had given me about ten minutes of CPR and a defibrillator shock. Quite the anonymous gift, a pulse. Whoever you were, I made it through the night and am doing fine a year later. Thanks.
We don’t recall hearing about that at the time; the archived 911 log for that day/night includes more than 1 incident on West Marginal Way SW, so we’re not sure when or exactly where it happened.
Another update from Dennis Hinton, one of the volunteers who’s currently watching for coho salmon during spawning season along Fauntleroy Creek, which started welcoming back spawners after a huge restoration project a decade ago:
Exciting day on the creek. I watched in the rain from noon til 2 pm.
Saw:
A happy couple spawning.
A jack of about two pounds that had a brief battle in the love nest, then squirted up the creek (photo of jack attached).
Remains of a big carcass high on the bank just outside the culvert.Two redds I’ve seen so far are now marked with little white ribbons.
Creek when I left had risen to .90—getting almost too high and cloudy to read the water.
Total fish count since 11/19/11 is eight.
As noted in previous coverage, last year the creek didn’t see a single spawner.
Once upon a time, the city had said they hoped the new 1st Avenue South on- and off-ramp for the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct – the now-being-widened section of the West Seattle Bridge between I-5 and Highway 99 – would be open by this fall, maybe even before the Alaskan Way Viaduct‘s closure last month. It wasn’t. So many then asked, when WILL it open? We asked SDOT, and were told the contractor was coming up with a revised schedule. Now, that’s in, and our answer has finally arrived from SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan:
While the overall project is nearly 90 percent complete, our Spokane Street Viaduct contractor has not finished constructing the First Avenue S on-/off-ramps due to delays in receiving critical construction materials. Their steel subcontractor has yet to deliver specialized steel girders needed to complete the ramp.
When the girders finally arrive from the fabricator, it will take at least two months to complete the ramps. At that point in the construction schedule, we will need to transfer traffic to the viaduct’s new roadway to resurface the existing deck and cannot safely allow use of the on-ramp. Due to this, SDOT does not anticipate opening the ramps fully until the overall project is completed in July 2012.
We understand that the loss of this access point does create inconveniences for West Seattle residents and businesses. Alternate routes such as accessing the high rise bridge via I-5 or SR-99, the lower Spokane Street Swing Bridge or the First Ave S Bridge will continue to serve as good options for reaching West Seattle. The overall project remains on budget and scheduled for completion by summer 2012.
If that timeframe holds, it will be 26 months after the closure of the old 1st Avenue South onramp to the westbound bridge; just before that closure, we were told the ramp would take “at least 16 months” to build.
One week from tomorrow, the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment will again take up the proposal for West Seattle Triangle rezoning – primarily upzoning part of the area to 85-foot height, and a significant part of the Triangle itself to “neighborhood commercial.” The committee was briefed last week (WSB coverage here). Based on that discussion, some changes to the proposal are expected, and we’ll publish an update when they’re available, though it probably won’t be till early next week. The committee meeting is set for 9 am Wednesday, November 30, in City Council chambers downtown.
(We recorded both parts of the governor’s visit on video & will add here in their entirety when uploaded)
2:29 PM: “Speak your mind, and speak up!” South Seattle Community College‘s communications director Candace Oehler exhorted a room full of students just before Governor Chris Gregoire entered a moment ago. She is here to talk about her supplemental budget – which is not a pretty picture for education around the state, including post-secondary. We’ll be covering this as it happens. (Added: Video of what she said in the classroom, unedited, in its entirety:)
“Anything you say to me is important,” the governor herself told them moments afterward. “I can’t tell you how many countless hours I have put in … digesting a state budget as complex as ours during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” She’s explaining to them first that most of the budget is “off-limits” – $8.7 billion out of $30 billion to solve the budget gap. “There are really only four places in state government where you can cut,” she says, and asks if the students know where. “Higher education” is the first answer. “Social services,” the next. Then, “public safety.” Someone offers “Transportation” – but that’s off-limits, she says. “Health care” finally emerges as the fourth. It’s a shame, she says, since graduation rates are up, schools are full – including ones like SSCC where people can get training — and this is a time when optimally, in a recession, we should be investing in that, she says.
