I've decided I'm really more of a demarchist than an anarchist, but I'm not changing the name of the blog. I believe demarchy holds out much more hope for immediate relief from the capitalist boot, though I will continue to push on behalf of the ethical system that underlies most anarchism, especially the mutual aid aspects.

Mayor Hession just does not get it. The citizens complaint about the SPD is that it is a good ole boy network and that coverup is always the first reaction to a challenge. The appointed chief has already said she "knows" that there is no "good ole boy" thing. And she does not want oversight. So again the mayor goes with sham: he appoints cops to investigate cops and he reappoints the same tired old review committee which has not functioned, or raised any hell, in years. This will not work. We need an independent and active review commission written into the city charter.

Mayor Hession Report

Notice how the mayor and the the new chief match up in their interests, such as jogging? It's as if they were put together by a dating service. And It does not augur well for us that the chief sees the Spokane department as devoid of any good ole boy philosophy.

It is good the mayor wants a limited review of the police department. But why doesn't he just do it himself and then provide the council with his results to form a basis for some kind of public hearings on their part. That's one thing our system sorely lacks: true public oversight hearings. As for the mayor conducting his own fact finding investigation, he's an attorney and so should be up to the job. Let's face it, he's going to appoint someone with same judicial temperment as himself. I say, hold his feet to the fire. If he thinks he is too busy, he can appoint someone to take over his other duties.

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Here's a few of my initial thoughts as I ponder the tak break being given to those developers building high priced multi-family projects in downtown Spokane.


The fact that our lives have private and public aspects is clear. But just how these aspects are to be best balanced and mingled by public policy is not so clear and is in constant debate. I want to discuss one recent trend in that public policy which, besides being an excellent example of how confusing things can become, raises important issues of justice.

The following is often presented by community leaders to the citizens as a maxim: If a public body should ratchet up public subsidies to a private business person or corporation, there will be a general public benefit which will return, on some economic scale, many times the original subsidy. I should say, the leaders hope this appears as a maxim. But note that to be a maxim the above proposition must be independent of the subsidy and the private beneficiary. And concrete proposals never do fit that bill; it is always a specific subsidy and project which is proposed, with the insinuation that such a maxim is lurking below the surface.

If all such subsidies were so magically beneficial, should not every real estate development, for example, be totally paid for with all public funds available, allowing the developers to reap their required profit and the public to be guaranteed their investment returned many fold? But I’ve never heard this general proposal officially put forth. Of course, there is still the possibility that certain policy makers do believe we are dealing with a maxim here, in spite of the preposterous conclusions, and they don’t propose it as a general policy only because there is not yet a legal basis for such plundering of public funds. But setting that aside, I hope we agree that it is each particular subsidy we need to evaluate as to its justice.

A subsidy for a sports arena is one much discussed example of what I am discussing. But I want to deal with another example: a subsidy for a more ordinary real estate development. And the one I want to dissect is one being implemented by our lawmakers and mayor right here in Spokane. The concept was devised and made into law in Olympia and says that at the whim of city officials certain developers should be enriched in the following way: Lands within clearly defined boundaries can be mandated by the city to be blessed such that any newly constructed multifamily structures on such land shall be exempt from property taxes for ten years. The lawmakers in Olympia showed the usual moderation we find these days in stealing from the lower classes in that they leave the land itself on the tax rolls.
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The section in Spokane’s municipal code needed to launch this endeavor at making a killing for all involved lists seven possible purposes, a number that on the face of it is a red flag and near assurance that all is not well in the whim department; i.e., if one purpose might seem too fanciful, another shall be at the ready, and so the opposition can be worn down by sheer numbers. Let us ask a few questions: Why a subsidy of ten years and not five years or twenty years or fifty years? And what about the unlucky property owners just outside of one of these hallowed boundaries? Might they be running with the wrong crowd?

It is difficult to get the lawmakers in Spokane to discuss their personal rationale for this law. At least, they won’t talk to me about it. But for starters, let’s assume one of them would say something like this. There is an old ramshackle house sitting on a 30,000 square foot lot in Peaceful Valley. The yearly property taxes on the house are $1400. Now, developer Ben E. Factor has always had a hankering to build a twenty unit condominium on this site with a value, let’s say, excluding land value, of $500,000 per unit. The problem is that the buyers, while willing to shell out $500,000 for the unit, will not pay the property tax of, say, $7,000 per year. And hence, the developer must just let this land sit idle, saving himself from a poor development decision and depriving the community of tax dollars they may receive ten years down the road. But it is even worse than that:. Because Factor is not building, neither is any one else in the district, so the blight goes on. Is any one laughing yet? Please tell me developers had no hand in the writing of this bill in Olympia, nor any role in it’s implementation in Spokane. And then I’ll be ready to say this is other than pure blackmail.

