For the last 10 years I have had the pleasure of leading the Windermere Foundation effort for the South King County group of 8 offices including : Auburn, Burien, Federal Way, Kent, Maple Valley, Renton/South, Renton & West Campus.   Every Windermere Office has a volunteer agent or two that coordinates the Foundation activities for that office.  These agents research and select the actual organizations that will be recipients of a Windermere Foundation Grant from that office.

Most of the funds come from transaction closings.  Windermere agents contribute a portion of their income from every closing.  Many contribute extra amounts during the year as well.  Other sources are donations from clients, contractors, suppliers and associated industries.  Several fundraisers take place every year, including an annual wine tasting event that raised over $10,000 in 2009

The Windermere Foundation operates similarly to United Way in that we fund other non-profit organizations and do not fund individuals directly.  The Windermere Foundation has distributed over two million dollars annually in recent years to non-profit agencies dedicated to helping homeless and low-income families throughout our multi-state area. 

As the economy has been difficult these last few years, many of the Foundation grants have been towards emergency services for families such as food, utilities and emergency rent assistance.  However, A significant portion of Windermere Foundation dollars go toward programs that help children.  Establishing and funding literacy programs, underwriting the costs of summer camp, and providing basic necessities such as new school shoes, socks, and underwear are among the many projects that the Windermere Foundation supports. We believe that building a child’s self-esteem is an investment in our future.

I am pleased to announce that grants were just selected in the amount of $17,600 benefiting 12 South King County Organizations.  These are:  Auburn Youth Resources, YMCA, Fusion, Children’s Home Society, Catholic Community Services, Maple Valley Food Bank, Maple Valley Community Center, WICS, Vision House, The Salvation Army, New Horizons and Bethel Christian Center.

While our Foundation Representatives and the agents they represent are proud beacons of giving, the real heros are those individuals in the organizations that provide the resources to help those that struggle in our community.  Sometimes the struggle is temporary and sometimes it is long-term.  The need is the same.  The Windermere Foundation is proud to be a community member in the fight to help our families!

I have been in Olympia a few times this Session to meet with Legislators on various issues.  Most recently these visits have been to support funding for transportation issues.  Items high on the list for South King County have been a Corridor Study for Highway 516 (Kent Kangley Road) from Maple Valley to Highway 167, an Amtrak stop at Auburn and the Highway 509 Extension from Burien to I-5.  These three projects affect commuters and freight traffic and, ultimately, economic growth and jobs.

Last Friday Morning, I had the opportunity to take my Granddaughter with me.  Lexi is 11 and ASB President of her Elementary School in Auburn.  While everyone should take the opportunity to visit Olympia when it is in Session, it is a great opportunity for future leaders like Lexi.  To understand how our governmental system works is a necessary part of responsible citizenship.  The next generation is going to inherit a whole bunch of problems from this generation.  We don’t have enough regard for the serious issues we are leaving for our children and grandchildren to fix, the huge national debt being one of the most serious.

We were able to meet with our own 47th District Rep. Pat Sullivan, who graciously gave Lexi a brief tour of the House Floor.  He took the time to explain how votes were taken and tallied and gave her his full attention.  He suggested that when she was 14, she should consider being a Page in the Legislature.  This is pretty special for an eleven year old!  Pat is very kind and is one of the most respected Legislators in Olympia.  We are fortunate to have him as one of our Representatives.

While waiting for Pat, we also ran into Rep. Roger Goodman, who is from the 45th District in Seattle.  Roger is another great Legislator who has taken on Domestic Violence as a key project.  I noted in an earlier Blog that I had served with him last fall on a Domestic Violence Work Group trying to create some improvements to the legal framework that would help victims (as a side note, most of these will pass this Session).  Roger was on his way to another meeting, but stopped what he was doing and spent about 10 minutes talking with Lexi about the DV project and actually engaged her in a discussion about it.  This is pretty important to an eleven year old!

These Legislators, along with many others, know the importance of engaging these young, future leaders.  While it is politically correct to berate our Legislators about every issue under the sun, it would be nice if everyone would remember that they are, at the end of the day, your neighbor down the street who is simply trying to make the world a better place.  Some seem to think that they are “on commission” and earn a percentage of the tax dollars they raise.  The truth is that they are not paid very much for a thankless job.  I can’t afford to do it and most of you could or would not either. 

Your Legislators do want to hear from you.  However, you must engage, rather than shout at, your leaders to be effective.  Treating others as we would like to be treated is a pretty good standard.  While you may think you are only one person, all legislation starts with someone.  Take the time to visit your Legislators and make it even more special by taking a child or grandchild with you.  Their future may depend on it!

