Six-term Democrat Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is facing multiple accusations of mistreating staff, displaying erratic behavior, and running a dysfunctional office with an exceptionally high turnover rate.   Respected journalist Austin Jenkins writes a lengthy (3300+ words) article on the numerous complaints from over a dozen current and former Office of Insurance Commissioner staffers who complained that Commissioner Kreidler berated staff in front of others, displayed sexist behavior, and was unable to control his temper.  Some of the staff members have said that the 78-year-old commissioner is unfit for office and should resign mid-term.  The former state legislator and one-term member of Congress said he has no plans to retire as Insurance Commissioner and has not ruled out running for a seventh term in 2024.

The story was comprehensive enough that Commissioner Kreidler’s office was forced to release a statement this morning regarding the allegations made against him. This is Kreidler’s semi-sincere, semi-apology: “I deeply regret that some of my behavior and actions have taken attention away from the good work we do on behalf of insurance consumers. We hold each other to high standards, and I am not above those. Clearly, I have work to do. I have apologized to staff and I will be open to their feedback as I move forward.”

Jenkins and the NW News Network should be commended for reporting on the dysfunctional behavior of an elected official whose decisions impact the lives of Washington State residents.  Yet it is interesting that the almost identical accusations of staff abuse against ultra-Left-wing U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal have gone unreported in local media.  In September 2021, a national story in Buzzfeed detailed the complaints of 14 former and current Jayapal staff members who said that the Congresswoman randomly fired members of her staff, berated them in public, and ran a dysfunctional office with an incredibly high staff turnover.  Yet there has been almost no mention of this story in the local media.  In fact, just a couple of weeks after the Buzzfeed story was posted, the Seattle Times ran a lengthy puff piece on the three-term congresswoman and failed to mention the multiple allegations made by over a dozen staff members about her erratic and unprofessional behavior. (NW News Network, Office of Insurance Commissioner statement, Buzzfeed, and Seattle Times)

Republican Representatives Drew Stokesbary (Auburn) and Drew MacEwan (Union) introduced legislation for the state to cut all financial ties with Russia.  The bill (HB 2135) would require state agencies to cut contracts with Russian entities and force the Washington State Investment Board to sell off any state investments in Russian companies. Said Representative MacEwan, “Invading Ukraine under false pretenses is an affront to human rights, attacks the principle of self-governance, and threatens the very existence of a free Ukraine. Washington state must immediately divest from Russia to the greatest extent possible.”  (MyNorthwest and Washington State Bill Summary)

Parents are outraged at a letter signed by a number of Washington Education Association union leaders and sent to Seattle-King County health officials demanding that the county force students to wear facemasks until at least May 1^st.  King County recently stated it will lift its facemask mandate with the rest of the state on March 12^th.  Twelve union officials, representing many local teachers’ unions (including Seattle, Bellevue, and Renton school districts), sent the letter to Interim Director of Seattle King County Public Health Dennis Worsham and Public Health Officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, stating they know better than health officials about mask mandates. They promoted their beliefs about the health and safety of students and suggested their feelings should take precedence over the scientific opinion of the Centers for Disease Control, which stated last week that masks should no longer be required in over 70% of the country (including King County).

In the letter, the union officials totally ignored any scientific thought and used one of the most comical arguments uttered during the pandemic to defend their beliefs. The letter stated students are now used to wearing masks at school and that removing them will “disrupt the sense of normalcy and educators will struggle to explain to students why we are removing them so soon.”

If a $100,000-a-year teacher cannot explain this change, especially after the multiple changes students have adapted to for the past two years, then they are simply not qualified to make that type of salary.  And, if masks are suddenly lifted on May 1^st as the union officials are demanding, wouldn’t the exact same questions arise then from students (if they are raised at all)?

