For the last two years, I represented the Suburban Cities Association (SCA), as one of two South King County representatives, on the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Executive Board.  My partner South King representative is Mayor Peter Lewis of Auburn.  Covington and most of the cities (37) in King County outside of Seattle are members of SCA.  SCA gets to appoint regional representatives to the PSRC Executive Board.  Many are not familiar with the Puget Sound Regional Council.  It is a federally required “Metropolitan Planning Organization” (MPO).  Members are King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties along with all cities contained within.  It includes other members affecting growth in this area such as WSDOT and the Washington State Transportation Commission.  In short, all growth and transportation issues in these 4 counties must be approved by the Executive Board.   While this may be boring to most, be aware that many aspects of your life are approved or denied by this organization!  I am just finishing my two year term and it has been a great honor to serve on this Board.

For the last 4 years, I served as Covington’s representative to the South County Area Transportation Board (SCATBd).  This group is not about skate boarding, even though it has the interesting name.  King County is divided into three subareas with the resulting three organizations chartered to study and comment on all transportation issues within or adjacent to those areas.  This broad responsibility requires extensive reading and study of transportation issues affecting roads, transit, rail, freight mobility, growth issues and more.  Three years ago, I was elected Vice-Chair by the Members.  Two years ago, I was elected Chair.  Normally the Chair changes every year, but this year I was honored to be elected Chair for the 2nd year in a row.

SCATBd is the largest of the three subareas in King County.  South King County is the largest freight, manufacturing and industrial center in the Pacific Northwest.  SCATBd consists of:

• 16 Cities
• Portions of Two Counties
• Three Transit Agencies
• The Port of Seattle.
• All or portions of 9 State Legislative Districts.
• 650,000 People
• 35% of County Population
• Over 300,000 Jobs!

To be an effective Chair of SCATBd requires a lot of work.  There are often daily emails to respond to, many meetings to attend, agendas to prepare, people to talk to and volumes of reading.  Meeting with Legislators to promote the transporation needs of South King County was a laborious process this last Session.  There are 45 members of the House and Senate Transportation Committees.  I met with almost all the Legislators from our region and either the Legislator or their staff of the rest of the members of these Committees.  The value was that the needs of our South King County cities were loudly heard.  As we go into the 2012 Legislative Session, the groundwork has been laid for strong consideration of South King County needs.  Thousands of jobs are at risk if we fail to improve our transportation system!

If this brief description sounds like it has been a lot of work, it has been.  Unfortunately, it has collided with a contining Recession which has hit the real estate industry harder than most.  As a full-time Broker, the last 4 years have been very difficult for my family along with everyone else in the industry.  Some have the idea that being a Council Member helps one’s business or that it is a paying career.  The fact is, with the exeception of some larger cities like Seattle and the County, the opposite is true.  Many assume that one is actually paid for all the duties I described above.  Other than a small stipend ($450 month) that mostly covers gas and expenses, this is volunteer work.  Many assume that if one is doing all this community work, they must be doing just fine and don’t need the business.  As an elected official, you are are required to make the tough decisions.  Some will disagree with and not do business with you as a result.  Often you cannot work with some clients so that there is not a conflict of interest.  Recently I chatted with a person running for office who told me they were accused of doing so to get more business.  I had to laugh and tell them the truth.

I will continue to serve on SCATBd.  But now that I am in my last month as Chair and my last month on the PSRC Executive Board, it will give me the opportunity to add these service hours back to my real estate career.  Effectively, I have been working seven days a week these last 3 years to get everything done.  I value my wife’s patience in putting up with the fractured family time.  I value the extensive time I have spent furthering transportation solutions in our region.  I will continue to do so as I am able.  But, we all know, there is no free lunch.  We are still mired in a poor economy and it is time for me to get back to work earning a real living.

I appreciate the positive comments I have received from so many this last year and look forward to a great 2012!  We are all in this together.

