The Washington Association of Counties won a lawsuit against the State of Washington over the costs that Democrat legislators tried to push on to counties for ballot drop boxes.  The 2017 legislature passed SB 5472, which required counties to install additional ballot drop boxes, yet failed to provide funding for the added cost. We should note that all 45 House Republicans voted against the bill in 2017, because they knew this was just another illegal unfunded mandate the state was imposing on counties.  A hearing will be held next April to determine how much Washington State taxpayers must reimburse each county. That’s right – your Democrat representatives broke the law trying to avoid making hard budget decisions, and the punishment will be to take more of your tax dollars to make up for their incompetence. (KNDO TV and Washington State Legislature Bill Summary)    

Seattle based Alaska Airlines announced that it “only” lost $431 million during its 3^rd Quarter, as the number of domestic air passengers is slowly increasing from the early days of business shutdowns.  The airline says it is losing $4 million a day on salaries and the maintenance and operations of its airplanes, while operating on a reduced schedule.  Alaska’s CEO had previously stated the company’s goal is to stop losing money by the end of 2020.  (Seattle Times)

Federal officials revealed attempts by Russia and Iran to interfere with the upcoming elections, prompting Secretary of State Kim Wyman to announce that there has been “no indication of compromise at the Office of the Secretary of State or with our elections system.”  Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday that foreign actors had obtained lists of American voters and will likely be sending misinformation to “undermine confidence in American democracy.” (MyNorthwest and ABC News)

The Covid-19 pandemic, by eliminating overnight tens of thousands of Amazon employees working in downtown Seattle, has done something very abruptly which the Seattle City Council’s policies are concurrently doing a bit more slowly. The online retailer just announced that it was allowing employees to work from home until next June, putting a spotlight on the small businesses near Amazon’s campus which are suffering and are asking for government assistance to stay open.  This provides a preview of the future, if Seattle’s city  councilmembers continue to push radical policies which create a hostile environment for anyone trying to create jobs inside the city limits. (Seattle Times)

After cleaning up some of the more visible tent encampments prior to the 2019 elections, when many of them were on the ballot, Seattle officials are back to again ignoring citizen complaints about homeless structures in public spaces.  Lake City neighborhood residents have repeatedly complained about the violence generated by those living in tents in a local park.  Georgetown residents are plagued by RVs which are lined up, buying and selling stolen goods. Throughout the city, illegal encampments are increasing, and the city’s only response has been to eliminate the Navigation Teams that were assigned to provide humane solutions to the problem.  Evidently we’ll have to wait for KOMO to air its next version of “Seattle is Dying” to see any action by city “leaders.” (MyNorthwest and KOMO TV)

A voluntary citizen salary commission has created controversary by increasing the annual pay of Lynnwood’s full-time mayor by over 10% (to $124,107), while also reducing part-time city councilmembers’ pay by 20% (down to $15,726).  The commission chairwoman said her group aligned the salaries of elected officials with other nearby cities.  The commission had ignored a previous request by both the council and mayor to not raise salaries during the current economic downturn. Councilmembers were upset with the salary commission decisions, yet they can only be overturned by a citizen referendum, which a former councilmember stated he is now pursuing. (Everett Herald)

Due to its business-friendly environment, the City of Bellevue is not experiencing the same drastic reductions in tax revenues as other Western Washington local governments. The city is only expecting a 2% revenue reduction in its 2021-2022 biennial budget, as compared to its current two-year budget. Thus far, the city only plans to boost revenues with small increases on utility bills. (Bellevue Reporter)

The Kennewick School Board voted 3-2 to delay the start of in-person instruction for secondary education (junior and high school) students until February 2^nd, when the district’s Spring quarter begins.  Superintendent Traci Pierce informed the board that many students were having difficulties with distance learning and that the district had enough personal protective equipment to protect teachers and children.  However, the board was concerned about the risk of spreading disease due to older students changing classrooms (and classmates) several times a day.  Kennewick elementary students began hybrid learning this past Monday, and secondary students were to return to campus on November 2^nd. (KEPR)

Beth Doglio bizarrely continues to push her far-Left credentials, this time touting she has been endorsed by wacky Democrat/Socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in her 10th Congressional District race against fellow Democrat Marilyn Strickland.  It seems like a poor campaign strategy to be appealing only to the furthest of far-Left activists by bragging about AOC support, when a majority of the district’s voters are either Republican or Independent.  This might have been a smart strategy for clawing through a packed primary, but it could be a fatal mistake in the general election when non-liberal voters are trying to decide which of the two Democrat candidates is the “lesser of two evils.”  (Beth Doglio campaign email)

Governor Inslee keeps pushing out campaign messages to create the false impression that he is actually working hard for his $187,353 salary (5^th highest paid governor in the country, and on top of the $45,000 annual federal pension he receives for being a retired congressman).  In his latest campaign email, Inslee states he believes in the motto “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and organize.”  Yet his schedule and his work output reveal he does not mean this for himself, but perhaps for other people.  If the governor did “work like hell,” then maybe he could call an emergency special session as required by law, or even just respond to any of the letters that have been sent to him by Republican lawmakers, or perhaps debate Loren Culp more than just the once he found time for on his schedule. The only evidence the public sees of the governor “working” is at his the taxpayer-funded campaign media availabilities he calls once or twice a week, where he reads from a script prepared by his staff and then stumbles his way through a couple questions (no follow-ups please, for this governor).  (Inslee Campaign email and Shift Article)

Did Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sabotage the will of the people by purposely losing the I-976 lawsuit brought against the state by his fellow Democrats?  The AG was legally forced to defend I-976, after Washington State voters once again passed an initiative to reduce car tabs to $30.  However, Ferguson was clearly biased against the voters and had spoken out against the measure while his office was already engaged in a lawsuit against the initiative’s sponsor, Tim Eyman.  Ferguson’s office wrote the faulty ballot title for I-976, which the Washington State Supreme Court determined was too complicated for the voters, and was a reason the court cited for throwing the initiative out.  Many are questioning whether Ferguson fought for the initiative with the same vigor as when he files lawsuits against the Trump Administration. He certainly sends out a lot more press releases about his lawsuits against the federal government than he does about his failure to defend the will of the people against an all-liberal, all-the-time State Supreme Court. (Read the Shift Article)

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