Why would Hedrick and Herrera be at the same meet and greet.... now?

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Yesterday, I suggested that David Hedrick produce the real owners of the web site "washingtonstatepolls.com" to put the idea that he, in fact, owns the web site totally to bed.

There was no response to that as I expected.

Now, we have a history with Ridgefield Barbie, where one of her Winged Monkeys made the offer to pay Chris Boyd's filing fee if he would just stay in the race (Right, Nan?) and then, we connect another dot and see where Babs and Hedrick are making a joint appearance at the Capitol of Kool Aid, Cowlitz GOP Headquarters.

Doesn't that seem just the tiniest bit.... well.... odd?

Why would Hedrick, who, in his world, has presented himself on radio ads as the "leading Republican candidate" in the 3rd CD, want to spend any quality time in public with the empty suit?

As usual, Lew Waters drills down to the sub-atomic level and asks the questions that both of them should be answering:

Herrera & Hedrick Primary Victory Party, 12 Days Before the Primary?

Cross posted at Jaime Herrera Watch.
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David Barnett is on the ropes: Huge Snohomish project heading to foreclosure.

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Regular readers know what I think about the megacasino project that David Barnett and the LaCenter city government want jammed down our throats.

David Barnett has "fallen" into hard times... head first.

Unfortunately, I cannot find it within myself to be any more concerned about his problems than he is about ours... or the problems his herpes-on-our-economy will cause... which is not at all.

These things may be taking care of themselves, however... since this cancer of corruption on our local economy and politics seems to be broke.

Best known for his lies and restraining orders from women, Barnett is apparently in, or heading towards, default and foreclosure. And it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Thanks to the anon poster who provided this information... otherwise, it might have got past me.
Publish Reject 1

So: Megacasino developer has happen to him what he... (1)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/20...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011454345_barnett27m.html

A developer who wanted to build a 6,000-home community near Lake Roesiger in rural Snohomish County is in default on his property.

A notice posted last week at the 2,600-acre commercial forestland, owned by Shoreline developer Dave Barnett, says he owes $15.6 million on the property and
must pay within 30 days or the bank, First Citizens Bank and Trust Co. of
Raleigh, N.C., will move to foreclosure.

(anonymous)

And how cool is that?
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Schimmel the Shiller, at it again.

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As I pointed out earlier, Gary Schimmel has abandoned any pretense of fairness or objectivity in violation of the duties of his office of Cowlitz County GOP Chair.

Shannon Barnett, of course, can have anyone he wants screwing up his campaign. But Schimmel's efforts so far have resulted in a, well, less than stellar outcome, and hanging someone so lacking in ethics around your neck that they would exercise such an abuse of power in their over-the-top support of a candidate in an open primary would provide cause for anyone else to reconsider his "help."

So what's Schimmel done now?

He sent out a bizarre notice of a "birthday party" fund raising notice for the candidate he's working so hard to protect in the 18th District open primary:

Notice the bizarre disclaimer?

Here. Let me help them with that:

We are forwarding this campaign information as a service. The Cowlitz County Republicans have not endorsed any candidate in this race. But the Cowlitz County Republican Chair is totally in the tank for this guy, and will continue to abuse his authority and position to make sure he gets elected.

These actions are indefensible and despicable. Schimmel should resign, and Barnett should know better. Clearly, they deserve each other.
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Someone claiming to be Gary Schimmel swings by: Ethics are no big deal.

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Not long ago (day before yesterday) I suggested that the Chair of the Cowlitz County GOP should resign for his now active conflict of interest in both refusing to utilize the Cowlitz County GOP email list to pass along campaign communiques or press releases which don't meet his arbitrary standard of acceptability, particularly when he has to fabricate fictional reasons for when those efforts don't pass his muster; and his endorsement of any candidate in a contested, open, primary.

As a result of that endorsement, he has made the decision to censor the communications of other candidates with districts that include any part of Cowlitz County, there by exercising his control in a completely unethical manner to support candidates he has endorsed.

That kind of tyrannical application of an arbitrary standard has a basis in such luminarious local political systems as North Korea... Iran... Nazi Germany... and the Soviet Union, to name a few.

And given how weak the candidate he's now shilling for actually is, I can understand his fear that telling the people the truth about that candidate's competition would certainly further endanger said candidate's dimming chances while further calling into question the judgment of anyone who would endorse him in the first place, particularly when such an endorsement is improper, unethical and a violation of the tenets of the office he holds.

Apparently, in Gary Schimmel's world, ethics are no big thing.

