McCain Celeb Ad

The first real volley of hardball politics was lobbed by McCain today. It was a television ad positioning Obama as a celebrity not a leader. It's the first McCain has taken the offensive and began to define his candidate as lacking experience. If Obama had to answer the question of experience, what would he say? How important is experience for the President? Post your comments below.

Sandra Romeo DUI Didn't Exactly End Career

Sandra Romero's political career didn't end the day of her DUI arrest. I've previously written, "She was a WA State Representative for 12 years when a drunk driving spree ended her political career." And I've recently been criticized because her career didn't end because of the DUI. True, her career did limp along for a handful of years after the DUI where she liked to show up drunk in the legislative session.

The DUI didn't end Romero's career, but it was the beginning of the end.

Romero showed a lack of respect and spewed animosity when she was arrested. She was quoted by her arresting officer, "You guys won. I will tell you that I have been drinking and I'm intoxicated. You have ruined my political career."

I'm curious, What steps has Sandra Romero taken to quell that animosity? I think it's a valid question especially since as a County Commissioner she will have the final approval of the police budget.

Robin Edmondson (R) for County Commissioner

I had a chance to interview Rob Edmondson yesterday. He is running for County Commissioner position 2; The same seat that will be vacated by Diane Oberquell at the end of this year. Simply said, Rob is one of those candidates that you wish there were more of. He is a fresh voice for politics and has a ton of new ideas. Edmondson said, "I call it the way I see it." He is a man with a direct leadership style crafted from his background as a CEO. Rob has an education in global economics and ties these concepts back to Thurston County. Edmondson said, "I accurately predicted the budget crises coming to Thurston County and I have a plan to fix it." And he quickly recites how he will prioritize needs vs. wants in each county department. He talks about how he will separate legislative mandates and scrutinize those. He has a plan to use new technology to automate bureaucratic processes, identify areas where he can combine resources and even outsource some services. There are some things he says are simple, "I don't understand why we are sending employees out in 6 passenger SUV's. Hasn't the county heard of Smart Cars? I will look at every single purchase and identify the best solution at the lowest cost." I like that thought ... downsize the County government from an SUV to a smart car. Simple isn't it? One of the ideas I like best is he has an idea to create a group of experts that would bring even better ideas to Thurston County. Edmondson said, "I want to create a group of super men and women, all of which are nationally recognized and have a minimum of 20 years experience. One will focus on financial matters, one will focus on goods and services, and three will be grant writers. I want to find unique solutions to our problems that can't be foreseen." It takes a combination of humility, experience, and knowledge to come up with these ideas. Robin Edmondson has a fresh approach and will be a breath of fresh air to the commission. Go to Edmondson's website.

Rossi Signs Conform to Lacey's Tough Standard

Dino Rossi supporters installed large political signs that comply with the onerous City of Lacey Sign code. The ingenious solution was to create three 10 sq.ft. signs that when installed next to each other read as one large sign.

Not to be discouraged by the sign ordinance Rossi supporters continue to get the advertising out for Rossi.

Scott Roberts, the volunteer sign coordinator said, "Regardless of how difficult the sign ordinance is, we need to comply. That is the first order of business. Then we are working to get Dino Rossi's name out in as positive a light as possible."

The issue however isn't over for Roberts. He continued, "We are now investigating strategies for changing the ordinance. I'm particularly upset that the City is censoring political messages, and limiting my freedom of speech. It's also highly unusual that a City would trespass and steal personal property."

Thurston County Budget Crisis Continues

Thurston County must find an additional $2.3M in cuts on top of the acknowledged $4M shortfall.

The Commissioners still aren't taking an active leadership role in making cuts. They have asked their 23 department heads to look at ways they can make cuts. This is the same thing the Commissioners have been doing for the past months with no results. Are they really expecting different results this time?

Since 2005 Thurston County has been spending money on a legal challenge from Futurewise. Thurston County estimates that they have spent $1.5M on this action. Ironically, Sandra Romero (D) is a Futurewise board member who is also running for County Commissioners. Romero says that she is just the person to fix the budget (after helping to derail it).

Sandra Romero (D) Endorsed by Brendan Williams (yawn)

Brendan Williams came out and endorsed Sandra Romero today in an Olympian letter. Surprise. Surprise.

He had already made his public endorsement on Sandra Romero's website. He is one of the few currently elected officials that endorsed her. The rest are 'former' elected officials. Read: The Public didn't like the job they were doing and didn't re-elect them. I can't wait until Brendan Williams is in the 'former' category.

