Rock star still fired up over primary

OLYMPIA – Nevermind.

Tiny Wahkiakum County will not, as is turns out, bear the distinction of having a world-class rock star serving as county clerk.

Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, who created a stir earlier this month by declaring himself a candidate for the job, has pulled out of the race.

“My protest is over,” Novoselic wrote recently in his column for the Seattle Weekly’s blog.

He said his very brief candidacy was a stunt to draw attention to what he sees as a grievous wrong about Washington’s new “Top Two” primary elections. Under the new system, which allows people to specify virtually any “party preference,” political parties have no control over who runs under their name. Novoselic thinks that’s unfair to the parties and others who do the hard work of organizing, agreeing on political platforms and recruiting candidates.

In protest, he filed as preferring the nonexistent “Grange Party.”

“Looking back, perhaps I should have chosen an organization which would have been more willing to protect its trademark?” he wrote. “How about the Prefers Starbucks Party? Maybe Microsoft? The best would be the Prefers Walt Disney Party because claiming Disney would further demonstrate what a Mickey-Mouse system this is.”

We undoubtedly haven’t heard the last of the topic from Novoselic, though. He’s the guest speaker at a lecture at the state Capitol July 2. TVW will tape it to play on the public affairs network statewide and on its Web site.

Budget impacts continue to trickle down

Many of the budget cuts approved by lawmakers this spring are starting to take effect in earnest, since state government’s fiscal year begins July 1.

Among them: Juvenile rehabilitation officials are ending “enhanced parole” for about 500 offenders a year in order to save $5.3 million.

The program consists of extra monitoring and counseling for young felons and their families as they transition from detention back into their communities.

“Many of these offenders have extensive criminal histories and are at a high risk to re-offend,” the state Department of Social and Health Services said this week in an announcement of the change.

The agency’s Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration will continue parole procedures for about 1,000 young offenders a year, including those who are sex offenders and auto thieves.

For those being released without parole, juvenile officials are trying to add more pre-release help with finding jobs, housing and knowing where to go for help. The agency’s also working with churches, nonprofit groups and others to support the released offenders.

“With limited resources, we are doing the most we can with less,” said John Clayton, assistant secretary of the JRA. “In this bad economy, government can’t do it all.”

Eyman initiative gets close

Initiative promoter Tim Eyman said this week that his property tax measure, Initiative 1033, is close to having enough signatures to ensure a spot on the November ballot.

“We’ve hit 270,000 signatures for I-1033,” Eyman e-mailed supporters. I-1033 would cap the growth of state, city and county general-fund taxes, with any dollars over the cap devoted to reducing property taxes.

To get a measure on the ballot, organizers need signatures from 241,153 registered voters. Since some people sign twice, or make up names, or aren’t registered to vote, etc., state election officials recommend a cushion of about 25 percent extra names.

Eyman says that his group’s validity rate is higher than average, at about 83 percent, meaning that 83 out of 100 signatures are deemed valid when the state runs a spot-check of the signatures to protect against fraud. So Eyman’s aiming for 292,000 signatures this year.

“We had an absolutely killer week last week,” he wrote. “Signatures really poured into our P.O. box in Spokane.” That’s where his colleagues, Jack and Mike Fagan, help administer the effort. Mike Fagan is also one of a crowded field of people running for Spokane City Council this year.

There hasn’t been much public opposition to the initiative yet, but opponents typically hold their fire until after a measure actually qualifies for the ballot, because most don’t.