The Other Side - Online

While I’m no expert on the Yakima Valley School in Selah, I do have some familiarity with it. My wife actually worked there for a short time in the early ’80’s. What I do know is that the level of patient care is very intense and unlike anything available in a nursing home. I don’t know where they would be able to transfer these very special people without a loss in quality care. Besides the resident patients, the school provides respite care to give the heroic parents and caregivers of their disabled loved ones a much needed break.
Big dollar amounts are loosely thrown around and if one stayed locked up in an office and just looked at the numbers, the conclusion would probably lead to the decision to close the school as the Governor’s budget recommends. I would suggest that a decision of this magnitude not be made without a visit to the facility and a clear plan showing that patients, families, and dedicated care giving workers will be better off. They deserve nothing less.

Kudos to Governor Gregoire for visiting our national guard troops in Iraq.

Unfortunately while she was gone her press office let rampant speculation run wild that she may be the new commerce secretary. They fanned the flames with exchanges like this one from the Stranger (the westside alternative paper)…

Q: Is Governor Gregoire going to be Obama’s nominee for Commerce Secretary?

A: “I’m not allowed to say.”

Democratic State Legislator Bill Grant (who represents Walla Walla and up to Pasco) passed away today from lung cancer. He was 71.

Our prayers and thoughts go out to his family…

KIT news director Dave Ettl questions the council decision according to the Yakima Herald’s Sunday article. He was complaining about the Yakima City Council’s decision to select Sonia Rodriguez to fill the seat vacated by Norm Johnson. He’s beginning to sound like BS (Bruce Smith), resorting to labeling her a “Liberal”, insinuating that no such person is wanted around here.
Ettl, a self described conservative, was in the final 6 out of 29 applicants. He received 0 votes. Maureen Adkisson was the Republican Party pick and being faithful to their party, two of the three Amigos, Lover and Ensey, were the 2 votes she received. She was also being promoted by Bruce Smith. Change is coming to Yakima my friends, and the conservatives won’t be able to stop it!
If the past is any guide, Sonia can expect a torrent of unwarranted, blistering and distorted attacks coming from BS in his publication; the Yakima Valley Business Times. We’ll be here, watching and waiting to de-bunk the BSers.

C-SPAN has a great show featuring the campaign managers and consultants for both McCain and Obama talking about what was going on behind the scenes during the campaign.

You can see it here.

George Bush and his dwindling number of supporters are hoping history will vindicate him and judge him as a great President. They point to Harry Truman’s low approval ratings and how his place in history has changed and is now judged as a great President.
Will the same thing happen in Bush’s case? NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Not at this juncture!
In this day and age with computers, the internet, 24 hour media, and more transparency than at any time in human history, it would be impossible for George Bush’s legacy to improve.
He IS the worst President ever. He divided this country, mislead us into a tragic war, stood by and let the oil companies and corporate greed prosper at the expense of the American people, virtually wrecked our economy and expanded the role of government in many negative ways. He made politics uglier than it ever has been. His stubbornness and lack of acknowledging mistakes are his legacy.
Those that will be well regarded by future historians are those that will be successful in cleaning up the rubble left by 8 years of “conservative rule”.

If you are a legislator…

And your state is facing a $5 billion shortfall…

What do you do?

If you are Rep. Mike Armstrong…

You push for a state candy.

Seriously.

From where I sit I’d say the Yakima City Council made the best possible choice for the open position vacated by Norm Johnson. After an initial three minute introduction that all the applicants were invited to participate in and then more in depth interviews with the 6 finalists, the council voted 4-2 for attorney, Sonia Rodriguez. Jim Winkenwerder and I came to the same conclusion when we taped our Other Side on TV show on December 22nd. (By the way you can see this show on Charter Cable channel 21 at 7 PM Mon, Tue, Wed Dec 29, 30, 31 and at 11 AM on Thurs, Fri, Sat, Jan 1, 2, 3 and at 4 PM on Sunday Jan 4th).
In addition to the 6 finalists there are another half dozen that have what it takes to serve on the council. The 2009 council elections would be very interesting if many of these people step up to challenge incumbents Micah Cawley and Bill Lover. We will be watching and encouraging this to happen as the residents of Yakima deserve stronger and less ideological leadership.
Yakima can take pride in the fact that 28 members of the community came forward to apply for this position. This shows that the future looks brighter with this strong depth of leadership and their willingness to serve.

  In what is arguably the most difficult of economic times in a generation or more, people are scrambling to survive. Amidst a lot of uncertainty about our future, we shouldn’t be too surprised that it’s a Democrat that sets up a resource for us to get back on our feet. Worried about foreclosure? Job prospects looking bleak? Need answers regarding starting and maintaining your small business? A lot of Washington State residents will find those answers here:

  www.murray.senate.gov/economyhelp/

Housing. Small business assistance. Employment. Food stamps. And a lot more, on one website. Thanks Patty, for taking care of the citizens first.

Well, at least for a couple days….

Christine Gregoire left for Idaho and in an interesting constitutional twist, she had to go pretty far down the pecking order before she could find someone to be the state’s chief executive…

According to the TNT:

An alert reader (lobbyist Jim King) pointed out that Auditor Brian Sonntag gets to fill in for Gov. Chris Gregoire this weekend because all the people ahead of him are out of state this weekend.

So, the governor wasn’t scraping the bottom of the barrel for her temporary replacement. She scraped the middle.