Neary-Sighted

I've always enjoyed a journalist who can bond with his readers, so one had to enjoy Ben Sclair's candid explanation of what happened to his paper's Friday edition. You have to look closely at the photo to realize he dived in with his jeans on to save the elderly gentleman. Bravo, Ben.

Speaking of The Suburban Times, I assume most of my readers check out his site as well. But a couple of posts are especially worth note because the news is important. First, there's Ed Kane's account of Parks Appreciation Day.

And there is an update - and a very, teeny tiny photo of a couple of noted hack writers - about Fort Steilacoom Park and the Ward building at this link. You will note that there are plans to put a survey about the Ward building and the park on the city web site; I'll let you know when that is up.

Ed Kane's story hits the highlights, but the most interesting part of the tour of the Ward building was when a couple of kids decided to actually spray-paint the ruins during the open house. You should have heard Parks Director Mary Dodsworth shout! Never make her mad ...

Finally, it's worth noting The News Tribune had a story about an accounting screw-up in 2004 in City Hall. The auditor's comments are fair until he gets to the subject of public comment and the implication that something was being hidden. Your hear conspiracy theories about the city from time to time, and given the composition of this City Council, such theories are hysterical.

Anyone who pays attention knows the Lakewood City Council could not conspire our way into making a peanut butter sandwich - one council member would want to use ham, another would want to use cheese, at least a couple of other council members would demand to know why bread was needed, etc... But we love it that way! You sure get lots of ideas anytime something comes up ...

Anyway, anyone who was around - and that understandably did not include Olympia bureaucrats - would know there was plenty of public discussion about whether to start a police department. There were endless discussions about what it was costing. The only way you would have missed that if you attended council meetings was if you attended them dead, and we would probably have noticed that in between the debates. But the auditor was right to sound off an alarm about what seems to have been sloppy accounting, and there's no question a formal public hearing should have been held on the item.

Me, I had to chuckle because I bet the state auditor was in town about this matter on the same day he spoke to the chamber of commerce. He sure did not give away anything about this city audit finding to the chamber, though it would have surely spiced up his speech.
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The recent Washington State Supreme Court case involving Lakewood is a call to action. The state high court overturned a Lakewood police practice. The court ruled that Lakewood police were wrong to check motel registers for criminals in our motels.

Lakewood 0, Meth community 1.

Well, this ruling sure woke me up about the Washington State Supreme Court. Perhaps many of us are guilty of not realizing the damage the justices can do to a city like Lakewood. We need to arm ourselves with information.

I don't know about you, but the biggest challenge I face in voting does not involve races like Congress or county or city council. Most voters know the feeling of getting to the ballot and seeing a bunch of names we don't recognize. There are often long lists of judges and judicial candidates whose names I may hear from time to time, but who I am otherwise unaware of. We don't know much about our judges.

The Supreme Court's ruling shows that it's important that we keep track of our judges. Surely, a reasonable opponent of crime might think that this one police procedure is legally wrong. Don't let any of this ex-editorial writer's inflammatory language make you think that I disrespect civil liberties. Reasonable people disagree. That's where you come in.

Some readers will have knowledge about these judges involving other cases that you have, or will in the future, keep track of. Please share your knowledge by clicking on the link that follows. Perhaps you can help me look for trends so we can think in terms of who to vote for in future elections. We need to know if someone consistently favors crime more often than not.

If you have information about the record of these judges, let me know, and I will share regular reports.

Ok, first off, the people who invalidated the Lakewood police process:


Justice Bobbe Bridge was the author of the opinion invalidating the Lakewood police procedure. What else do you know about her record? We know that Justice Bobbe Bridge admits to having driven while drunk. Good for her for at least admitting it and confronting the issue publicly; has there been a pattern of support in her court record for crime?

The question seems particular relevant because of what she wrote. Let me explain. The three opinions involved in this case all involved a reasonable difference of opinion about what should happen after someone signs a motel register. But toward the end of Justice Bridge's opinion, there are some disturbing comments that purport to be encouragement and advice.