Compare the endorsements that Sandra Romero has with Jon Halvorson's endorsements. He has a whole bunch of 'current' elected officials and a few 'former' elected officials. Most of the 'current' big wigs in Thurston County have endorsed Halvorson. Here is a partial list:

• Diane Oberquell, Thurston County Commissioner, District 2
• Bob Macleod, Thurston County Commissioner, District 3
• Dan Kimball, Thurston County Sheriff
• Robin Hunt, Thurston County Treasurer
• Patricia Costello,Thurston County Assessor
• Gary Warnock, Thurston County Coroner
• Betty Gould, Thurston County Clerk
• Ed Holm, Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney
• Dick Nichols, former Thurston County Commissioner

Did you notice that the first two endorsements are two of the County Commissioners? Cathy Wolfe has not made any endorsements as she is running again. Diane Oberquell has endorsed her preferred successor, and Bob Macleod has chosen Halvorson as his preferred co-worker. Keep looking down the list. Kimball, Hunt, Costello, Warnock, Gould, Holm, Nichols all prefer Halvorson. They would rather work with Halvorson than Romero. Res ipsa loquitur.I have previously written about Sandra Romero's endorsement by Brendan Williams:

"A quick look at Romero’s contributors and you will see the same old homogeneous supporters. People like Karen Fraser and Brendan Williams. They are the local Democrat Party fanatics whom I figure are a dying breed. The “real” Democrats are much more fiscally-responsible and socially-moderate than this group."

I still think that. The bulk of the Democrats are regular people that are blindly being led by this small group. I recently heard a description of Brendan Williams as, "A child in a man's body." The more time that passes, the more I believe this statement.

It takes misguided fortitude to endorse Sandra. As an elected official, I would think it almost political suicide. After all, her political career ended after a drunk driving spree that included an exciting high-speed chase through Olympia and culminated in a rear-end collision downtown. Since then, she has joined on with a powerful special-interest group called 'Futurewise' that levied a frivolous claim against Thurston County and cost taxpayers an estimated $1.5M.

Sandra Romero thinks she is the best candidate to fix the budget. What she is not telling people is that she has been the direct cause of over 25% of the current budget shortfall. The agreed shortfall is about $4M. Does Brendan Williams really think that Sandra Romero who created the bulk of the shortfall is the best person to fix the budget? "A child in a man's body." The phrase rings even more true.

Brendan Williams says he views a an endorsement for Romero the fact that she was not endorsed by the Olympia Master Builders an affiliate of the Building Industry Association of Washington. I think he is still sore that the 'homeowners bill of rights' proposed by (former on 1/1/2009) Senator Weinstein and supported by Williams died, twice. What does that say for Williams when the Democrats have the super majority in both the Senate and the House? It says simply that he does not have any traction with his group. He is not respected at all by his peers. "A child in a man's body." That phrase rings even more true today.

Brendan Williams ends his letter, "Romero has never been in any interest group's pocket."

That is a flat out lie. Romero is a board member of one of the most powerful special-interest groups in our state, "Futurewise". Many of her endorsements and contributions are either directly or indirectly from this group. I take special exception to a candidate for County Commissioner being a board member of a special-interest group. You would think that she would have given up the position long before declaring her candidacy. Not smart. Not my choice for Commissioner.

Thurston County Budget Crisis

Today in the Letters to the Editor in The Olympian, there are two letters that talk about the Thurston County Budget. The first is another blow by Dan Kimball and the judges. They talk about their services are mandated and it's going to be hard to cut them further:

"Our offices represent the major priorities of government: public safety and the rule of law. In responding to ongoing fiscal realities, we've already pared our budgets to minimal feasible levels. Many of our core functions are mandated by constitution, statutes and court rules and cannot be legally eliminated. Much of our financial stress is caused by unfunded mandates, which come without funding for such services."

The other is by Debbie Neely pointing out that the Commissioners are being conspicuously silent.

"Not only did the county commissioners count on revenue that had not materialized, they are conspicuously silent when it comes to accepting responsibility."

I agree, in a time when the commissioners should be rolling up their sleeves and tackling the budget problem, they are retracting and not showing strong leadership. Someone was asleep at the switch. What people aren't talking about is that Sandra Romero and her special-interest group called 'Futurewise' have cost the County $1.5M of the approximate $4M shortfall. Are the Commissioners being conspicuously quiet because they don't want to shed a dark shadow on Sandra Romero's current campaign for County Commissioner? Afterall, Cathy Wolfe, and Sandra Romero worked together back in the day.
Download the letters here.