Jefferson Dems Endorse All Candidates

In a high spirited meeting running over three hours, Jefferson County Democrats endorsed all candidates presented on their slate. The entire list can be viewed under the tab at the top of this page, titled 2018 Elections.

The three candidates that drew the most debate were Joe Nole for Sheriff, Maria Cantwell for Senator and Derek Kilmer for House of Representatives.

The debate on Joe Nole’s endorsement came from a group of people in support of Sheriff Stanko who brought up issues that had happened under Nole’s temporary leadership as interim sheriff in the months before Dave Stanko’s election. They also discussed issues of aggressive policing, (not by Joe but by officers under his command at that point) and positions that Joe was claimed to have made. Ultimately, a series of speakers who have worked with Mr. Nole, including outgoing County Commissioner Kathleen Kler, allowed for a clear win for endorsement.

Opposition to Derek Kilmer came from what is known as the “Progressives”, who primarily are supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders. They identified a number of issues that Rep. Kilmer has not taken a stand on, or has supported such as Single Payer Healthcare, bills that supported Israel to the exclusion of Palestinians, and his vote supporting the massive recent military budget (HR5515) and tax bills, which far exceeded the demands of President Trump. To be clear, many Democrats ended up supporting the bills as there were numerous items added that they requested. Representative Kilmer also has not achieved anything of substance around the expansion of the Navy airbase and it’s subsequent noise issues for the entire north Sound and Strait. He has done nothing of substance to also protect the west end of the Olympic Peninsula from being used as a Navy training ground with low flying jets over the west side of the Olympic National Park. These issues have engendered huge meeting turnouts and thousands of letters of support for him to take action. However, as of this writing, his efforts have returned nothing of consequence on the issue. Representative Kilmer  has been endorsed 100% by Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Campaign, and to a lesser degree, by the ACLU (88%) and The League for Conservation Voters (92%). His entire voting record can be viewed here:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/derek_kilmer/412583

Similar issues were raised about Senator Maria Cantwell. Senator Cantwell did vote no on the Defense Appropriations Act. Senator Cantwell has been endorsed 100% by Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Campaign, and to a lesser degree, by the ACLU (88%) and The League for Conservation Voters (91%). Her voting record can be found at

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/maria_cantwell/300018

Both these candidates have been strong supporters  of environmental bills.

Supporters of the two argued for Democratic unity in the face of goals to take back the House and Senate, along with positive bills that both had supported. Ultimately, both easily won endorsement.

 

 

 

 

Dems speakers address salmon, taxes, elections and wildfires (STEW).

senator cantwell with Alise Moss Vetica

Jefferson Democratic Precinct Committeewoman Alise Moss-Vetica and Senator Maria Cantwell at the 2018 Fish Feast. Photo by Pamela Roberts

The annual Democratic Fish Feast took place at the county fairgrounds Sunday the 19th. While according to officials it was slightly smaller than during the 2016 election year, it still almost filled the dining hall. Keynote speaker Department of Natural Resources head Hilary Franz joined surprise guest, Senator Maria Cantwell, along with 36th District State Representative Noel Frame who is also the Vice Chair of the State House Finance Committee, who is working on state tax issues. Of course, in this election year, State Representatives Mike Chapman and Steve Tharinger from the 24th District also gave short speeches to make way for the keynote speakers, along with a number of local county and city politicians.

Senator Cantwell thanked the crowd, describing her narrow win in her first election, back in 2000, by saying it was only a few thousand votes that carried her and the large turnout in Jefferson County, which traditionally has one of the highest voter turnouts in the state, was, in her mind, a reason she won. She went on to discuss the need to get as much done as possible to win back the House and Senate in the fall. Her key topics were her work on helping fund the tug pilots training program here in Port Townsend at the Maritime Center, along with her work to get parental leave into government agencies such as the Coast Guard. She attacked the Trump Administration plans to open drilling off the coast of Washington, and their plans, now abandoned under intense attack, of tripling national park fees. She also reminded the audience that “climate change is real” and that she was supporting research and initiatives to help industries such as the shellfish industry to weather the changes. She also championed the Democrats and her efforts to strengthen healthcare for lower income people. Her message was that the Republicans attempts to exempt pre-existing conditions would lead to massive increases in insurance costs.