I spent most of last Thursday visiting with Members of the State Legislature about transportation issues for South King County.  Besides meeting with our 47th District Legislators (Senator Claudia Kauffman, Rep. Geoff Simpson and Rep. Pat Sullivan), I also met with several other Representatives and Senators from around the State that are on either the House or Senate Transportation Committees.  I also met with many Legislative Assistants, as not all  Legislators were available that day.  The time was interesting, as always, and fairly productive as regards to sharing the financial and policy needs for South King County.  There is actually some money in the Transportation Budget as people are still buying gas and creating gas tax dollars.

Unfortunately, Gas taxes are way down as a result of the Recession and high unemployment.  If there is no job, there is not much of a reason to drive.  With such a shortage of jobs, the need to drive all over to apply for jobs is also way down.  Further, a lot of job seeking can be accomplished via the Internet.  While very good for the environment, less driving is actually bad for transportation because of decreased income.  We are already years behind on necessary projects and, while traffic has dropped a bit, it is still massively congested.

A spot of good news is that currently budgeted projects have come in well under the original estimates.  This is due to the Recession and the fact that starving contractors are coming in as low as they can, likely breaking even in some cases, just to keep their doors open and avoid firing more employees.  This situation is allowing some money to be used for other projects.  This will not last, though.

SE King County has serious issues to contend with as we have very limited ways to get in and out of this area to where the jobs are.  Besides a few back roads, the main routes are limited to Hwy 18, Hwy 516 & Hwy 169.  Hwy 18 needs work from Hobart to I-90.  It also goes the opposite direction that most people in SE King County need to travel to employment centers.  Both Hwy 516 (Kent Kangley) and Hwy 169 (Maple Valley Hwy) are horribly congested.  It is estimated that Hwy 169 will need about $600 Million Dollars to expand it from Maple Valley to Renton.  This is going to be very difficult to find!

On-going with efforts to get funds for expansion of these roads, is a very robust discussion and process to explore enhanced transit and commuter rail options.  I will be reporting much more on these options in the months to come.  Suffice it to say, that it is important to give options other than single occupancy vehicles in the face of declining income for transportation improvements. 

Your Legislators, from our local cities to the Federal level are all trying to get the most “Bang for the Buck” to meet the growing population needs of our area.  Watch for your opportunity to take part in local and regional public meetings to learn more and give your opinion.  Please, please , please take the opportunity to learn first and talk second.  Abusive and demeaning tactics are not constructive during public meetings and, if anything is needed now, it is community collaboration to solve the problem.  There is no free lunch and there is no pot of gold lying somewhere that will magically solve the problem.  Please help!

With 37 years in some facet of the real estate industry, the last 20 as a Broker, I have seen plenty of ups and downs.  I value statistics: they can help us understand where we have been, where we are at and, perhaps, where we are going.  Unfortunately, with the precipitous fall of the overall economy these last 3 years, we are on uncharted ground.  Statistics available in 2006  did not tell us how bad things were to become.  Sure, we have seen Recessions every 10 or so years, however, this one is global and has many elements not part of the smaller recessions of the past. 

Everyone is hoping for good news on the economy.  It is hard to know who to believe as there are so many voices on both sides of every real estate statistic that comes out.  I looked up quotes about “statistics” on Quotationspage.com and my favorites are:

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.
Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)

Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.
Evan Esar (1899 – 1995), Esar’s Comic Dictionary

As to the Recession and it’s effect on real estate: I believe that we have rounded the corner!  The reality is that the corner is not going to be as short as many would like.  In 1990, when we had a similar recession, prices went down about 15-20% over a year, leveled out for a year or two and then started moving up nicely by 1994.  In this Recession, we have dropped continuously for over 3 years and have yet to fully level off in all price ranges.  Lower priced homes have generally hit the bottom.  However, more expensive homes, outside of  urban areas like Seattle, are still experiencing declines.  The farther away from job centers, the higher the decline and the longer the recovery time.  Declines of 30-40% are not uncommon.

The good news is that Pending sales, contracts written and not closed, have been way up the last several months.  Much of this is a result of buyers taking advantage of the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit program.  These positive statistics are factual.  However, the interpretations many in the media make from them are not always right.  It was a huge shock to almost everyone when closed sales in December took a huge plunge, perhaps the greatest since the Great Depression. 