KYFS has been presented with an opportunity to have 3-5 of our Outreach kids participate in the “Michael Jordan Flight School” diversity program in Santa Barbara, CA. We feel this represents an outstanding opportunity for our kids to experience a trip away from home. Besides honing their skills at this unique basketball experience, our kids will get to spend some time with Michael Jordan. This is sure to be an amazing opportunity, they will never forget.

KYFS is requesting from our donors and community partners an opportunity to help us assist our Outreach kids in making this dream a reality. The Michael Jordan Flight School is for boys and girl, ages 7-18. There are two different camps running from July 29th – August 2nd and August 3rd – 7th. Registration includes transportation to and from the airport, housing and meals. Our hope is to send three to five kids from our Outreach Program.

For additional information, please contact Mike Heinisch or Nathan Box: mikeh@kyfs.org, nathanb@kyfs.org, (253) 859-0300.

1. Most are poorly thought out and have unintended consequences.
2. They seek voter approval through sound bites, splashy titles or headlines.
3. They replace the proper legislative process of debate and compromise that is the backbone of our country.
4. They typically support a minority (special interests) that benefits to the detriment of too many others.
5. Most create budgetary problems that are not visible to voters.
6. They often support a business of creating Initiatives.

I believe that an Initiative should only occur for really BIG things.  This might be where a legislative body has become corrupt (not just because we don’t happen to like a decision) or where there is a big change in society and it is a way for citizens to model the change and lead the way.  The Initiative process is not in place for a person to create a business from producing them.  It certainly is not there just because we don’t want to pay taxes for services we don’t personally use or create a tax just to help an individual or group that can pay for the campaign.

The Constitutional way to change almost everything, in our form of government, is to elect different people to office if the current ones are not doing a good job.  The Initiative process too often subverts the intent of the creators of the Federal and State Constitutions.  Of all the States, Washington has one of the most liberal Initiative processes and we have seen the negative results too often.

Fortunately, our Constitution was written to allow the Legislature the power to override Initiatives after two years.  At least this provision allows the issue to be subject to the proper debate and compromise of our Legislative system.  I find it interesting that Legislative bodies are always derided by the creators of Initiatives when they overturn them.  Do they fail to remember that this is also in the same Constitution as their right to create them and was put there to protect the State from frivolous Initiatives?

OK, what Initiative am I going to sign? It was announced last week in the Seattle Times with the headline “McKay joins push to make pot legal”.  It may be found at:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015388326_marijuana22m.html

I have always supported the decriminalization of marijuana and a legalization process.  For the last 40+ years, I have heard every argument there is for why it is bad and why it should never be legalized.  The reality is that almost every argument against marijuana is a stretch of truth or reason in some way.  Poisonous chemicals, gateway drug, access to children, religious objections, moral objections, crime going up, on and on.  At the end of the day, there is too little substance to all of these arguments to cause us to continue to wage war on our own citizens and indirectly cause the destruction of communities of innocent citizens of other countries.

History points to the folly of Prohibition (1920-1933).  Most of the same reasons we hear about marijuana today were used then to make alcohol illegal.  Prohibition failed for most of the same reasons that we have seen with the prohibition of marijuana.  It turned normal, law-abiding citizens into criminals.  It created huge criminal enterprises that were enormously profitable.  It caused huge expenditures of governmental resources (higher taxes) to police, prosecute and incarcerate citizens along with the real criminals.

We see the exact same problems today except that the fallout in the Central and South American countries is monumental compared to what occurred in Prohibition.  Our marijuana policy is devastating vast areas of these countries.  Sure, other drugs are involved, but the marijuana trade is huge, equaling some 60% of cartel profits.   Does anyone actually believe that our gigantic machine to keep marijuana out of the hands of our citizens, including children, actually has done so?  If you think so, you are incredibly naïve.  Marijuana is available to all. Except for hazy laws about medical marijuana, all we are doing is allowing real criminals to profit from its sale and use.