Someone claiming to be Schimmel swung by and left the following comment to my post demanding his resignation:

Comments per page:
Unreviewed Comments (Sort: Post Name, Comment Date) Select: All, None
Publish Reject 1 – 2 of 2

Thank you for the offer. I do not plan on resigning. I am to[sic] excited about the[sic] getting the right candidates into office; and yes, I do want the "right" candidate to succeed.......................................................................... (Gary Schimmel) 1:19 PM

Publish Reject

Naturally, if he wanted the "right" candidate to succeed, he wouldn't be wasting his time with the one he's chosen.

And, of course, no where did I indicate that county chairs could not have people they support. As misguided as it is to want Shannon Barnett elected to anything, that, of course, is Schimmel's right.

But there is no excuse for publicly endorsing any candidate in a contested primary, and there is certainly no excuse for abusing the authority of your position by silencing anyone wise enough to run against your boy.

I am given to understand that because of Schimmel's juvenile antics with communications that show the weaknesses of Schimmel's choice, the candidate in question will not be allowed to use the Clark County GOP net as he otherwise would be if his puppet would give people the credit they deserve and allow them the right to read these things and make up their own minds without being told what to think by those with an insipid bias.

I've frequently wondered why Cowlitz County is controlled by democrats. All 3 commissioners are democrats, even though it's immediate neighbor to the south is controlled by Republicans.

Now I know.

Good job, Gary. And you really should take me up on my offer.
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Fortunately, things are looking worse for the Cowlitz Criminal Casino

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It sure seems like that organized crime enterprise known as the Cowlitz Megacasino is circling the drain.

Exactly as it should be.

An article in our local paper lays out their well-deserved pain.... but in their idiotic attempt to get someone... anyone to buy their swindle sheet (This story was emailed to me, anyway), they kept this story off the web site. This one came out on Sunday.

Casinos generally are getting hammered across the planet. Fortunately for us, that includes the Mohegan Sun, the folks who were supposed to write the checks for this economic black hole here in SW Washington.

To call the Mohegans incompetent is to do a disservice to the word. They signed such a lousy agreement for management that the people running the casino are now pulling more money out then the Tribe itself. And there's trouble in Mohegan City... the kind of trouble I like to see.

Reports have it that the driving force who stood to make millions off his "tribe," the casino developer, may never complete recover from his latest adventure. The Carcieri decision, which keeps tribes not recognized in 1934 from having land put into trust, has delivered a mighty blow to the prospective absentee landowners from California, Connecticut and the Puget Sound area who expected to screw us and suck hundreds of millions out of our local economy... even though they lied through their teeth and told us that the decision would have no effect on the outcome.

Now, they play a different tune.

Early on, tribal shill Phil Harju tried to get anyone who would listen to actually believe that Carcieri made no difference.

Now, he's finally grappling with reality. The article says:

If that bill (The so-called "Carcieri Fix") isn't passed, the casino plan may fall apart.

"We don't have any money to spend on lobbyists or any of that stuff," tribal spokesman Phil Harju (Who took over from multiple-restraining-order-by-women David Barnett, casino developer as chief mouthpiece)

FINALLY acknowledging what I wrote at the time.

With the default of Foxwoods (Literally, just down the street from the Mohegan Sun) the writing is on the wall. According to the article:

The Mohegans, in fact, have written off $8.6 million (of $28.7 million wasted so far) a third of their investment so far, on the expectation that the whole deal could fall through."

In addition, the Mohegans are popping the Cowlitz a paltry (and whopping) 15% interest rate for a $10 million, 1 year loan given out last September.

Yes, things look extremely bleak for those shilling this blight on our community.

And it couldn't happen to a nicer group.
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So: Megacasino developer has happen to him what he would do to us.

Poor David Barnett. Two restraining orders from two different women, and now it appears that another one has wrecked him.... precisely like he wants to wreck us.

Barnett, who has as much Cowlitz blood in him as my newly bought Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is doing everything he can to ram a massive casino down our throats here in Clark County.

When he hasn't been busy channeling Chief Umtuch, he's been busy insulting, threatening and intimidating public officials smart enough to oppose his perfidy, save for those like democrat County Commissioner Steve Stuart, who Barnett bought for a paltry $100,000 back in 2005, and elected official wannabes like Pam Brokaw, who was the recipient (indirectly, of course) of over $100.000 MORE dollars in additional lame efforts to buy ANOTHER county commissioner (democrat, of course) that blew up in his face when Brokaw was beaten by Republican Commissioner Tom Mielke.

