I’m voting for Elkfest
June 4, 2010 
19 Comments
I spent part of last week doorbelling for the local candidate, Andy Billig. This time around, I had a list of registered voters in the neighborhood so I could know which houses to stop to encourage them to vote. In the Upriver Drive area, about every five houses were registered, but on one block, there were, strangely enough, six or seven houses in a row registered with a good voting record. After that, I sought an explanation, as anyone would after a bizarre occurrence. It was no coincidence. They were all immigrants from Vietnam and Myanmar. Here’s the conclusion I came up with, feel free to contend: I think they had limited voting rights if any at all and therefore capitalized on the opportunity. So kudos!
As for the rest of you Spokanites, we need to have a serious talk. Only 54 percent of ya’ll are registered to vote. Of that 54 percent only 51 percent of you voted in the last election. That leaves about 72 percent of the population that isn’t voting. What’s up with that? Perhaps you don’t think it matters. If that’s the case, consider this: In 2008 John Driscoll beat my personal nemesis, John Ahern by 74 votes. That would mean that if only 74 people hadn’t voted John Ahern would be in office. I’ll let you imagine the consequences.
Have I convinced you? Probably not, so here’s my secondary pitch:
This weekend at Elkfest in Browne’s Addition, NextUp (Greater Spokane Progress) and the Washington Bus have jumped on the voter engagement band wagon. There will be popsicles in exchange for the completion of a civic engagement quiz and the opportunity to dunk an elected official if you register or pledge to vote. This isn’t a partisan deal, we are trying to engage every citizen in government so we all have the right to complain when things go wrong.
The NextUp/ Washington Bus Booth will be at Elkfest, 1931 W. Pacific Ave., all three days of the festival. You can check Elkfest out on Facebook or last.fm. Did I mention that Elkfest is a music festival, too? Put on your dancing shoes. Oh yeah, did I mention that it’s free? ‘Cause it is.
See you there!
About the Author
Tell me Apostate,
Do you believe we should do away with the Electoral College? As a self-proclaimed fan of Spokane, surely you must understand how many times Eastern Washington has been hosed by Western Washington. Remember the vote for the current stadium that replaced the Kind Dom? 37 counties voted against, two voted for it and it passed.
It does not benefit Eastern Washington whatsoever.
UW is given more than the lion’s share of funding over the years. A number of states wisely split the state education money equably between their large Universities; not Washington State. (Texas AM and U of Texas, MSU and UM in Michigan, there are several other examples…)
What say you?
Good post on voter turn out. After the Driscoll vote there was a recount. Several of us spent time driving the district to perfect voter proof of having voted to keep votes from being thrown out. Miles and miles of driving a big district. Building a progressive base of voters is so important for a vibrant city. Way to go Washington Bus!
Spowwind, changing the electoral college would require changing the Constitution, and with the current political cimate, that’s not going to happen. But you are correct that we as eastern washingtonians get hosed be the legislature. The problem is the people we elect (at least in the 3rd) simply vote as the interest groups in King Co tell them to vote. Our own state senator, Lisa Brown, controls the Leg, but simply abdicates to the needs of the interest groups in Seattle. What we need are Reps who will fight for Spokane and stand up to those on the other side of the mountains.
The Apostate is correct though that civic engagement is important (for god’s sake they sent the ballot to your house. just fill in the damn bubbles). And the people from SE Asia are Hmong. Watch Gran Tourino for more info about them. They fled Asia after the Reds took over and moved the the US. Where will they move when the Commies take over our country?
I am excited! See you there Apostate!
What say you Apostate?
To Mr. Barbieri:
The problem is the Progressive (ie Commie) agenda. As I posted before the Hmong and others who grew up in communst countries LEFT because the comand economy system destroys opportunity and forces people to live in poverty and oppression. The so-called “Progressive” agenda is what is driving people out of our state. The basic tenents of “Progressivism” are dependence on the state and destruction of economic opportunity. I believe that the American People will whole-heatedly reject this ideal in November (see 1994). If we don’t then our whole country will turn into Detroit. If that happens I’ll move to Texas, where I can be a free person.
Sorry. I misspelled heartedly.
Mr. Laszlo, why don’t you exercise your free market choice and move to Texas right now? Your partisan rhetoric does little to address the complex challenges that our city and our region faces.
Equating progressivism to communism is just silly, and severely diminishes your credibility as a genuinely concerned commentator. I could go around saying conservatives are fascists ad nauseum, but that doesn’t move anyone forward in making the hard choices of local government.
If you want to criticize the choices of particular people in office for particular reasons, by all means go right on ahead. Anything more generalized and glossed over than that is just your paranoid Republican propaganda rearing its ugly head, and you will fail to compel moderates like myself.
There are many examples locally where the “progressive” official is hands-down more fiscally conservative than the so-called Republican officials. Just look at the County Commissioners office as a good example. If you practice what you preach you will cross party lines and vote for Bonnie Mager this November.
