Any mention that these announcements might be timed can sound awfully cynical. But state Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, admits the reason for my suspicion within five words of his Monday press release. President Barack Obama doesn’t let on, but I think I know better.

Kilmer plans to renew his effort to get a bill passed that would encourage the state to hand out 3 percent of its contracts to veteran-owned businesses. He tried to get it passed in the last session, but it didn’t make it through the Senate.

The President is launching an initiative to help veterans get work with the federal government.

Both press releases follow the jump.
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Those of you reading today’s story about the election results might be wondering what all the rules are for a recount. You’re thinking knowledge of this might come in handy at that next mixer, or when you have to talk when the band takes a break. This is information sure to impress would-be suitors. Well, it would have impressed me back when I was . . . suiting. Then again I was impressed by anyone who could find Russia on a map.

I can’t profess to give you all of them, but here are a few.

The standards for automatic recounts (Those the county or state pays for whether any candidate wants one or not. I say that because I’m sure there are some candidates who are relieved to lose, who love to give speeches and mix with the people, but don’t relish the idea of actually learning the finer details of accounting and fecal treatment for four years.) per RCW 29A.64.021 are they are done by machine if the two contenders are within a half percentage point of each other and within 2,000 votes.

In Kitsap County the Bremerton Transportation Proposition 1 (the car tabs initiative), the Bainbridge school bond and EMS levy, a few school board races, some unopposed candidates and the Port of Bremerton commissioner contest were the ones that beat the 2,000-vote margin. As of Monday, all were beating the half-percentage point standard.

For a hand recount the standard is that the contenders are within a quarter percentage point of each other and within 150 votes. In statewide races the rule is within 1,000 votes and that quarter percentage point.

Should a candidate want a recount even if the totals don’t call for an automatic one, they can pay for it themselves, but if the recount proves that the first or second count was wrong you and I pay for it when we order the biscuits and gravy at Pat’s or return that Valentine’s letter some of us get every year.

From RCW 29A.64.081

The canvassing board shall determine the expenses for conducting a recount of votes.

The cost of the recount shall be deducted from the amount deposited by the applicant for the recount at the time of filing the request for the recount, and the balance shall be returned to the applicant. If the costs of the recount exceed the deposit, the applicant shall pay the difference. No charges may be deducted by the canvassing board from the deposit for a recount if the recount changes the result of the nomination or election for which the recount was ordered.

In Kitsap County the deposit required is 15 cents a ballot for a manual recount and 25 cents each for a hand recount. For Bremerton City Councilman Brad Gehring, should he decide to ask for a recount in his council race against Jim McDonald it would be about $135 for a machine count and about $225 for a hand count.

Asked Monday if he would ask for a recount should the totals fall outside automatic recount range, Gehring said he would not. “I can’t afford to do that,” he said.

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How come none of you told me about this before?

Does the news seem kind of stale lately? Do even the great speakers seem monotone after a while?

Well, here’s something to spice up the news of the day. Before this I hadn’t personally seen any clips of Hugo Chavez at the UN or network talks about the Nobel Peace Prize. I had seen the Florida Democrat.

Enjoy.

For more, visit The Gregory Brothers.

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Peter Callaghan from the (Tacoma) News Tribune discusses whether cities should be led by strong mayors or managers. In the process he interviews someone who has seen both types of governments, former Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman.

In 2005, in the wake of the Brame scandal and the Corpuz dismissal, I asked Cary Bozeman, now the director of the Port of Bremerton, which form was best. He had been both the “weak” mayor of Bellevue and the “strong” mayor of Bremerton.

Strong leaders are the key. But because it is more likely that a city can hire a strong leader from around the nation than find one to elect in town, he said he thinks a council-manager system is best for most cities.

When Bainbridge Island was going through its conversation about whether to dump the strong mayor, I also asked Bozeman what he thought about it, and what he thought Bremerton should have. He declined to answer.

Makes you wonder, though, doesn’t it? The question has come up in the past. Anyone here for changing the form of governments in the three other Kitsap cities now led by mayors? Or are the cities better off sticking with what they have?