One of the biggest reasons for this drop is that many sales, half or more in some markets, consist of “distressed” property sales.  These are mostly the “short sales” one hears so much about.  This is when the seller owes more than the home is worth and the lender agrees to take less than is owed on the mortgage in order for the closing to take place.  The dirty secret here is that some national statistics have shown that as few as 20% of the short sales written ever close!  It is not uncommon for offer after offer to be written on the same home only to have each one fall through at the last minute.  This is the reason that lots of pending sales do not translate into closed sales!

Bottom line:  we are doing better, but we must be ready for a slow and steady recovery.  There are plenty of good buys in real estate out there right now.  In fact, homes that are clean, well-staged and priced well elicit multiple offers again!  This is clearly the sign of a changing economy and in areas where multiple offers occur, that prices have bottomed out. 

Do not let daily, weekly or monthly statistics, that are sure to show ups and downs, rule your mood.  We had an unsettling ride down but it is now time to turn our faces to the future.  Times are tough, but we are in far better shape than our Grandparents were at the end of the Great Depression.  They fixed it and so can we!

Both Covington MultiCare and Valley General Hospital are planning expansion in Covington.  MultiCare, already having a large facility in Covington, has long-term growth plans.  Initially, they hope to build a new emergency department.  If they get a permit from the State, they intend to build a larger facility to include up to 58 beds and specialized care such as a childbirth center.  Valley, in offering to purchase 10 acres in downtown Covington, also plans to build an emergency department initially.

As it turns out, both Auburn Regional Hospital and St. Francis in Federal Way have made application to the State to add beds in their respective areas.  State approval is not needed to add emergency departments, but is needed to add long care hospital beds.  It is unlikely that all the requests will be granted.  In fact, it is likely that only one or two of the applications will be granted and the total bed expansion may be cut from what was requested.

I suspect that Covington will end up with an approved Hospital expansion, as well as emergency department expansion.  The simple reason is that the SE King County area completely lacks quick access to any emergency facility.  Emergency services providers want to transport accident victims to an emergency facility in a very short time.  The longer the transport time, the more likely that fatalities result.  Right now, it is a significant drive to either Auburn Regional or Valley General.  With a large and growing population in SE King County, the time is right for the addition of an emergency facility and expansion of adjacent longer term care.

Be sure to attend all opportunities for public meetings and hearings about this issue.  It is important that you voice the need for this important medical expansion in Covington.  Your life or the life of a family member may depend on it some day!

The Covington City Council and staff leadership spent most of Saturday, January 30th, in what is commonly called a “Retreat”.  The official name was “Annual Strategic Planning Retreat“.  This event was held in a nearby meeting facility to keep costs down. While this event is always advertised, few citizens ever attend.  This year, there were two, with one being from the Planning Commission.  It is tough enough for your elected officials to take a weekend day off for public business, as most have full-time jobs, too.

As with past Retreats, this one had very specific goals that were planned for in advance.  They were tweaked at the meeting a bit and were as follows:

1.  Review 2009 accomplishments and reaffirm our vision, mission and goals.

2.  Have a thought-provoking conversation about the City’s infrastructure (most specifically transportation) and how to ensure it reflects future trends, public preferences and strategic investments.

3.  Discuss tools and techniques to strengthen communications and relations with the public, with Commissions and within the Council.

4.  Anticipate Issues that may be the subject of future Council discussions.

While you had to be there to get the gist of the many hours of conversations, I can report that the time was well worth it, both for the Council Members, staff and Citizens.  I should point out that “Citizens” not only includes the Covington residents, but all those that transit the City in a vehicle and/or take advantage of the many services our great City offers!  Decisions made by this Council affect a lot of people and that responsibility is clearly understood.

This Council works together very well.  While not everyone agrees on everything, most issues are hashed out and voted on with a 7-0 vote.  While there may be controversial issues, civility and respect are a strength of this Council and the ability to “agree to disagree” is the result if compromise is not fully possible.  This Retreat was a great example of this.  While it was intended to be a more casual setting than the usual Council Chambers setting, it was no less important than any other meeting.  In fact, as some topics may span a generation before they are completed, one could argue that this is the most important meeting of the year!

Dozens of tasks were the outcome of the Retreat.  These tasks will be more carefully studied by both Staff and the Council in the coming months.  Some were small, such as trying to give better notice to our residents of street sweeping schedules.  Others were, simply put, huge! These include such things as future transit needs, road improvements, maintenance of existing roads and how to pay it.  Keeping high-quality services such as public safety, parks, and business services our community wants is very hard when the economy is tough.

The Council came away from this meeting energized and more ready than ever to meet the challenges this next year will bring.  So, hopefully, you now understand why a “Retreat” can be an “Advance“!