Following Senator Cantwell was Hilary Franz, who reiterated the notion that “climate change is real and here now.” Ms. Franz oversees DNR, which manages over 2 million acres of forest land, 1 million acres of agricultural land, 2.6 million acres of aquatic lands, along with the firefighting teams currently engaged in hundreds of fires across the state. She mentioned that 97% of the state is in drought conditions currently, 60 plus days of no rain in much of Western Washington and record temperatures again this year. No part of the state is free from smoke currently. They have been battling over 1100 fires this year, and the end of the fire season is a long way away, possibly into October. The good news is that her teams have used new tactics to lower the amount of acres burned from these fires. The State has spent over $650M in the last four years fighting fires. That is money that could have been used in a variety of more useful ways, or even to have lowered taxes. This is the cost of our inability to effectively stop climate change. Ms. Franz said that in traveling the state she has met people of both parties being impacted by a changing climate, and that they are effected by it almost daily. The question she stated, was “not whether we act but  how we act. We should stop debating whether climate change is real and we need to take the steps to prepare and adapt.”

She went on to discuss the situation with Orcas. She stated that DNR is going to be much more diligent in reviewing lease holders to ensure that fiascos like the net pen failures of last year won’t happen again. Additionally, DNR has fixed all but one of the many culverts that they had blocking returning salmon. She is pushing for more resources to fix culverts on the city, county and state.  She is going to work at a watershed level to restore upland and shoreline areas for salmon habitat beyond what is currently being done.

When this reporter asked her what could be done about the use of glyphosate (Roundup is one), on DNR forest lands, her answer was that while she understands the issue the reporting on it has not understood the legal issues. DNR has legal authority to approve aerial spraying and guiding when and where it will be done, but the authority to determine what is sprayed is the jurisdiction of the federal Department of Agriculture. While she would like to have the authority, all DNR can currently do is manage whether it is appropriate to spray, and how to spray, but not what to spray. DNR apparently cannot stop them from spraying if they follow the rules of spraying. They can only make sure that they have properly planned for it.

She also discussed the Rural Communities Partnership to do a better job of including the needs of rural communities in DNRs planning. This is an effort to reverse the feelings in many rural communities that being ‘environmental’ is bad for the economy and the economy is bad for the environment. Her work is to bring more science to the discussion to help better understand the issues and work closer to the people affected to come up with solutions that are bought into by them.

Another program she discussed is a new effort in Grays Harbor and Ilwaco to better manage derelict vessels. It is looking a public private partnership to remove the vessels and sell off any valuable gear on them, before adding the vessel to the waste stream.

Lastly, she said that her agency was working with the shellfish industry to find alternatives to spraying pesticides on lands where shellfish are harvested, to deal with ghost shrimp problems on the coast. To be clear, from the science that this reporter has read, the problems with ghost shrimp came about after the Columbia was dammed, as the amount of fresh water entering the ocean was reduced in force and size, leading to greater salinity in the area,  which in pre-dam times was able to flush the area, lower the salinity and keep the shrimp in check.

Along with these two women, the crowd heard from 36th district State Representative and  Vice Chair of the House Finance Committee Noel Frame and Democratic Chairwoman Tina Podlowdowski. Rep. Frame is traveling the state to meet with business leaders and other interested individuals to find a way out of our ever increasingly antiquated tax system in the state. She stated that there are over 700 exemptions due to the failure of the system to address the needs of a modern state, and she correctly addressed the fact that small businesses have to pay taxes on their gross, not net. So even if they have a loss they have to pay taxes on money they never profited on.  She is wanting to find a way forward that can fix this without a constitutional amendment.  While our forefathers (and mothers) who crafted our State Constitution were wanting to make a state without an income tax, due to what then appeared to be a inexhaustible amount of natural resources, the current situation, with the vast forests and oceans of salmon reduced to a fraction of their former sizes, it’s time to find a new way forward for our needs that does not put the burden on home owners. There is a building frustration and consensus that this needs to be fixed, and her work is to find a framework that can be agreed upon to do just that.

Ms. Podlowdowski, having taken the helm of the party after the 2016 elections, has gone on to craft a powerhouse for getting new Democratic blood out to run for elections, as well as a long needed campaign strategy to take back every county in the state. Her work has already led to the amazing results in Spokane, where a new Democratic challenger is essentially tied with an established Republican incumbent, along with great results in the 8th and district and others. If the Democrats decisively take over control of more of rural Washington, it will primarily be the work of this woman.

By the way, the acronym STEW is my invention. For your use.