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. will be in Seattle touring Swedish Medical Center’s Medical Home Pilot in Ballard today. She’ll be accompanied by our congressional representatives and Seattle Democrat Jim McDermott.

All three voted Saturday in favor of HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which passed the House 220-215.

The press release follows:
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Readers, including candidates, who question my use of the word “said” in the story about second-day election results have reason to do so.

When the new election numbers came in on Wednesday, I called both Bremerton mayor candidates, Bremerton City Councilman Will Maupin and former county commissioner Patty Lent, to get their reactions.

In my conversation with Maupin I asked his reaction to the second-day numbers, which showed he had lost ground, and what he would do now.

Maupin answered that he had no idea, that it was too early to figure that out. “I’m very concerned about the city of Bremerton. I don’t think we’re headed in a good direction,” he said. “I will try to figure out what to do
to best serve the city.”

Before I heard that comment I had no inclination to think that Maupin might consider leaving his seat. But that comment made me wonder if that was what he was thinking about. So I asked him specifically if “try to figure out what to do to best serve the city” meant he was considering resigning.

He did not say, “Yes.” He did not say, “No.” He did say he had to think about what to do — that it was “way too early” to be talking about what’s next.

I didn’t want to write a story saying that Maupin was open to resigning from his council seat unless I was certain he was really was open to it. So I asked him again. I received the same answer. In response to one of those questions, he said, “At the moment I don’t feel good about working with the person who appears to have been elected our new mayor.”

In neither case did he deny that he was open to resigning. My error was in writing that Maupin “said” he was considering resigning. He did not specifically “say” that.

I inferred from his comments, which were made in response to two specific questions about a possible resignation, that he was considering it and in the story wrote that he “said” it.

Had I written that “he didn’t rule out resigning,” or something akin to that, I wouldn’t feel a need to count this as a mistake. My inference may have been incorrect, but given two opportunities to be clear about that with me, Maupin wouldn’t deny that resignation was one of the possibilities.

The problem, to repeat an earlier point, was in the improper use of “said,” because he didn’t say it.

Even when we paraphrase someone instead of quoting them, “said” should mean what it says, that he said it. He didn’t. He implied it, maybe. He didn’t rule it out. He made it seem like a real possibility. But he didn’t say it.

I was incorrect in writing that he did.

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Word at the Kitsap county commissioners’ meeting this morning is that Shawn Gabriel, administrative services director (”budget director” in simpler terms), has resigned.

Gabriel was hired in July of 2008 to replace Ben Holland. He had been deputy city manager in North Miami Beach and had also worked for Miami-Dade County.

We’ll post more when we know more. Word this morning was that Gabriel’s departure is for personal reasons, but I have a call into county officials to get the story. They’re not expecting to have a permanent replacement until the beginning of next year and will work with a firm to run the rest of the 2010 budget process.

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Earlier Tuesday another employee in the newsroom handed out the election pool sheet. It only cost a buck, so I was ready to play. I got down a few races, though, and started agonizing over my picks. I crumpled up the paper and threw it away. I should have stuck with that decision. I’m better at predicting that I’m out a buck than I am at local races.

Sometime this afternoon 1400 KITZ had me on an afternoon show talking aboutt the elections for a couple of minutes. I at least got my predictions about how Kitsap voters would respond to R-71 and I-1033 right.

About a half hour before election numbers were posted the guys at that Outlaw Radio Network talked to me about my thoughts on the races. You can still hear me making what is now a ridiculous prediction, that Lynn Horton would probably win the port commissioner race. My mistake there came because I forgot that it was only one commissioner district that gave Horton that big win in the primary and that all three districts would vote in the general. My bad.

Holy cow, my bad.

For the record, I lost last year’s office election pool in the tie-breaker.

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Saturday was dominated by the report of the fire that destroyed a home and, at the time it seemed, a life. We’ve learned since the woman probably died before the fire.