We are not insensitive to the difficulties facing law enforcement in ensuring our motels and hotels remain relatively crime-free, but as a practical matter our holding does not unduly restrict the investigative powers of the police. Random, suspicionless registry checks are but one part of the Lakewood Crime-Free Hotel Motel Program. Law enforcement may continue to randomly run checks of the license plates of cars parked at the motels, provide training to motel owners, and encourage motel owners to be watchful of behavior evincing criminal activity. Reports of such observations may engender the requisite individualized suspicion that is notably missing from current program techniques. (bold lettering is mine)

"Notably missing?" Oh, how cute. The justices pretend to praise the program. But then the justices offer a slap saying the police are not allowing for "individualized suspicion" right now. If only the police applied some common sense, eh? How seemingly wonderful of the justices to share their crime-fighting knowledge. They want to show that freeing criminals has given them the ability to give advice to the cops who risk their lives on the streets.

But the language would be more clever if it had the force of accuracy. The language actually has the force of anti-law enforcement prejudice. In fact, Lakewood police work closely with business owners. The police I know bend over backward to involve business owners in crime prevention. Business owners are trained in many ways to be alert for crime, and report its possibility.

But here's a reasonable question: what would judges know about fighting crime? Do they know everything they should know? By signing this opinion, a majority of our Supreme Court justices show they seem to have missed any law school class where the professor revealed that criminals sometimes hide their activity.

Now again, the justice's error is understandable. Not all criminals do hide their activity. In whatever enclaves the justices can afford to live in, the most significant crime may well be drunken driving. Their biggest problem might be someone like, oh, a Supreme Court justice, going for a spin. This is where the wording of the ruling makes sense.

Motel owners (like anyone else) can observe someone like a state Supreme Court justice staggering around before or while driving. You could absolutely expect a motel owner to let police know if a potential drunken driver is around. No motel owner wants their kid mowed down dead by a drunken Washington State Supreme Court justice, or anyone else who is driving. Fair enough.

But the crimes that have traditionally plagued South Tacoma Way in Lakewood involve people who usually try to hide their activities. These are people who do not necessarily weave on the road. The crimes involve drug users, drug manufacturers and prostitutes bringing customers to the motels.

And, in some cases, the owners and/or operators of the motels actually encourage the illegality - or simply turn their back on it - in order to get paying tenants. In those few cases, the motel owners and/or operators may be accomplices. But of course, in the low-crime paradises where Supreme Court justices apparently live, they don't see that kind of crime. I bet the hotel owners in their areas are not accomplices. Good for the justices. It's a shame their lack of experience with crime hurts Lakewood.

Judge Bridge's "advice" is misguided at best, and patronizing at worst. Lakewood police have knitted together a masterful program to combat motel crime that is recognized in this state as a model; for judges outside the city to take it apart is just wrong factually and morally.

It's all the more galling because the comment was not necessary. If the justices want to free up criminals, it's the right they earned by cozying up to the governor that appointed them and/or supporters who give them campaign cash. But criticizing our Lakewood police is just cheap.

But back to the subject - is there a pattern of assuming police are wrong without the facts, and that criminals are right? What do you want to share about Judge Bridge's record? Let me know and I will digest the factual information I get and share it with you. The same question goes for the other judges who signed Bridge's opinion:


Chief Justice Gerry Alexander




Justice Tom Chambers




Justice Mary E. Fairhurst




Justice Susan Owens



Justice Richard E. Sanders



Three other justices shared two different written opinions. Taken at face value, these opinions come out against crime, but disagree about the lawfulness of the Lakewood police procedure.


Quite frankly, Justice James M. Johnson comes off the best of anyone on the court in this one case (but remember my limitations in this opinion. As I wrote above, I am very much not an expert on the court as a whole. that's what all these postings are about - looking to you for help)

The reason I say his ruling impressed me is that Justice Johnson's opinion resists extremes. The justice writes that he believes that the Lakewood practice was not legal, but that it would take only a simple change to make it legal. His suggestion is that motels who want to participate alert customers that anyone signing their name should know that it may be made available to police. In that case, the customer could not then later claim his or her privacy rights were violated.