Barnett has run onto hard financial times, lately; problems that have kept him from trying to buy elections in the most recent round... although the $40,000 channelled to Tim "The Liar" Leavitt through a New York City union smacks of the same kind of corruption that bought Steve Stuart; money laundered through Progressive Majority out of Washington, D.C.; a technique that DOES have the kind of fingerprints Barnett is known for. (I'm in the midst of investigating that right now with the help of the New York version of our PDC) on the surface, at least, even though another local blog claimed that Barnett played in a Snohomish County commissioner race (and lost there, as well) there is no evidence to support that any effort was made by Barnett against Somers... unless, of course, those making that effort failed to file with the state... and guys like Barnett would never do THAT, would they?

So, when news made it down here that this thug had been folded up like a pretzel and stuffed into intensive care at Harborview (I was only disappointed that karma hadn't dealt an even more severe blow, and taken him out of our picture permanently.) I could hardly be upset.

Those foaming at that mouth to get that criminal enterprise opened down here will feign anger at my insensitivity. And that is too damned bad.

Barnett and most of the thugs supporting him (particularly those who stand to get the big checks) have never lived in our community; do not live in our community; and never WILL live in our community; and will not have to suffer the many massive negative impacts this massive criminal enterprise will cause.

So, if he's in traction with tubes coming out of every orifice, I can't say I'm sorry about that, since that is precisely what he plans for SW Washington.

With any luck at all....

Casino developer injured in auto crash

Tuesday, November 17 | 1:19 p.m.

BY MICHAEL ANDERSEN
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Cowlitz casino developer David Barnett was in serious condition Tuesday afternoon after a Monday morning car crash.

Barnett, 49, was critically injured and unconscious after being thrown from the bed of a Toyota pickup at 6 a.m. Monday in Shoreline, police said.

No other vehicles were involved, the King County sheriff’s office said. The pickup’s female driver, 36, was uninjured.

The accident occurred five blocks from Barnett’s $1.3 million home on Puget Sound.

An emergency vehicle rushed Barnett to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said Sgt. John Urquhart of the sheriff’s office.

By Tuesday afternoon, his condition had improved from "critical" to "serious," according to a hospital spokeswoman, meaning Barnett’s life was not in immediate danger.

Detectives for the King County Sheriff’s Office were investigating the accident as a possible case of vehicular assault, Urquhart said.

That charge is used in cases of reckless driving or use of drugs or alcohol.

Urquhart described the pickup’s driver as Barnett’s "live-in roommate, whatever you want to call her."

He said a sample of her blood has been sent to a state lab and is likely to return in six to eight weeks.

More:

Steve Stuart's bachelor party? I'm surprised it wasn't sponsored by David Barnett and the Paskenta/Mohegan/Cowlitz Mob.

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So, two of Tim the Liar Leavitt's biggest supporters are going to merge their operations.

Steve "$100,000 in cold hard cash" Stuart is getting married. And in keeping with their position as the local democrat newsletter, the local rag has to tell us about it.

Steve's a bright guy. Like that empty-suited, anti-American racist bigot in the White House, ol' Steve graduated from law school. Course, he never passed the Bar... but at least he graduated from a school.

Steve is a Clark County Commissioner. Now, the ONLY reason he's a Clark County Commissioner is because one David Barnett illegally laundered $100,000 through a fringe democrat front group, one Progressive Majority, who then illegally spent almost $90,000 of it getting Stuart elected back on 2005.

Now, I'm given to understand that Stuart knew that Barnett was going to be bundling this illegal cash for what is SUPPOSED to be an "independent expenditure" in August of that year. Barnett cheerfully gave up that, to him, minor amount of cash; because he, Barnett, knew that Stuart's then opponent, now Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke, would do everything he could to keep the organized crime project then known as the Barnett/Mohegan/Cowlitz megacasino from being built and injuring our economy, overloading our infrastructure and screwing up our community.

Stuart, on the other hand.... not so much.

Now, Barnett has a history of attempting to buy politicians. In his ignorance (and for a guy with so much money, his political ignorance is frightening) Barnett gets hosed by consultants, has no sense of timing, and is dramatically unconcerned about a few mundane issues like election laws.

The first effort Barnett made to buy an election was with our own, inimitable, Pam Brokaw, back in the 2004 cycle.

Richard Curtis was running against Brokaw in the 18th District. Brokaw had no experience or qualification to be a state representative... just like she had none to be a county commissioner... but she was running for an open seat and the local newspaper only endorses democrats in open seats.

