Spokane7
35°
October 13, 2009 in Opinion
Endorsement: Waldref has grasp of complex challenges
Northeast Spokane District 1 will have a new representative on the City Council, with term limits forcing the departure of Al French. Both candidates are opposed to Proposition 4 and support investigative powers for the police ombudsman, but there is little agreement beyond that.
Amber Waldref has been dubbed a “wacko Seattle greenie” by statewide initiative czar Tim Eyman. And why is he weighing in on a local race? It’s because Waldref’s opponent, Mike Fagan, co-founded Voters Want More Choices, which is the voter initiative factory run by Eyman. Thus, Fagan has been dubbed the “Tim Eyman of Eastern Washington.” Behind the simplistic labels are two candidates who have worked to make northeast Spokane a better place.
Fagan is rightly proud of his volunteer efforts in Hillyard, and he should be given credit for running for an office that must deal with the fallout from his initiatives. He was also involved in the term limits movement, which unleashed a costumed weasel at public events for then-U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt when the congressman reneged on his term limits vow. Fagan says his main reason for running for City Council is to bring balance to what he views as an ideologically “center-left” council and to protect taxpayers. As a supporter of Initiative 1033, he’d want strict limits on budget growth. He states that if the police and fire chiefs need to “ride shifts” to deliver adequate service, then so be it.
Fagan says the city should not be facing such a large deficit, but he doesn’t seem to see the connection between his voter initiatives and budget shortfalls. He makes the same arguments for audits and efficiencies that are the staple of small-government candidates. If voters want an embodiment of I-1033, Fagan is the choice.
Waldref has an environmental background, but the Eyman label is silly. As development director of the Lands Council, she worked for a balanced, collaborative approach on reducing phosphorus in the Spokane River. She wants to keep the issue out of the courts and says it is important to address all sources of pollution, such as “nonpoint” fertilizer use, because the problem extends beyond those industries with “pipes in the river” (including Inland Empire Paper, a subsidiary of Cowles Co., which owns The Spokesman-Review.) For that reason, she advocates strong shoreline protections. She says the state Department of Ecology’s standards for the river are probably unrealistic using available technology.
Waldref supports Mayor Mary Verner’s efforts to win significant concessions from employee unions on pay and benefits. She would like to explore efficiencies across government boundaries on areas such as animal control. She advocates a dedicated fund to street improvements and supports the completion of the North Spokane Corridor. She wants to build on the strengths in Spokane’s economy, with an emphasis on the health care sector.
Waldref has an impressive command of the issues and how they’re intertwined. She would bring a fresh, analytical voice to the council and gets our endorsement.
See www.spokesman.com/tags/ 2009-election-endorsements for The Spokesman-Review’s endorsements.
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mmspowaus on October 13 at 5:38 a.m.
Yes, that’s the idea, blame all the budget woes on Eyman / Fagan and their initiatives. Who would think that the City and County of Spokane or the State of Washington were the authors of their OWN budget problems? Not that our governments have EVER spent millions of dollars foolishly…We have over a half million dollars in studies gathering dust on City of Spokane shelves – never used. They are stored near a multimillion-dollar main terminal for STA, which has been called a white elephant worth just a fraction of what it cost to build over a decade ago. One might be able to catch a bus there and take a ride out to the Playfair site or the old YMCA building or Salties. Don’t forget to charter a bus to go see the insolvent county owned racetrack before they completely clean it up of toxic waste. Sadly, I could go on and on and on…
Editorial Board, Eyman and Fagan Initiatives are a reaction of poor budget planning on the part of government, not a valid cause of budget shortfalls. Trying to scapegoat Eyman and Fagan for the budget woes is a sophomoric solution to a much more serious set of problems. The City, County and State might try to point the finger at I1033 and similar legislation for their lack of greenbacks but for every finger covered in red ink they point at Eyman and Fagan, they have three fingers oozing crimson pointing back towards themselves.
