Crossing Division

Have you been counted? The 2020 Census is a few short questions, and the data is protected. You have one more month to get counted, and we find out from Kamau Chege, Manager of Washington Census Alliance, just how important that count is to all of us.

First, if you have not yet participated in the census, go to my2020census.gov or WeCountWashington.org and get that done! You have until the end of this month, October 31, to be counted.

Second, why does it matter? Well, all kinds of benefits and funds are provided to communities based on population counts–school resources, transportation dollars, public libraries, and almost anything else based on public money. So, having an accurate count will ensure that your neighborhood gets the resources that it should.

But it goes even further than that. Our state legislature is divided into legislative districts based on population. Across the state, across all neighborhoods, new lines will be drawn by our state Redistricting Commission to map out where political power lies. It’s always about power, and this is one of the areas where the power of the people really can change the face of government.

Check out the information at the Washington Census Alliance (wacensusalliance.org) and find out more about what’s happening now and what’s planned for 2021.

If you have feedback on this episode, or ideas for other programs please get in touch!

Evelyn Lopez:  @True_Tacoma    [email protected]

If you follow Evelyn Lopez on Twitter (and maybe you should), you probably saw a thread about local politics and the Tacoma Weekly paper. The Tacoma Weekly is a small, local, free publication that you might find in a Tacoma restaurant or office, or you might pick one up from one of their distribution boxes around town.

Recently, Evelyn found out that the Tacoma Weekly had emailed local candidates after the primary election to offer an advertising special to the first four candidates who responded. But they were not just offering ad space. For $2500 candidates could buy an ad package that included a Weekly Editorial, a Cover Story, and Tacoma Weekly Endorsement. That’s right, they offered their endorsement, plus news and editorial coverage for cash. This is a violation of one of our state’s campaign finance laws. RCW 42.17A.480 prohibits the solicitation of endorsement fees: “A person may not solicit from a candidate for public office … money or other property as a condition or consideration for an endorsement, article, or other communication in the news media promoting or opposing a candidate for public office …”

Sean Robinson, former reporter and current professor of journalism, explains how this activity violates the most basic ethics of journalism. And both Sean and Evelyn talk with guest host Nate Bowling about how this activity damages local elections, traps candidates into further campaign finance violations, and is bad for all of us.

Listen to the podcast for details on which candidates purchased the Tacoma Weekly package, and then let us know what you think.

Beth Doglio, currently a Representative for the 22 Legislative District, is running for Congress. The 10th Congressional District covers rural, suburban, urban areas, our state capitol, and all of the JBLM military base.

We talk with Beth about what she sees as the major issues or concerns of the district, and what she would do about them if she is elected. Beth is a Democrat, and has had significant successes developing legislation and passing bills to address climate change (Washington will go carbon neutral by 2030) and protections for working families. She is also a strong proponent of single-payer healthcare and Medicare for All.

Listen to the episode, and then check out the website for Beth’s campaign at www.bethdoglio.com

[Note that we have also contacted Marilyn Strickland’s campaign and hope to schedule an episode with her as well]

If you have comments on this episode, or ideas for other programs, please get in touch!

Evelyn Lopez:   @True_Tacoma   [email protected]

Did you know that Targa Resources, a fossil fuel pipeline, fuel storage and transportation company, runs crude oil storage and terminaling facilities in Tacoma? Those are the huge tanks you can see along the Hylebos Waterway near the Port (2628 Marine View Drive). A few years ago, Targa (now under the name SeaPort Sound) expanded their rail capacity (oil trains) for “increased efficiency.” Now they have requested to increase their crude oil and other fossil fuel storage capacity.

Is there any doubt that means more fossil fuel industry in Tacoma? And more risk for all of us if something goes wrong. And more impacts to the environment and climate change.

We talked with Tracy Wiegman and Dan Villa, volunteers with 350 Tacoma, about their organization’s efforts to track industrial development at the Port and Tideflats, and to fight against the continued fossil fuel expansion in Tacoma.

350 Tacoma is part of the larger 350.org organization focused on the goal of building a global climate movement. 350 was named after 350 parts per million — the safe concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Locally, 350 Tacoma has been actively working alongside the Puyallup Tribe and local environmentalists opposing the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Refinery Facility, and has been working monthly since January 2018 to restore a tiny neglected salt marsh and mud flat in the industrial Port of Tacoma. If you’d like more information on their activities, check out their website at  https://www.350tacoma.org.

It is difficult to find out what is happening at the Port and in the industrial lands around the Port. One of the charges of 350 Tacoma is to track development and let the public know what is happening so that we can be part of the decision making. It’s our city, and we should decide what happens in it.

Listen to the podcast, and let us know what you think!

Targa/SeaPort Sound Permit info: https://aca-prod.accela.com/TACOMA/TACOMA/Tacoma.aspx

Here is the official notice of the Targa/SeaPort plan to expand their storage tanks:

Permit: LU20-0107

If you have feedback on this episode, or ideas for other discussions, please get in touch!

Evelyn Lopez:  [email protected]     @True_Tacoma

Last episode we talked with two Tacoma parents who are figuring out how to balance the educational needs of their kids while keeping them safe in the time of COVID. This week we wanted to follow up and dig a little deeper into the state’s duty to provide education, and how schools are trying to provide critical services in a regulatory and funding environment that is completely based on bodies in seats.

Shannon McMinimee, a top education attorney and constitutional law professor, joins us to talk about the state’s paramount duty. You hear that term a lot in school funding discussions — because it is literally in our state Constitution: “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.” Article IX, Section 1 of the Washington State Constitution.

