209 East Fourth: Local Politics, Special Interests and the Potential for ChangeBy Krag Unsoeld It's fall and just as surely as the mushrooms come up after a rainstorm ( <:see_article_by_Irina_Gendelman:200010Gendelman> ) we have a new crop of local candidates for voters to consider. This issue of Green Pages is covering local political races that can potentially impact the environment. SPEECH likes to provide an opportunity for candidates to address important issues that they will have power to affect if they are elected. We are publishing candidate responses to a set of questions that were sent to them. The candidates chosen were Cathy Wolfe and Mike Pettit, running for Thurston County Commission, and Ben Slater and Paul Pickett, running for the Thurston County Public Utility District. The Future of Representative County Government The primary election this year saw many peoples' hopes for a change wither on the vine. We ended up with one incumbent Democrat defeating her primary opposition and now able to coast to a fourth term in office. No Republican is challenging her. The results of the local "money primary" for the County Commission races speak volumes. A quick examination of the on-line Public Disclosure Commission (website: http://web.pdc.wa.gov ) campaign finance reports reveals the backing of various individuals representing big local real estate firms, the Thurston County Affordable Housing Council (representing the Olympia Master Builders), and so forth. With these moneyed interests, coupled with an almost unswerving devotion of most state and local Democratic office holders and long-time local party regulars, there seems little hope of even incremental county policy shifts. The Contested Race The race for the County Commission District 1 Democratic nomination was hotly contested between Cathy Wolfe and local environmentalist and community leader Steve Langer. Reviewing PDC documents for Wolfe, the victor, shows that among her biggest contributors are the Washington Association of Realtors, the Thurston County Affordable Housing Council (Olympia Master Builders) and Harold Le May Enterprises, a garbage contractor working for the county. Among individual contributors was Doug DeForest, the president of the Olympia Master Builders. Strangely enough, many of these, including the Thurston County Affordable Housing Council and the Washington Association of Realtors, are also major contributor to Mike Pettit, Wolfe's Republican challenger. Pettit is himself a master builder. Not much chance for fundamental policy shifts from this quarter either. Another Approach This situation brings to mind issues dealt with a decade ago during the last county charter effort. A county charter could make all county elected positions nonpartisan. This would allow for the election of the best possible candidate without the encumbrances of the two-party system. Another completely different option could be that the county consider doing away with winner-take-all primaries and elections by establishing a system of proportional representation, whereby parties winning a minority of the electorate are awarded minority representation on the commission. All the diverse views and perspectives reflected in the county's population could have a voice on a revamped county commission. The PUD Race The race for a vacant seat on the Public Utilities District commission is decidedly different than the county board of commissioners. Neither Ben Slater nor Paul Pickett (who is a SPEECH board member) has reported any campaign contributions. So what is the significance of the race? The PUD race could determine whether we still have a PUD and what the PUD will accomplish, if anything. Paul Pickett has warned that his opponent, Ben Slater (who did not answer the SPEECH questionnaire) wants to abolish the PUD. This would eliminate the 70-year history of public utility districts and the important role that they can play in administering not only water, electric, sewer and telecommunication utilities, but also in bringing a breath of democracy into natural resource management decisions. Granted, they are not fool-proof - witness the Washington Public Power Supply System debacle - but the potential is there. All that it takes is for citizens to become interested and mobilized to bring it about. Local Salmon Workshop Remember to attend the forum that SPEECH is co-sponsoring with Thurston County and local environmental groups on October 12th entitled "Salmon Recovery: Myth & Reality." The goal is to stimulate a frank, thorough discussion of the biological, political and regulatory aspects of recovery in Thurston County. This forum will be held at 7 p.m. in Room 152 of Building 1 at the county headquarters. Please come and make your ideas known. Krag Unsoeld is the President of the Board of SPEECH.
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