So here we have a guy who suggests a practical alternative to something which, in all honesty, may very well be illegal based on the opinion of seven judges. I really admire people who are constructive. I could not find any cheap shots in his ruling directed at Lakewood police, which shows he has more class than the majority. But what do you know of Judge Johnson's record? Share your comments.

And the same request is true for two justices who wrote a dissenting opinion that supported the Lakewood anti-crime program. Obviously, in this case, they believe a police tool against crime was lawful. But what else should we know about them related to positions on crime?

Justice Barbara Madsen wrote the opinion that would have validated the Lakewood program, so obviously in this case law-abiding Lakewood residents and business owners owe her thanks.

Justice Charles Johnson voted in support of the anti-crime opinion, and here again, in this case law-abiding Lakewood residents and business owners owe him thanks.

I should, by now, apologize for the length of this post. I experimented with dividing it into different posts and sections, but those ended up at different spots on the page. I want to quickly close with links for more information, if you want to know more about the case. Here are some news accounts, and primary sources.

The News Tribune account
The Associated Press account

Here is the opinion, written by Judge Bobbe Bridge and signed by five other justices, that supports crime in Lakewood

(oh, did you want me to say that in a more subtle way? Send me a note and I will share your opinions with my win-win implementation consensus study team)

http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/index.cfm?fa=opinions.showOpinion&filename=768005MAJ

Here is the opinion by Justice James M. Johnson that says the Lakewood program was not legal, but that a modification would allow law enforcement to prevent crime:
http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/index.cfm?fa=opinions.showOpinion&filename=768005Co1

Finally, here is the opinion by Justices Barbara Madsen and Charles Johnson that agrees with the trial court and first appellate court in upholding the Lakewood program:
http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/index.cfm?fa=opinions.showOpinion&filename=768005Di1
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You'll recall we've had lively discussions about a tax break in Lakewood that gives developers an incentive to build more apartments. My take on the subject is that Lakewood already has a larger percentage than surrounding communities of rental properties, and we don't need to hand breaks to developers in such a broad way. Intentionally or not, there is very little information out there about how various cities and developers have used the tax break strategically, leading to concerns that it is being abused. A lack of information always muddies a discussion.

So it's good to read that the Legislature has at least re-examined the subject, as discussed in Peter Callaghan's latest column. He writes that House Bill 1910 would adjust the tax break to promote affordable housing and call for gathering more information about how the tax break has been used. One thing that I found frustrating is that there is no clearinghouse for information about this tax break, so it's hard to know which cities have used it most effectively. If you don't know who has used it effectively, you don't know who to model your program after.

If you want to read more about the topic, you can find a legislative staff report here.
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Update from April 30: We're now a couple days away from surgery. While I don't want to take away anything I said below - there are some very nice people who work at St. Joe's - I am mighty interested now in what you think of the women's health program there. If you have had experiences with the women's health program at St. Joseph Medical Clinic that you would like to share, please click here. All responses will be kept private; I'm mostly just looking for trends.

As some of you may know, a family member had non-emergency surgery Thursday. For years, I've seen St. Joe's on the hill, and wondered about what it looks like inside the portholes (if you are familiar with the windows of the building, you know what I mean)

We're back at home, and all seems well for now. The one takeaway lesson from St. Joseph Medical Center is that the usual rules for hospitals apply: you want to make sure you have someone else there beside the patient to remind staff of the patient's wants and needs. But the food is great, which was astonishing; and the staff members were always smiling and introducing themselves, which is even more astonishing. I never actually saw a grumpy hospital staff member. That's a great accomplishment in this day and age of managed medicine.