The letter is the latest effort by unions to flaunt their belief that they should have more control over our children’s education than parents or school administrators.  Parent social media sites, including School is Essential, are filled with angry comments over union officials once again placing their political demands over the quality of education they are providing. Parents called the letter “selfish” and “ridiculous.”  Many parents threated to send their kids to school without a mask on Monday, March 14^th if county officials bow to the demands of union officials.  As one parent proclaimed, “They can’t kick them all out.” (Teachers’ union officials letter to Seattle – King County health officials page 1 & page 2, NBC News, and School is Essential Facebook page)

Governor Inslee extolls the virtues of “tiny house villages” (and seeks $350 million in taxpayer money to place more of them in communities across the state) while holding a photo op in an obviously just- cleaned up village, yet the reality is that many of them quickly become eyesores and filled with junk while some “residents” get rid of their garbage by tossing it onto the private property of their neighbors.  KOMO reporter Jonathan Choe confronted Sharon Lee, the executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute, about these complaints.  And despite the fact that her organization receives millions in public funding to run 10 villages in Seattle, she acted as if she should not have to answer such questions.  She first stated that the Choe was being “nasty” in posing simple questions about the conduct of her residents. Then she stormed off using the excuse “the governor is here.” (KOMO News)

Another shooting on downtown Seattle’s 3^rd Avenue near Pike Street has left another man dead.  This follows the murder in the same location over the weekend which caused one of the few remaining neighborhood businesses, Piroshky Piroshky, to close.  On Monday, the longtime McDonald’s also closed on the block, with a statement it could “no longer guarantee the safety of their employees.” These deaths and business closures are the direct result of the city’s (and state’s) failed liberal public safety policies which dramatically decreased the size and capabilities of the city’s police department and has provided little or no punishment for criminal activity. These policies were made even worse when liberal city and state officials caved into the radical demands of violent liberal activists (including Antifa) following the riots in Seattle in 2020. (Seattle Times, Q13 FOX, and The Post Millennial)

A hi-tech firm has told its employees they are to continue to work from home because their downtown Seattle office location is not safe.  The cloud computing company Qumulo has informed workers that they don’t have to return to their 4^th Avenue offices until the situation “stabilizes.” Martin Fagen is a former police officer and facilities director for the company. He said, “When I’m uncomfortable walking out into the street, I can’t imagine what our employees feel like having to go in and out of the building.” (KING5 News)

Reporters are opening up about the physical threats and the doxing being conducted on them by liberal activists for reporting stories on the rampant homelessness, drug use, and crime that is occurring in Seattle.  Brandi Kruse has spoken of this before and now KOMO’s Jonathan Choe is also speaking out on the threats some reporters are constantly receiving.  He stated that neither official journalism organizations nor liberal public officials appear willing to stand up to this threat.  Choe stated, “I’m asking all credible journalists who want to tell the truth, we can’t stand down.  We can’t be afraid of this. We’re in this business to shine a light. We can’t be bullied. We have to keep telling the story.” (MyNorthwest)

In the most ironic story of the day, Governor Inslee has proclaimed that this week as “Invasive Species Awareness Week.” The proclamation is part of a larger national effort to raise awareness regarding invasive species and the damage they can cause to the environment and economy.  As most will recall, the governor broke state laws last summer when he transported maggot-infested apples from his Western Washington trees into small Eastern and Central Washington communities which were already devested by wildfires.  Local officials then had to waste many hours tracking down each of the infested apples before they could cause damage to local crops. (Pacific Northwest AG Network and KUOW)

Washington State University officials stated that the school will lift its indoor mask mandate on March 12^th, along with the rest of the state.  Pullman has often been the site of large COVID surges during the pandemic after students returned to the campus but failed to adhere to restrictions on large gatherings.   WSU President Kirk Schulz said, “While we are making these policy changes, we encourage Cougs who feel more comfortable wearing a mask to continue to do so.”  (Lewiston Tribune)

Governor Jay Inslee celebrated the two-year anniversary of his one-man rule by doing what he does best – making false and divisive statements. When Governor Inslee was asked at his Monday media event when he will end his undemocratic abuse of his emergency powers, the governor refused to answer the question.  Instead he resorted to making the kind of hyper-partisan and erroneous statements for which he is known.  Governor Inslee made the obviously false declaration that the only reason why Republicans want to end his never-ending emergency rule is because they want to “follow Donald Trump” and support government coups.

This statement clearly ignores facts and reality – and highlights a double standard the mainstream media ignores.  As opposed to nearly every Washington State Democrat official (including the governor) irresponsibly saying nothing as their liberal supporters rioted in Seattle in 2020, nearly all of Washington’s Republican leaders condemned the January 6^th political violence as it was taking place.  Inslee’s desperate use of such “false flag” statements is yet just another sign that the governor has no legitimate argument for why he continues to abuse his emergency authority and continues his undemocratic rule of Washington State. (Click to read full Shift Article)

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