It's been nearly 15 years since I was trapped into taking on actions by King County for a developer that were wrong. I am a strong conservative, and corporate welfare is not part of my beliefs, even if welfare to Washington's growth industries seems to take precedence among most Washington State and King County Republicans, as well as many Democrats.
With more alleged wrongdoing than can even be remembered, the shear absense of media coverage has allowed King County to run amok under the leadership of Ron Sims and his predecessor Gary Locke. Agencies within King County are no longer responsive to the people (if they ever were), and the people are increasingly powerless to do anything about it.
My current focus surrounds the arrangement between King County and Weyerhaeuser to urbanize 2,500 acres of forested land in the rural area and the incredible number of alleged improper, biased and even illegal acts committed along the way to make it happen.
My principal objections are related to the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies that have been secretly extorted from the public through collusion between this massive corporation and our government officials and bureaucrats. And all without the knowledge of the overwhelming percentage of the electorate on the hook to pay these costs.
The wrongdoing that has been witnessed will be hard for most to believe, and only after repeated exposure over the years have I come to accept it as the rule, and not the exception. Without exposure and reform, these continuing acts, most recently characterized by a hearing examiner as "arbitrary and capricious", have spawned only more eggregious acts by our representatives in government, and created further risks to our's and our children's futures.
King County is a cesspool of loyalties to every special interest except the people. Very few, if any decisions are made without political consideration and consideration of consequences to special interests like Weyerhaeuser. The citizen is being removed more from processes every day by our elected officials who would prefer we just stay quiet and let them distribute our wealth as they deem appropriate. Many of us have been left with the choice to take it or leave it. Leave King County or the state, that is.
Enough is enough! It's time for citizens to learn what is going on, as uncomfortable as that may be, and stand up and be counted. It's time to take King County back from the developers and other growth pimps that are bleeding us dry with unfunded infrastructure and road costs.
I will endeavor to fair and unbiased, but please be tolerant of my occassional diatribes, as my once strong optimism has been replaced with a level of cynicism and pessimism that even I find distateful.
6 comments:
Glad to see you entering into the Blogosphere to bring more King County shenanigans to light!
You are correct in stating that party affiliation has little to do with the greasing of the development wheels in King County.
The Redmond area construction projects are pretty blatant about paying off through some manner of promises, campaign donations.
I look forward to your squeaking!
Welcome to the blogosphere. King County and Seattle both have been coasting for decades on the good government reputation earned in the early 20th Century. I'm glad you are adding your voice to those holding officials to account.
Sorry, formating lost during paste. This shows they have already past the count to shut down permitting.
http://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/traffic/count/result2004.asp?rilst=6058&button2=Go
King County 1994-2004 Historical Counts by Location
Average Daily Traffic Volumes
ADT File Number Street Leg 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994
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6058 NOVELTY HILL RD E 22896 20090 17700* 16831 14300* 13612 13642 12110* 11411 11066 10462
6058 NOVELTY HILL RD E-EB 11968 10080 8980* 8540 7540* 7181 6854 6140* 5783 5874 5465
6058 NOVELTY HILL RD E-WB 10928 10010 8720* 8291 6750* 6431 6788 5970* 5628 5192 4997
6058 208 AVE NE S 7775 7302 7240* 6891 4980* 4743 4595 4570* 4310 3937 3911
6058 208 AVE NE S-NB 3630 3341 3360* 3197 2130* 2036 2089 2200* 2075 1874 1977
6058 208 AVE NE S-SB 4145 3961 3880* 3694 2840* 2707 2506 2370* 2235 2063 1934
6058 NOVELTY HILL RD W 21279 19284 17730* 16862 13040* 12413 13748 12700* 11970 11510 10666
6058 NOVELTY HILL RD W-EB 10845 10011 9250* 8797 6840* 6509 7105 6310* 5946 6133 5531
6058 NOVELTY HILL RD W-WB 10434 9273 8480* 8065 6200* 5904 6643 6390* 6024 5377 5135
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* = Projected Count
The leg code indicates the direction and location of the traffic count relative to the intersection; for example: N-NB is the leg north of the intersection and the flow is in the north-bound direction.
For questions regarding this information please call (206)296-6596
I just found your blog. The situation in King County is beyond belief. What has happened to America? Does it still exist somewhere in this country?
The similarities to so many other situations in King County are obvious, in every way, including the lack of exposure by the mainstream press of the facts and the inescapably evident pattern of corruption.
Armen Yousoufian
www.Yousoufian.blogspot.com ;
www.ArmenYousoufian.com
"No Charge Online Advertising Channels For Any Business"
Please Read Washington Free Press anrticle by T.McCormick "Is it safe to buy a home in Washington".
Washington State Department of Agriculture issued a mold guidance policy for home inspectors stating that it was not necessary for home inspectors to report mold as mold does not cause structural damage. This was issued two months before a Weyerhauser executive secretary sold her moldy home. Guess what the inspector did not report the over one thousand square feet of very toxic mold (also a soft rot fungus). The state investigator Dan Soumi came to the home and at first said the inspector must have been blind as a bat and went back to his office and wrote a report that the inspector Lighthouse had done a thorough and accurate inspection of the home. There was an adverse slope around the entire home with no drainage, water pooled against the wood, termites and moisture ants could be found in both the attic and crawlspace. Soft rot was readily visible in the attic adjacent to the massive amout of black soft rot fungus Chaetomium, the chimneys chases were constructed of green sheetrock and delaminate, open into the attic and showed extesive soft areas on the roof and chases themselves. Water spotting existed in the attic around five leaking skylights, the central vac had been exhausted into the crawl space and dust had risen to completely plug the master bath shower vent. None of this had been reported by my inspector and Dan Soumi state investigator refused to document any of this stating that he did not know if it existed 9 months before when the inspector had done the inspection. He accussed me of changing the slope of the land and lifting three large connected cement steps in the nine months I had lived in the home. There was a 3X5 hole in the roof with very visible depression in the roofing shingles. It was completely rotted and was visible as rot in the overhang from the ground. Dan Soumi stated there was no mold in my crawlspace when three other inspectors reported it. He said the inspector could not be cited for stating that two thirds of my crawlspace was inaccessible because there was nothing visibly wrong in that area yet other inspectors reported both mold and efforvesence on the cement. Dan Soumi had done 42 investigations over the past 4 years and only on one other occasion did he ever state that an inspector had done a thorough and accurate inspection and that inspector had reported 7 areas of rot. Is this just government action or is it because Weyerhauser pays over one million a year to tort reform and the US Chamber of Commerce. WSDA issued the do not tell them about the mold policy without the knowledge of anyone except home inspectors. Even their own information officer Teresa Neuman did not know of the policy five years after its inception. Senator Kohl Wells did not know of the policy five years after its inception. It is only recommended that the state inform the public of changes in policy that could affect our health and welfare. It is obvious to this newcomer that this state is all for and about the evil empire Weyerhauser and nothing more. Please advise anyone purchasing a Quadrant Home to have a mold inspection as their home inspector may not tell them of the mold in these shodily constructed homes thanks the WSDA policy credited to the Wood Products Association lobbiest Jeff Morrell described as a wood scientist.
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