Pacific Northwest Thread

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Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

I hate Rodney Tom so much that I'm going to volunteer with the campaign of former Kirkland mayor Joan McBride, who's running against him. He's like Mitt Romney in that you're not really sure exactly what he stands for (except rich people).

I am a goon daywalker and will gladly, and convincingly, go door knocking in Medina to help take him down.

Bob Socko fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Mar 11, 2014

# ¿ Mar 11, 2014 06:06

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 23:33

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

The Stranger's Slog was a legitimately good source of political news for Olympia as well, but may be less so now that Goldy was canned.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2014 18:23

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

Tigntink posted:

With the Darrington slide recovery still happening, it has come to notice that the developers who built most of the houses next to that slide - knew of the slide risks. There have been frequent slides there recorded all the way back to the 1940s with the most recent minor slide happening in 2006 while many of those houses were being built.

Is it possible that the developers could be charged with anything? In civil or criminal courts?

Doubt they could be hit with anything criminal. If they followed the proper procedure for construction, the sites were zoned and inspected by Snohomish County. Hard to claim a crime was committed if the county signed off on everything.

As for a civil suit, sure, it will happen. I expect the developer to just declare bankruptcy (if they haven't already), claim detrimental reliance on the county's zoning and issuing of permits, or (as Gerund said above) claim this was an act of God. I think the best target for a civil suit would be Snohomish County, assuming there's not some sort of codified immunity on its part.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2014 20:49

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

SedanChair posted:

. . . allegedly became enraged at the sight of a homeless man sleeping at the Fallen Firefighters Memorial . . .

What a bizarre thing to be enraged by. I can't think of a time I've passed through that neighborhood and not seen the homeless there. Unless they're high, the homeless in Seattle are pretty passive.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2014 19:51

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

bwahahahaha

quote:

State Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom drops re-election bid

State Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom, a Medina Democrat who joined with Republicans to give them control of that chamber, told colleagues Monday morning that he is dropping his bid for re-election.

Tom, 50, a polarizing figure who started his career as a Republican before becoming a Democrat and then switching his caucus allegiances, cited health concerns � his own and his father�s � in an email to the other members of the majority coalition he formed before the 2013 legislative session.

The socially liberal and fiscally conservative second-term senator was probably facing the political fight of his life � a top target of Democrats, but unwilling to fully embrace the GOP, Tom was starting a heated battle with former Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride. McBride has already raised more than $61,000, among the most of any challenger. Tom had raised $109,000.

�It�s been an incredible honor, an incredible privilege, but I�ve always said family comes first and there are some things I have to do,� Tom said in an interview.

He added that his campaign was in good shape and leading in an internal poll conducted last week.
The decision creates a major opportunity for mainstream Democrats, who are battling to take back the Senate from the Majority Coalition Caucus that includes 24 Republicans, Tom and Potlatch Democrat Tim Sheldon. The Democratic Caucus has 23 seats.

Democrats can continue to support McBride or switch things up by running someone else such as powerful state House budget chairman Ross Hunter or state Rep. Cyrus Habib.

Habib said a more high profile candidate could help the party win the suburban Eastside seat while saving resources for other priority races. He said he�s �going to have a number of conversations today and tomorrow� with party leaders.
Republicans, who had allowed a former spokesman to be Tom�s campaign manager, will now have to find a candidate of their own.

There is no obvious GOP candidate. The closest might be businessman Gregg Bennett, who raised more than half a million dollars in an unsuccessful 2010 challenge to Tom.

Tom said he is not yet supporting anybody to replace him.

Below is Tom�s email to his Senate colleagues:

I wanted to let you know I will not be running for re-election to the state senate this year. A sequence of events just make this the right decision for me. I�m still working through some health issue related to my kidney stones adventure that I had at the end of session. The final straw was on this past Thursday, my 85 year old father was hit by a car while walking in the grocery store parking lot (in a crosswalk with his cane). It broke his femur, as well as damaging his hip. He�s going to require a lot of physical therapy over the next several months, and I�m his only son that lives in the area. I have always said that health and family are my number one values, and instead of that being merely a campaign slogan, I really do try to live by them.

It has been an incredible honor to serve in the Legislature these past 12 years, especially these last two years working with the Majority Coalition Caucus (MCC). It has been a thrill of a lifetime working with all of you (well, most of you!). I really do believe we did an amazing job for the citizens of Washington state these past two years in focusing on jobs and the economy, creating a great education system for all of Washington from pre-K to our colleges and universities, all while maintaining a sustainable budget that empowers our economy.