Legalizing the product does not have to mean endorsement.  Tobacco products are legal but certainly are not endorsed by government.  Alcohol is legal but is not endorsed.  Most medical professionals clearly state that obesity is our number one health problem.  Do we then ban all fast food restaurants and products?  Automobiles kill far more healthy people in our nation than anything else.  Do we ban them?  Of course not, in both cases. What we do is require good information (or reasonable safety precautions) be available about these and thousands of other products AND LET THE PERSON MAKE THE DECISION!  Right this moment, anyone can purchase legally available products that are far more dangerous than marijuana.  Many people die from overdosing on common household medicines and chemicals every day.  I have not heard of anyone doing the same from imbibing marijuana.

Typically, the same folks that want marijuana banned are the same that want “big government” to stop telling them what to do.  Why is this issue different?  This is a personal choice issue with far fewer consequences then allowing people to turn their properties into garbage dumps or drive without seat belts, for example.  Legalize marijuana and put the taxes spent on prohibition into treatment for some and into the many other areas needing funding, like real crime or education.  Instead of profits from the sale of marijuana THAT ARE ALREADY OCCURRING, going to criminals, why not into new resources to pay for the many important things our society needs?  Maybe a college education for the kid we used to put in jail?

We have been putting our family and community members in jail, for using or possessing marijuana, far too long.  It is past time for change. I remember, as a law enforcement officer many years ago, confiscating marijuana from kids many times.  Did I arrest them?  No, I typically spread it to the wind and let them go.  Why ruin a kid’s future for a piece of a plant? It made no sense then and it makes a whole lot less sense now.  Today, as an elected official, I could take a lot of flak for writing this blog.  So be it: my job is to do the right thing for our community and I believe I am doing just that with support for this issue.

Kudos to Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, the sponsor of HB 1550 – Regulating the production, distribution, and sale of cannabis, this last Legislative session.  Kudos to the Legislature for passing it! Big thumbs down to Governor Gregoire for caving in to ridiculous Federal bluster about arresting State employees and  gutting the Bill. This was a historical moment to send a State message as occurred to help cause the end of Prohibition.  Also Kudos to Mike McKay, as a former U.S. Attorney, for standing up and supporting this reasoned Initiative to change how we, as a society, deal with a plant.

(In case you were already assigning a motive to me, I do not use marijuana products!)

How we came to be owners of a Schnoodle can be laid at the feet of our children.  Or more specifically, to the feet of our one Grandchild, Lexi.  The operative word is “ONE”, with no more on the immediate horizon.  In short, our little baby grew up,  is now twelve and the same height at her mother.  It is very hard to cuddle and rock a twelve year old.  They fight it and insist they are much too big for such little kid stuff.  When they are nearly the same size as we are, it is not the same as rocking the 2 or 3 year old that we remember.  Feet and arms hang out all over.

So, Grandma (my wife, Debra) started feeling the loss some time ago.  Many of our friends that are in the Grandparent phase have small dogs instead of little missing Grandkids, too.  I think that is where the idea first came from.  She spend the better part of the last six months researching dog breeds and what might be the best for us.  By “research”, I mean that she spent both a lot of time on the Internet and a lot of time selling me on all the positive aspects of various breeds and why it was such a good idea for us to have a dog in the house.

I have never wanted a dog.  I like the house neat and clean all the time and the thought of spots of puppy poop, vomit and pee on our carpets and hardwood just did not appeal to me.  The freedom to go anywhere at anytime is really hindered with a little child, oops, I mean puppy in the house.  The biggest problem, however, was my horrible allergies.  I am registered as being allergic to almost everything, with animals one of the highest on the list.  I have to limit my exposure to pets or plan on air intake reduced by about 75%, causing me to gasp like a trout in the bottom of a boat.

Part of the research my wife did was to address the allergy issue.  This is where Schoodle comes in.  It seems that the Poodle part is that they have hair and do not shed.  That and the promise that Schoodle would be bathed and brushed pretty often was touted as the solution to my allergies.  With it’s size being of the lapdog variety, there would be less of whatever remained to trigger my allergies.  I still did not completely buy it, but what can do when a Grandma’s heart is set on a baby in the house to pamper?

