Motley Com(ments)

I haven't read this yet (and I'm not sure I'll have the time), but it should be a good one.

My tech pioneer friend Lantz Rowland has his first blog, concerning the SHARE/WHEEL 'occupy' type demonstration in front of the Gates Foundation Offices, in Seattle.

Peter Steinbrueck makes a case for a new regionalism on the Crosscut Blog.

I've recently started reading the Columbian editorial page - at least on subjects that hit my google alerts. Here is a great one, on the recent battle between Gregoire and McKenna on the subject of health insurance

Consider also recent legal opinions which give the Seattle Legislative Body the ability to override Executive order AND avoid accountability to the fiscal accountability requirements of the STATE legislative body.

Me thinks Mr. McKenna has a few more things to accomplish as AG regarding the sorry state of health Ms. Gregoire left the profession in, before he asks us for a promotion..

Another timely review of, and tribute to, the career of Secretary of State Sam Reed - creator of the famous (or infamous!) 'Top Two' primary system - something every State should consider.

Robert Mak makes note of the legacy of retiring Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed - his 'Top Two' primary system which advances the top vote recipients in a primary election to the final, regardless of Party.

He also mentions two moderate Democratic candidates, Brian Sonntag who is considering running for Governor and Jim Kastama, a Puyallup legislator running, hopefully, to continue Mr. Reed's legacy.

Mike Baker of the Associated Press catches Gubernatorial Candidate Rob McKenna in a revealing mathematical mistake regarding inflating public employee benefits. It's truly a shame when the right wing relies on self-righteousness rather than reality - in either constructing Wall Street financial instruments or in criticizing public expenditures. Methinks they might well be hitting the bottle....

David Callahan has written much recently on the new liberal rich, in this article he focuses on Silicon Valley and President Obama.

Crosscut's Knute Berger is a hippie curmudgeon icon of the Pacific Northwest - and also a graduate of North Seattle's private Lakeside School, along with Allen, Bill Gates, and a couple generations of Boeing Engineering kids.

Berger's review of Paul Allen's forthcoming memoir is revealing - not just of Microsoft but perhaps also the future of Tech in Wall Street lawyer America.

The replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct is turning out to be as much a legacy project for its legal precedents as it is for whatever civic edifice rises in its place - major issues so far include the State's ability to ignore environmental law before issuing contracts and contrary to public vote and the separate 'lead' authority of the Council and Mayor in that context.

This Seattle Times article concerns a third player rising to 'lead' status - the Seattle City Attorney, Pete Holmes, who has now filed suit on behalf of the City without explicit authorization from either the Mayor or the Council.

I support Mr. Holmes' standing to file this suit, however disagree with it on its merits. A publicly elected attorney's client is the public and Mr. Holmes lawsuit seeks to block a vote on this specific project. Second only to a public vote in clarity is the fiscal interest of Seattle Citizenry, the legal term for which is 'fiduciary responsibility'.

Clearly this project is not being managed prudently concerning business and resident pocketbooks - a boondoggle in the making if ever there was one - nor, for that matter is the previous decade of unproductive 'process' the responsibility of the public either.

Me thinks in this matter Mr. Holmes is suing on behalf of the legal profession and their clients, not the taxpaying citizen.

Gregoire, et al, have failed to produce a doable project on an engineering, design, or fiscal basis and this project is nothing but yet another government bailout for failure - worse the public process is being totally violated.

No means no, does it not? - unless you are Christine Gregoire and her 'bi-partisan' corporate clients conspiring to defraud through a variety of techniques, including defamation and worse.