Olympia Watch
As the newly appointed chair of the House's Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, Representative Brian Blake (D-19, Aberdeen) will have significant control over bills dealing with the use of state-owned wetlands, forests, conservation areas, and fish and wildlife.
His appointment to the committee is causing alarm among environmental advocates. The local Sierra Club's Cascade Chapter gives Blake a C on environmental policy. For the past 10 years, Blake has worked for Weyerhaeuser's logging operations.
"Brian Blake, in the past, has not had environmental issues as a priority and he has been hard to convince," Clifford Traisman, state lobbyist for Washington Conservation Voters, said diplomatically.
Blake is replacing Brian Sullivan (D-21, Mukilteo) who's leaving the legislature for a spot on the Snohomish County Council. Sullivan rated an A+ from the Sierra Club. BRIAN SLODYSKO
Council Watch
As City Council Members David Della and Peter Steinbrueck pack up their offices—one was voted out, one retired—the rest of council is busy setting up the new committee assignments.
The current tentative lineup puts Richard McIver in charge of the housing committee—a consolation prize, as McIver was likely next in line for the council president seat until he was arrested for allegedly choking his wife earlier this year.
Tom Rasmussen is set to take over the parks committee, hopefully injecting some much-needed competence, as outgoing Della failed to pass important parks funding legislation or effectively deal with the Seattle Center skatepark issue during his tenure.
Jan Drago will continue in her role as the chair of the Transportation Committee, while Sally Clark takes up the land-use torch for Steinbrueck. Given how Clark has disappointingly tacked to the mushy center on issues from nightlife to accountability, fans of low-income housing and density should be nervous about the fact that she's replacing a rambunctious progressive like Steinbrueck.
Bruce Harrell and Tim Burgess, the new kids on the block, will head up the City Light and public-safety committees, respectively. Burgess, an ex-cop, will immediately have clout with the cops—which is a plus, but his lack of commitment to formally strengthening council oversight is troubling.
Jean Godden takes over the powerful budget chair. And Richard Conlin will take on utilities and likely the council president position.
The outgoing council president, Nick Licata, will look after a veritable potpourri of issues, including labor, arts, health, libraries, and nightlife. NANCY DREW
Suicide Watch
The Fremont Neighborhood Council (FNC) has withdrawn its support for a proposed suicide-prevention barrier along the Aurora Bridge because they're concerned about the aesthetic effect a fence might have on the neighborhood. In July, the FNC submitted a letter to Seattle FRIENDS—a local suicide-prevention group—supporting the push for a fence along the bridge, which has the second highest suicide rate in the country, behind the Golden Gate Bridge. "One of the things people keep saying is that it's not going to look good," says FRIENDS founder Ryan Thurston. "Bike helmets don't look good, but they're safe."
However, on December 2, the FNC pulled its letter of support because "consideration had not been given to [other] options to solve the problem." Suicides on the bridge have been a problem since it opened in 1932 and this week, Governor Christine Gregoire finally budgeted $1.4 million for a bridge barrier. Some neighborhood residents want the state to cough up the cash to build a separate, more aesthetically pleasing bridge, which the Washington State Department of Transportation estimates could cost upward of $60 million dollars. If Gregoire's budget passes the legislature, a barrier should be completed by 2010. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE
