Monday, August 30, 2010, the Sunnyside City Council convened a Special Meeting, to discuss changing insurance carriers for the city. The motion to change insurance was brought up at the last regular meeting of the Council, but failed to get the required votes.
Council Member Don Vlieger pointed out that it was a violation of the City Council Rules of Procedure to bring the matter back up for discussion, but the majority of Council voted to suspend their own rules to proceed with the action anyway. In the process, they also suspended all morals and ethics for their body as well.
City staff railroaded the council into taking this action, so they could attempt to bury what is sure to be embarrassing findings of an investigation into the work environment at City Hall. Interim City Manager Jim Bridges successfully got the council to make this change of insurance carriers at the last minute, before the permanent City Manager comes on board on September 13.
Jim Bridges’ ongoing abusive actions towards city employees have been documented on this blog. Former Human Resource Director Terri Rhode was fired because she knows the true cause of problems with the work environment at City Hall. On April 20, 2010, the City of Sunnyside lost at a hearing held for Ms. Rhode. The matter was heard by Judge Morgan at the Office of Administrative Hearings in Seattle. Ms. Rhode, Interim City Manager Jim Bridges, and Mr. Jackson an attorney for the city, were all present by telephone conference for the hearing. At this hearing, Mr. Bridges’ lack of character was put into the public record.
Jim Bridges admitted that his affair with a former city employee cost the city’s insurance carrier $150,000. Listen to Mr. Bridges admit this in his own words:
U.S. Senate candidate Dino Rossi recently challenged 18-year incumbent Patty Murray to a series of debates. Murray responded to the Rossi campaign by offering to debate only two times, and only in late October, just prior to the election.
Rossi has suggested that they have a total of six debates, to cover all the major media markets in Washington, with an additional debate in Seattle and also on national TV. Murray is refusing to go around the state to discuss issues with Rossi, despite this being the fourth time she is running a Senate race.
This Patty Is Done
Putting Patty Murray on a stage with Dino Rossi is probably the last thing her campaign wants to do. They know that Patty will be cooked, if she has to actually think about what she is saying without consultants providing a script for her.
With the advent of mobile phone applications, some folks are taking advantage of bar code scanning capabilities to make using the phones more convenient for users to receive content.
One such technology is called a QR Code. It is a two dimensional matrix barcode, and is readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. QR codes were first used in Japan, most extensively for tracking parts in auto manufacturing facilities. Now they are popping up in other places.
If you have a phone with a bar scanning application, you can scan this QR code to be taken to BLOGSUNNYSIDE in your mobile browser:
A little over a year ago, I joined the Facebook addiction by getting an account (Jason R. Raines). During that time, Facebook has been criticized for how it handles, or rather, fails to handle, privacy of information. I read a number of blogs and articles about how to create more restrictive privacy settings, and even delete said Facebook account.
I took the advice suggested in one article and cranked down privacy settings so far that I became invisible on Facebook. Friends of mine then began sending me messages like: “Hey are you okay? Let me know what hospital you are in so I can come visit you!” Well, not really, but I did get complaints from friends that they could not post things on my Facebook wall, etc.
As I weighed the pros and cons of having a Facebook account, I decided that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. There are a number of people that I would not be in contact with were it not for Facebook. These are people I have known, or been acquainted with, from all over the country. Some of them are actual friends of mine in real life.
Didier Speaking At A Tea Party Event In Yakima, July 2010
As recently as May 28th, Clint Didier was touting how he was a team player, and would support whoever faced off with Patty Murray this November. This is what he said on the David Boze radio show:
“If it is Patty Murray and whoever – it’s whoever. Vote against Patty Murray. And we gotta stimulate this movement in the state of Washington that whoever comes out of that primary we gotta get behind. And believe me, if it’s not me, whoever it is, I’m gonna get behind them. I’m gonna work as hard for them as I did for me. Because it’s not about me. It’s about our kids, our grandkids, and assuring they have that same shot at the American Dream. It’s about America.”
Dino Rossi speaking at the 2010 Washington State Republican Party Convention.
Dino Rossi is challenging Patty Murray to a series of debates to be held in Washington in the weeks leading up to the November general election. This is according to a letter that Dino Rossi sent to Senator Patty Murray:
Dear Sen. Murray:
The U.S. Senate race is one of the most important elections in the State of Washington in 2010. Given the importance of this election, and the desire for voters to make an informed decision this fall, I propose we hold five debates in Washington State, in addition to one nationally televised debate. I further propose we hold one debate in each media market hosted by local civic organizations, with two debates in the Seattle area.
The five debates in Washington State would be Lincoln-Douglas style, in which we would be allotted equal time to make opening statements, ask questions of each other, introduce new ideas, or defend policy positions. A timekeeper would ensure each side adheres to time limits which are mutually agreed upon.
