I see the headlines about real estate like everyone else.  Some say home prices up and some say prices down.  Some say sales up and some say sales down.  Everyone has an opinion and almost everyone wants good news over bad.  We desperately want some good news to feel better about the economy and our future.  We need hope.  But, who to believe?

One rule of thumb is to question every headline that you see in the media.  Screaming headlines sell and boring headlines sell very little.  It is necessary and normal for media to have headlines that will attempt to draw in readers.  Whether they represent the facts of the story is relatively immaterial.   In many cases, one must read to the end of the actual article to find the information that relate the true facts of the story.  I have seen this many times in articles about the real estate market condition.

Unfortunately, we have transformed into a “headline” society.  Yes or no, guilty or innocent, scumbag or hero, market up or down, budget surplus or deficit, winner or loser: the headline decides for the majority of our citizens.  The electronic age has made this problem much worse as media like Twitter, with its 140 character content, suggests that they can carry the story.  Many get news alert headlines via email and text messaging and get used to forming opinions based on these one-liners.

I suggest that we actually start becoming a nation of thinkers.  This means that we actually need to do some reading or listening.  We might be better off ignoring headlines and start with the actual story and then go back to the headline to see if it has any actual meaning.  We would become a better people.

As a long-time Real Estate Managing Broker, I make it my business to know real estate facts.  I study statistics almost every day and from many sources.  One does not become informed from headlines.  One must read, study and question.  My clients rely on my experience and competence to help guide them to the proper decisions about their real estate investments.  How can I possibly do this well if I rely on headlines? Unfortunately, too many others with real estate licenses tend to follow the herd and give poor advice based on wrong information.

Case in point are the recent headlines that state that prices are going up in many areas.  Generally, this is simply not true!  In most cases, prices are holding still at best and some areas are still experiencing declines in prices.  The good news is that price declines have slowed dramatically from two and three years ago.  Lower priced homes have generally stabilized while more expensive homes may have some room to slide yet, depending on the area.

How do these numbers get so confused?  The simple fact is that up to the end of April of this year, we sold a huge number of first-time buyer homes.  This was because of the $8000 Federal Tax First-time Homebuyer Credit, which ended on April 30th.  First-time home buyers tend to buy lower priced “starter” homes and condos, hence most sales were below $250,000.  We compressed a lot of buyers for 2010 into that market time.  Since that time, there have been fewer of these less expensive  homes selling.  On the other hand, the market for more expensive homes for repeat buyers has continued much the same  the whole time, although sales are less than last year.  

Median price is most often used to illustrate pricing.  It is that price point that represents the middle price of equal numbers of homes above and below.  A majority of the sales in the first quarter were below $250,000, hence  the median price of homes sold went down.  Since that time, the share of these lower priced homes dropped significantly.  This means that the median price has risen since more expensive homes are selling relative to lower-priced homes.

Do you now see how the headlines get confused?  The fact that the median price has gone up in most areas does not mean prices have gone up.   Certainly that is the case today.  Median price changes simply have nothing to do with inflation or deflation in most cases.  It only reflects the price range that has been affected.  The only true way to see actual price changes is to look at groups of homes in an area and focus more on the price per square foot and how that has changed year to year.   Even then, one must often look at individual homes within the group.  It there are too many short sales or foreclosed homes selling in a particular month, that will inaccurately reflect lower prices for all homes.

I hope that this blog has provided you with information on which to better judge real estate headlines in the future.   And, hopefully you will apply the lesson to all headlines and begin to question, read, study and think.  This is a great lesson to share with our children and grandchildren as they are more susceptible to the “Headline Syndrome” than we are.  Let’s all become better informed!

I have been amazed by the many opinions voiced about the recent incident in Seattle where the police officer attempted to arrest a jaywalker.  My first impulse, when the incident occurred and I viewed all the commentary, was to write about it and defend the officer.  However, my police background said to wait and get more facts.  The news media, local “community leaders” and many of the public made immediate judgements and voiced loud condemnation.  Of course, this is often typical response to anything that requires some investigation and thought.

Now that some time has passed and more facts have come to the surface, I would like to state my support for this officer who was simply trying to do his job.  The officer did pretty much what he was trained to do when the large girl attacked him, as he was attempting to restrain the smaller jaywalker.  The only observation I make about the original attempted arrest was that the officer was clearly trying to be too nice.  He obviously was aware the girl was smaller and, even though she was resisting arrest, was trying to use the most minimal force required to take her into custody.  However, most police trainers will tell you that being too nice is what gets officers assaulted and killed every year.

