Next at-large meeting: TBA

progressive local politics




ANNOUNCEMENT
Washington State Trails Coalition:

Washington State Trails Coalition
Biennial Meeting

Oct. 22, 2010 (Friday) - Oct. 24, 2010 (Sunday)

Location: La Quinta Inn and Suites,
1425 E. 27th St., Tacoma

(visit website http://www.washingtonstatetrailscoalition.org

During the coming months of the political campaign, Pierce County for Change will be actively engaged in support of local progressives. If you wish to join this agenda, please contact us.

Pierce County for Change  began  in response to Barack Obama’s call to all Americans to participate in a National Day of Service on January 19, 2009. We met for the first time on December 12, 2008 and five weeks later we held a significant service event, “Keep the Heat On” in which we worked toward the goal of making sure that everyone in Pierce County was able to heat their home.

Over the next year we participated in service and political action projects focused on health care and the economy, and educated ourselves on issues important to Pierce County, Washington State and our nation.

Our steering committee has been studying how Pierce County for Change can be most effective. We identified the need to promote a progressive agenda for local issues.

Local progressives are invited to join us in moving Pierce County in a direction that will make it a great place to live, work and do business.

Our action agenda includes:

  1. Electing progressive candidates to local office

  2. Making Pierce County a safe place to live

  3. Promoting carefully planned and environmentally sound development

  4. Improving political discourse in pubic media

Previous Meeting:
Candidate Forum

On May 23rd, 2010, Pierce County for Change hosted a forum of local progressive candidates, in a discussion of County issues.

County Sheriff Paul Pastor and County Prosecuter Mark Lindquist discussed public safety issues, including the impact of recent budget cuts promoted by conservatives on the County Council.

Candidates running in the November election outlined their positions and answered questions. Among the issues raised were:

  • The need for ongoing custodianship of our parks system.

  • The usefulness of rehabilitation programs as a crime-prevention tool. Also, the need for maintenance of proper infrastructure so that law-enforcement can have the tools to operate effectively.

  • The importance of returning transparency and accountability to County Council proceedings.

  • The overriding need to improve government functionality by supporting more progressive candidates on the County Council.

Recent Forum: Transportation
and Smart Growth

On September 25th, 2010, Pierce County for Change hosted a forum of local progressive candidates, in a discussion of County land use and transportation issues.

Ryan Mello from the Cascade Land Conservancy and Jessyn Farrell from Pierce County Transit conducted a roundtable discussion. The meeting was attended by Pat McElligott, who is running for Pierce County Council’s District 1 seat ( http://www.McElligottforCountyCouncil.com).

Also present were the following representatives from progressive socio-environmental groups:

  • Dixie Gatchell, of the Washington State Trails Coalition, a trails planning and conservancy organization (http://washingtonstatetrailscoalition.org)

  • Diane Kerlin, of Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition (http://piercecountytrails.org), which plans and promotes a system of sustainable non-motorized trails for healthier people.

  • Stephen Pruitt, member of the Nisqually River Council http://nisquallyriver.org/ which advocates for responsible, sustainable water use and has developed the Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan



* for the past 50 yrs people have been moving to far-out developments, thinking that lower home prices will mean lower cost-of-living, failing to take into account the additional costs of living far from cities, including transpotation expenses.

4 IMPACTS OF THE MOVEMENT FROM CITIES:

  • Health is impacted by how we build cities. (eg: no sidewalks, reliance on autos leads to less excercise, more obesity.)

  • Environmental impacts

  • Quality of life - (longer commutes mean less time with family)

  • social justice - (those who cannot afford a car, or can't drive due to disability, have less opportunity for jobs, recreation, etc)

TRANSPORTATION FUNDING: Pierce County Transit is dependent on sales tax, and is therefore losing funding due to the current economy.

A ballot measure on Feb 8 would increase funding. Volunteers needed for phone banks, speakers bureaus. Mr. McElligott stated that we should campaign against the misinformation of anti-tax interests by explaining to people how transportation funding will benefit them in their specific locations. This requires up-to-date knowledge of details in the bill's transportation plan.

LAND USE ISSUES:

*Transferable development rights: developer needs to give something in exchange for developing (eg: developer transfers rights to develop on farms in exchange for right to develop in more dense and appropriate areas)

*Forest Management Areas: 200,000 Private acres surround Mt Ranier - not protected (ie, these forest lands could be converted to other uses) -recommendation to County Council: issue tax exempt revenue-based bonds to create a fund to buy these lands. (the revenue woudl be harvesting of timber)

WHAT WE CAN DO:

  • Show up at hearings

  • Talk to friends about importance of these issues

  • Contact our Pierce County delegation to Olympia and encourage them to advocate for State funding to Pierce County.

  • Encourage Congressmen Dicks, Smith, Reichart to co-sponsor the Active Transportation Act.