Now, government subsidies are common in our society and many serve a useful purpose. And in fact, many are accepted with little debate; for example, the provision of public goods such as roads, clean air and water, and public safety. Though these are too seldom thought of as such, these goods are business subsidies in the sense that they provide a the minimal infrastructure required for any commercial enterprise. And then there are social goals sought through other more special policies such as special tax breaks for the poor, disabled, the elderly, homeowners, and on and on. These are all under regular review and debated as to their details.

It is a different fish we are looking at here. As proposed, the tax abatement is proposed as a sort of financial perpetual motion machine or, better yet, a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. First, we are shown there is nothing in the hat. That is, there will be no development at site A if the public doesn’t ante up through their government. Now this is impossible to prove or disprove once the particular subsidy is on the table because the developer can simply threaten to hold off unless the subsidy comes through. A weak attempt at a proof is sometimes tried by pointing out, for example, how long a certain piece has remained undeveloped. But market conditions, interest rates and so forth are always changing, so that doesn’t always work either. To state it flat out: with no subsidy available, the developer would, I believe, most likely proceed with the development anyway, putting the property right on the tax rolls. And think how much better this would be for all public projects needing immediate funding

COUNCIL HEARING ON LIVING WAGE

The arguments against this modest proposal were quite revealing of the capitalist mind set. Nancy McLaughlin, an ardent admirer of Ronald Reagan, expressed the fear that young people may resourcefully make do on $10/hr, by communal living and so forth, and then lose all ambition to do more. In other words, she sees starvation and misery as the proper spur to worthless youth, resulting down the road to a well trained and exploitable workforce.

And then Chud Wendle was quite amusing as he flaunted his millions with numerous references as to what he "gives back." Some of his workers may have been thinking, "doesn't charity began at home?." And of course he threatened to move his business out of the city.

Al French fretted over the wording. I believe he considers himself the Ben Franklin of Spokane. French never seems to have a proposal that will not put money into some business person's pocket.

There were the usual speakers who, though having listened to Doug Orr's excellent presentation, did not absorb a word of it and presented the same old arguments that Orr had demolished just moments before. Are these folks in a hypnotic state, or what?

BILL GATES AND ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI


The idea that bill Gates is some kind of St. Francis like character is gaining way too much currency. He is not a holy man. Much of this money he is giving away, to great fanfare - and persuading others to give away - will come back to him as the direct and indirect beneficiaries swear eternal loyalty to Microsoft products.

This is especially pernicious as regards his money to education where children will be hooked on Microsoft at an early age. What school administrator would dare to purge Gates software after getting a Gates grant?

And don’t be fooled by the cheesy ruse of having his wife’s name on the foundation, and all this chatter about retiring from the day to day operations.

If Bill is really sincere, let him get rid of all his earthly possessions in the exact manner of St. Francis and then I will certainly apologize.

From what I read of his parents, I believe their giving would be purely alturistic. But I can not buy BG’s bull.

The idea of a part-time city council might be in the public interest
somewhere - say, for a hamlet. But it will never work for Spokane. The
Council is too unrepresentative, and that flaw is baring its ugly teeth
as the living wage issue grinds through the current council's mill.
There is not a single member of what is commonly called the working
class sitting on the council or as mayor. Nor is it likely there will
ever be under the current charter, other than as a fluke. Instead, we
are overburdened with attorneys and business people, loyal as ever to
their class. .

It is often said the present set-up is a good one in that we don't have
"professional politicians" to contend with. Oh, yes! Beware of
someone who devotes her professional life working to dispense public
goods such as progressive taxes, adequate public safety, and steps to
combat global warming, instead of private favors such as property tax
abatements for millionaires, fast tracks for their favorite developers, and excuses
for renegade public servants.

If we raised the council annual salaries and reduced the term to two
years, perhaps we would find a council composed of hod-carriers, former
Wal-Mart employees, landscape workers, baristas, and the like. In other
words, a real cross-section of Spokane. That is much more the American
way than what we have now.