It has been laughable how many people have blamed the officer for the fact that both girls escalated the situation and ended up resisting arrest and assaulting the officer.  So I understand it, the fact that he detained them and then they chose to walk away was his fault?  It was his fault that they verbally assaulted him with expletives when he asked them to stop?  It was his fault when, as he was attempting to restrain the first girl, that the larger girl attacked him?  His failure to use some skill that supposedly would calm all situations with the right words MADE the girls do all the awful and illegal things they did?  HE MADE THEM DO IT????

Frankly, much of the commentary is laughable to the point of being ludicrous.  “Community leaders”, so-called, that came out immediately and blamed the officer and stated that he “made the girls do it” should be hailed as irresponsible.  This is part of what is causing the problem in first place.  Police, who have been set in position by society, have a nearly impossible job to do in the first place.  To constantly undermine the lawful use of force, whether by simply denying that the police should ever use it or by teaching that resistance to lawful force is fully acceptable, is the height of social irresponsibility.  I say that these “community leaders” MADE THE GIRLS JAYWALK , VERBALLY ASSAULT THE OFFICER AND FINALLY PHYSICALLY ASSAULT THE OFFICER by ”their” behaviour!  This is where the outrage should be directed.

I strongly suggest that the movie “Bonfire of the Vanities” be viewed by everyone who can appreciate the fine art of satire.  The movie is “R” rated and does have some situations and language that will be uncomfortable to some.  However, you can fast-forward or mute during these parts.  The rest of the movie plays much like many of the recent events in Seattle.  The poor officer in this case replaces the part of Tom Hanks in the movie, to a lesser extent.  The parts of the community, community leaders, head prosecutor and others are well-played by their counterparts in Seattle.  Damn the investigation and facts, full condemnation ahead!

A particular writer for the Seattle Times deserves to be called out for this.  To write about the “poorly trained” officer and condemn him based on the short video is typical of the person with little knowledge of police work and inflames the situation for no reason at all.  Except, perhaps, to resuscitate a column that doesn’t get read by many?  What made this writer a mind reader and expert on police tactics?  She failed simply by her condemnation without the facts.  One must remember, however, that the column exists solely to help sell advertising, which the paper would fail without.  Remove the “lofty social commentary” aspect and you have writing for the National Inquirer.

Maybe there were different words that the officer could have used to downplay the situation.  I know, from personal experience, that there were plenty of times that I chose to negotiate with a suspect and obtained a peaceful resolution when I could have simply applied the use of lawful force instead.  However, there were plenty of times that verbal tactics applied to the nth degree never stopped the suspect and lawful force was necessary.  One has to be in the situation to understand the fine nuances of when one works and the other does not.  To have the attitude that ALL situations can be resolved with words is beyond reasoning.

To suggest that words would have fixed the girls attitude is acceptable and reasonable to ask.  To say (based only on the video) that the officer didn’t try the right words and that the expletives, resistance and attack on the officer was caused by the officer is socially inept and destructive to both the officer, his family, police and society in general.  Let’s start calling out these people, not the poor cop doing his and her job every time we “think” they could have done a better job.

This blog will be controversial is some and common sense to others: it is time for National Resolve on debt.  We have a crisis brewing with debt in government and the problem is moving closer to crisis stage, as is currently happening in Europe.  Unfortunately, the damage is going to be born mostly by our children and grandchildren.  In other words, we are taking their future income without their permission or direct benefit.  Is this a crime or not?

The big, obvious problem is the Federal Government.  It is somewhere at $13 TRILLION as an official number.  However, the real number is much, much larger than that.  The unfunded social mandates for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the new Health Care program are all much larger than the published number above.  This does not even to begin to cover unpublished debt for Federal employee retirement funds, failure to maintain the national roads and bridges and thousands of other shortcomings.  All of this will result in Generational Debt.  Current generations in leadership are passing on huge debt to the next and following generations in order to maintain a higher standard of living NOW!

State, county and local governments have similar problems, but to a lesser extent.  With few exceptions, many governmental organizations are at similar levels of employees and programs as they were at the height of the economy.  While many have made cuts, few have reduced spending anywhere close to being relative to the economy.  Consider the Governor’s recent budget that relied on receiving $480 Million from the Federal Government for Medicaid reimbursements.  But, did anyone stop to realize that this is money borrowed from our kids?  The Federal Government does not have this to give.  They would have to borrow it to give it!