Paymela Jean Long went by Paymela Faye on stage. While trying to find information on her and the band she was in, Whatta Band, I found the following video and talked to the man who posted it. It seemed a poignant discovery on Saturday.

Her obituary is online now.

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Most of you know U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, is among those in an inquiry about lobbyist money and earmarks.

This has been on the radar before, though today’s news was the first indication that there was anything official happening. To be clear, it has not yet risen to the level of “investigation.” The word is they’re trying to find out if there is anything worth investigating.

Here are the references we’ve had here on this blog about the matter:

Norm’s Named, But He’s Not Being Investigated — Feb. 12, 2009.

Norm, PMA, Earmarks — March 17, 2009.

And Old Story — July 4, 2009.

A New Wrinkle Among Earmarks — Sept. 10, 2009.

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These digs are ready should the water come down in King County. Kitsap Sun photo by Larry Steagall.

Former Kitsap County commissioner and current Bremerton Mayor candidate Patty Lent has made the case that she’d go after King County businesses in danger of water damage should the Howard Hanson Dam need to be freed of as much water as some fear.

Even if that doesn’t happen, we may get King County jail inmates. Josh Farley has the story today. King County would guard the prisoners. Kitsap would feed them, provide a nurse and pay the utilities.

If you’re wondering what kind of budget impact that might have, at $28 per day for up to 114 inmates, it’s a potential $3,192 a day, minus costs. Farley tells me the meals cost about $1 each. Water would figure to be the big additional utility cost.

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A faction in Bremerton wants to be able to have chickens in their urban yards. Another faction doesn’t. It is an issue that is likely to rise to the level of a proposed code change in Bremerton. We’ll be covering the story someday soon.

In the meantime, here’s a video about a woman in Tampa who’s got four in her yard. There are no roosters, but she still was surprised by the noise. If I was a neighbor I might be fine with the noise if an occasional omelette found its way onto my kitchen table.

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At Tuesday morning’s Eggs & Issues debate over car tabs, only a few people were asking questions, so in a rare occurrence I got three in.

The last one was whether the Port of Bremerton’s industrial development district tax, used to pay for construction of the Bremerton Marina, was still casting a pall over requests for funding. Over the past few months we’ve heard little about the IDD tax, a noteworthy development given that the last few years any request for money by any taxing district carried with complaints that were laced with references to the port.

The most recent mention of an IDD tax I could find in a quick search of our archives, however, referred to the Port of Manchester and its consideration of the idea. I thought that perhaps Port commissioner Cheryl Kincer’s decision to not run for re-election had been the final calming measure on the IDD.

Perhaps not.

According to the voices on the car tabs issue, the IDD is certainly not forgotten. From the car tab debate story:

The state Legislature gave local municipalities the right to impose a $20 fee increase without an election. Six cities in Washington have chosen to enact the fee without consulting voters, but (Bremerton City Councilman Nick) Wofford said the Port of Bremerton’s decision to raise property taxes in 2007 — which paid for marina construction downtown and will last for six years — played a role in the Bremerton City Council’s reluctance to go that route.

“I think it’s very fresh on people’s minds,” Wofford said of the tax that was enacted without public approval.

Mike Shepherd, arguing against the car tab increase, also said the IDD tax probably has had an impact, but said much of that impact is less about the tax than about how it was imposed.

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Nothing local to see here folks, but thought I’d point you to a fascinating story from the New York Times on what started the momentum on the Obama-Fox fight. It started when other news organizations publicly recognized that Fox News (not Fox commentators) reporters had dug into thing better than they had.

By the following weekend, officials at the White House had decided that if anything, it was time to take the relationship to an even more confrontational level. The spur: Executives at other news organizations, including The New York Times, had publicly said that their newsrooms had not been fast enough in following stories that Fox News, to the administration’s chagrin, had been heavily covering through the summer and early fall — namely, past statements and affiliations of the White House adviser Van Jones that ultimately led to his resignation and questions surrounding the community activist group Acorn.

Personally, I don’t watch enough of the national news broadcasters to comment on whether they’re slanted, or whether they blur the line between news and commentary. But if I were a Fox News employee, I’d be pretty happy if a competitor said they needed to do what I was doing.