One night about 2 months ago, as Debra was looking at Schoodles on the Internet (quite popular it turns out), she came across a picture of what is now our newest household member.  She fell in love instantly and had to have THAT puppy.  It came from a great family of breeders near Spokane and was all of six or so weeks old.  I think most will agree that all puppies have a measure of cuteness, but this one was the ONE.  The 6 months of ”research” caused the desired effect.  I found my self in an out-of-body experience looking down at myself saying “OK”.  Some quick availability checking the next morning and Schoodle had a “Sold” sign posted on her Internet picture and a note that the Snoey Household was the lucky buyer.

Debra and Lexi embarked on a naming contest so that when Schoodle arrived, it would already have an identity.  Over the next week or so, they had lots of communication between them about different names.  Some were good, but when the photo of Schnoodle was viewed, they didn’t seem to fit.  Grandpa (me) was advised on the progress from time to time.  In the end, they had agreement on a name: Nikki Noodle.  The two parts are variations of nicknames from Lexi and her mom.  I can’t go into more detail without hearing about it and getting those funny looks that parents and grandparents get from their kids and grandkids.

We had to wait until Schoodle was eight weeks old to get her.  That happened in the QFC parking lot in Issaquah on a Saturday afternoon back on April 2nd.  The courier was delivering Schoodle along with her brother and a few other dogs to their new families.  A little ball of fluff was soon handed over to my wife.  It was scared and snuggled in tight for protection and comfort.  I think that was the same moment that mothers who have just given birth, and are handed their new baby, experience.  Bonding happened and my wife’s grandbaby yearnings were fulfilled.  Love blossomed and a new chapter opened in our lives.

More to come…

While I supported the plan, it is a work in progress.  There are two basic reasons why the vision will not succeed without some major changes: it fails to accurately take into account the reality of affordability AND personal/community needs for families with children.  Seattle is already a model growth center by many standards such as mass transit and, as such, very few can afford to live there due to the high cost of housing. Those that do live there are 81% households without children (the exact opposite  of most of the newer suburban cities).  Using bias measures, utilized in many other areas of race and so forth, the growth centers concept potentially discriminates against families and those in poverty.

Wealth allows one to live in the region’s urban core and that wealth allows those families to send their kids to private schools and own a home large enough to have a family and/or to have a yard for their kids to play in.  Those in poverty and the lower middle class have few choices.  Those who do have families will not chose to live in many highly urbanized areas (crime and failing schools) unless they are forced to by government edict  (Dictatorship) or are offered real affordability coupled with great schools and amenities that provide safe activity areas for their children (only real choice).

This is why I have deep concerns about this vision.  The decaying inner core of many other major metro areas allow those in poverty to live there only by the fact they are so undesirable that no one else will live there (equaling low housing costs).   The cores of many major older cities in America are like this despite billions in attempted fixes.  Gentrification that moves in wealthy people as they force out middle class and lower incomes is certainly not the answer and only expands what is already happening in Seattle and Bellevue.  This is what usually happens with many “successful” rehabilitation projects.

Housing affordability must be a real fact.  It is quite often a fraud as it is often evaluated against the home prices or incomes that exist in an area or are in such few numbers as to be inconsequential.  It has to be based on actual purchasing power for average and lower incomes for the general region.  Hence “affordable homes” in places like  Bellevue have been $400,000 and more!  If we are going to expect families to live in urban centers, they need great schools and places for their children to play safely.  This is going to require new ideas and input from those most affected.  Be part of the process by being involved!

The change was hard to contemplate and hard to execute.  While there were many positive reasons why I made the change, the fact is:  change is hard.  It is hard work because there are new things to learn and old things to remember to forget.  Simply announcing yourself and your company takes a while to get used to.  It is real easy to use the old company name as an automatic reflex.  We all experience this after January 1st every year.  The old year was only 365 days and it sometimes takes a month or more to get used to.  Imagine if years were 6935 days (19 years) long and then a change!

That said, good planning helps.  Getting the dozens and dozens of tasks down in a chart that you can check off really helps.  Jotting down notes so you don’t forget them later is important.  Organize the start of each day so you are the most efficient.  One thing overlooked by many is the necessity to review the day each night to help prepare for the next day.  It is easy to forget details overnight.

One of the harder things that happens with change is that some decide to tell you what a bad decision you made and take it as a personal rejection.  I think we have all discovered who our best friends are when we make any important change of direction in our lives.  Our truest friends will be supportive, even if they don’t agree or understand.  I am pleased to report that almost all I know have been very supportive of my change and very, very few have been on the negative side.

We can insert new company,  home, relationship, relocation, career, eating style, exercise program, vacation trip or other personal decision and replace it above where I changed a “company” and the conversation runs pretty true.  I guess the message I am trying to impart is that it is generally better to support someone making a personal decision than criticize. We all have opinions and want to be heard, but there may be more good in the world if we made more choices to support rather than criticize.  Just a thought!

 The good news is that many have seen investment portfolio values increase over the last year.  While home prices continue to fall in the Northwest and many areas around the country, there are many areas where they have stabilized and are actually on the increase.  While the NW is predicted to have a good recovery at some point, it is behind much of the country as the wave of property declines hit us last.  As such, it is expected that we will lag behind most in recovery.  On the bright side, we will begin to see an increase in some retirees taking advantage of the price differential to sell their homes in value-added areas and move to the Northwest.

 We compressed many buyers into the purchasing surge in Spring of 2010 due to the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit.  Because so many buyers wanted to get that Credit before it expired, they accelerated their purchasing decision.  As such, the market came to a standstill after April 30^th, 2010, the last day to claim the Credit.  Typically, after such an event, it takes at least 6 months for the market to stabilize.  Indeed, it was not until November that we saw effective increases in buyers.

 So, expect more retirees to be able to sell their homes and expect more to activate their retirement plans as they see an adequate income stream returning.  Most have realistically lowered their expectations to fit in the new economy.  I see this in most people.  The belt-tightening took some getting used to, but as potential retirees also accept that the plans they once had are not realistic now, they adapt and will start the process to sell and move.  All this will help home sales in both urban areas and retirement communities.

 I am quite optimistic about the real estate market in the months ahead.  Sellers must still have a well-priced, clean and well-staged home to grab those buyers that are looking.  Retirees that are selling will have more potential buyers and those retirees that are looking for their retirement home will increase the pool of buyers for everyone!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013657969_southernports12.html

These ports have recognized the completion of the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2014 will create tremendous opportunity for them.  At that time, container ships four times the size of current ships will start flowing through it.  This will make it possible, in many cases, to avoid existing West Coast ports that are no longer economical due to congestion or other reasons.

The other project is the unified plan of the Governments of British Columbia and Canada to expand the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert in conjunction with improvements on the Canadian National Railway.  These combined projects have been designed to capture business from our ports to important destinations in the Central U. S. through Minneapolis and Chicago.  The following quote from Wikipedia says it very well:

“On September 12, 2007, phase 1 the Fairview Terminal opened for business and is expecting its first container ship (from COSCO) in October.  Phase 1 has an annual container-handling capacity of only 500,000 TEUs.  However Phase 2, due to be completed late in 2010, will increase the Port of Prince Rupert’s capacity to 2 million TEUs, and to 4 million TEUs by 2015, and there is extensive capacity for further expansion.  This will provide much-needed relief to the congested west-coast ports of North America.  The containerization of the Fairview Terminal is an important part of the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative of the Government of Canada and the Pacific Gateway strategy of the Province of British Columbia.”

Worried about jobs yet?  How about the description of the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative of the Government of Canada, again according to Wikipedia:

“The Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor is a system of transportation infrastructure, including British Columbia Lower Mainland and Prince Rupert ports, road and rail connections that reach across Western Canada and into the economic heartlands of North America, as well as major airports and border crossings.”

Did you notice that the goal is to reach the “economic heartlands of North America”?  Are you under any illusion that this is referring to any primary destination other than the Central United States?  Of course, they intend to ship to Eastern Canada, however the big markets are in the United States.  Over the last several years, the Canadian National Railway has purchased smaller, existing U. S. railway systems to connect directly to Major U.S. cities in our Midwest, completing their economic plan to capture business from existing U.S. West Coast ports. 