It's their history and an editorial policy or something.

Curtis was, at the time, strongly opposed to the criminal enterprise on the drawing board for the LaCenter exit of I-5. Brokaw never stood a chance, since in addition to her myriad of other talents, she supported gay marriage and partial birth abortion, two non-starters in the heavily conservative 18th.

Towards the end of her inevitable political demise, David Barnett swoopes in and dumps a cool $25,000 or so into an "independent expenditure" through Washington Conservation Voters, of all people, who then did a rather pathetic mailer accusing Curtis of supporting I-892, an initiative that would have started the process of ending the tribal gambling monopoly had it passed.

Washington Conservation Voters, like Progressive Majority, is a leftist front group that can be bought when the price is right... like Barnett bought them here.

Barnett has a LOT of money... so, he likes to "buy" things... "things" like politicians and groups, typically portrayed by media (How many times as our local stain on journalism relied on the WCV for quotes, positions and bulletins?) as having some level of worth or stature that they are wholly undeserving of.

Barnett's political ignorance showed. This time, he left an easily discovered paper trail, and his efforts to buy Brokaw blew up in his face, and Brokaw was blown out in the general.

But for Barnett, it was a teaching moment. He knew he had compromised his effectiveness in buying a candidate by doing it in such a way that his paper trail could be discovered and used both as proof of his efforts to corrupt OUR election, and that a politician had been bought.

So, in 2005, Stuart was up in a special election. Stuart had been appointed to replace Craig Pridemore who, in a stunningly moronic move, gave up his commissioner's seat to become a state senator... a position that earned half the money and ten times the frustration.

Stuart, the democrat, ran against Mielke, the Republican. Tom ran a solid campaign, and was ahead on points... when Barnett's $100,000 hit... $100,000 that Stuart KNEW was going to hit, months before.

Barnett knew that Mielke was a threat to his plan to screw our community, so $100,000 was chump change to buy a commissioner and eliminate an enemy. And it worked like a charm, THIS time, because he laundered his money through an out of state organization, with completely different reporting requirements. In fact, it wasn't until December of that year that it could be proved that Barnett had bought and paid for Stuart by laundering tens of thousands through Progressive Majority.

The $100,000 bought Stuart a series of mailers full of lies, half truths and exaggerations... and Stuart barely won.

Had Barnett not corrupted our election, Stuart would be pumping gas in Oregon, or something, instead of raping us on the unneeded and unwanted I-5 Bridge replacement/loot rail scam.

He also wouldn't be doing all he could to get that casino in here, like he did with that bogus rescission resolution that made the Cowlitz thug squad so positively giddy.

Barnett, not having learned his lesson the first time, tried to stop the bleeding again with Brokaw; a candidate who went around saying that she would kick Mielke's ass since she had it all her way.

She had a HUGE fund raising edge (something like 4 to 1) and a leftist tide sweeping the land as Obama easily won Clark County.

What she DIDN'T have was an anti-bridge/tolls/loot rail/casino position. She was owned by the unions and by the casino.

Fortunately for our community, Mielke had all of those things, so thousands who voted for Obama then turned around and voted for Mielke.

And they voted for Mileke in spite of Brokaw arranging to have Barnett dump almost $80,000 into the last 72 hours or so of the election.

You would have thought Barnett would have known better.

But then, it had worked with Stuart... so why wouldn't it work with Brokaw?

So, congratulations to Steve Stuart and what's her face. May Stuart's corrupt political career end as soon as possible, and may you both find happiness in whatever Stuart's next career is going to be... pumping gas in Oregon, or whatever.
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The future of the Barnett Megacasino and La Center?

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Strangely similar to the La Center debacle and the city council members/mayor in Barnett's pocket:

Mill Casino refuses to pay North Bend

The tribe wants a new agreement on what it pays the city for sewer services and police and fire protection

By Winston Ross

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Friday, Jul 3, 2009

Winston Ross/The Register-Guard
The Coquille Tribe is withholding $88,000 in payments to the city of North Bend that the tribe agreed to pay in lieu of property taxes.

As sovereign nations, Oregon Indian tribes aren’t subject to the local and state laws that would require them to pay property taxes or collect occupancy taxes from guests at their hotels.

The flip side is that municipalities aren’t required to handle sewage, dispatch police or put out fires on tribal-owned land that’s exempt from such laws.

That’s why some tribes, including the owners of the Three Rivers Casino in Florence and The Mill Casino in North Bend, have inked deals with their corresponding city governments in which they agree to make such payments anyway — in exchange for sewer services and police and fire protection.

