Yesterday's Council meeting and the machinations of the Democratic leadership shows that the Sims cabal is scared witless at the prospect of electing the county's Elections Auditor. This is solely about power. Sims wants to keep the elections office under his thumb and is doing whatever he can to prevent the question from even being presented to the voters for consideration. The arguments to defend the status quo of a Sims-appointed elections director don't make any sense. And the Democratic Party is desperately trying to intimidate Councilman Bob Ferguson into backing down from supporting the proposal for an elected auditor.
What were the arguments in favor of the Deanron-style status quo?
The only plausibly sensible argument is that other large jurisdictions with the most complex elections prefer to appoint their election directors. But this is misleading. Many large jurisdictions elect their election directors and of those who appoint, almost none are accountable only to the County Executive or Mayor. Nearly all are appointed by the legislative branch or by bipartisan commissions (more below). The reasoning is clear. Having the elections office be just another agency controlled by the chief executive means that it will inevitably be just another cog in the political machine, prone to abuse and difficult to hold accountable, as we've seen here and in other jurisdications that have this model -- Miami-Dade, Milwaukee and Boston.
But Sims and the Democratic machine undermine their own purportedly principled opposition to the concept of an elected auditor by saying that they're only opposed to letting the people vote on the issue this year. Sims' Chief-of-Staff Kurt Triplett and the woman representing state Demo Chairman Cuba Dwight Pelz both testified that they're willing to let the people vote on the question at an indefinite future time (after Ron Sims has left office). Triplett claimed that this is a bad time to put the question on the ballot because they've found an unnamed candidate to replace Dean Logan (call him: Deanron 2 the Sequel). According to Triplett, Deanron2 has already visited a few times, met with elections staff and is seriously interested in the job. But he would not be interested in the job if it were put up for election next year.
Never mind that if an Elected Auditor is a good concept, it should be implemented whether or not Ron has another Deanron to fob off on us. The whole story is a non-starter. First of all, Ron Sims and his people have negative credibility. Believe nothing they tell you without checking the facts first. In the same breath that Triplett said they're close to hiring a candidate, he also said that they have a "strong plan for mail-only voting". (I've seen the "plan" and it doesn't exist) How can we believe they have a strong candidate on deck any more than we can believe they have a strong plan?
Second, the public has no idea who this person is (but if any insiders know, please tell me), how serious they are, how qualified they are, whether they would be approved by the Council, when they would start, how they would work out, etc. The only information we have about the alleged candidate is that he is unwilling to be approved by the voters. If he reallly was as good a fit for the job as Triplett says he is, then he should be electable. But Sims seems to believe that the voters would reject his choice.
The Democratic district organizations are smearing Ferguson with hit e-mails like this one from 46th District Chairman Scott White
the Republicans on the King County Council and Bob Ferguson have proposed to turn our elections office upside down by creating the position of an Elected County Auditor to run elections here in King County. The right wing wants an elected auditor badly because they know that if they can get control of the office they will have an advocate for changes in state law and be able to implement on a management level the types of voter suppression activities described in [this article].Whatever, dude. Anybody who thinks that the "right wing" can take over the King County elections office and suppress voters needs to be medicated. Realistically, any elected Auditor will likely be a Democrat, or at least require a lot of Democrats to vote for them. The advantage is that this official would be accountable to all voters solely on the basis of their performance in the elections office .
It's important to note that while much of the party leadership supports machine control of the elections office, many grassroots Democrats believe in electing the Auditor. Most of the (mostly Democrat, some Green, some Republican) members of Washington Fair Elections support the concept. They're meeting tonight and will be discussing the proposal.
Councilmember Julia Patterson yesterday proposed an unspecified compromise on the issue. The best compromise is to take the issue out of the hands of the elected officials and give it to the voters to decide. This year.
That certainly applies in this case, where Sims, Patterson and Phillips are losing in the court of public opinion and on the Council and are whining and digging in their heels to try to deny the public a chance to vote on this issue.
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on August 22, 2006 03:09 PMThe more he sqeals and complains, the more corrupt he seems. What a wonderful world it would be if we could consider what was best for the voters, county and state rather than having to deal with a select group of officials' self-interested politcal machinations.
Posted by: k2 on August 22, 2006 03:13 PMI'm insulted that you left out my Councilman, Dow Constantine. And now Ferguson, too.
As for "losing in the court of public opinion," hey, it's your blog, so you can spew whatever nonsense you like. Nobody's going to beat these Council members at the polls over this issue. You know that perfectly well.
And do you know why that is? It's because right-wingers like you, and the whack jobs that post on this blog, and the EFF and the BIAW are pushing it.
Mobilizing against you lot in King County is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Posted by: ivan on August 22, 2006 03:18 PMAmong what you call the "right-wingers" who support the concept of an elected auditor are former state Democratic Chairman Paul Berendt. Not to mention Councilmember Bob Ferguson, who is a Democrat.
But back to the mainpoint. Why are you against letting the voters decide the issue, Ivan? Are you afraid they'll vote for a clean and accountable elections office?