Fagan is a demonstrated leader that will stand for the public even against powerful interest and has proven this with his career. Waldref has never established a willingness to stand against the powerful for the sake of the public. When Prop 4 / Envision Spokane was before City Council, Waldref was nowhere to be found while Fagan testified and campaigned against Prop 4 all summer. The choice on this point alone is obvious.
I disagree with your lack of endorsement of Mike Fagan and unless there is information you are not revealing for your decision, I question your judgment in matters of endorsements, again. I must ask; has DOUG CLARK taken control of the editorial board?
Nick42 on October 13 at 2:31 p.m.
The Eyman/Fagan initiatives are self-serving overreactions to overblown budgetary mistakes. Eyman and Fagan have proven themselves quite adept at appealing to outrage over taxation that exists not because of government overspending, but because of a regressive tax structure. If Eyman and Fagan were really interested in providing relief to lower-income, working-class families, they would put their energies into finding a productive solution to this problem. All their initiatives have really accomplished has been to shift the tax burden from more progressive taxes (i.e., vehicle, property) to more regressive taxes (i.e., sales). Surely there is some inefficiency in our government, as there is in all organizations, public or private. But the fact is that Washington residents currently pay less state and local taxes per capita than 34 other states, including Idaho and Oregon.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/486.html#sl_burden_washington-20080807
As to the Prop 4 issue, perhaps Ms. Waldref has more productive things to do with her time than to grandstand against a proposition that has virtually no chance of passing.
mmspowaus on October 13 at 4:12 p.m.
Either trust or distrust is earned by the government by its behavior. In the City of Spokane, Spokane County as well as the State of Washington, very little trust has been merited and distrust we have in abundance. IF you bothered to read just a few of my examples from my original post, you would understand this.
Progressive taxes are not fair by definition. The progressive taxes on vehicle tabs actually hurt the environment since new automobiles pollute less. Don’t forget all the folks that lived near the border licensed their automobiles in other states in order to avoid the outrageous progressive tab tax. Revenue the state never collected.
Eyman / Fagan would never be able to pass anything unless a majority of people agreed. Are you really arguing government of the people by the people and for the people is a bad model of government?
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As for Waldref not campaigning or even lifting a finger against Prop 4; well it only was heading for defeat after being brought to the attention of the public by patriots like Mike and Jack Fagan. Just sitting on the sidelines as a community leader and hoping in works out is yet another example of Ambers lack of preparation and forethought.
Amber Waldref is not ready for elected office.
Nick42 on October 13 at 10:48 p.m.
And by what definition are progressive taxes unfair? Those that can pay more, pay more. Those that cannot, pay less. Sounds fair to me and it’s the exact opposite of the current system we have. Your argument that the vehicle excise tax was bad for the environment is also laughable. Please provide some proof for it.
Eyman and Fagan pass initiatives through misrepresenting their aims. They claim to be anti-tax crusaders, yet their initiatives inevitably hurt working class people more as the tax burden gets shifted onto them (money previously collected from property and vehicle tax now gets collected from sales tax). If they really want to help working class people, they would start working toward replacing the sales tax with a state income tax. Most people in the state would see a dramatic reduction in their taxes if that were to happen.
And I know it is very popular to rag on government for the mistakes reported by the media, but at the same time, my garbage gets picked up when it is supposed to be, my water is running, my toilet flushes and our parks are pretty well maintained. On the whole, the government does a pretty good job. It’s easy to rag on the dumb things they do, but a) many of those things were done with voter support and b) we keep electing these people back into office, so we really have nobody to blame but ourselves if we are dissatisfied with their work.
Finally, the Fagans are “patriots” for bringing Envision Spokane to the public’s attention? Seriously? The initiative is so broad and so poorly written that it never had any chance to pass in community like Spokane. People just continue to grandstand on it, trying to score easy political points. Fagan and his supporters have been especially guilty of this.
