Stop me before I vote for Rossi

D

Doryman

New member
(This thread will probably be of interest only to residents of Washington State.)

Over the years I have fairly consistently voted Democratic (but never the straight ticket.) I am close to breaking that record this Nov. 4th, though. The reason: I received my latest Reel News (publication of the Puget Sound Anglers) and in it are answers to a whole slew of questions related to fishing, conservation, salmon protection, etc. that Reel News sent to the two gubernatorial candidates.

Keep in mind that PSA is an organization of more than 30,000 members. I'm also a life member of CCA (Costal Conservation Association), which I joined after hearing Gary Loomis talk to my local PSA chapter. CCA has a proven record of winning battles against the commercial fishing lobby and and I think they are our best bet for getting the salmon sport fishery back to anywhere near where it was.

Dino Rossi answered each and every question from Reel News pretty much as the CCA would like. Amazingly, despite repeated invitations to respond, Governor Gregoire's campaign did not respond to one single question. Since this is an issue I am passionate about, it looks like Dino will get my vote.

I am particularly interested in what rogerbum, our highest-profile Democrat here, thinks about this.

Warren
 
tom&shan":12nmp33b said:
I don't think it matters - Gregoire will win in the recount just like last time.
(as long as its a manual re-count).
Click to expand...

That was before my time, but I heard about that! Boy, you're cynical today! :?

Warren
 
Sure she will, she gets to count dead peoples votes, and prisoners and double voters and :smiled she's got friends, :smiled

My last political $.002 on the subject here.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Harvey,

Thanks for the heads up on the Reel News article. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of it. Even though I'm a member, I've never gotten one in the mail.

As for gov... Well I don't much care for either, but since Gregoire is in cahoots with the tribes, that only leaves Rossi worth thinking about IMHO.
 
On another subject, near and dear to the hearts of those of us planning on spending our fixed income days in WA...

Between the two, Rossi is the only one who seems willing to work for meaningful property tax reform. As I'm sure many of you WA Brats experienced, getting increases of 30+% in a single year is quite the sticker shock.
 
Da Nag":nyivsan7 said:
On another subject, near and dear to the hearts of those of us planning on spending our fixed income days in WA...

Between the two, Rossi is the only one who seems willing to work for meaningful property tax reform. As I'm sure many of you WA Brats experienced, getting increases of 30+% in a single year is quite the sticker shock.
Click to expand...

It's especially bad in "progressive" AKA liberal King County. That's why I live in Snohomish County. :wink: In general, the farther you live from King County, the better. King County has a serious budget deficit for 2009 and the pols there are looking for "revenue" AKA tax increases to make up the shortfall. They are in the process of pink slipping 400 employees county wide. I foresee the issue getting worse as more and more areas incorporate into cities. This leaves the county out in the cold with less and less viable tax bases except rural property owners.
 
If satisfying the needs of recreational fisherpersons is the essential requirement for the top position in this state's government, I'd have to say that this place has some problems which won't be solved in the current ballot box.

Paul Priest
Sequim
 
ppriest":140f9xgk said:
If satisfying the needs of recreational fisherpersons is the essential requirement for the top position in this state's government, I'd have to say that this place has some problems which won't be solved in the current ballot box.
Click to expand...

There's no shame in having conservation being a make or break issue, particularly in a state like WA. The vast natural beauty of the place, and the incredible diversity of fish and wildlife are the very reason generations have lived there, and many more like myself can't wait to be residents. These natural resources are the state's greatest treasure, and any candidate appearing to be out of touch with this, deserves all the ridicule they receive.

Good for Warren. I for one, am quite comfortable with his position, and thankful he pointed out this example of where Gregoire's priorities lie - or don't, as the case may be.
 
ppriest":1dtdudvl said:
If satisfying the needs of recreational fisherpersons is the essential requirement for the top position in this state's government, I'd have to say that this place has some problems which won't be solved in the current ballot box.
Paul Priest
Sequim
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, there are very few candidates in any election that an individual can agree with in totality of what they support or don't support. That being said, we as voters are left with making our decisions on what truly is most important to us as individuals. As for me, the lady is most supportive of the issues that are of deep concern to firefighters in the State of Washington and in turn can affect the general public.

From one that is obviously not on the fence on this decision.... :lol: .

P.S. I also own acreage in Wa. State, and am concerned about our recreational fishing (even though I don't fish) and our state's natural resources, however my occupation and the concern for those citizens that I am called upon to care for comes first.
 
Here's a link to the Reel News article online. It is disappointing the Gregoire and her team did not respond. However, that's not enough to change my mind on who I'm voting for. My concern with Rossi on this specific issue is that he seems to be in the pockets of the builders and developers and other big money interests. Two major issues need to be dealt with in regards to salmon -
1) Commercial fishing and in particular gill net harvesting in the rivers (btw - I consider native harvesting a "special class" of commercial fishing so I'm lumping this all in under the term "commercial fishing"). Harvesting depleted runs just prior to spawning is about the single dumbest thing we can do to our fisheries and it really has to be stopped. Also the current escapement goals are way too low and appear to be set more to allow commercial/native harvest than to create a long-term sustainability. Rossi seems to get this and at least he recognizes that we need selective measures. However, his response offered no specific actions that would be taken other than studying all possible options.
2) Habitat restoration and preventing more loss of such. This is the area where Rossi has me most concerned. Stream and near shore habitat are critical to salmon and WA has a long history of unbridled development in both places. To effectively deal with this issue, we have to do many things. First, the buffer zones left by loggers along streams and rivers are often far too narrow. I've seen the effects of this first hand on many Olympic Peninsula streams. When the buffer zone is too narrow, the trees are very susceptible to blow downs in big storms. One or two good blows, and the entire buffer zone is gone. The humtulips had a lot of good habitat lost last year to massive bank erosion as a result of small buffer zones being lost in storms and the problem is endemic on many other streams and rivers. We can't solve this problem without further restricting logging near streams. Stream and shore side development also needs to be restricted and in some cases undone. Both of these issues turn into property rights issues and on these issues, I don't trust the guy who's getting much of his campaign funds from developers. Gregoire is less than ideal in many regards also, but I feel that she's been less influenced by big money and she did do a good job as State AG.

My two cents worth....
 
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