This is an opportunity for us to question each other on various policy positions in a manner which allows the public, not the press or interest groups, to dictate the issues covered.
In order to ensure the maximum number of voters see the debates so they are able to make an informed decision, we should invite television stations in each market to broadcast the debates. Additionally, as there is limited time before general election ballots are mailed, I propose that we hold one debate a week beginning the week of September 6, 2010.
Will Patty Murray accept the challenge? Stay tuned…
Yesterday night was an exciting night for voters and politicos throughout the Yakima Valley. Three races promised two winners and a defeatist.
The District Court race surprised many as Doug Federspiel and Mike Everett advanced to the general election, leaving Bronson Faul behind with under 15% of the vote. Bronson Faul had picked up the envious endorsements of Senator Jim Honeyford, Representatives David Taylor, Bruce Chandler, and Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley. Bronson Faul is young man and we’ll surely see him on our ballot in the near future.
County Commissioner Rand Elliott was up for re-election and was challenged by a fellow Republican and someone running under the Tea Party label. Kenneth Stevens, the Tea Party candidate famous for his “make sure you don’t get screwed” campaign slogan, has publically declared that he will refuse to take his $81,000 salary if elected. The incumbent Rand Elliott and the energetic Tea Party candidate will face each other in November. We could be up for a surprise!
The 14th legislative race has been the most exciting race in the county. The incumbent Norm Johnson(R) was challenged by Michele Strobel(R) and Scott Brumback(D). Johnson and Strobel secured a spot in the November ballot. This promises to be a vicious battle between a moderate and a conservative Republican. It will be interesting to see if the Democrat endorses any of the remaining candidates. The local Democratic Party refused to endorse Scott Brumback as he was too conservative. He was once a Republican PCO. I don’t blame them!
In the Sunnyside Precinct #1708, retired farmer Don Padelford took the Precinct Committee Officer position for the Republican Party. The seat is currently held by City Councilmember Theresa Hancock, but she did not file as a candidate to retain the post.
With the initial count published by the County Auditor last night, Padelford was garnering over 95% of the vote. Padelford has been in the news in recent years for being critical of Sunnyside City Hall. After being annexed into the city, his property was not given a zoning designation. Later, the Council decided to give him a different zoning than what he had asked for. Padelford filed a lawsuit against the city, which will possibly be settled by having the Port of Sunnyside bailout the city. The Port of Sunnyside has offered to purchase Padelford’s land for $1.3 million if he agrees to drop his lawsuit against the city.
Theresa Hancock has never been elected as a Precinct Committee Officer, but was appointed to fill a vacancy earlier this year.
After the certification of election results, newly elected PCO’s will take office on December 1st, for a two-year term.
Here are results of Sunnyside area PCO races:
#1701 Don Vlieger, Republican PCO with over 90% of the vote
#1703 J.R. Hale, Republican PCO with 95% of the vote
#1705 Mike Farmer, Republican PCO with over 95% of the vote
#1706 Jason R. Raines, Republican PCO with 56.93%; Thomas Peterson, Democrat PCO with 43.07%
#1708 Don Padelford, Republican PCO with over 95% of the vote
Today is election day for the primary in the state of Washington. If you have not yet done so, this is your last chance to get your ballot in.
Vote: Sanders, Johnson, Faul, Dino.
This video is a nice montage entitled “These Voices Don’t Speak For The Rest Of Us”, and captures some of the sentiments of why this election is so important.
Hat tip to U.S. Senator Jim Demint and the group Positively Republican! for sharing this video on Facebook.
Washington 15th District State Representative David Taylor has been tapped by fellow Republicans in the State House, to assist up to 22 campaigns during the 2010 election cycle. He is now a member of the leadership of the House Republican Organizational Committee, and recently sent a fundraising appeals letter to his supporters to ask for their help in raising up to $20,000 to partially fund these other candidates’ campaigns.
15th District State Representative David Taylor
Mr. Taylor, in a phone interview with this blog, explained that each political party caucus has its own campaign arm, and the House Republican Organizational Committee (HROC) works to recruit candidates, and raise funds, with the goal of getting more Republicans elected in the legislature. Earlier this year, Taylor transferred $10,000 to HROC, and has the goal of transferring an additional $20,000 following the primary election.
Cary Condotta, a 12th District Representative, invited Mr. Taylor to be on the Leadership Team for HROC this year. The Leadership Team is made up of caucus elected leadership, and three additional representatives that have been invited to participate. Taylor said it is an honor to be part of the effort and work of HROC.
Taylor said the top races that he is personally following are:
JASON R. RAINES, Blog Editor
editor@blogsunnyside.com
WAYNE OVERLAND,
Senior Contributor
wayne@blogsunnyside.com
DIEGO TREJO, Senior Author
diego@blogsunnyside.com
Jason R. Raines
Diego
Wayne Overland
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