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Rachel Pritchett has a story about a new program Harrison Medical Center is offering for those facing end-of-life questions one story commenter mentioned would be grounds for some to bring up “death panels.” That, of course, was a statement coined most famously by Sarah Palin, regarding end-of-life counseling, which sounds like what Harrison is offering.

Wellllllll, speaking of health care and reform things, our two members of Congress (Democrats Jay Inslee of Bainbridge Island and Norm Dicks of Belfair) scheduled a press conference last week to announce major changes in how Medicare money will be distributed. The bigger story, perhaps, is that if this does make it in the bill that lands on the president’s desk, it has the potential of changing the health care system in what would seem to be a big, big way. From the joint press release:

“Today we have announced that we will no longer stand for inefficient care that costs taxpayer dollars and lives; and we will instead change the way reimburse care – rewarding quality over quantity,” said Congressman Jay Inslee (WA-01).

I linked to Dicks’ version, because there is also a link to the bill’s actual language.

The first part of this is a move to change Medicare reimbursement rules to change what seems to be the geographic disparity, which was explained to a major degree in a story in The New Yorker in June.

If you take the time to read the New Yorker piece, you’ll see much about the pay-for-service model so often discussed. Explained in simple terms, it means doctors get paid for every service performed, whether each service contributes to better health or not. Many think there are better ways to do it. The New Yorker story points to salaried doctors at the Mayo Clinic, but suggests the salary model is shrinking in use.

A writer for ModernHealthcare.com suggests the changes Inslee and Dicks are proposing would occur before rates in public option would be tied to Medicare.

The second study, which would take place over two years and be subject to congressional review, would implement a plan to base Medicare payment on quality of care rather than volume. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said that current problems with Medicare reimbursement needed to be fixed first before establishing programs such as a public health plan option based on Medicare rates.

A Huffington Post piece opines that changes recommended in one of the studies would be required:

Lest you suspect that this might be the typical, run-of-the-mill Congressional study, generating lots of chin-stroking but no real action, yesterday’s agreement gives this particular IOM study teeth. The Secretary of HHS would be bound to implement the IOM’s. Only a joint resolution of disapproval passed by both Houses of Congress could stop it. And such a resolution would be subject to Presidential veto.

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This has been sitting on my desktop for some time, I guess almost three weeks now.

Joe Turner, longtime state government reporter for the (Tacoma) News Tribune, became the latest among the Olympia press corps to find other things to do. If you’re scoring at home, that means the Olympia press corps has gone from 34 in 1993 to six. It appears the TNT will replace Turner, so maybe it’s back to seven.

This past legislative session I spent the last couple of days sharing a table with the press corps, Turner among them. He was every bit the “cheerful malcontent” his former boss described.

We journalists bemoan our personal fates a lot and the state of our industry even more. There really is a benefit to ratcheting up years of experience, learning where to look for information we all want but don’t know at our fingertips how to get. As long as a reporter stays hungry to be good, there’s no reason to not get better as time goes on. And Olympia needs reporters of experience down there, because as Turner writes:

Government is sneaky. It just is. It doesn’t matter who is governor, which party controls the Legislature or who is at the helm of a specific agency. From time to time, government leaders are just plain sneaky. They have their reasons. Most of the time they are benign. Often, they just want to advance their particular agenda or program under the radar so they can build momentum before the opposition is alerted and can mobilize to stop them.

It’s that simple. That’s why the state budget is always passed in a hurry and why it is kept under wraps as long as possible. And why so few legislators actually read it before the vote to pass it into law.

These are not evil people. They’re just public servants who sometimes can be self-serving.

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The use of this image has not been authorized in any way and will probably one day be removed after a threat from lawyers from the very fine folks at Fox Broadcasting, the network that for 20 years has delighted us with “The Simpsons” most Sunday nights at 8, 7 Central.