Private industry does not generally have the luxury of borrowing without a plan in place to pay it back.  They normally adjust spending or go out of business.   As sad as it is, they have to adjust payroll (read layoffs, reduced hours and income) and operating expenses to meet income.

The total shortage of funds for things as basic as road and bridge maintenance in Washington State runs into many billions of dollars. So, while governmental budgets, outside of the Federal budget, must be balanced, there is structural debt growing every day.  This has to be counted as additional Generational Debt.

I have read plenty of reports by various economists that the United States can handle a lot of debt and that we are “different” from the rest of the world because we will “never” default on our debt.  Even if this is true, the missing fact is that this completely ignores reality.   This debt is being incurred primarily because current generations do not want to pay their way!  It will have to be paid back, or at least greatly reduced, by the next generation.

Barely a handful of people who have retired in the last couple of decades, or in the next decade, have remotely paid their way when it comes to retirement benefits such as Social Security and the various medical benefits.  One reason is that we want more than we are willing to pay for.  Another reason is that we are all living longer than the original programs expected.  Perhaps the biggest reason is that most of us want to live forever!  The forever part is the real budget buster.  This is because the health care system is prepared to spend hundreds of thousands to keep us alive a few more days, weeks or months while only a few thousand was put in per person.

One might argue that “I have been paying taxes all these years and am getting what I was promised and am owed”.  Unfortunately, current generations  set up the programs and made the promises to themselves (through their elected officials).  I do not see any fairness in this to the future generations.  These new generations are going to be forced to make some horrible decisions that current and past generations haven’t made.

I have been reading about people who could still make payments on their homes but have stopped doing so because it was “uncomfortable”.  Once recently stated that they quit making payments to help keep their business afloat and to be able to still go out on their boat and to dinner.  I totally understand the high unemployment rate and lack of any income.   But, why was there no savings account?  Why was all the home equity spent on vacations, RV’s, boats, house upgrades and more?  Why should our kids bail us out because we were not prudent and responsible?

Right now, if someone takes $5000 without permission, they can get up to 10 years in prison.  The published National Debt now exceeds $35,000 per person.  It is being taken without permission from our children and grandchildren.  We do not have any plan to repay it, only a planned taking of more!  How is this not a crime?

I have been involved in local government for about 10 years now.  I originally ran  for City Council (and won) because I was unhappy with how the City was being run.  I realized that if I really cared enough, I would have to do more than just complain.  I needed to be part of the “System” in order to effect the most change.  Influencing others, as a citizen, is never as easy as influencing yourself, as an Elected.

What you really never know, until you are deeply involved in government, is how many other organizations there are out there that influence our lives.  There are dozens of organizations, that elected officials belong to, that are a necessary part of all governmental units working together.  No city or county exists alone.  Cities have neighboring cities they must relate to and plan with.  There are cities on the other side of the same county that have similar issues.  There are cities in other counties and states that have similar issues.  Cities have to relate to the county they are in, the state they are in and with the Federal Government.  These many organizations exist to facilitate these interactions. 

Teamwork and communication is necessary to thrive as a community.  The more communication with other communities we can have, the more we can learn from their successes and failures.  We don’t have to make the same mistakes and waste money or time.  We can simply be better at what we do.  This teamwork is also necessary to get funding for local or regional projects, such as transportation.  We can’t exist in a vacuum as our jobs, homes and living essentials are never all in one place.  We have to work with others to blend these needs as much as possible.

One such organization is the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC).  Most have never heard of it.  I know that I never remember noticing it before I was elected.  However, it is a big deal when it comes to regional planning.  It is officially known as a “Metropolitan Planning Organization” and is Federally mandated.  You can learn more about MPO’s at Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_planning_organization

This year, I have been honored to serve on the PSRC’s Executive Board, representing the Suburban Cities Association (SCA).  I indirectly represent Covington as a member of SCA.  SCA is an organization of most of the suburban cities of King County (37 total) that work together for, primarily, King County issues.  Funny how I had to work another one of these side organizations in to talk about PSRC.  Hopefully you begin to see how teamwork is necessary.  You can learn more about PSRC at: http://www.psrc.org/about/

Two weeks ago I attended the PSRC General Assembly.  This is a yearly event where all members of PSRC can attend to ratify the actions that the Executive Board took the prior year, pass a budget and have some quality networking time.  The big issue this year was Transportation 2040.  This is the transportation plan for the King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap County areas for the next 30 years.  This is required to be able to obtain most Federal funding for roads and transit.  It is not perfect by any means, but it is a starting point.  As a living document, it will be amended on a regular basis to keep it up to date.

As an Executive Board Member representing SCA, I voted for Transportation 2040.  Interestingly enough, when I attended the General Assembly, I was not representing SCA.  I was wearing my most important hat, in that I was representing Covington.  I cast Covington’s vote in favor of Transportation 2040, knowing that it does not yet fully address our needs.   We are not alone in this.  Most suburban cities are lacking transportation and transit infrastructure and Transportation 2040 does not yet address these needs.  However, you have to be on the ‘team’ to play in the “big game”.  Transportation 2040 is the ‘Big Game”.  It passed with only two No votes out of the 4 counties, 2 ports and many dozens of cities present.

OK, this may have been too much detail for some of you, but it is important to know that your elected officials are pretty busy beyond the news bites or occasional meeting that you attend.  I have met and worked with some pretty great people who are doing their level best to make better communities.  We may not always agree on the exact solutions, but we agree to work on the solutions until we have some answers.  The main point is that we are on the same ”Team”.  Thanks for reading!

I had several other things I was going to write about this week, however I would be remiss if I did not point out that 30 year home mortgage rates had quickly fallen to 4 3/4% at the end of last week.  This was completely unexpected and a huge bonus to the housing market, benefitting buyers, sellers, the many people who assist with real estate transfers and the economy itself.

Sometime mortgage rate changes are a bit obscure in origin.  Other times they are simply the result of investor emotions that have no basis in logic.  The “why” is pretty easy to figure out this time.  We have Greece to thank for this one!   Add an additional tip of our hats to Portugal, Spain and some other countries in Europe.  The economies of these countries are generally ruined.  This has caused the Euro to take a nosedive causing a rise in the value of the dollar and subsequently investors fleeing to the safety of US bonds and other investments (such as the dollar itself).

These economies are in shambles as the result of a social (or to some, Socialist) agenda gone completely askew.  Here is the ultimate result of excessive government spending, an ”everyone take it all for yourself” approach and a huge Black Market economy.  Imagine a 4 day equivalent work week, 2 months vacation every year and extra 2 months bonus pay every year!  Wow, I would love that, too, but how could that ever be based in any sustainable reality?  Add to this a retirement age of 51 or so for a large number of “hazardous vocations”, such as hairdresser, for example.

The US has all the elements of the above problems: excessive governmental spending, unions that have a similar agenda for their members, an “elite” investor class on Wall Street that are the new Robber Barons of the 21st Century, a huge black market of those avoiding income taxes and a social order of “ME FIRST” by far too many people.  We are on the same path as the above countries except our total debt has not yet reached the levels that they have relative to total tax receipts for the Federal Government.

Notice how deftly I turned a discussion about the great news of the fantastic mortgage rates into a social commentary!  We have to start a national discussion about our “ME FIRST” social strategy and its destructive forces.  OK, back to interest rates!

The economy will not fully recover until the housing market does.  It accounts for about 21% of the economy in the State of Washington.  From real estate agents, mortgage lenders, appraisers, inspectors, title insurance, escrow, mortgage insurance, contractors of all types, home improvement stores, furniture stores, electronic stores, landscape suppliers, movers, truck rentals, new home builders, government services (paid by taxes collected) and more gain when homes sell. 

The Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit expired at the end of April.  The new and BETTER bonus for home buyers are these low rates.  The fact is, it has far bigger implications than the Tax Credit ever had.  The payment savings over time will far exceed the Tax Credit by a huge margin.  Or, one can buy more home than they could a few weeks ago!

PASS THE WORD & HELP THE ECONOMY: MORTGAGE RATES ARE DOWN – BUY A HOUSE!

By now, almost everyone is aware of the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit and the fact that it ended on April 30th.  Prior to that time, first time homebuyers were eligible for a $8000 credit and long-time homeowners (5 years) were eligible for a $6500 credit.   Of course, you had to actually had to have a home under contract by April 30th to qualify.  Those that did have until June 30th to actually close the transaction.  There will be zero room for error on this.  Closing a day late will cause one to lose the credit.  Buyers, agents and their loan officers must be on their toes to make sure that does not happen.

