It should go without saying that letting a hyper-partisan like Hilary Franz use her current position as Commissioner of Public Lands as a taxpayer-funded platform for higher office is not likely to end well for Washington taxpayers. A prime example of why putting short-termers like her in charge of long-range decision-making is a dangerous idea is featured in today’s Seattle Times. The lengthy piece focuses on the often-lucrative and generally boring topic of Department of Natural Resources (DNR) forest management, highlighting how Commissioner Franz’s far-Left needs in the gubernatorial primary helped “DNR hit pause at the last moment, shelving the Wishbone sale of 4.7 million board feet of timber Monday night after environmentalists sued and seven of nine Metropolitan King County Council members shared concerns.”

You can read in detail about how interest group politics – and a very liberal and compliant State Supreme Court – are working to ensure that future taxpayers see less benefit from our public lands here… Seattle Times.

Voters in Ballard and surrounding neighborhoods will get to answer – by 8 pm tomorrow night – whether a lack of public discussion about the local city council race will impact voter interest and turnout.  That’s because, as KUOW reports, in Seattle Council District 6, “since May 10, there have been no debates or forums, and none are planned before next Tuesday’s Aug. 1 primary.”

Despite the rather pathetic performance of the incumbent first-term councilmember Dan Strauss, evidently, no community groups have been offended enough to organize a public forum or issue discussion before the primary. You can read more about what you missed here… KUOW.

As Shift has highlighted in recent weeks, Washington’s so-called progressives can’t really be counted on to care much about the homeless and our alleged affordable housing crisis when there are so many competing priorities, like trees. Yet, the Washington State Standard reports that at a legislative hearing down in Vancouver, the activists were out in force, claiming that “despite record investments in housing this year, the state must continue pumping more money toward affordable housing and rent stabilization to curb homelessness in Washington, advocates told lawmakers.”

Of course, as Shift has written about consistently, you can count on “activists” to demand more government spending on just about anything, as long as it’s more. You can read more about their latest expensive cause here… Shift, Washington State Standard.

Common sense may elude the folks at Shift on a Monday, but why is that the state of Washington can decide that just one high-profile homeless camp in downtown Seattle is dangerous enough for emergency removal overnight from state land – when dozens of other camps, including the state’s largest (which Shift wrote about for months over in Spokane), are allowed to fester and grow? If that’s a question that bothers you as well, it’s hard to listen to this Seattle activist pointing out to KOMO that “drug dealers and drug addicts choose WSDOT property intentionally to set up encampments. ‘They know that it’s hard to get kicked out of. WSDOT seems to be good for people who want to live a life of crime.’ “

You would like to think that’s an old lesson plan, or maybe it just takes enough explosives next to a hospital to get the state’s attention. You can learn why the state stepped in immediately when “emergency orders to close an encampment are ‘extremely rare,’” according to one bureaucrat, here… Shift, KOMO.

If you haven’t written your check to the candidate of your choice yet, it likely won’t make it in time to help in the primary – but that hasn’t stopped some people from trying to pry loose every penny.  You can check out the latest Washington Observer for notes about the campaign cash dash and how the “richest contest of the year so far is the mayor’s race in Spokane, where incumbent Nadine Woodward and challenger Lisa Brown have spent nearly $500,000 combined ahead of Tuesday’s primary. Woodward has also benefited from some $210K in outside support from the Realtors and the Spokane Good Government Alliance, a pro-business PAC.”

The money pouring into Spokane has overshadowed the fact that again, according to the Observer, “there are legit races in all seven of the (Seattle) city council’s districted seats. Four seats are open. The most interesting primary fights are in West Seattle-centered District 1 and northeast Seattle’s District 4, where candidates backed by the city’s business establishment might not make it to November.” You can check out some more interesting finance numbers here… Washington Observer.

Last week’s Newsmaker Interview featured Spokane Good Government Alliance (SGGA) Executive Director John Estey, discussing the upcoming elections in the city. With the primary election imminent, Spokane faces a crucial choice between moderate/conservative approaches and liberal/extremist proposals. Mayor Nadine Woodward, who has faced obstacles from the five liberal councilmembers who have controlled the seven-person city council since her election in 2019, this year is being challenged by career politician and former Jay Inslee cabinet member Lisa Brown. Four of the seven city council seats (including City Council President) are also up for election. Estey shed light on SGGA’s mission, its key concerns for the 2023 elections, and highlighted leading candidates for the Mayor and City Council President positions. Read more.

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