The debacle that was the state’s last re-districting effort – thanks to deliberate attempts to undermine the process by Democrats – has been much discussed on Shift’s pages. Now a spotlight is being shone on more Democrat shenanigans, this time by State Senate Republican Leader John Braun, on the (Tacoma) News Tribune’s editorial page, where he concludes that the “Democratic answer, it seems, is to get a court – any court – to enable a gerrymandered map that provides a partisan advantage.”

What makes the Democrats’ partisan tricks even more questionable is that the legislator they are now going after in their lawsuits in Sen. Nikki Torres, who won in 2022 “in a district where the population was 73% Hispanic. Also, 15th District voters didn’t just elect a Latina; they chose a Latina over a white woman.” You can read more why the Democrats can’t let a Republican Latina serve in the legislature here… Shift, (Tacoma) News Tribune.

When public money is at stake, it helps to have accurate cost estimates in place before a project begins and several contract bidders to choose from. Unfortunately for Washington taxpayers, the Seattle Times spills a lot of ink/electrons pointing out that the state has been way off recently in its estimates about transportation project costs and that as “state lawmakers look toward a more than 15-year sprint to build out Washington’s highways, bridges, ferries and more, it’s a worrisome trend that casts a shadow over their lofty ambitions.”

Even more unfortunate for taxpayers is that we’re not talking small dollars, with a $500 million “miss” on a high-profile Highway 520 project being one of several bureaucratic errors. Compounding the inability to project costs is the lack of bidders on state projects, and you can read how this is not a new development as “WSDOT staff first began to notice a lack of competition in 2022” here…Seattle Times.

Washington state’s leading agricultural journal is usually not required reading in New York City.  But since Governor Jay Inslee is there at the United Nations talking to fellow environmental extremists, they might take a look at the Capital Press and its conclusion that if “Inslee is serious about using cap-and-trade to pay for his climate change agenda, he needs to be honest with Washingtonians. He needs to tell them straight up that it will cost billions of dollars, and that money will come out of their pockets in the form of higher fuel and utility prices and higher taxes.”

The Cap Press writers are quite familiar with how Gov. Inslee’s story has changed on the cost of his signature cap-and-tax legislation, and that now “even Inslee (has) acknowledged the state was overcharging in its cap-and-trade auctions”, leading them to ask “if Inslee wants to give Washingtonians a break, then why does his administration refuse to refund farmers and ranchers the added cost of his cap-and-trade program?” You can read how the truth is easy to find, suggesting that “Mr. Inslee, if you want to see who is causing high fuel prices in Washington, look in the mirror” here… Capital Press.

Can you believe that the city of Seattle is indicating it is almost ready to start thinking about really taking concrete steps to show it cares deeply about drugs, this time – in a month. That’s what can be gleaned from this weird statement on KUOW from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell that “(W)e are poised to address the crisis with the seriousness that it is,” while signing a new law that “will take effect on Oct. 20.”

However, people celebrating the law over four months in the making don’t even know what it will actually do, until “Mayor Harrell will issue an executive order sometime over the next few days, which will provide guidance for police on when to make arrests, and when to divert people to supportive programs.” And of course, this being Seattle and all, the far-Left is committed to the new law’s failure, with Councilwoman Teresa Mosqueda whining there is “only ‘a hollow promise of diversion’ ” instead of buckets of new money to waste while keeping people out of jail. You can read how at least one leader was “relieved” the law was passed here… KUOW.

Evidently Lisa Brown’s campaign for mayor of Spokane wasn’t really ready for prime time on the issue of homelessness earlier this year (and may not be there yet, either).  That’s the message one gets from the Spokesman-Review story about the former Democrat legislator’s latest homelessness controversy, where she defends herself on “a policy position that Brown hasn’t taken a firm stand on one way or another.”

You might think that former State Commerce Director Brown might have honed her homeless policy positions while in Gov. Inslee’s cabinet before starting to run for mayor, though now she claims “she wasn’t making a campaign promise to institute parking lot encampments, but was discussing a possibility being looked at by other cities.” More confusion about what candidate Brown thinks is here… Spokesman-Review.

Shift readers have been following the saga of the city of Burien and its fight – sometimes with its own staff, sometimes with King County officials – to maintain control over its city sidewalks, parks, and other property. The latest update, from KOMO news, is that the “drama has continued at Burien City Hall as one council member spoke about a censure of another after racial comments were given during the most recent meeting.”

You can read on to see which council member threw down the gauntlet on his colleagues by claiming the council’s homeless debate “reeks of white supremacy. This reeks. This reeks of it.”… Shift, KOMO.

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