I'm not intending a knock at UW Medical Center, where I used to work. There are amazing people there too. If I was struck with something in Seattle or had a doctor there, UW Medical Center is the first place I would go. But because I worked at a hospital, I know firsthand what a challenge it is to continually communicate the importance of patient-oriented care to a stressed staff. They seem to succeed with such messages at St. Joe's, and that's impressive. I met some super-nice people there, and am grateful for each one of them.
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The Fort Steilacoom Museum board of directors has been working since the mid-1990s to save the buildings of Fort Steilacoom, the first official U.S. presence in Washington Territory. You have followed our progress, through such postings as this one.

I've been out of town, so I missed the 'day of' news, but here's the official word from the state budget:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2027. FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH
2 SERVICES
3 Minor Works - Program Projects (08-2-365)
4 The appropriation in this section is subject to the following
5 conditions and limitations: Up to $250,000 is provided for roof
6 repairs of historic homes on the grounds of western state hospital.

What that means, my friends, is that the state budget includes funding for the roofs.

I'm trying to figure out why my heart is beating so quickly. I think it's because there is no cause I have been affiliated with for so long. So to see the buildings saved - to know that the stories of Chief Leschi and George Pickett and so many others can still be told - is just overwhelming.

I am particularly grateful to Senator Mike Carrell for his interest in the buildings, and for his direct approach to DSHS and the budget process. The fort is also indebted to News Tribune Peter Callaghan for his help in publicizing these buildings.

Fort Steilacoom Museum stands in the shadow of a mental hospital; not everyone can look past mental images and imaginings about Western State and see the museum. But those buildings - symbols of the lives lived there - tell important stories that must be heard.

Schoolchildren will be able to visit these buildings for decades to come. Lakewood can continue to grow its tourism industry. With this funding, there is implication after implication for the betterment of Lakewood. There is so much potential in this community - More later.
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Given your correspondent's background in newspapers, it's worth sharing a shout of joy that the Seattle newspapers settled their disagreements. Seattle will, for the forseeable future, be a two-newspaper town. (And more than two papers, if you count the weekly papers) That matters because the Seattle papers often write about regional and state issues. Their quality is important.

Most of us assumed the Seattle papers would go the way of The Oregonian or The Los Angeles Times: one gigantic mega-paper trying to be all things. Such papers can often do a mega-story that covers one issue really well; but the casualty is that local stories suffer.

It's clear from the settlement that the Seattle publishers realize the days of new mega-papers are gone; the Internet has forced papers to think locally and appreciate local community stories again. The News Tribune, for example, has created a 'neighborhoods' blog.

One funny aspect surfaces in today's Times. The reason I share this link is that many of you will remember that The Lakewood Journal was a tabloid-shaped paper. We occasionally got kidded about this, since much of the trash out there masquerading as papers, such as the National Enquirer, is in tabloid format. I will never forget a News Tribune solicitation to advertisers that took a swipe at our paper by noting their broadsheet format was "more credible."

So it's a chuckle that apparently the Seattle P-I is at least thinking of going to a tabloid format.

There have been a number of stories published about the Seattle arrangement, and none of them reflect a sunny future for papers. Check out this article from The Times just after the settlement.

It's no surprise that you are seeing online papers like The Suburban Times arise. As another example of the genre, when you have a second, visit this Seattle version of an online newspaper.

Final note: All of the Washington papers are taking various stabs are trying to make sense of the new order. Perhaps the most publicly thoughtful is the Spokesman-Review of Spokane. If you are interested in the future of papers, it is worth visiting their site from time to time. They assigned a senior editor to study the future of papers. An informative update, with a link to her 47-page report, can be found here. The Spokane paper's current inventory of blogs - and of course, the Internet is only part of the print newspaper story - is available at this link.
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There is much discussion about what to do about the ruins of an old ward building at Fort Steilacoom Park. A long-awaited community summit will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24, at Pierce College. Note that there will be volunteers at the ruin itself, starting at 4:30, if you have not been by there in awhile.

Please check out this info from our parks department. Join us, if you are interested in learning more or speaking out with your ideas.
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You can see the massive building going up as you drive past on Steilacoom Boulevard: a new student center at Clover Park Technical College. The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce board had a chance to tour the building Thursday. The chamber offices are only one parking lot away, so it was an easy walk. The building and grounds are nowhere near finished; the center won't open until early winter. But you can see wonderful spaces emerging.