Bush in Iraq

Bush's surprise visit to Iraq was another of those unintentional blunders that shows what fools he and his advisors are. I put it in the same category as Cheney's shoot-'em-in-the-face fiasco. Now think, how would Russia or Britian react if Bush showed up to see Putin or Blair with a fifteen minute notice? Very disrespectful, they would say. The visit simply underlines the fact we intend to have Iraq as a puppet for a great many years. In fact, I see us as in the process of dropping an "iron curtain" around the oil producing middle east and central Asia. My apologies to the ghost of WC.

LIVING WAGE LAWS FOR SPOKANE

It is the duty of every employer to pay a living wage. This is deeper than a rule derived with cold mathematics from an incomplete economic model. It is an ethical appeal to our humanity.

Imagine this scenario: Sally, a single mother of two, is working in Spokane for a diversified company which happens to contract with the city to enforce the handicap zone parking ordinance. The company is induced to build a new office building in the city after being dealt some tax breaks and other incentives from the city. Now from what she reads in the paper, Sally learns that the reason for these subsidies is that her company contributes to the general welfare of the community by providing jobs. In other words, the city has somehow gotten into the business of buying jobs for citizens of the region. But Sally scratches her head because she is being paid the starvation wage of $8.12 an hour with no health benefits and can not see how being a poorly paid wage slave contributes to the city’s general welfare.

It is on behalf of people like Sally that a national living wage movement was launched. The momemtum began to build after Baltimore passed an ordinance in 1995. That law tied corporate incentives doled out by public bodies to what the corporations paid their employees. Specifically, the Baltimore City Council passed a bill requiring companies that have service contracts with the city of Baltimore to pay workers at least $6.10 an hour. Two earlier living wage laws had been passed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1988 and Gary, Indiana in 1991, but they were not followed up as vigorously as was the Baltimore ordinance..

As of now there are about 130 laws in place and 75 or so campaigns underway. And one of these campaigns has been chugging along for a number of years right here in Spokane. The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) got the ball rolling in 1998 with a 3000 signature petition they presented to the Spokane City Council. That proposal was tabled - no surprise. In 2002 PJALS resurrected this activity and hired a coordinator, since succceeded by two others, the current coordinator being Wil Elders (contact him at livingwage@qwest.net if you want to help). All PJALS activities are under the general direction of Rusty and Nancy Nelson. Since the beginning of the PJALS effort, all staff members and volunteers have worked diligently to fashion a result. But it hasn't been easy and there still is no ordinance.

I have been an on and off observer of this local process since 2002. And under each of the earlier regimes I have seen considerable time spent in meetings where discussion centered on either of two paths. The first of these was to set a campaign strategy. The other path was to pound out details of the law itself, things such as who is to be coverered, the wage level, health benefits, and other very complicated details. But as time went on a chicken or egg situation developed. Some of those at the meetings would not move farther down one path without advances first being made down the other, and there were others who felt the same but reversing the paths. So there developed a certain ping pong effect, encouraging stalemate.

Also, in those early days great emphasis was placed on coalition building as part of a best strategy. But from what I saw, nearly all of the proposed coalition partners seemed very unpartner like. One example was John Powers, Spokane's first mayor under the so-called strong mayor system. A PJALS commitee, including me, visited, hat in hand and face-to-face, with one of his chief aides. The mayor had begun a movement to raise awareness of poverty in Spokane, trumpeting that this was the necessary first step to ameliorate said poverty. Well, at the meeting the commitee was told that Powers did not object to our campaign and would welcome PJALS as part of his coalition to work on this poverty awareness thing. But of course, he firmly believed it would be political suicide to publicly sponsor any kind of living wage law, due in large part to the attitude of his financial backers. See? Money talks.

There's much more significant history, with both advances and setbacks. But space dictates that we stop here and ask, what now are the prospects for a meaningful living wage ordinance in Spokane? The current mayor, Dennis Hession, has been approached on the issue. He says that neither the he nor a majority of the council will support it. Though I'm sure he or any other politician would like to add that, "We have an open mind, of course." This is not a good sign.. Then there is the option of trying to get an initiative on the ballot and passed despite the fact there is no visible mass support from those who would most benefit. I'll conclude with suggestions for an attack on these two seemingly dismal situations.

Let us look at the underlying philosophy of those opposing a living wage ordinance. I believe there are many of these folks, often politically influential, who are led by their philosophical inclinations to assert that there is no such thing as a right to a living wage, a position which clearly translates into no right to life. This is indeed a barbarous doctrine; and I agree with philospher John Burnheim when he surmises in a slightly different context that no one would embrace such a doctrine "were she or he not convinced that once one grants a right to life there follows all kinds of rights, that can only end in the worst kind of 'socialism' or state despotism." So if fears such as these could be assuaged, perhaps the mayor and the Council would come around.