Also covered in the Peninsula Daily News

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/cantwell-franz-address-salmon-orcas-wildfires-in-port-townsend-appearance/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cantwell helps secure $25M increase in the Land and Water Conservation Fund

From Cantwell’s office:

As the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Cantwell fought back against the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the country’s most successful conservation program, and secured a $25 million increase in funding over last year’s levels. The funding also includes specific allocations for Washington state projects, including $1 million for Lake Chelan Natural Recreation Area, $5 million for Okanagan National Forest, $6.3 million for the Forest Legacy program in South Puget Sound, and $2 million for the Dewatto Headwaters. Cantwell has long promoted the program, touting its importance for conservation and its positive economic affects for Washington state. In March of 2017, she introduced a bill to permanently authorize and fully fund the LWFC, and she has steadfastly defended the program in the face of attacks.

Toxic “Reform” Law Will Gut State Rules on Dangerous Chemicals – The Intercept

I hope Washington State Representative Kevin Van de Wege is watching this and putting in his two cents to President Obama to veto this pending law. Kevin and many others throughout the State have fought very hard to bring laws to the books to reduce the use and proliferation of fire retardants and other chemicals proven to be ineffective in their jobs and dangerous to the environment. Now, the Republican dominated US Congress is set to forward onto the President an extremely bad reform bill that actually reforms our ability to challenge Federal management of these chemicals. Want to do something about it? Call or write Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Representative Derek Kilmer and President Obama and state that the Toxic Reform Bill is flawed law.

A NEW SET OF BILLS that aims to update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act may nullify the efforts of states such as Maine  and California to regulate dangerous chemicals. The Senate’s bill, passed last month, just before the holidays, is particularly restrictive. The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act — named, ironically, for the New Jersey senator who supported strong environmental protections — would make it much harder for states to regulate chemicals after the EPA has evaluated them, and would even prohibit states from acting while the federal agency is in the process of investigating certain chemicals.

The Senate’s version has some significant differences from the House bill — the TSCA Modernization Act, which passed in June — and the reconciliation process is now underway. If the worst provisions from both bills wind up in the final law, which could reach the president’s desk as soon as February, the new legislation will gut laws that have put Oregon, California, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, and Washington state at the forefront of chemical regulation.

Thanks to the Intercept, one of my favorite news websites, for bringing this to our attention.

https://theintercept.com/2016/01/11/toxic-reform-law-would-gut-state-rules-on-dangerous-chemicals/

Cantwell Calls for NOAA Study on Ocean Acidification’s Effects on Seafood and Fishing

In Senate hearing Cantwell also backs ‘robust funding’ in Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization for fish stock assessments

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called for new federal action to examine ocean acidification’s potential threat to seafood and the commercial fishing during a hearing on the law that guides management of American commercial fisheries.

During testimony at the Senate hearing on the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Reauthorization, the Alaska Regional Administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service told Cantwell that ocean acidification is a “cause for concern.”

Cantwell highlighted the need for a study that identifies which fisheries and fish habitats are most at risk from the effects of ocean acidification –as an expansion of a Puget Sound monitoring system for shellfish that she was instrumental in establishing in 2010.  She cited previous research that showed adverse effects on Alaska’s red king crab fisheries.

Such research also would be critical to understanding potential impacts to Washington state’s $30 billion maritime industry.  The sector supports 57,000 direct jobs and 90,000 indirect jobs, 60 percent of which are in the fishing industry.

“We want to make sure we understand the risks to our fisheries. We have some real life situations that are occurring,” Cantwell said today during the hearing of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. “On this issue, I think we definitely need a study to understand the impacts.”

 Read the rest of the story here:

http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=c0bd9f45-b98f-4932-adc4-ff928c337c2e

Bad Farm Bill contains repeal of NEPA

On January 29, 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of the Farm Bill that, among many detrimental provisions, includes language that would be disastrous for all national Forests: Section 8204 “Insects and Disease Infestation”—a deceptive title. (You can read about it by clicking here and scrolling to pages 701 and 703.)

This section of the Farm Bill would repeal the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to allow logging projects up to 3,000 acres in size to be implemented on National Forests without any environmental analysis of harmful effects to water quality, wildlife or rare, threatened or endangered species.

It would also eliminate administrative appeals on these projects, eliminating public participation in these forest management decisions.

The U.S. Senate may vote on the Farm Bill as early as this week—the first week of February!

Act now and urge your Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to strike Section 8204 from the 2014 Farm Bill because of the harm that Section 8204 would cause to our National Forests. If Section 8204 is not removed, urge them to vote against the 2014 Farm Bill.

Call the capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121.

Or email our senators NOW by using their contact forms on their websites:

www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme

 

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