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on August 22, 2006 03:27 PMHow many taxes are enough for you rich guys there? I looked at the WSDOT's plan yesterday that said there is ANOTHER 4 billion dollars in high priority fixes for the 520 and the Alaskan Way Viaduct..........
How many pink pigs and 6 foot salmon do you need?
How many times must this council screw you (the voters) before you get them out of office?????
Posted by: sgmmac on August 22, 2006 03:31 PMAnd the people's right to decide be damned.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on August 22, 2006 03:33 PMYou get to vote for the County Executive and your County Council members.
Posted by: ivan on August 22, 2006 03:37 PMSo, if Stefan is against murder, rape, and mayhem, Ivan, are you for it?
I think it's only an excuse to condone bad behavior. It's almost the same as Osama Bin Laden, all he needed was an excuse to attack America, it didn't matter what the perceived sin of America's was, if he couldn't find one he'd have made one up.
Posted by: sgmmac on August 22, 2006 03:42 PM"You get to vote for the County Executive and your County Council members."
Until you lefties figure out a way to have them appointed.
I'm against whatever you're for, and for whatever you're against.
Spoken just like Democrats at the National level.
So you're for terrorism, against US soldiers, against marriage, love taxes, love killers, and love pedophiles. The list goes on and on.
Posted by: swassociates on August 22, 2006 05:00 PMIvan? Why? And don't feed me some cockamamie excuse about size and scope. If it's good enough for Pierce and Snohomish, it should be good enough for King.
Posted by: jimg on August 22, 2006 05:21 PMIs this your way of saying, "If you're not with us, you're against us"?
I thought you were against that type of political approach.... I could've sworn (or affirmed) that you denigrated a politician as being stupid and dangerous for having that approach...
I guess it depends on whose Gore is being oxed.
Posted by: SouthernRoots on August 22, 2006 08:41 PMYou are the quintisential left wing Democrat. You believe in something that you can not articulate and if you try you see how wrong it is and so does everyone else. So instead of trying you just decide to hate what the opposition says. That way you have something to believe in...still can't explain it or defend it, but can swear at it.
I'm sorry you life has gone down the path you chose for it. You seem very disturbed and in emotional pain. I hope you decide to learn about life and take a serious stab at being accountable for your actions.
Remember you can't have a good day you have to make it a good day.
Posted by: Dengle on August 22, 2006 09:26 PMThere is no reason for us not to have an elected auditor. I have yet to see any evidence on the part of those against this idea as to why this should not be an elected position. The notion that this person would go through and cherry pick the ballots to deliberately disenfranchise voters is laughable. Besides, that is one reason Deanron has decided to slither out of town before the tar and feathers come out.
So, Ivan and other members of Sims cheer squad, how could having an elected auditor be any worse than the morons currently in charge? There have been many promises made of fixing the problems and so far no results. Making everyone reregister would be the first step, but your buddy Gossett won't allow that. Apparently his constituents aren't bright enough to understand what social security cards, birth certificates, and passports are and therefore can't prove that they are eligible to vote.
Posted by: Burdabee on August 22, 2006 10:02 PMW/ thanks to THIS left-wing website and THESE talking points for a simple majority school levy - Maybe we should say, "1. It is time to let the people decide. The people have not been allowed to vote on this issue since" ever.
Posted by: Commentator Anonymous on August 23, 2006 03:20 AMi also like the Gossett point--can you see happy voters a-la mideast style holding their purple fists (not fingers) up in a Former Black Panther 'Salute?'
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on August 23, 2006 05:40 AMI think attacking people is a failure of debate. The ideas of a person are what will create good or evil; not the individual themselves. The person is inconsequential; the idea is all-important. If my mortal enemy had a better way of doing something, I would be stupid to ignore it. It follows that chastising an idea because of who proposed it is a stupid process.
I think voting is the cornerstone of our republic. I think denying the public the ability to decide who should oversee the voting process is tantamount to allowing the ref at a sporting event to wear the jersey of one team. (superbowl anyone?)
I think the left- and right- wing labels will eventually destroy our beautiful country.
Posted by: Barak on August 23, 2006 09:03 AMYes, King Co. would most likely elect a Democrat Auditor - there is precedence in actually electing one honest Demo; Brian Sonntag seems to be pretty well respected at the statewide level.
Posted by: GOPolitics on August 23, 2006 09:35 AMI have said all I have to say on this issue and am under no obligation to respond to every poster who calls me out by name.
I hardly fear "all those meanie right-wingers." Who are you that anyone should fear you? Most of you don't even have the stones to post using your names.
But hey, on a lighter note: Last night at the King County Democratic Central Committee's monthly meeting, we passed, by acclamation, a resolution to oppose the candidacy of Richard Pope, for whatever he's running for this time.
We love ya, Rich. Just keep filing.
Posted by: ivan on August 23, 2006 12:49 PMWay to go with the earth-shattering resolution gelatin for brains - I'm sure that Richard is shaking in his shoes (or was that you just passing gas again).
Thanks for letting us know that you're ready to shut your stupendous gob!
Posted by: alphabet soup on August 23, 2006 06:08 PM