It has been stated and I find it to be true that revolutions are always accomplished by a passionate minority toppling an indifferent majority. Well, we have just this opportunity in Spokane IF we can spur what I believe now is the minority who support a living wage law into an increased awareness and passion. Unfortunately, as it now stands I am afraid the passion lies on the side of the majority who already are involved in a successsful national revolution of their own in rolling back the New Deal. But in the immortal words of David Mamet as put in the mouth of Don Ameche, "Things change." We can hope.

CITY PRIORITIES

Last week, a member of the board which oversees the Spokane region's air quality introduced the notion of requesting cities to do what they could to combat global warming, thus introducing the problem of global warming in a somewhat official way to the City of Spokane. The City Council has seen presentations on this issue, but as usual they have ignored them. So let me take this opportunity to list some other ignored issues which are also vital to our survival as a free and safe democracy.

First, we need a ombudsman. This is essential so that the average citizen will feel connected, as a participant, to his government.

Next, we need to redesign the current neighborhood council system in a major way. This move relates to the ombudsman proposal in that the current neighborhood council system is too elitist, though it was never intended to be other than that. We need much less authoritarinism in Spokane, and a democratic neighborhood system as an actual part of the city's governance system would help.

In fact, the whole city government structure needs a major overhaul, carried out in the total daylight of public participation. For example, what sense does it make to call a third of Spokane a district? The differences between the members of one of these "districts" are much greater than any similarities. So the alleged attempt at better representaiion is foolish on the face of it.

Then we need a citizen police and fire departments review committe, picked from other than the crony pool; this is to counteract the PR blitzes we've been subject to for years.

We also need a living wage law and several other changes, but I'll let it go for now.

CHENEY UNCHAINED

Dick Cheney shoots friend while hunting quail. What a metaphor!!!! Hunting quail? Little tiny cute birds? Was he doing his part to combat bird flu, or just playing the rich man's game of brave hunter? What A moron! And of course he says it was not his fault. It never is, as when he breaks the law or launches an ill-conceived imperial adventure. But here he is clearly the no-conscience buffoon with no place to hide. Dick, it's you, you, you.

BUSH AS A CRIMINAL, ETC.

Bush is defending himself as though the charge is that he is a sort of sneak thief. He points out how he has briefed Congress on his wiretapping and so forth and wants us to buy this as evidence he is innocent. No! He is a different and worse kind of criminal. He is a political criminal, a usurper of our rights, and a claimant to judge for himself what the law is and to say to hell with the courts. If he is so innocent let us hear his case before the Senate in a public impeachment trial.

Hey, end of year movies his year have been bad. King Kong and New World are boring. I haven't seen a real good movie since Capote. Backing up, KK might is worth and econ hour ticket just to watch Jack Black. Tristan and Isolde is not too bad but not great.

ASSASSINATION AS A WAR TACTIC

The Bush gang strategy of lopping off the enemy's head in hope the snake will die is quite foolish. And dangerous for us all. This tactic makes Bush himself and any innocents who may be at his side targets. I would not be in the least surprised to pick up the paper(or turn on the computer) and find Bush has been blown to hell. I just hope he takes none of my loved ones with him.

Who could ever have dreamed we would be led by such an arrogant pack of liars, torturers, and general law breakers. What a slap in the face to the good people who voted for them. Of course, the not-so-good people who voted for them should be condemned in the same terms as they.

"YOUNG MAN"

You can be sure of this. If you are addressed by anyone as, "young man," you are either too young to be a man or too old to be young.

Bush Being Bounced?

It looks to me like the idealogues of the right are bouncing Bush. Presidents are expendable; it 's the idea that must live. The president, you should notice, has been given a new persona, sort of like the honest fool. He is now taking personal responsiblity for all the booboos on the war and elsewhere. The underlying ideas are right but his honest mistakes have screwed up the execution. After his term, who needs him, he may be a liabilty - or so his handlers think. The one negative they especially want to dispel, though, is his image as a liar. Thus all the recent candor, even if it's at his expense. Of course, the fact that Bush is going along with this says a ton.

TODAY'S SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Now that Evo Morales has won big in the Bolivian elections Bush has a third South American country on his enemies list, along with Brazil and Venezuela. Don't be surprised if another American-backed coup pops up. Remember we are already fighting a war in Columbia.