These areas expect to capture billions of dollars of business.  Did you pay attention – “Billions of dollars flowing from West Coast Ports”?  Folks, those are disappearing jobs!  Many think only of the longshoremen unloading the containers and many products such as automobiles, lumber and grain.  However, remember the many distribution companies that handle the products once unloaded.  Further,  many other businesses exist here simply because of the close proximity to our Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.  With so many products already transiting the region, it makes sense to plant an associated manufacturing or assembly business here to take advantage of the product stream.  Move the product stream and you will probably have to move the business!

Worried about jobs yet?  Read on.

With such obvious developments in Canada, the Panama Canal and in the Eastern-Southwest U.S. you would expect that we have a great plan to keep business in our region, right?  Do we, as a region, have a similar initiative that is strengthen by local, regional and national resolve?  Unfortunately, the answer is a clear NO! 

You should be afraid for our jobs by now!  If you think you are personally exempt, think again.  Almost everyone will be affected in some way with the removal of thousands of jobs in our area with the resulting loss of money spent in the economy.  This will occur as we are attempting to recover from the Great Recession, which many predict will take several years, making our economic climate even worse.

“Freight Mobility” is the term used to cover the general need to move products efficiently on our transportation system.  We should really think of it as synonymous with jobs creation and preservation.  The more that moves, the more jobs we have.  There are two major arms of Freight Mobility to consider.  The first is the obvious transshipping of products that arrive at our ports to points outside our region.  The other, less thought of, is the need to ship products within our region as part of retail, manufacturing and assembly businesses.  

Certainly, there are many smaller, individual projects underway or proposed that help to address freight mobility in our region.  There are both federal and state dollars at work in our region improving both highway and rail infrastructure.  Unfortunately, we are years behind and there is a major shortage of money to tackle the remaining projects that will affect freight mobility needs inside and outside the Puget Sound area.

We have many leaders in our region along with transportation and business organizations that see the need to attack this problem head on and NOW.  We know the projects and the mission.  What is the problem, then?  The problem is simply money.  The State of Washington has been in a budget crisis for the last couple of years and it will continue for the next couple of years.  Gas tax and other general taxes have been falling and we are out of money for the next major round of freight mobility projects.  These freight mobility projects, when completed, will also increase mobility for Transit and those that need to get to work via their personal vehicles when transit is not available.

There are no pots of money hidden somewhere that can be found to fund these remaining projects.  Projects have primarily been funded by gas taxes.  Almost every cent has been committed to pay for past and current projects being completed.  There is no free lunch here: you will HAVE TO commit to some new money, whether we call it taxes or fees, to get these projects built.  The alternative is to resurrect the old sign from the 60′s that asks the last person leaving to shut the lights out.  And you had better grab a ride on that last freight train East to where your job moved.

I feel that we must carry the conversation about Freight Mobility to a higher level of action.  In 2010, I began to talk with many of our elected representatives, including City, County, State and Congressional leaders, from the King and Pierce County areas.  As we may be the most freight-dependant area in the United States, I heard from each of these leaders that they are concerned as well.  In response, I have been working on the creation of a coalition of interested parties called the South Sound Transportation Coalition (SSTA).  In 2011, I will continue to meet with elected leaders and will be reaching out to business and labor leaders inside and outside of the South Sound.  We must develop a better plan and create a resolve that matches our competitors to enable us to build the efficient transportation grid we must have to meet the increasing competition.

Please contact your City, County, State and Federal Legislators and let them know you care about jobs and the need to fund transportation infrastructure for efficient Freight Mobility.  This is the real resolve we need NOW!

Since the Tax Credit ended at the end of April, there have been significantly fewer lower-priced homes selling as we compressed many of those buyers into March and April or earlier.  Therefore, statistically more expensive homes were selling after April.  In addition, Jumbo loans became more available and attractively-priced this summer.  The effect of these loans becoming available again was to cause even more homes in the $600,000-900,000 to start selling.  This caused the median and average price statistics to rise above the prices of early spring.