Here are some photos that hint at the enormity of the new gathering spaces, and how open and airy the building will look when finished. A number of major Lakewood events will probably move to this building once it opens, so be prepared to see a lot more of it.




I'm going to take a stab at uploading a couple of small movies. These may or may not work on your computer, as they are Quicktime files (the free player is here). But if you can call them up, you will be able to see Clover Park's Tony Robinson talking about the new conference facility (which could seat 600-plus for dinner and 1,500 for a meeting) as well as a panorama I filmed from near the entrance of the conference room.

Here is the panorama.
Here's Tony talking about the conference room.
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Wanted to share some happy news with you: The publisher reports that "Images of America: Lakewood" has sold about 2,500 copies through December. That total does not include sales in 2007.

Co-author Steve Dunkelberger and I are very pleased. A couple years ago, when we were still deciding whether to take on the book, we heard the Fort Lewis book had sold about 2,500 copies. We thought that sounded like an enormous number. It's gratifying - and in retrospect, not at all surprising - so many people care about Lakewood history.
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With the tax deadline approaching, it's probably a bad day to place the word 'auditor' in a headline. But today we're talking about the state auditor, Brian Sonntag.

Sonntag, a Tacoma resident, came to a Lakewood Chamber of Commerce lunch recently to talk about performance audits. His office has been charged with doing comprehensive performance audits around the state (you can get more background about this new state direction by clicking here)

A performance audit reviews the staffing and productivity of government operations. The audit involves review and analysis by an impartial body that compares operations in one government agency to the operations of other government agencies.

Audits get the biggest headlines when they uncover waste or even embezzlement. But in general, an audit is supposed to fine-tune government. An audit is supposed to be a way for citizens to have more confidence in government.

I have an old friend in California - another former reporter - who does performance audits in the Bay Area. He surprised me by saying that a good chunk of the time, an audit determines that a government agency actually needs more people to do the job right.

There is a lot of potential for performance audits in Lakewood. Citizens often express curiousity about whether such-and-such department is either overstaffed or understaffed. Some people in town like to say they see waste; there are also those who say various departments don't have enough people to fulfill the mission of Lakewood. Sometimes it's the same people saying both things. It is not unusual to hear a given citizen say one department should have more staff, and another department have fewer staff.

Given that Lakewood is still a relatively new city, it would make sense for us to do more to instill public confidence and review our operations.

To be brief, Sonntag's message was that a performance audit is an enormous amount of work. Between his talk and discussions afterward with county staff who do audits, I learned that you cannot and should not just turn over a performance audit to an outside consultant who charged by the hour.

If Lakewood wants to do performance audits, the council would need to set up a special committee and put a lot of time and energy into the process. Given that our council has resisted the idea of subcommittees, it might not happen. But those of us in the room were grateful for what Sonntag shared with us about state audits, and were much better informed should they ever take place in Lakewood.
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The city of Lakewood will be offering a crash course in local government over two nights this month. Lakewood University is a great way to learn more about how things work, how they should work, and how you can help them work. Please consider contacting City Hall if you have the time and are interested: it's a great education.

Here's the official city notice:

LAKEWOOD UNIVERSITY



Are you interested in learning more about the City of Lakewood and local government?

Sign up now for Lakewood University!


Lakewood University is a two-day course that will teach you all about how your local government works for you.

This is an opportunity for citizens to learn more about Lakewood and find out about current topics like public safety programs, economic development efforts and what is going on in our parks - plus a lot more.

Wednesday, April 18 – 5:00 to 9:00 pm*

Wednesday, April 25 – 5:00 to 9:00 pm*

Lakewood City Hall Council Chambers

Space is limited to the first 50, so please contact Melody Perrussel at mperrussel@cityoflakewood.us or 253-983-7769 to reserve your seat.

All Graduates will receive an honorary Lakewood University Diploma and t-shirt.

**Refreshments will be provided from 5:00 to 5:30 pm.
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