Nancy,
My borther moved to Texas about 5 years ago and my college roommate is currently driving to Texas as he is moving there. I personally like living in Spokane; I just feel that we should all have the same freedoms and opportunities.
While you make a correct point that indivually progressives can be fiscally conservative and responsible, as a governing philosophy, “Progressivism” simply does not work. Look at the states that are broke (WA, CA, HI, MI, NY CT) all of them are run totally by Progressives/Democrats. Connecticut had its bond rating downgrated and the City of Los Angeles can’t pay its water bill.
As for the commie thing, while there are differences between Porgressives and Communists, they are similar inasmuch as they boh reject the Enlightenment. Traditional Liberalism contends that the individual is sovereign and the State derives its authority from the consent of the governed. Progressivism is based on the opposite, that the State is sovereign and the individual must submit to the will of the State (see the 16th and 18th Amendments to the constitution). Even drug Prohibition was a progressive idea (controlled substance act of 1937).
To all “Progressives” out there, what are we progressing towards and is there a point where we stop “progressing?” At this point it seems we are progressing towards serfdom.
As the late Coach Wooden used to say, “All progress requires change, but not all change is progress.”
Bonnie Mager is your solution Nancy? Please. Mager is part of the problem. There is an economic typhoon heading our way in Spokane County, and in four years Mager has not demonstrated any ideas to fix the problems and batten down the hatches. Granted she is one vote, but part of being a County Commissioner is communicating and Bonnie in four years has not done that.
Mager has had her turn at bat and struck out. It is time for another, better batter to take the plate as County Commissioner.
Apostate, any comments?
the people that have lived in a place where there is no vote are the most freverent about it here. makes sense.
Among many of America’s weaknesses, apathy can be counted among its worst.
Yoo hoo, Apostate…any comments?
If we don’t then our whole country will turn into Detroit. If that happens I’ll move to Texas
Your knowledge of geography is stunning. No, really.
I don’t know if Driscoll is electable or not–in this environment, I have my doubts–so I certainly hope that Shelly O’Quinn makes a good showing.
Mager has had her turn at bat and struck out. It is time for another, better batter to take the plate as County Commissioner.
She was the only one of the three who was right about the race track, and in my mind that more than qualifies her for re-election.
I weep for the future of Spokane County if someone like Al French wins that election.
Ryan,
I’m not sure what your criticism is. Yes I do know that Texas is part of the US (if not in their minds). My point is when our system collapses Texes will function essentially as its own nation.
Furthermore you missed entirely my point that the “progressive” policies have ruined multiple states and will ruin our country. It’s the parts of our country that are not collapsing at the seams (TX, ID) that show us what policies we should be pursuing. Maybe I should have said Canada as they are more Conservative than us at this point.
Victor, you have some severely contorted ideas of what constitutes a progressive. I consider myself “progressive” and I am no where near thinking “people should always submit to the government.” Where are you coming up with this stuff?
What I want to know is if the states with bigger magnate cities are so awful, then why are so many people clamoring to move to those markets? I could find just as many examples of Republican states that are in trouble because of the economy. Or you could measure the states in other terms, like educational attainment and per capita income. I’m pretty sure the Dem states would win out on both those counts.
As far as Bonnie Mager goes, I’d rather vote for her and know that I’m getting a solid public advocate, as opposed to being swooned by this Californian import that is essentially buying his own campaign. Just look at all the egotistical signs he’s posted around town. I don’t want him allocating my tax dollars in such a lavish fashion. I prefer Bonnie’s more conservative approach.
As far as Bonnie being isolated with the other two Republicans, I’m not going to blame her for their shortcomings. If Salvatori were running against Todd or Mark I’d vote for him in a heartbeat. Those two guys frivolously blew the taxpayers wad on the racepark, among other offenses. Salvatori is simply running against the wrong incumbent. If he really cared about what is best for Spokane County he’d wait and run against one of those other guys instead of jumping in to promote his own image.
Mr Thompson,
Whatever you’re smoking, please share it with the rest of us. I’m not sure what cities you’re talking about but me research shows that people are fleeing these area. I have given many examples of the failures of Progressivism and I will reiterate them here. Ct recently had its bond rating downgraded; CA is a dumpster fire, the city of LA can’t pay its water bill; NJ has had tens of billions of dollars flee their state, and their fine Gov is treated like a serial killer for simply putting a freeze on govt salaries; NY is broke; MI makes a dumpster fire look appealing; and our own state is following the same path.
Internationally, Greece is a failed state; Iceland has a failed economy; France, England, and Germany are all moving to the Right.
Our Federal Govt has (unconstitutionally) nationalized the Mortgage industry, the health care industry, the auto industry, the financial services industry, the student load industry, among others. And our Federal debt is approaching 100% of GDP. 100%. We can safely say that we are approaching Banana Republic status, and the communist Chinese think we’re too liberal (and they’re Commies).
SO I challenge you to offer us one example of succesful implimentation of the Progressive agenda. Just one.