The great news is that the Homebuyer Tax Credit is NOT completely dead!  There is a large group of deserving individuals that have until April 30th of 2011 to have a transaction in place and will have until June 30th, 2011 to close the transaction.  These deserving individuals are members of the Uniformed Services, members of the Foreign Service and employees of the intelligence community that served on qualified official extended duty service outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning after December 31, 2008 and ending before May 1, 2010.

This is a great benefit for these dedicated individuals that have served our country.  I suspect that most are not aware that this benefit exists.  If you know anyone who generally fits the above description, contact them and suggest that they talk to a CPA to figure out if they qualify.  If they do, they should contact a Realtor to start the process of qualifying for a mortgage and looking for a home, when approved.

This is a great time to buy a home, even if the Homebuyer Tax Credit has expired for you.  The simple reason is that prices are down, inventory choices are up and interest rates took another nosedive last week!  The bad news for Europe is that the Euro has dropped in value in relationship to the Dollar and that has caused investors to start a flight to the quality and safety of US Bonds.  This, in turn, has caused 30 year mortgage rates to fall to 4 7/8% as of the end of last week.  Thanks the Greeks for this bonus for our homebuyers!

We never thought we would see a rate as low as this again.  The FED quit buying mortgage-backed securities at the end of March and 30 year mortgage rates rose to over 5.5%.  Since that time, the economic disaster in Greece, Portugal and other European countries has caused the above described situation.  This may be the best time in the last 40 years to buy a home.  Call a Realtor soon!

I have not blogged these last couple of weeks because of so many meetings, the need to focus on business while the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit was still active and a problem with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and Tendonitis. 

Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and Tendonitis are really painful and are the results of a pretty active life and many, many hours of typing.  As I only could do limited typing these last few weeks, it had to be reserved for actual income-producing business.  I like to write, but one must try to put food on the table and pay the bills.

The Tax Credit expired on April 30th with a big rush to get transactions signed between buyers and sellers of real estate.   At this moment, there is no chance of it being revived.  It would take a huge dip in the real estate market for Congress to be motivated to revive it.  We will likely experience a dip in first time buyers, but the market above that is just starting to arouse from its slumber and should be doing better over the next few months.  More on this in a future blog.  A little note:  Certain Veterans and some Foreign Service personnel have an additional year for the Tax Credit!

In representing the Citizens of Covington, who elected me a Council Member, I am involved in several regional groups revolving around transportation and flood control.   These are noted in the bio that accompanies this blog.  In upcoming blogs, I will be reporting on the many efforts we are undertaking to try to reduce the gridlock that affects not only SE King County, but the entire region.  There is no free lunch, but there are solutions!

If this catchy headline got your attention, then it served its purpose.  We have not had fireworks, so to speak, at any recent Covington City Council Meetings, however, a fireworks discussion is on the Agenda for the Meeting tonight.

Many cities seem to have an annual meeting to discuss fireworks issues.  The reason is because of yearly problems created by the use of illegal fireworks and stupidity of some users of all types of fireworks.  In recent years, we have had structure fires and vegetation fires within the City.  Alcohol, or a general lack of good judgement (stupidity), causes injuries to someone every year as well.  As a result, a cry goes up to ban fireworks.

Many grew up with the “Good Stuff”, now known as “illegal fireworks”, and survived just fine.  Over time, stupidity caused so many problems that eventually the “Good Stuff” was banned almost everywhere.   The “Good Stuff” got a new lease on life when Courts decided that the Indian Reservations could legally sell them with the provision that they were (“wink, wink”) to be used within the Reservations.  I should note that when I refer to the “Good Stuff”, I mean fireworks that make big bangs and shoot stuff into the sky.  The “Good Stuff” creates most of the problems by far!

Like many things that people want to do, some use it and like it while others don’t use it and hate it.  Fireworks definitely falls into this class.   If we did not have the “Good Stuff” to contend with, I don’t think the fireworks issue would generate much controversy.  Unfortunately, with multiple Reservations in the Puget Sound areas, “Good Stuff” is easily purchased and is common in our City.  Hence, people’s sleep is disturbed, pets are scared out of their wits, roofs, lawns and shrubs burn while the human toll generates lost eyes, fingers, hair and eardrums.

The Covington City Council has tried, in the past, to reach a compromise by allowing the use of fireworks, but only in a very restricted window of time.  These include 9 am to 11 pm on June 29 to July 4th and 6 pm on December 31st to 1:00 am on Jan 1st.  Of course, this is for LEGAL fireworks.  This brief period allows those that enjoy legal fireworks an opportunity to use them.  It reserves the entire rest of the year for those who do not enjoy them.  This seems to be a fair compromise.