I cannot afford taxes any more than the next person right now.  As a Real Estate Broker, my income is significantly less than it was in any normal market.  In fact, my industry is one of the hardest hit in this Recession.  We don’t show up on any unemployment charts as we are Independent Contractors and do not qualify for unemployment insurance.  While the regular unemployment rate hovers around 9.5%, there are about 20% fewer Realtors in Washington then there was only a couple of years ago.  Further, most of the remaining 80% are lucky, in general, to earn 50% of what they did in a normal market.

I point this out only to emphasise that it is a pretty big deal when an Industry, which has fallen on such hard times, actually steps up to the plate and endorses local school levies.  Realtors are much worse off than most in this Recession, yet they see the important community value of education.  We recognize that we cannot sacrifice the future of our children because times are tough right now.  We know that character is defined, not when times are easy, but when times are tough.  Our children need us to show our character right now, when important funding for their education is at risk.

As a Realtor, I support our local school levies and King County Rural Library District Proposition No. 1.  All of these votes are to maintain educational opportunities for our children.  They need not only schools, but the Libraries for after school studies.  In fact, in voting for the Library levy, you are also supporting many adults in the community who rely on the library for its many services besides just checking out books.  Many rely on them right now, for example, for resources to help in job searches.  Libraries, like schools, also function as important community centers for all kinds of events as they have space that is not generally available anywhere else.

Please vote YES on your ballot for these important community resources!

I know I am not the only one who understands that the financial services industries, including banks, investment companies, bond traders, risk analysis companies and many others were clearly at fault in the creation of the current Recession.  The detailed causes are many and often murky, but the results are crystal clear.  We mostly blame the companies, however, we are letting others off the hook: The past and current Congress and Administration with the Federal Reserve all had a hand in promoting the devastation that the Recession has caused to working class and poor families across the world.  The simple WHY is pretty simple: GREED!

Greed is pretty clearly illustrated in the “too big to fail” investment banks.  More should have failed, which would have allowed the creation of new and better organizations.  Interestingly enough, they had friends in high places, namely the Federal Reserve and the Treasury.  This is simply a case of friends rewarding friends, with little consideration to the American Taxpayer.  It is well-known that the Presidential Economic Advisors and leaders of both the Treasury and the Federal Reserve are typically from leadership positions in the very investment banks they are protecting.  They tend to return to the same organizations after government service, at the same obscene income level they protected while in office.  Who is protecting the other 99% of us?

These big organizations failed through outright incompetence motivated by greed.  They had to be saved (with the money of ordinary citizens) and now act like nothing ever happened.  Are you tired of hearing that “we have to pay big bucks to keep the talent”?  What talent?  What happens to the average worker as a result of fairly simple errors?  They get fired!  Not only has a whole upper class of individuals in these companies NOT been fired, they are getting huge bonuses!  Bonuses apparently earned by convincing their friends in Government to bail them out.  Behind closed doors, they are probably laughing that the bonuses are not for investment decisions, but are really for a marketing program called “too big to fail”.

We keep saying that we need new leadership.  However as a nation, we keep electing the same people who are part of the problem.  WE need to actually read the voter’s pamphlets and campaign materials and PAY ATTENTION.  WE need to involved and let our leaders know WE are.  Further, WE need to insist that our leaders put strong legislation in place, as was passed after the Great Depression, to keep these organizations in check.  These rules kept us safe for many years, however, they began to be weakened in the 90’s.  The reason was that we could “trust” these companies to do right.  I hope we now realize that we can never trust GREED again!

On Monday, January 11th, the Washington State Legislature starts the off-year Session, also known as the “Short Session”, as it is only 2 months long.  This Session is in the middle of the Fiscal Biennium, AKA the 2 Year Budget, which was approved last year and runs from 2009 to 2011. 

This Session is a BIG DEAL as the Legislature has to make more big cuts in spending.  At this point, it may be about 2.6-2.8 BILLION dollars, but could easily grow as the Recession is lasting longer than expected.  Last year the Legislature had to make even more cuts.  While it sounded like $9 BILLION (give or take), it was really a lot less, perhaps somewhere under $4 BILLION.  The balance was various one-time fiscal maneuvers including a big influx of funds from the Federal Government.  Those cuts were easier because they were generally off the top of the budget.  This time, it is going to be much harder because the obvious was done last year.  The one-time fiscal maneuvers are not available this time.

As always, the “Devil is in the details”.  There is already some talk by the Democrats of raising some taxes.  The Republicans are against any tax increases.  The Democrats have the votes to do pretty much what they want.  I am not actually aware of any citizens who want any taxes increases, except for those who work for the State or those who benefit from the dozens of programs that the State offers.  This is certainly NOT the best time to raise taxes as the economy is in pretty tough shape.   This Mantra is on most people’s lips.