Amber Waldref is more than ready for public office and she will do a great job as the next district 1 City Council member.
mmspowaus on October 14 at 5:30 a.m.
Oh Nick, how can you be 42 and not see this? Ok, freebie civics lesson. If you went to a XYZ bakery and bought a loaf of bread for two dollars, then in a rare Spokane appearance, Bill Gates walks through the door and was charged for an IDENTICAL loaf of bread $20,000, based on his ability to pay versus your ability to pay, a reasonable, objective person standing nearby would agree this is not fair.
This is the problem with a progressive tax; it is unfair by definition. Why should the state be allowed to sell identical tabs for different prices base solely on the purchaser’s ability to pay? A very large majority of Washington State citizens agreed years ago; lead by Eyman and the Fagans, and here we are today.
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You stated “Your argument that the vehicle excise tax was bad for the environment is also laughable. Please provide some proof for it.”
If you would have read what I had written, I already stated why progressive taxes on tabs hurt the environment. I stated:
“The progressive taxes on vehicle tabs actually hurt the environment since new automobiles pollute less.”
New automobies pollute less Nick. They are also more efficent on a gallon of fuel. When it cost a great deal more money per year for folks to by opperate new automobiles since the tabs are much more expensive thanks to the progessive tab tax, the public has a tendacy to hang on to their older vehicles which pollute more and are less effiecent on fuel. More toxins in the air and less work for greater amount of fuel is BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. Duh….
Mike and Jack Fagan and people are like them are patriots because they made a stand against a menace such as Prop 4. Just assuming it will all workout since it is so poorly written, is a risk the City of Spokane cannot afford to take. The reason Prop 4 will not pass is actully due to the efforts of many people including the Fagans; all patriots, seriously. If everyone had Amber Waldref’s attitude and just let others do the work; Prop 4 could have passed and cost our city unnessasariloy millions of dollars we just don’t have to spend.
This is not an attitude we need on city council or ANY elected body. We need someone who will not risk the cities tax dollars assuming others will take care of it. IT IS THE TASK OF A LEADER TO LEAD. Mike Fagan demonstrated his leadership all summer. Calling it grandstanding is disingenuous as well as petty Nick. Mike Fagan along with others got the job done so well, they made it look easy. I have not seen anywhere on his website or in his campaign materials where Mike even mentioning working against Prop 4 as a reason for electing him for council. Where is the grandstanding Nick?
You failed to reflect on the examples I gave of just a few horrible finical decisions our local governments have made (there are several more). Yet you stated:
“And I know it is very popular to rag on government for the mistakes reported by the media, … On the whole, the government does a pretty good job.”
You obviously have not lived in Spokane very long or are not paying attention to local events. You obviously don’t read and reason well, or are ignoring points that hurt your argument.
Amber Waldref failed to even participate with the fight against Prop 4. If this was due to a fear of alienating some of her support base that are in favor of Prop 4 or just because she was too busy serving her own interest; is a startling lack of leadership and foresight.
Again, Amber Waldref is not ready for any public office.
Mike Fagan is the proven, better choice for City Council.
Lindy on October 14 at 9:30 a.m.
Congratulations to Ms Waldref on the endorsement! Looking forward to seeing her elected to Council. Finally a voice representing everyone…..not just special interests.
Spok on October 14 at 10:26 a.m.
Amber Waldref is clearly the best person for the job in these difficult budgetary times. The Spokesman-Review got this one right.
I recently attended the Northeast Community Center forum that featured candidates Amber Waldref and Michael Fagan, I was appalled that all I heard from Fagan was tired-rhetoric about efficiency and cutting the size of government. He had no solutions, just overly broad generalizations about cutting government.
Amber Waldref is someone who can work with all segments of our city, business groups, builders, as well as unions. Spokane has had enough contentious city councils in the past. Waldref is the candidate that will bring a reasoned approach to complex problems inb a collaborative, win-win approach.
I listened carefully to both candidates. Amber Waldref won my vote.