The only thing green about the anti-light rail “No on Prop 1” campaign are the greenbacks behind it, mostly coming from the deep pockets of the usual pro-roads/anti-transit suspects: Kemper Freeman Jr., Mark Baerwaldt and the rest of the choo-choos equal communism crowd. But according to The Stranger’s Erica C. Barnett, that hasn’t stopped the No campaign from attempting a little astroturffing.
Lacking the Sierra Club’s green gravitas, the anti-Prop. 1 campaign has seized on a little-known, 32-year-old political consultant named Ezra Eickmeyer—a self-proclaimed environmentalist whose list of industrial and business lobbying clients outweighs his thin environmental résumé.
Eickmeyer’s clients include a mining company that’s seeking to ship sand and gravel on barges from the Hood Canal, two septic-system manufacturers, and a Seattle real-estate developer. Although Eickmeyer puts an environmental spin on his choice of clients—for example, he argues that barges produce fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than trucks—numerous lobbyists and environmentalists say they either haven’t heard of Eickmeyer or don’t regard him as an ally. … [E]ven folks like the Master Builders’ Scott Hildebrand are skeptical—he notes, “I don’t know exactly who Ezra is associated with“…
Huh. I don’t know exactly who Ezra is associated with either, but looking at his Tribe.Net profile (via Google’s cache), perhaps his environmental credentials are a product of his “magickal work”?
I live many paradoxes. I am a feral pagan with 9 acres creating an intentional community. I also am a professional contract lobbyist and political operative. I work for a mixture of corporate, small business, political, and environmental interests. I am a global warming activist and dedicated father and husband. I grew up in a very small town and now live outside an even smaller one where we are beginning to farm. I also travel frequently in a fancy car wearing suits and playing politics. I come from the Libertarian arm of the Democratic Party, meaning that I am a fairly anti-authoritarian liberal (except when it comes to the regulation of business). I have a very deep relationship with the creator/spirit and do a lot of praying and magickal work.
My wife and I are dedicated polyamorous and thinking it would be pretty cool if we met another couple interested in poly family-raising . . .
Yup, you can’t get much more paradoxical than a self-proclaimed “global warming activist” in his “fancy car,” whoring himself out to Kemper Freeman Jr., in an effort to kill our region’s last best chance at expanded clean, electric light rail.
Not that Eickmeyer’s personal life has anything to do with the anti-rail campaign. But then, neither does environmentalism.
I’ve met Ezra several times…and argued with him 95% of the time. He is a sincere guy…just misguided on some of his environmental beliefs.
Kemper Freeman has a laser focus on lining his own pockets. He’s about the last guy in King County I’d want to be seen with. And my personal resume is less bizarre than Eickmeyer’s: I’m a feral rabbit living in a public greensward. But none of this is relevant to the issue. Light rail is still the same thing voters rejected last year. All the ST board did was separate it from roads and cut it into two pieces to make the spending and taxes look smaller. That’s merely a campaign strategy, not a serious attempt to correct the flaws in ST’s light rail scheme. Even though Freeman is a greedy Republican and Eickmeyer has been eating too many mushrooms, I’m still a “no” vote, and that has nothing to do with them and everything to do with the fact that light rail, as presently configured, is not a sensible and reasonably priced transportation solution for the voters of Puget Sound.
Feral pagan? wtf? Better yet, I don’t think I really want to know what that’s supposed to mean.
Makes me think maybe the extent of his environmentalism is running around naked at night on his 9 acres, howling wolf-like at the moon.
It doesn’t feel like the “yes” campaign has a lot of traction. Bad economy? Sales taxes are too high here already.
Obviously Sound Transit has an image problem. Maybe once the trains get going next year the outlook will improve for it.
Daily Kos reports the Michigan GOP plans to challenge voters living at addresses (in black neighborhoods) where foreclosure notices have been issued.
What’s wrong with this, of course, is that a foreclosure notice isn’t proof the voter has moved. He may have paid the delinquent payments, or may be renegotiating the mortgage, or still living in the home at the time of the election.
Republicans claim they’re trying to prevent election fraud. What they’re really doing is trying to keep African-Americans from voting. Tactics like this are an implicit acknowledgement that their party can’t win a fair election on a level playing ground.
They’re also a violation of a federal court injunction and ought to result in someone’s ass being thrown in jail for contempt.
Instead of catty personal attacks, why not argue the straightforward case of why we need light rail . . .
. . . or have rabbit punching and heavy sarcasm — by which Erica Barnett mirrors the far right — made such a strategy impossible?
@6
Mr. Connelly, excellent point! Why, indeed, don’t they argue the points? Might I suggest that it’s easier to engage in the insults and sensationalism of yellow journalism than to do one’s homework and rationally discuss the pros and cons of an issue?
The real issue here is that we’re up to our asses in four-wheeled alligators and we’re continuing to debate about not even how, but whether to drain the swamp.
40 years ago, a comprehensive transit plan got defeated at the polls because “it cost too much”. Now, the need is far more acute, and the cost vastly greater. Are we still going to be having this conversation in another 20 years? I wouldn’t be surprised.
I seem to keep hearing the argument that Sound Transit as an organization is hopelessly screwed up. I tend to take this with a grain of salt, because it seems to be coming mostly from people who I suspect never saw a public transit organization they didn’t detest. Nevertheless, if the organization needs fixing, then dammit, let’s fix it, and then get the bloody work done.
Joel @6,
You mean like here? Or here? Or here, here, here or here?
We write about issues all the time here Joel, sometimes in long, wonky informative pieces that really, almost nobody gives a shit about. But we do it anyway. And we’re ignored.
So it’s not really my fault that it’s the “catty” stuff that catches folks attention.
@8 “40 years ago, a comprehensive transit plan got defeated at the polls because “it cost too much”.”
It wasn’t just the price. My recollection is that Forward Thrust of 1969 and 1970 had one of the same flaws as can be found with today’s plan – all tracks lead to downtown Seattle.
Is there any more expensive way of getting from Point A to Point B than by laying track?
Ezra worked on Tim Sheldon’s re-election staff, too.
@12 Are the Sheldons some kind of Mason County political clan or something? Is Tim second generation? They seem to keep popping up over the years.
This is my first time on this web page, and I am a little disappointed to find that this article and many of the comments to this article are so far left that they may as well be right. In theory, a leftist site would exist, hopefully, to entertain a broad spectrum of opinions vs. dwelling on sensationalism; however, it seems that the author of this article assumes that everyone else should have the same opinion that they do about the “right” behavior with regard to the environment. I appreciated the comments of Joel, comment #6, and #7 —these folks reflect my thoughts on how to debate the topics in the article.