Shift’s Newsmaker Interview is with community leader, business owner, and Marine veteran Dan Johnson, the 42^nd Legislative District Republican House (Position 2) candidate.  Johnson grew up in Whatcom County, where he owned and operated his family’s tow truck business until it was sold in 2019.  Johnson worked, as a private citizen in 2009 with then State Representative Doug Ericksen to write the strong DUI legislation known as “Hailey’s Law” (the legislation was revised in 2020 to incorporate a Washington State Supreme Court ruling). His campaign recently released a video of Johnson driving around Bellingham while describing how failed liberal crime, drug, and homeless policies have had a negative impact on the community.

In his Shift Interview, Johnson outlines his legislative agenda to reverse the Democrats’ disastrous anti-police package to “restore a safe living environment for our citizens”, implement meaningful emergency powers reform, and to provide Washington residents with tax relief by reducing the state’s property, sales, and fuel taxes.  Johnson also provides a timeless classic as one of his all-time favorite books. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

Once again, Governor Jay Inslee is paying off his political supporters using taxpayer money, while Washington State residents receive no benefits from the billions in surplus tax revenue the state has collected in the past couple of years.  The Washington Federation of State Employees announced this week they have received “The largest compensation package in our union’s history” in its secret behind closed doors negotiations with Governor Inslee.  State employees, regardless of performance, will receive a 7% pay raise over the next two years, two $1,000 bonuses (one for getting a COVID booster vaccine and the other for simply not quitting their job), and Washington State taxpayers will be forced to pay a higher percentage of state workers’ health care costs.  While taxpayers in other states with surplus revenues are receiving tax breaks, Governor Inslee and Democrat legislators are forcing Washington State families to pay higher taxes and fees so they can continue to rapidly grow the size and cost of state government. (Click to read full Shift Article)

A Seattle Times op-ed written by the former chair of the San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee puts the blame of the “collapse of the Washington State Ferry (WSF) system” on Governor Jay Inslee. Shaw Island resident Alex MacLeod described the disruption to San Juan County residents’ lives due to cancelled and delayed sailings resulting from staff shortages and mechanical problems.  The staff shortages are due to Governor Inslee abusing his emergency orders by imposing a vaccine mandate which resulted in 132 WSF workers losing their jobs.  This has led to thousands of Puget Sound ferry trips being cancelled due to not having enough Coast guard certified ferry workers to sail the vessels.

The Inslee Administration often attempts to downplay the negative effects of his vaccine mandate by falsely stating the staff shortages are the result of a large number of retirements which have hit the WSF. Even if this were correct, this is also a serious indictment of the governor for as MacLeod writes, “anyone paying a modicum of attention 10 years ago would have seen the retirement bubble in (WSF) jobs approaching and begun taking the necessary steps to address it.” Unfortunately for San Juan Islands residents, not only did Governor Inslee not work since he came to office in 2013 to solve the staff shortage problems due to retirements, he made it worse by imposing his vaccine mandate on state workers causing 132 more workers to no longer be available to sail the ferries.  (Seattle Times and KIRO7 News)

Recent announcements by City of Seattle’s elected officials on proposals for new and larger taxpayer-funded programs makes many wonder if they know the City of Seattle is facing a $140 budget deficit.  Shift reported earlier this week that Seattle Councilmember Andrew Lewis announced his plan to increase the average resident’s property tax by $300 to fund his expansion of the Seattle Parks Department.  Yesterday, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced that $6.5 million dollars will be spent on the city’s latest “Green New Deal.” This is just part of a $28 million plan the 19-member Green New Deal Oversight Board (all of whom represent environmental, union, or other liberal special interest groups which will financially benefit from the city’s “Green New Deal” expenditures, with no one representing taxpayers) have recommended the city to spend.  Money for the projects the mayor announced yesterday will come from the $7 million the city collected from its new job-killing “JumpStart” employee tax. (Seattle Times and City of Seattle Green New Deal Oversight Board webpage)

Seattle’s homicide rates continue to increase even while major cities across the country are seeing a decline in the number of murders. Through June 30^th, there were 25 murders in Seattle, which was a 13.6% increase over the previously alarming 22 homicides during the first half of 2021.  Yet in the country’s 70 largest cities, there was a 2.4% decline in the number of murders during the first half of 2022.  Thus while liberal anti-police advocates say the skyrocketing crime rates in Seattle and Washington State are the same as the rest of the country (which they are not, because local crimes rates have always been higher), this is further proof that the liberal anti-police laws passed by the Seattle City Council and the Democrat-controlled Washington State Legislature (and signed by Governor Inslee) have made our communities less safe to live in. (Axios)

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich stated his plans to clear the large homeless encampment on Washington State Department of Transportation property (the poorly named “Camp Hope”) by mid-October.  The sheriff cited crime, public health, and the welfare of those residing in the encampment as the reasons behind his decision.  Part of his plan is to distribute bus tickets to those who have family elsewhere so they can receive assistance for either mental health issues or addiction.

In a letter to WSDOT Secretary Roger Miller, the sheriff stated his disappointment and frustration with the lack of action being taken at the state level over the 600-person encampment which has allowed the suffering of those living there to continue.  Sheriff Knezovich wrote that neither “WSDOT, (Washington State Department of) Commerce, nor our elected state officials are concerned with the plight of this extremely disadvantaged community.” (Spokesman-Review)

The owner of a Spokane cannabis retailer is attempting again to convince the City of Pasco to reverse its ban on marijuana shops.  Lucky Leaf owner David Morgan claims that by opening a shop in Downtown Pasco it will “help with the revitalization process” in the neighborhood.  Pasco officials believe that by allowing cannabis to be sold, the city will collect $200,000 in taxes.

Lucky Leaf drew controversy in 2018 when Pasco first revisited whether or not to allow cannabis sales in the city, after the council banned pot shops in 2014.  The retailer convinced Spokane City Councilmember (and owner of a Cheney marijuana growing business) Karen Stratton to send a letter on Spokane City Council letterhead to her counterparts on the Pasco City Council informing them on why they should allow Lucky Leaf to open a Pasco outlet. Many people claimed Councilmember Stratton was using taxpayer resources to benefit her personal business enterprise. Controversy increased in 2019, when Lucky Leaf became a major financial contributor to Stratton’s struggling re-election campaign. (Northwest Public Broadcasting and Shift)

Washington State University researchers have found a “COVID-like” virus (Khosta-2) which resists current COVID vaccines.  Thus far Khosta-2 is only found in Russian bats, but humans are vulnerable to becoming infected with the strain.  Researchers state this is further evidence for “general sarbecovirus vaccines” and not ones for specific variants such as COVID-19. (Q13 Fox News)

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