Critics of casinos in Oregon have long questioned whether those contracts would hold up in a court of law, given that tribes remain sovereign governments immune from being sued in a U.S. court, in the same sense that the city of Florence couldn’t sue France. Now comes a potential test of that question.

Since January, the Coquille Tribe hasn’t been paying its agreed-upon amount for occupancy taxes for the Mill, which by the end of last month represented about an $88,000 hit to North Bend’s general fund. Tribal attorney Brett Kenney says that’s because the Coquilles have tried and failed over the past year to renegotiate the agreement with the city, and that the money is being “set aside” until a new deal can be worked out. North Bend Mayor Rick Wetherell said he’s frustrated about the turn of events, which affects not just the city’s budget but also funding for regional tourism efforts, as some of the occupancy tax is funneled toward that purpose.

“We are extremely disappointed,” Wetherell said. “In the past, we’ve had a cooperative working relationship with the Coquille Indian Tribe.”

Wetherell is mum, on the advice of city attorneys, about what legal recourse North Bend may have in response to the standoff, whether the city will try to sue the tribe or withhold the services it provides to the casino because the Coquilles aren’t paying their bills. Kenney said he’s confident a new agreement can be reached.

“A lot of things have changed in the past 14 years for the tribe,” Kenney said. “This is an effort to make sure the tribe pays its fair share.”

Because Kenney said he doesn’t want to negotiate the contract in the press, he won’t say how the deal with the city could become any more fair. Kenney said the tribe is paying more than other property owners and hotel and motel owners in the city, but the agreement specifically refutes that claim:

“(The Coquille Economic Development Corporation) and the Tribe agree that the City will be paid at the same rate for occupied rooms at any motel or hotel operated at The Mill as are charged to other motels and hotels within the City under present and future ordinance provisions,” the agreement reads. The property tax rate is also equal to the city’s rate, according to the contract.

Kenney said it’s unfair that the city receives more in payments from the tribe than it would from another taxpayer. However, that’s because the money from the Coquilles doesn’t get split up among various taxing districts, as it does with property taxes. The total amount the tribe pays isn’t more than others would pay, he acknowledged, though he added that the agreement has no sunset clause.

“The agreement was entered into at a time when the tribe had few resources at its disposal,” Kenney said.

This bargaining tactic follows an apparently rough period for the tribe’s finances. After a $40 million expansion of its hotel last year, the casino laid off 7 percent of its work force — 37 employees — in October, saying the global economic downturn had taken its toll on people’s willingness to spend money on leisure-related activities.

Last year, the tribe paid $440,000 in lieu of taxes to the city, so the $88,000 it is holding back for the first half of this year is only a fraction of that. But if the city decides it’s a perfectly reasonable amount — because it’s based on what anyone else would pay — it could raise some interesting questions about tribal sovereignty.

In dozens of court cases across the United States in recent years, municipal governments and private citizens have found themselves unable to force Indian tribes to even show up in court. There is a waiver of sovereign immunity in the tribe’s contract with North Bend, but the city has never tried to sue the Coquilles in the past, so that language has never been tested in court.

Kenney said he would let the waiver “speak for itself,” adding that the tribe is committed to ensuring that the casino and its hotel continue to receive the city services it has in the past. He said he expects to meet with city leaders in the next few weeks to work out a new agreement.

“A lot of things have changed in the past 14 years for the tribe.”

— Brett Kenney, tribal attorney

Gee.... where are we hearing this now? The similarities are striking, are they not? All the Barnett/Cowlitz promises... not unlike the promises made by the Coquille Tribe to suck North Bend into THEIR sewer agreement.

Of course, if I was running the show in North Bend, I would immediately shut off the sewer line AND end police or fire presence on tribal land... but that's just me.

And any of the morons supporting the massive pimple on Clark County's butt known as the Barnett/Paskenta/Mohegan/Cowlitz Megacasino who don't, for one second, believe that the people running that casino wouldn't do the precise same thing if they felt like it have a screw loose.
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So, has David Barnett bought Brian Baird like he bought Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart?

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Interesting goin's ons in DC, where our local "72 hour bill" hypocrite Congressman Brian Baird has introduced HR 3084, the "To restore Federal recognition to the Chinook Nation, and for other purposes."

By now, we all know the story of David Barnett's purchase of Steve Stuart, bought for $100,000 on the barrelhead, money bundled to Progressive Majority who then proceeded to use it to buy Stuart the election back in 2005.