I wish you all the best of luck in the future, you�re an amazingly talented group of individuals. I hope you stay true to the core principles of the MCC, and leave the social and other divisive issues aside. If you stay focused on what really matters in driving our economy forward, the citizens of this state will be well served.

My only regret is that I can't watch him lose now.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 01:34

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

. . . yeah, so that minimum wage hike could positively effect wages in the suburbs as well. Even though my organization is based on the Eastside, we do have two small offices in Seattle proper. HR is worried about staffing issues if the employees in Seattle make more, so the equivalent jobs elsewhere will get a boost as well. Yay ripple effects.

# ¿ May 6, 2014 07:03

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

51st street, that's the one with its own exit to/from 520, right? Traffic there is only bad during regular commuting hours, and I say that as someone who's lived in the area for about ten years. Neighbor Sam Weirbach seems to be mistaken, but why? But why?

# ¿ May 18, 2014 05:51

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

The Gish Gallop method, in lawsuit form. That's adorable.

# ¿ May 29, 2014 20:22

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

Irradiation posted:

I think that might be my favorite graph ever.

Buddy of mine used to work at a camwhore portal (tech side, not performing). He said there are similar graphs during the 2008 and 2012 Republican nominating convention, where traffic and revenue dropped 5-10% during keynote speeches.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2014 17:51

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

Over the weekend, Roger Goodman (state rep, 45th CD, D) stopped by my house in person to ask for my vote. He was dressed pretty plainly, had no entourage, and didn't BS me. Nice to see that out of a politician.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 03:50

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

https://twitter.com/seattlepd/status/505959212610891776

Seattle PD Twitter Feed posted:

@SeattlePD: PIO enroute to officer involved shooting, barricaded suspect in the 300 block of W Prospect. More information to follow.

Queen Anne? Kind of a weird place for a shooting. Not that there's a good place for a shooting, but it's not the first neighborhood I'd guess.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2014 07:56

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

seiferguy posted:

Can someone provide a little backstory to this?

For a couple of decades, there's been a big billboard on some private land next to I-5. The billboard has a big, poorly-drawn Uncle Sam and Limbaugh-esque talking points that get changed out every so often. It's actually two billboards back to back, so drivers in both directions can get some straight talk.

# ¿ Sep 11, 2014 17:31

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

The best thing about Albany is that it's the same distance from a lot of nice things. Drive for about an hour and you can get to the coast, the mountains, Portland, or Eugene.

Ping's is awesome, too.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2014 05:26

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

BlueBlazer posted:

It would be. Seattle is being rammrodded by Centurylink and Comcast. Comcast outrages on lake union are pushing to 5% downtime over the last week. Its ridiculous.

Comcast has been getting progressively worse in Sammamish over the past year. I don't know if it's a 5% downtime, but it's frequent and getting worse. One of my neighbors has had techs come out to her house five times in the past two months, and has gotten five different excuses for the service issues.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2014 23:17

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

Thanatosian posted:

Anyone else enjoying watching the complete collapse of Mars Hill?

Me, gleefully. If people want to be spiritual or religious, that's ok, but any flavor of zealotry is bad.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2014 03:11

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

It will snow two, maybe three days per year. These days are basically the apocalypse, at least to locals. If you're not in too remote of an area, the roads will be passable if you're patient.

# ¿ Sep 28, 2014 03:42

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

I'm hoping it's an order of operations deal. 591 goes into effect 1st, 594 goes into effect a few seconds later and overrides 591.

I know it doesn't work that way, but it's fun to pretend.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2014 05:20

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

I just got a banner ad for Andy Hill, the Republican incumbent state senator that represents the Redmond area. He's also shown up in person at my house. Oh god, I feel so targeted.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2014 09:02

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 23:33

Bob Socko: Feb 20, 2001

I just got a call from Jason Ritchie's campaign; he's the guy running against Reichert. While chatting with the staffer, I asked how their polling looks. She laughed nervously and said they're "running a lean, mean campaign" and so they haven't seen any polling either. I couldn't tell if she was lying and the polls were really bad, or if they're so broke that they can't afford any polling. Either way, I guess this means Reichert doesn't have anything to worry about on Tuesday. Oh well, at least he's not a Tea Partier.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2014 04:57

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