Unfortunately, “No New Taxes” rolls off the lips pretty easy until you are confronted with actual details of some programs.  Citizens who never are confronted with an abused child don’t’ have to think about the medical treatment, mental health care or housing needed for them.  Sure, kids don’t have to be in Kindergarten all day, but did you realize that it allows many parents to work a regular job to be able to provide a life for the child outside of the welfare system?  We absolutely know that children who go to Kindergarten perform at a much better rate later in school.  Did you know that a significant number of children get breakfast and lunch provided for them at most schools because the parents cannot afford to feed them properly?  I feel pretty good knowing that they get at least 2 of 3 meals a day during the week.

Cuts are easy if the children are not standing in front of you.  Our Legislators need to visualize these needs as they consider the Budget.  Are our children and their futures expendable?  Some careful and clear thinking is needed this Session to balance out the pluses and minuses that need to happen.  Our children need to be on the plus side. 

On the other hand, why has the State not trimmed employment rolls like almost all private companies and most Cities and Counties across the State?  The City of Covington, in response to reduced needs for development and construction services, drastically trimmed employment in these departments.  This was very painful, having to lose such good people, but was absolutely necessary to keep the City on sound fiscal footing.  The State has not remotely done this.  While our City and many others have trimmed employment by 10-15% or more, the State has not yet responded.  I spent an hour trying to confirm how much the State has trimmed employment, on the State website, but was unable to.  I have read in written reports that State Government employment cuts may be as little as 1% or less (read one!!) at last count, mostly through attrition.  Is something wrong with this picture?

I was honored to serve on a Domestic Violence Work Group brought together last year by State Representative Roger Goodman   The Work Group consisted on dozens of individuals connected in some way with trying to solve Domestic Violence problems.  The participants ranged from DV Court Judges and administrators, defense attorneys, prosecutors, Attorney General representatives, DV counselors, DV children’s advocates, sexual assault organizations, police and victims.   The knowledge, capability, experience and determination of every member in the group  to protect victims of DV and provide real treatment for first time offenders was crystal clear from day one.

The Work Group was tasked with coming up with as many changes to DV laws and procedures, as possible, with the caveat that the changes could not cause a budget increase.  With lives at stake, this might seem to be an odd and unnecessary limitation.  Unfortunately, with the State budget billions of dollars short last year and more billions short this year, there is not money available.  Thousands of felons have been released from prison in the last year because there was not enough money to keep them behind bars.  It is difficult to add to prison populations no matter how noble the reason.

What the Work Group tried to do was to isolate the most important problems and hinderances in the system and make the most effective changes.  One obvious target is the small number of violent, serial offenders.  Most DV offenders are amenable to counseling.  Putting serial offenders behind bars for the long term, away from current and future victims, should cost less than the on-going costs of dealing with them time and time again.  This legislative change will be put forward with the support of the Attorney General.  Your Legislators need to hear from you that you support long-term incarceration of these violent, serial offenders.

Another important goal was to address the tragic problem of victims being arrested.  This happens far too often.  Can you imagine being assaulted by a larger person and, in the process of defending yourself, cause superficial wounds to the face or arms of the abuser?  Many serial offenders know that they can cause pain without obvious evidence.  When the police arrive, they have to make the tough decision based on what they see.  How awful for the real victim, who ends up handcuffed, in jail and in the “system”.  Recommendations were made that, if enacted, would provide the police with more information about serial offenders and give them more latitude to make the “right” arrest.  If enacted, many victims will be spared the mental grief of being arrested and the serial offender will not be rewarded for their violent cunning.

Dozens of other changes to the system were also researched, debated and recommended.  Until one gets this many people in a room together it is impossible to understand how many components there are to this single part of the criminal justice system.  As a former law enforcement officer, I had training and exposure to the “system”.  However, that was years ago and things have changed in the DV arena.  Over time, the community has recognized that DV is incredibly destructive not only to the victims, but to the families connected to both the perpetrator and victim.  Children are especially susceptible and need protection and counselling. 

There is not room in this Blog to cover all the areas discussed and recommended.  Suffice it to say that an amazing group produced some great possibilities.  Some can be implemented quickly.  Others will take time.  Some will take some money to implement and were put on hold.  The hope is that a later Phase 2 of the Work Group might make recommendations to the 2011 Legislative Session when the economy has turned around and resources might be available.  The dedication of Rep. Goodman, the members of the Work Group and the many unsung heros in the DV arena deserve your thanks as they labor to save lives and create healthy families.