Speaking of elections, check out the news on the contesting of the Iraq election results.

I see the streamrolling of an tax increment financing district is taking place in the valley. This dubious notion also is being pushed hard in the city by Al French. I can go along with some of these public-private partnerships, when the public good aspects can be clearly demonstrated. But in the case of TIF I'm afraid it is a case of the complex technicalities making it a bit of a shell game, with the developer walking off with the loot and the citizen scratching his head.

Letters: Dave Hamer's letter is a great example of using non-facts to bolster a discredited theory (American Exceptionalism).

TODAY'S SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Judge Jones did us all a big favor with his ID ruling. And by the way, the letters section should stop publishing letters on this subject. If it is a serious issue, it should be thrashed out it in peer reviewed journals. What will we see next, letters from businness majors trying to apply string theory to time travel? The S-R's published letters supporting ID are 90 % ignorance and 10% craziness.

More good news: Four Republicans are helping to straighten out the Patriot Act and driving Bush nuts. Of course, the present act has nothing to do with patriotism, sharing this trait with bills named by Bush and (Dr. Strangelove) Cheney

Letters: Curt Craig has his analogy askew. Bush is not giving tax cuts because he thinks his service has been poor. And the answer to the pizza refund is that all families should share in the twenty bucks except the rich family. Yes, I am proud to be a libertarian socialist in the mode of Noam Chomsky, Peter Kropotkin, Albert Parsons, and many other worthies. Judith Jones should research the defintion of race and genetics more carefully. I believe that race is now considered by the academic community to be a passe concept.

SMOKING BAN AND MY ANARCHISM

Some might think it peculiar that I support Spokane's smoking ban AND consider myself a brand of anarchist. Those who think that make the common mistake of believing an anarchist should behave as though he or she is already living in the anarchist society we so wish for. No. We live in a capitalist society - not a good thing! - and must defend ourselves accordingly. In my opinion, in an anarchist society there would not be addicts so inconsiderate as to smoke in public places. For more on anarchism check out infoshop.org.

BRIEF COMMENTS ON RECENT NEWS

It was a sad thing that Tookie Williams was executed. It is bad enough that capital punishment is still with us, but in his case it is likely an American state has continued in its long tradition of slaying men and women who are innocent in spite of what a jury might have concluded. It's noteworthy that Sean Hannity justified his call for execution by pointing out he was not judging the man's "soul" and was willing to grant that Tookie's "soul" might be saved, but the eye for an eye rule must be followed; and since the man may be going to heaven, what's all the fuss about? Isn't this thinking akin to that of suicide bombers and another example of religous fanaticism?

The voters have endorsed the Review's assault on Jim West and Spokane is about to have a new mayor, Dennis Hession. I see a coming renewal of the all-out council warfare, as splits in the council are becoming more apparent. The strong mayor system is not workable for Spokane for a number of reasons. And one of them is that at least some council members will always have their eye on the job, and in such a small council this will be disruptive. Another reason, applying to the current system only, is that the charter was devised by a tiny minority and not thought out over time as it should have been. A final note: it is ludicrous that the committee which worked on the recall should think they deserve any say in the transition policies of the new mayor. The fact they claim otherwise puts the lie to all their previously announced intentions.

Go see Syriana. It's very educational.

Eugene McCarthy died and he was one of my heroes. I was a delgate supporting him in 1968. I identified with his quixotic tendencies as regards principles. Mary Shelley also accused her husband of these same tendencies. But I don't think they're all bad.

More Movies

I found the John Cash movie a bit tiresome because his character is a tiresome, bullying, whining loser. Was he really like that in that period?. Probably. But it doesn't make for an entertaining movie. The film is somewhat redeemed by the potrayal of a saintly June Carter by Reese Witherspoon. Was she like that. Who cares. I sorely missed Cash's actual voice, as well as that of Lewis, Presley and Orbison. I can't recommend but if you're easy to please you'll like it.

The Ice Harvest is great. It is a noir sendup of film noir, mocking many classic scenes from that genre, and going with all the cross, doublecross stuff. The casting is excellent, especially for John Cusack, though Billy Bob Thornton is the funniest. Beware - it is a counter-Xmas movie. But if you're sensitive to that, you probably don't like film noir anyway.

I watched Dr. Strangelove on dvd last night. It's as fresh as ever and maybe even more important to watch now. I believe Dick Cheney may be scarier than HK.