Telephone town halls, so popular this summer among critics of health care reform, return next week. State Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, will hold one Wednesday (Oct. 28) from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Staff at the office of U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, answered my request for the data from the last town hall the congressman had on health care. By way of context, the in-person town hall Inslee did in North Kitsap and the one U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, did in Bremerton had about 1,000 people each.

While I would agree there are dynamics missing and it is probably easier to manipulate a phone version, it certainly appeared to reach more people.

The report Inslee supplied, a tally that came from the company that ran the town hall, iConstituent, showed 9,096 people listened in to the Aug. 5 event. The vast majority, 8,499, connected when they were called. An autodialer with Inslee’s recorded voice placed calls to almost 80,000 people. (Just under 20,000 actually answered the phone.) The average listener stayed on 23 minutes. The 597 people who called in had much more patience, staying on the phone for an average of 46 minutes during the 64-minute broadcast.

Seaquist’s press release indicates 26th District residents will get a call that night, but if not, there’s a number to call in to hear the event. No specific subject matter has been announced.

Here is Seaquist’s press release:

Rep. Seaquist invites 26th district residents to join telephone town hall Wednesday, October 28.

SEATTLE – State Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor) invites his neighbors in the 26th legislative district to join him for a telephone town hall Wednesday, Oct. 28th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Similar to a traditional town hall, the telephone town hall will be an opportunity to bring up questions, comments and concerns about the 26th district and topics related to the Washington state Legislature. By utilizing this new technology, participants can take part in the discussion from the comfort of their own homes.

Many residents of the 26th district will receive a call that evening inviting them to stay on the line and join the conversation. If for some reason residents do not receive the call directly by 6:40 p.m., they can also phone in that evening by dialing toll-free (877) 229-8493, PIN code: 13575.

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The Bremerton City Council is right against the deadline for reducing the mayor’s salary during the next term. As discovered in Port Orchard, the mayor can get a raise under certain conditions anytime during the term. A pay cut, though, has to be agreed upon by ordinance before the election.

SECTION 8 SALARIES AND LIMITATIONS AFFECTING. The salary of any county, city, town, or municipal officers shall not be increased except as provided in section 1 of Article XXX or diminished after his election, or during his term of office; nor shall the term of any such officer be extended beyond the period for which he is elected or appointed. [AMENDMENT 57, art, 1971 Senate Joint Resolution No. 38, part, p 1829. Approved November, 1972.]

Roger Lubovich, city attorney, added that the ordinance has to be published for ten days before it takes effect. If the council approves it tonight, it gets advertised Friday, which gives it 10 days the Sunday before the election.

My fly on the wall senses predict a close vote. Had we done a roll call the night it was discussed in the study session, I think it would have passed 4-3. Will Maupin would have recused himself and I believe he was doing that to get to a debate and to separate himself from an issue that could affect him.

Mike Shepherd, city councilman, was there and I’m not sure he will be tonight. He proposed this idea out there before Cary Bozeman resigned. I’m guessing he’d vote for it. Carol Arends was not there, but assuming she’s feeling better this week than last, she probably will be there. I don’t know how she would vote.

My question to Lubovich was whether the new mayor would be filling two different terms. If not, it would mean the salary couldn’t be cut, or would have to begin right away. The new mayor will be sworn in twice, once to finish this term and again around Jan. 1 to start the next one. If tonight’s measure passes, the new mayor will get the higher rate until Jan. 1.

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Brad Shannon at the Olympian writes about Gov. Chris Gregoire’s apparent frustration with legislators saying “Don’t cut this.” There’s a projected need to cut between $1.2 billion and $1.7 from the current budget, starting in January. A report that made specific recommendations has drawn some defensiveness from some legislators. From the story:

“The message to us to not cut anything really is not helpful. We need to be working together and figuring out how to get from where we are to the end,” Gregoire said.

Yet “don’t cut” is mostly the message she’s gotten after a consultant’s report last week recommended closures of some adult prison, juvenile prison and developmentally-disabled care facilities. And some lawmakers are faulting the study.

By the way, governor, don’t cut that new midday ferry run in Bremerton.

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