We are currently looking at de-criminalizing the first and second offences.  Right now, because every offense is a crime, it is impossible for our officers to make any dent at all in the use of illegal fireworks.  The time it takes to handle a criminal investigation and perform required documentation of evidence takes officers off the street far too long relative to the nature of the problem.  Frankly, speeding has much more likelihood to cause injury or death and that was decriminalized many years ago for the same reasons.  I support the change as it will allow our officers to issue a ticket on the spot, confiscate the fireworks and easily dispose of them later without the time-wasting issue of criminal evidentiary rules.

I do not support prohibition of legal fireworks.  They are not the real problem.  We already have prohibition of illegal fireworks with no success whatsoever.  As long as they are allowed to be openly sold on the Reservations, it is a waste of time and money trying to put everyone in jail that uses them.  Frankly, the prohibition of legal fireworks might just as well increase the use of illegal fireworks.  Further, we do not remotely have enough money in the City budget to address even a small portion of the problems.

Our officers need to be able focus on the most serious problems by quickly confiscating illegal fireworks, issue a ticket and then move on to the next problem.  The bonus is that if decriminalization occurs, the Fire Department may also be enlisted in the ticketing process.  This greatly multiplies the manpower to stop the worst problems at almost no extra cost.  I think this is a sensible  and affordable solution this yearly issue.  I hope you will agree.

You need to make a decision on April 27th regarding the formation of a Regional Fire Authority.  Here is advance notice of the ballot you will get in the mail from King County Elections: 

Proposed Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority 

60% approval (RCW 52.26.050)  

Proposition No. 1

The City of Kent and King County Fire Protection District No. 37 have adopted a Joint Resolution approving the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority Plan (“Plan”) to create the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority (“Authority”) with an effective date of July 1, 2010. 

If approved, this proposition would create the Authority, in accordance with the Plan, to provide fire protection and emergency medical services in the City and the District. The Authority will be funded by a six-year fire benefit charge (not to exceed 60% of the operating budget) and a property tax (not to exceed $1.00 per $1,000 of assessed value). This funding would replace the District’s existing property tax rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, and would reduce Kent’s property tax capacity by the tax rate collected by the Authority. 

Should the Plan to create a Regional Fire Protection Service Authority be approved?

YES
NO  

I served on a Committee two years ago that carefully studied the Regional Fire Authority concept and recommended, to the City of Kent and Fire District 37, that it be submitted  to the voters for approval.  It is a concept that has already been approved by the voters in recent years in the Federal Way and Auburn areas.  Those voters realized that their Fire Departments, like ours, need a stable funding source in good times and bad.  They understood that when the economy is a little rough, we cannot simply lay off firefighters and sell off fire trucks and aid cars. 

In tough times, we can cut back on the extras that Government provides.  Streets improvements can be delayed.  New government programs can be delayed.   We can lay off staff.  However, the one thing we cannot do is lay off the people who save lives!  Common sense says that the lives of our families and neighbors transcend temporary economic setbacks.  The economy will return, like it always does.  We just don’t know when.  We cannot bring back the life of one child that was lost because we were trying to save a couple of bucks on taxes.  My income might be down, but I want my home saved if there is a fire and I want an aid car to save my life if I have a heart attack.  Cheap has some virtue, but not in this case! 

The only opponent of the RFA, I am aware of, would like you to believe that voting yes would cause a rogue organization that would raise taxes on a whim.  I can’t recall any time our Fire Department has done other than try to do anything other than do its very best to save lives, homes and businesses!  The new Benefit Charge will be the most fair way to fund the Fire Department.  As I stated in the Voters Guide: 

The RFA concept is already well-proven, having been created in the Auburn and Federal Way areas.  It will reduce unequal property taxes and make up the difference with a Benefit Charge that is absolutely fair to all users.  Businesses were part of the planning process and, even though they may pay a higher rate under the RFA, understand that it makes sense and support it.  Other governmental organizations, currently exempt, will now pay their fair share as well! 

Saving lives, homes and businesses is not something to take for granted.  We have trusted our Fire Department in the past.  Vote YES for the future and support the service that might save YOUR life or home some day!

It seems like every urban area has had a big uptick in panhandlers and complaints about it.  Following is an email I recently sent to a citizen who had expressed concerns about the upsurge in panhandling in Covington:

Dear Sean: