Builders reward Sims for his billion dollar Brightwater plant to sustain development into the future

I think this could have been titled more accurately, "Sims recognized as 2005 Developer Champion". The billion or more taxpayer dollars it will cost to build his Brightwater plant might as well be checks written to subsidize the profits of the region's largest builders. If only Sims and King County had an equal concern that roads are built ahead of development? Unfortunately the state can't threaten to halt growth simply because the roads are inadequate, or they might. But why should Sims be concerned when DOT planners have demonstrated their ability and willingness to simply cook the books to make any road show available capacity; even roads gridlocked during commutes?

How many billions of dollars in road impacts will result from Brightwater and the subsequent growth it will support? And who will pay for those roads now that history shows how willing King County has been to cheat to help the growth industry avoid funding the roads necessary to support its development?

Jan. 26, 2006

Executive Sims recognized as 2005 'Economic Development Champion' for Brightwater-related work

For his leadership role in moving the Brightwater treatment system project forward, King County Executive Ron Sims earned the 2005 Public Sector Economic Development Champion award from enterpriseSeattle at the annual Economic Forecast Conference in Seattle last week.

Sims was nominated for the award by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. At the presentation ceremony Jan. 20, Master Builders Association Chairman Jim Potter referred to Sims as a "champion for the economy and the environment." (I'd go so far as to crown Sims the Builders' champion!)

Potter expressed appreciation for Sims' extraordinary effort in working cooperatively with multiple jurisdictions, permitting agencies and tribal governments on getting the project sited and ready to start construction in early 2006.

The business community (Generic term casually used to refer to the profiteers of growth) had expressed concern that without Brightwater there would not be enough wastewater treatment capacity to support and sustain economic growth over the short-term and long-term. And the state had threatened the possibility of a building moratorium throughout much of King and Snohomish counties if Brightwater is not built and operating by 2010.

Brightwater will create nearly 4,000 building-trade jobs during construction (That's a billion dollars in work for the growth industries), generating over $250 million in payroll. The facility will provide the necessary infrastructure that will support long-term job creation and economic growth in our region over the next several decades. (Will Sims ever focus on the roads necessary to support this and past growth in the region?)

[Snipped]

Quadrant offers to buy back homes

The number of homeowners alleging substandard construction has grown to 11 in Snoqualmie Ridge. Could be quite a precendent if Quadrant starts buying poorly constructed homes, huh? Anyone want a bargain on slightly lived-in home with some minor rat and mold problems?

Quadrant offers to buy back homes
by Ashley Bach
Sat, 31 Dec 2005 - Seattle Times Eastside News
(Made available on-line January 11, 2006)

Seven families in Snoqualmie Ridge who sued Quadrant Homes over what they say is unhealthy air in their homes can sell the homes back to Quadrant at market value, according to their attorney.

Quadrant's recent offer to buy back the homes will be accepted by some of the families, said the families' attorney, Lory Lybeck. According to the lawsuits, Quadrant, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser, negligently built the homes with fiberglass insulation installed in the heating ducts, a code violation that spread glass fibers and caused several health problems.

Since The Times reported the story in August, the families have expanded their lawsuits and say their homes also had poor ventilation that spread furnace fumes, bad wiring, leaky roofs, crawl spaces containing mold, rodents in the walls, poorly built porch columns and problems with siding.

Four other families have filed similar legal notices, said Lybeck.

Quadrant officials declined to comment on the lawsuits or any offers made to the families. But in legal briefs filed in King County Superior Court, the company denies all but one of the families' claims. It admits that seven homes were built with fiberglass installed in the return-air spaces leading to the furnaces. Some of the families' lawsuits are scheduled to be heard in May.

Quadrant Homes being sued for substandard construction

The following article appeared on August 25, 2005 in the Seattle Times. It discusses a lawsuit filed by 7 homeowners in Snoqualmie Ridge alleging substandard construction of the their Quadrant homes causing health problems. Apparently another story appeared in the Seattle Times on December 31, 2005 with follow-up information, including additional homeowner participation in the litigation alleging additional problems with their Quadrant-built homes. I am currently trying to obtain that article, because it is not available on-line through the Times. I'll post it when I have it.

Makes you want to run right out and buy in one of Quadrant's urban communities, doesn't it?

7 Families File Suit Over Poor Air Quality
by Ashley Bach
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

Over the first year of her life, Caroline Weaks frequently had a hacking cough, ear infections and breathing problems. But when the baby would leave her Snoqualmie Ridge home for a period of time, her sinuses would clear, said her mother, Laura.

Laura Weaks was one of several parents who stood on a sidewalk in her neighborhood last week protesting what they say is unhealthy air in several Snoqualmie Ridge homes. Her daughter, now almost 2, played in the shade nearby while the parents held signs that said the homes make "kids sick."

The Weakses are one of seven families that have individually sued Quadrant Homes, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser and the developer of the Snoqualmie Ridge urban village, which has attracted thousands of residents to Snoqualmie. The first lawsuit is scheduled to be heard in May 2006.

The lawsuits, most filed last fall but the latest filed last week in King County Superior Court, say Quadrant negligently built the families' homes with fiberglass insulation installed in the heating ducts, a code violation that spread glass fibers throughout the homes.

According to the lawsuits, the fibers caused several health problems among the parents and their children, including frequent nosebleeds, eye problems, sinus infections, sore throats and breathing difficulties. The families are seeking unspecified damages for medical costs, cleanup and loss of property value.

Since the fiberglass was discovered last year, Quadrant has refused to "completely decontaminate homes," the lawsuits say, or "reasonably investigate the extent of the fiberglass contamination."

Quadrant declined to comment at length on the lawsuits but denied some of the families' allegations.

In a written statement, Quadrant spokesman Bill Boucher said the fiberglass "has been an isolated problem that has affected a small number of homes."

"We have offered inspections to all homeowners," Boucher said. "When we have found misplaced insulation, we have offered to work with the homeowners to remedy the situation. Some have accepted our offer.

"Airborne fiberglass may be an irritant under certain circumstances, but does not pose a health risk."

Tim Hardin, the state indoor-air-quality program manager, has not investigated the Snoqualmie Ridge allegations, but he said fiberglass, while not likely to have toxic effects, is a "very powerful irritant" that could have caused the health problems the families say they had.

Snoqualmie officials inspected a small number of homes last year and discovered fiberglass insulation in the return-air spaces leading to the furnaces, a violation of the city building code. They sent a letter to hundreds of Snoqualmie Ridge residents with Quadrant-built homes warning them of the potential problem.

The city received "some calls" from residents after the letter, and every known code violation was fixed, City Administrator Bob Larson said.

Most of the families involved in the lawsuits want large-scale cleanups of their homes that would remove any trace of the glass fibers, including replacement of carpets and repainting of walls. They say Quadrant offered more-comprehensive cleanups to at least two homeowners, but then offered just a new furnace filter and insulation removal to subsequent families.

Quadrant officials declined to give details about what they offered homeowners.

Some of the families say they still suffer health problems, even after spending thousands of dollars cleaning up their homes.

Daniel and Jean Saimo bought their four-bedroom home five years ago for $305,000. They say they've spent about $4,200 to clean the house so far, but the maladies have not entirely gone away.

"I'm trying to get the safe home I thought I was purchasing from [Quadrant]. ... I want my house made right," Jean Saimo said.

2005 was an amazing year

When the year began I was actually filled with some optimism. With a November 2004 election corrupted by King County and thousands of illegal and invalid votes counted, who would have thought that a judge would accept depositions from felons removing votes from Dino Rossi while allowing an admitted 1,760 illegal votes in a race decided by 129 votes to decide the election in Gregoire's favor?

A personal battle with the corrupt King County land use departments was coming to head and the Washington State Supreme Court would decide many of the issues once and for all. Who would have imagined that after 10 years the court would rule unanimously to excuse a decade of wrongdoing based on King County's acceptance in 1989 of an illegal subdivision application that the Superior Court, Appellate Court and even the Supremes themselves refused to even rule on given repeated opportunities?

Then last month the King County Board of Ethic refused to rule on a half-dozen ethical questions related to King County actions, keeping their 6-year record of non-action perfect. That then excused the King County Ombudsman from investigating even larger issues. I learned that in King County, ethics doesn't drive behavior, but the Ethics Code does. But what is the Ethics Code but a law written and adopted by politicians to make sure that just about anything can be done in King County and still be called ethical.

When the year began George W. Bush was the overwhelming victor in a Presidential race ran against an arguably treasonous opponent? But despite his strong victory, the mainstream media has only ratcheted up their efforts further to damage him and his popularity, with papers like the New York Times now even orchestrating the release of news to hurt the administration? It's a tribute to many Americans that they can withstand the barrage of unfair and untruthful negative coverage and still approve of the president's actions.

But as a conservative in Washington State what can one do? With a state Republican Party run by the growth industry and their poster boy Chris Vance, what kind of choice is it choosing between the Democrats' social welfare and voter "purchase plan" or the Republicans' corporate welfare agenda and corporate "purchase plan"? Democrats higher taxes to feed the dependency class versus Republican higher taxes to subsidize the growth industries profits? Or even the shared strategies supporting higher taxes to build tributes to the elite in the form of new coliseums or race tracks?

No, whatever optimism I had left in those first days of 2005 is gone in these early days of 2006.

As a conservative all I have to look forward to in 2006 is the unrelenting attacks on our "moderate" president for being too "non-Democrat". Democrats will continue to hope, and even attempt to orchestrate failures in Iraq while they and their allies in the media will continue to hype their version of the Iraq scorecard, which will continue to be centered around our soldiers' deaths and anything negative they can come up with or invent.

Brainless politicians like Maria Cantwell, elected only as a result of the tech boom and likely shenanigans in King County that helped her defeat Slade Gorton, will fight logical and reasonable efforts to drill in ANWR. Never mind that it might actually be environmentally friendly and would move tankers off the oceans where the greater risks are. But it's all political. Right and wrong don't count. What's best for Americans doesn't matter. To Democrats in Washington, both this one and DC, all that matters is winning. An America in flames would be acceptable to today's Democrats as long as they are in control of it.

I hope I'm wrong about 2006, but while conservatives argue between themselves about issues, this party has to wake up to the fact that they're up against a massive propaganda machine we call the mainstream media. The MSM doesn't care about issues. The issues are all decided, as far as they are concerned, and they just happen to be the exact opposite positions supported by Bush, Republicans and especially conservatives.

The fight cannot be won taking it to Democrat politicians. They were elected by constituencies that share in their liberalism or have been bought off with their handouts. Why would they turn on the successful equations that got them into office? These politicians, along with many liberal Republicans and other RINOs, have proven that they have no concern about right and wrong, but only gaining and holding onto power. The only way to fight this battle is to take it to the media and other forces of the miseducation of Americans in higher education and Hollywood. As long as the "left" controls those propaganda distrubution mediums, then the battle cannot even be engaged among the "majority" of Americans. As long as the New York Times, Washington Post, Network TV vews, or even the news pages of the Wall Street Journal are controlled by liberals, the alternative voice is nothing but a faint whisper heard by only a very few Americans.

Consider the amazing efforts of Stefan Sharkansky and SoundPolitics.com? What percentage of Washington voters even know of this site's existence? 5% maybe? If only they knew of the evidence of fraud uncovered by Sharkansky would Sims be able to push an all-mail election system?

How about KVI or KTTH radio? Maybe 10%-20% of Puget Sound adults have listened and are already on-board with conservative beliefs. As the only successful alternatives to the Times, PI, and the plethora of television and other radio stations spewing liberalisms (or more accurately - anti-Republicanism), while some inroads have been made, the "right" has a very long way to go before they can even get into the 'real' fight over issues.