So, how are we managing our paramount duty during this crisis? Will lawsuits help? And what can you do to help your district advocate for the services that our community needs (Hint: contact your federal and state representatives to let them know that we need a waiver on transportation funding so that our school buses can continue to deliver food and services to kids, and a waiver on school food rules so that our schools can continue to feed families!).

Listen and let us know what you think!

Evelyn Lopez:  [email protected]   @True_Tacoma

As the Coronavirus continues to impact our lives, one of the biggest impacts for parents is the decision by schools in our state not to reopen for in person teaching this fall. We talked with two parents about their decisions: One in favor of school reopening in some fashion because the state is failing in its constitutional obligations to educate our children; one who is trying to balance education with the need for safety.

Evelyn’s Caveat: When I’m interested in a subject, I turn to my friends for their perspectives. And my friends are mostly lawyers and government employees. We know these discussions and the concerns of these parents are not reflective of what many other parents are going through. Nonetheless, we think you will appreciate their insights.

Adrienne Stuart is an attorney who works on disability issues and regularly works with the Legislature to improve our laws. She and her husband live in Northeast Tacoma and have two young sons in Tacoma Public Schools.

Tamara Jones has worked with numerous state agencies as a government relations liaison and project manager. She and her husband (who has spent much of their family’s life in the military or working overseas) live in North Tacoma with her daughter who is about to start high school in Tacoma.

So, what’s a parent to do? Can you “assist” your young child with remote learning and still keep up with your own job? What do you do if you can’t work from home while your child is remote learning from home? What if you have a child with special needs who should be receiving instructional and therapeutic services from the schools as part of a learning plan contract? Are some activities safe? Are parents and guardians receiving the information they need to make decisions about education over the next few months? And how do you keep everyone healthy?

Adrienne’s facebook group: Washington State Parents United for Public School Options

Attached is a copy of the letter regarding TPS pre-school programs.

If you have comments on this program, or ideas for other episodes, please let us know!

Evelyn Lopez:  [email protected]   @True_Tacoma

Crystal Fincher, political consultant and principal at Fincher Consulting, and Erik Hanberg, Metro Parks Board Commissioner and Channel 253 Publisher, join host Evelyn Lopez to break down the primary results from the August 4 election, and discuss which races to watch in the 2020 general election.

There is a lot going on in our state and local area, and big issues facing the Legislature, County Council, and elected officials. Who will represent our interests? Listen to our take on the candidates, and remember that you can find more information about campaigns at www.pdc.wa.org.

Let us know what you think of this episode, and if you have ideas for other programs!

Evelyn Lopez:  [email protected]   @True_Tacoma

Erik Hanberg:  @erikhanberg

Crystal Fincher:  @finchfrii

There are more Black women candidates running in Washington than ever before. And just like always, racism and misogynism are creeping into these campaigns through independently funded campaign advertising mailers.

Why, in the year 2020, is this still a campaign strategy? And how are we going to move our community forward if we allow and support this type of campaigning?

We sit down with organizer and consultant Desiree Wilkens Finch (Rise LWP, www.riselwp.com) to discuss the challenges faced by Black women candidates, and who needs to step up to make this stop. (Hint, it’s you and me.)

Background: Recent story from The Stranger, https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/07/22/44127385/racist-dogwhistles-blow-pretty-loudly-in-tacoma-area-mailers

Thoughts on this episode, or ideas for future discussions? Let us know!

Evelyn Lopez:  @True_Tacoma    [email protected]

This year we elect a new Sheriff in Pierce County, and it’s turning out to be a difficult position to assess. There are four candidates under consideration in the August 4 primary, and while each has strengths, there are a lot of unanswered questions. In fact, the News Tribune decided not to endorse for the primary, and many local political groups have also decided to wait on any endorsement until the general election in November.

Then recently there were two articles in the News Tribune about the Sheriff’s drug investigations unit and the Prosecutor’s decision to place a group of deputies from that unit on the potential impeachment list, including one of the candidates for Sheriff. So, we were wondering, what is the potential impeachment list? How does someone get placed on the list? And is that a critical issue to consider when evaluating the candidates?

John Cummings, a litigation attorney with Gordon Thomas Honeywell in Tacoma, and a former Deputy Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney, helps shed some light on what these impeachment lists are, whether they are significant, and what factors we should be looking at in evaluating candidates for Sheriff or other public office.

For background, here are the TNT articles:

Let us know what you think, and if you have ideas for future episodes!

Evelyn Lopez:   [email protected]    @True_Tacoma

Those of you who are regular listeners may notice that we’re changing from our Coronavirus & Tacoma focus back to our Tacoma’s Talk Show. Why? Well, when we went into lockdown for the COVID-19 virus, we thought it would be for a couple of months, and then we’d be back to something like normal life. It’s clear now, after 16 weeks of working from home, that normal has changed and this is how our life is going to be for quite some time. So, we move on and find interesting topics for Tacoma as 2020 grinds along.

This week on Crossing Division we talk with David Thompson, Director of Tacoma’s Food is Free project. You will want to check out their facebook page and website for information on urban gardens throughout Tacoma with food sharing tables for our neighbors (links below). More than 40 households around the city are growing vegetables in their front yards and parking strips, and making the produce available for free to anyone and everyone. It’s an incredibly simple concept, and yet profound — sharing food with each other and helping each other.

Listen to David’s story and his plans for the future. We don’t know what the future will bring, but having the ability and commitment to growing our own food is important. It helps the air and land; it helps our neighbors who may be struggling; and it helps us connect to nature.

Also, get in touch with your City Councilmember and let them know that urban agriculture is really important to Tacoma, and to protect the Corona Victory Garden on Commerce Street!

If you have questions or ideas for future episodes, please get in touch!

Evelyn Lopez:  @True_Tacoma    [email protected]