Ever since then, Stuart has carried Barnett's water like Gunga Din. Why shouldn't he? Even though our ever-corruption conscious democrats remain silent about that particular brand of corruption, since it's one of their own involved; that doesn't change the fact that even the 13th Amendment hasn't freed Mr. Stuart from his massa.

The question, though, is this: has Barnett's efforts extended to our own Congressman?

Let's review, shall we?

Baird has remained silent on the matter of the organized crime effort of the Barnett/Paskenta/Mohegan/Cowlitz megacasino.

Why?

He's had no difficulty coming out in total opposition to the LNG plant, even though he offers no alternative; does not deny that we need the increased capabilities of the plant AND THE PLANT ISN'T EVEN IN HIS DISTRICT.

Yet, the economic black hole of the Barnett megacasino is almost precisely in the population center of his district; the vast majority of community and business leaders have come out firmly in opposition... and what does Baird do?

Nothing.

And that brings us to this sorry effort.

This Bill, located here:
Acknowledges the presence of the Chinooks in the following counties:

(b) Service Area- For purposes of the delivery of Federal services to enrolled members of the Tribe, the Tribe’s service area shall consist of Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, and Clark Counties, Washington, and Clatsop and Columbia Counties, Oregon.

Yet, oddly enough, under subsection (c) Restrictions on Land Taken in Trust -, we find the following:

(2) The Secretary shall not accept any real property in trust for the benefit of the Tribe that is not located within the political boundaries of Pacific, Wahkiakum, or Cowlitz County, Washington.

Odd, that. Why not Clark County? Why not Clatsop and Columbia Counties?

Could it be that Baird has been ordered to restrict these people so the Barnett Megacasino has no competition?

What other possible reason could there be? And who could possibly force Baird to do this?

Gee. I dunno. Who do YOU think?

Sometimes, judges mystify me.

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I admit it, I have a degree in government/political science. Much of what I learned was based on how concepts are SUPPOSED to be implemented when it comes to governing. Some of it was political philosophy, or how some believe that their perspective is the one that should be followed.

So, when I open up a newspaper and see a headline that says "Judge says tax increase should have been considered to balance county's budget," I have to ask myself: "What kind of a moron would say such a thing... and why would a newspaper report it?

Judges have a certain amount of power under our governmental system. They certainly interpret the laws they're asked to, well, judge. But in this instance, this judge's take on what the county "should" have done is just his opinion, no more worthy of consideration than, say, Joe Sixpack's complaints that taxes are too high.

How the Cowlitz County Commissioners resolved their budget shortfall is really none of this judge's business; much like how this judge were to rule in, say, a given murder trial on the admissibility of a weapon is none of the commissioner's business.

That the commissioners made this decision is not subject to Judge Jim Warme's review or approval. If the Judge would like to enter into the business of government, then he should feel free to engage in running for the position of county commissioner like anyone else.

As long as the actions of the commissioners concerning policies, budgets and personnel are LEGAL, then the judges should exercise their judicial discretion and keep quiet. Were the commissioners, or any commissioner, to publicly criticize a judge's decisions in areas that do not apply to them, these same judges would flip out and loose their minds.

This should apply particularly to judges who should be setting the example for ALL government employees by accepting pay cuts as they do their part to help out in this time of recession.

This judge feels himself to be above all that.

While I do not live in Cowlitz County, I certainly hope that when the time comes to re-elect this guy, I certainly hope that the people of that county remember this judicial arrogance and toss him onto the ash-heap of local political history.

Judge says tax increase should have been considered to balance county's budget

Sunday, April 26, 2009 8:34 AM PDT

By Barbara LaBoe

Printable version E-mail this article 40 comment(s)

Another Superior Court Judge is questioning how Cowlitz County commissioners resolved a $4.5 million budget shortfall, saying taxpayers should have been asked to raise taxes instead of making county employees bear the brunt.

A commissioner replied that Judge Jim Warme’s suggestions are unrealistic and uninformed.

Warme said late last week that he didn’t think the commissioners' 10-percent, across-the-board cuts were appropriate or fair. Instead, he said interest-bearing warrants should have been issued in the short term, and voters should have been asked to help as well.

“This is government,” Warme said. “It’s supposed to be government paid for by the people. If everyone increased their tax burden, sales tax or property tax by 5 percent, then the problem is passed around by everyone and not borne by the people working at the county.”

Warme said he understands raising taxes might not be popular right now but said cutting county salaries and programs isn’t “fair or very courageous or appropriate.”

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