2:37 PM: She also talks about cutting health care – where already there have been cuts, with the Basic Health Plan now at less than half the enrollment of just a few years ago. She then explains that what she calls an “F-minus failure by Congress” hit the state “like a ton of bricks” in August, with “an immediate $1.4 billion shortfall” – and “they’re doing it to us again … but this time we’re a little more resilient.” This comes as positive economic signs have emerged, she says, in fields such as aerospaces, life sciences, and energy, in our state. But small business is struggling, she says, because it relies on consumer confidence – which just isn’t there. “Now we’re waiting to see what’s in Europe – if Greece defaults, Italy defaults, triggering a banking crisis in Europe,” that will be a crisis here, with possibly another $2 billion shortfall.
Now she moves on to what she sees as a budget solution – raising taxes. “Some will tell you this is not the time” to do that, she says, but “I can’t stomach (the budget) cuts.” She says she is upset about the prospect of having to cut school years, and release prisoners early. “I can’t see letting folks out and not supervising them, to include sex predators,” she says. And she says she doesn’t want to cut long-term care. Overall, she says, she’s looked at “185 revenue options,” including “tax loopholes,” while realizing “there’s an argument not to cut, for every one of them.” She said she saw the tax proposal as the only way to “stand up to the problem” – and thinks she might be the first in history to send a bill to the Legislature asking them to “take it to the people.” She notes that the sales tax hasn’t been raised in the state since 1983. State taxes take a lower share of your income than they did back then, and yet, no other levels of government “is doing our job,” she says, talking about how she plans to campaign for the sales-tax increase next spring.
2:47 PM: Now, questions from the students: “How are you telling people in Olympia who might be saying ‘we’re not going to raise taxes’ about the impact on students, and others?” she was asked, beginning her reply “We’ve already cut (more than $10 billion). … We’re in an election year and we’re going to hear a lot of election rhetoric. … (Candidates) will say ‘Surely there’s a better way, another revenue source’ … So what you’re going to hear in the coming weeks is that we need more recreational gaming, gambling, off the (reservations).” Others, she says, will suggest a capital-gains tax. But that will require building an infrastructure at the Department of Revenue, which’ll take a couple of years, she says – “I don’t have the time.” She says basically any counterproposal you can throw at her, she’s thought of. And she slings a few angry words at “the other Washington,” saying “they’re putting partisan politics above the good of the public.”
Next question isn’t clearly audible but brings her to discussing higher education – “It’s (one of the few places in the budget) where there’s a way to raise revenue” – tuition increases. However, she says, that’s not feasible any more – “We can’t make it so that only the affluent can afford to go to college in Washington state.”
Back to the sales tax: “This idea that if you raise it a half-cent you’ll lose all these jobs … Guess which state raised it a penny a year ago? Arizona! They haven’t lost a boatload of jobs.” The governor goes on to say, “We’re unique! … Who’s our #1 trading partner? China! … You’re competing against students sitting in a classroom today in China, and Japan, and Korea. That’s who you’re going to compete with. With all due respect, they’re not cutting their budgets. They’re not cutting education, they’re investing in education. … Cutting the dickens out of education is not in your best interests and not in the state’s.” In response to a question from a student that was more a statement in support, she observed the problem with much of today’s unemployment – even when the economy recovers, many of today’s lost jobs won’t exist any longer, due to automation, efficiencies, and other factors. Hiring right now is depressed for reasons, she says, including – as a student answered her question – a lack of capital, because the banks aren’t making it available. “They’re real jittery about what’s going on in Europe … They’re sitting on no less than $2 trillion in cash.”
3:01 PM: How many would vote for raising more revenue than the $500 million she proposed? asks the governor. Most students in the room raise their hands. “I gotta try … (it’s) my best shot, and I don’t know if I’m gonna win,” she says. Shortly afterward, one student suggests that an income tax would be the solution. She reminds him that voters said no to the “income tax for higher-income individuals” proposal just last year. She also notes, though, that ours is one of only six states without an income tax, and has an “antiquated tax system.” She says ours is a “1935 tax system based on manufacturing.” Now she’s wrapping up: “We’re going to get out of this recession,” she promises. (is going to take media questions in a separate room next – we’re off to that.)
POSTSCRIPT: Community-colleges system chancellor (and former SSCC president) Jill Wakefield was on hand too, seen above with SSCC president Gary Oertli. Will add the video of the governor’s brief meeting with media.
Seattle Fire is sending a full response to a home in the 5600 block of 35th SW. According to the scanner, the first report came in as a lamp fire that “extended to a wall.” First firefighters to arrive didn’t see smoke or flames, but they are investigating; some of the units originally dispatched are being canceled.
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