David Brewster thinks Susan Hutchison will be hard to beat because, amongst other things:
King County is a safe place to indulge in a protest vote, since the government is so peripheral.
Really, David?
In size, budget and population served, King County government is larger than that of twelve states. That’s why the Executive’s office is seen as a stepping stone to the Governor’s Mansion… in responsibilities and duties, it is equivalent to being governor of a small state. And increasingly, the county has been forced to deliver crucial services the state is no longer willing or able to provide.
If Brewster is right, and much of Hutchison’s apparent appeal comes from her being a “protest vote,” then our media has an obligation to explain to voters what King County government really does, and how spectacularly unprepared for the job Hutchison really is. (You know, other than being spiritually prepared.) This is a woman whose professional career has consisted of decades of reading scripts off a teleprompter, followed by a several-year stint writing checks on behalf of an eccentric billionaire. She has no political experience, no business experience, and no administrative experience. And no, President of the Symphony Board is not an administrative position; that’s what the executive director is for. (Though if Hutchison wants credit for the Symphony’s dire financial straits—it’s currently making payroll by eating into its endowment—I’m happy to give it to her.)
I’m as cynical about politicians as the next guy (even of many of my fellow Democrats), but at least I care about government. I mean, honestly, David… if you’re just going to write off county government as “peripheral,” when in fact its functions are central to maintaining the quality of life in our region, then you have no right to complain about the quality of candidates we get.
If vote for Hutchison is a “protest” vote, those who would consider voting for her ought to be damned sure of what exactly they’re protesting.
I appreciate the rhetorical power of your “Oh really?” but I can’t help but feel that, as important as the executive job is, the perception is that a vote for a thinly veiled rightist religio-whack job is a reasonable protest against the perceived excesses of progressive local government.
When the comments in seattlepi.com for Connoly’s climate change denyers are on thin ice column are 90% in the climate change is a hoax camp, it just shows how riled up the rightist minority is. (and since they’ve got the guns, I guess their grandkids will be eating ours… but anyway…)
Perceptions count, sadly, more than intentions or sensible analysis.
Yes, really.
I also spend a lot of time at Crosscut. The writers, especially Van Dyk, are very compelling.
King County government is nowhere near as “peripheral” as Crosscut (stifles yawn). Your post linking to them has probably tripled their traffic for the day.
Gelding,
“…if you’re just going to write off county government as ‘peripheral,’ when in fact its functions are central to maintaining the quality of life in our region, then you have no right to complain about the quality of candidates we get.”
Paid attention to annexation politics lately? When all is said and done on that front, King County government will be less than peripheral. That, BTW, is an opinion shared by elected officials I know in Olympia.
As more and more of the county becomes annexed into cities, less and less of it is subject to direct county governance. So what’s left? Metro and what else?
Should regional transportation governance, either through the Puget Sound Regional Council or a newly created agency of some type, that swallows Metro, Sound Transit, and the others in this Balkanized part of the country, King County won’t have much of anything to do other than be a glorified water/sewer district.
The sheriff is elected. The director of elections is now going to be elected. Other county-wide offices (assessor, prosecutor) have long been elected.
Why King County government at all?
When the KC Council shrank down to its current size, big-gub’mint types did their Chicken-Little “The sky is falling!” impersonation. If you’ve noticed, the sky remains in place.
If we all woke up one morning to find KC government had disappeared, would we miss it? My guess is no.
The Piper
@ Poster Child:
“a thinly veiled rightist religio-whack job”
Ah, I love Liberal tolerance.
#6. We learned it from you all.
When the right wing starts exhibiting tolerance and inclusion and bipartisanship, we will go back to it. Until then, we will strive to give as good as we get.
Actually Goldy, if you look at the latest population estimates King County has more people than fourteen states, and closing in fast on the fifteenth (New Mexico). I suppose a couple of those might have a larger government budget, though.
King County has more people than Wyoming, Vermont, and North Dakota combined.
A governor of any of the 14 states smaller than King County would be considered a potential candidate for president. If Howard Dean or Sarah Palin are important enough to have a national profile, the same should be true of Ron Sims, those vying to replace him, and every county executive of similar size.
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Nick @ 6
God is pretend and is not a valid basis for government. Whether she represents the fiscal wing of the republican party or the religious wing of the republican party, she distances herself from the clearly stated strategy to defeat science as a basis for policy making.
If my reaction to the rightists fielding a diseminator talking head with name recognition in order to throw our region further into the disarray that selfishness engenders offends you somehow as intolerant, I don’t now what to say. Maybe fuck off.
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5 PS
Yeah, King County doesn’t do anything!!!!
Afteer all, it only provides the sheriff’s office, courts and related legal services, public health services, the county jail, records and elections, property tax appraisals and regional parks and facilities, including the King County International Airport (Boeing Field), animal control, public transit, and sewage disposal.
Of course, if you live in an unincorporated are of King County, the County provides all of the services listed above and ALSO land-use regulation, building permits, police protection, roads and local parks.
Yes, get rid of those and you’d never even notice. Only the people who need these services would. What the hell, they don’t have to ride a bus to work of vote or anything.
@13…DL…
You ain’t payin’ attention.
The sheriff is elected, so King County government (the exec and the KC Council) don’t provide that service. The oversee the budget for it, but that’s caused nothing but problems.
Soon the elections office will be the same. So the KC Exec has no operational control over either.
Appraisals are under the elected assessor.
As urbanized areas of unincorporated King County annex into cities (some 100,000 citizens affected by current efforts), then the number of citizens to whom the county provides services will drop lower than your IQ, which is pretty golly-bob low.
Animal control under the county has been a fiasco. Boeing Field – hasn’t the county looked to pawn that puppy off?
Transit – did you bother reading what I wrote about what will happen if we get regional transportation governance that would absorb that part of Metro? Leaving the county doing what???
Of what value would the executive and council be when all is said and done? Not much…
The Piper
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re 15: So, what could possibly be the solution?
I know: More tax breaks for rich people and an ever-widening worldwide ‘war’ against a tactic.
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Very few people in King County care anymore about what David Brewster has to say.
The King COunty Exeutive has responsibility for regional parks, significant roads through unincorporated areas linking many cities, emergency response obligations per federal law, solid waste, wastewater, zoning in unincorporated areas and support to other electeds (facility services, procurement). Other County services include SHeriff, Courts Proseuctor and Assessor, separately elected. And I likely missed a few.
I would be in for a Hutchinson protest vote over more of the same—Constantine and Phillips.
If you don’t want Hutchinson, we better start seeing more support and better numbers for Hunter and Jarrett.
Both of them would be great but it doesn’t look good thus far.
And the 39 cities will just authorize their own taxing authority, and coordinate multi city efforts to solve county-wide efforts.
Sadly, the county will live on as overhead cities live with because they need a ref to call fouls.