The rise in median and average prices this summer caused many to report that “prices have gone up” when in fact, they never stopped falling.  Again, as noted above, the fact was simply that many more expensive homes started selling in relationship to lower priced homes.  Duh!  The media rarely gets this right. Unfortunately, when the “shadow inventory” of foreclosed homes starts coming on the market in a greater frequency, we could see further softening of prices in many areas where there was a lot of new construction in the years from 2004 to 2008.  These areas are the locations of most fraudulent and non-conventional loans.

There are exceptions to this continuing decline.  For example, the Lake Tapps area in Pierce County had a huge drop in prices in 2009 and early 2010.  It seems to have reset pretty quickly due to so many homes on the market at that time, especially distressed homes.  It may have already leveled off, having dropped quickly to stabilization.  Areas on the Eastside and downtown Seattle may have reached stabilization in some areas.  Other areas in the US have stabilized, which is very good news.  Seattle was the last to feel the market slide and will likely be one of the last to stabilize.

The incredibly attractive interest rates that exist right now may be the one thing that pulls the real estate market out of the doldrums.  This is in the face of Governmental and Fannie Mae rules that have continued to make things worse than they should be by way of appraisal rules that have made distressed homes the standard of value. Imagine the trashed, abandoned home down the street that happens to be the same model as your home.  Because it is the same size and same neighborhood, it is likely that the appraiser will say it is worth the same as yours!  This is causing havoc in areas with many distressed homes.

First, almost all are created by special interests with a motive to improve the situation of their group.  This does not mean they are all bad, but should always create cause for concern and investigation.  Tim Eyman has created a business, for example, that will go bust unless there are Initiatives created.  Costco supports I-1100 as it will create additional business for them.  The former should cause huge concern for all voters as the mercenary approach is not really about cause.  The later will not break Costco either way and would benefit others who also support the Initiative.

Secondly, few Initiatives are well-written and almost always have huge problems of implementation because they have not been clearly thought out.  Some, like increasing teacher wages, sound wonderful, but when no funding mechanism is part of the Initiative, create a “Rob Peter to Pay Paul” situation.  This hurts someone else, that the voters really did not consider, in the “Great Idea” emotional appeal.

Thirdly, Initiatives are almost always an end-run around the Legislative who may have rightly prevented them from becoming law.  Because they are an end-run, they completely bypass the checks and balances of our Legislative process.  While one may not always agree with our Legislators, they are supported by some very smart staff and attorneys that take the time to help prevent mistakes and unintended consequences.  There are usually public hearings, for example, for interested parties to get heard and create a written record.  This process helps to make sure that all viewpoints are heard and considered as part of the final product or denied product.   Regardless of personal opinions, this is far more democratic than a one-sided, special interest group creating the Legislation in a vacuum of public input.  This is further slanted by catchy headlines to gather votes from voters who never read beyond the headline.

So, what do I do almost every time?  I vote the opposite of the intention of the creators of the Initiative.   I do this because the Initiative process in Washington is being misused.  You have to read closely, for example, as many times Initiatives are written is a way that your intended vote means the opposite of what you think.  They are being created just to have a job creating them.  Their use should be very rare and only in the case of real misconduct or outright neglect by the Legislature.  This should be similar to the very rare cases of Impeachment of a President.

One wants to be relevant as a voter, but to be responsibly relevant, voters must take the time to study the issues, talk with others and actually participate in the process.  Opening a ballot and voting emotionally does not help our families, communities, government or Nation.  As a Nation, we are a Republic.  We elect people to represent us. They are supposed to study the issues and vote as they believe their community would with the same facts.  If we don’t like their vote, there are regular elections where we get to comment on our representative.  We toss them out our vote them back in.

Let’s start supporting our form of government by being involved in the real Legislative process.  Study issues and then contact your Legislator and let them know how you feel.  Engage in the process and take the opportunity to influence your leaders.  This is the right way, not through random, poorly thought out Initiatives.  Beware of unintended consequences and purveyors of yearly Initiatives.

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!

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.

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?

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

Dear Sean:

The Federal Reserve (Fed) kept the Federal Funds (interest) Rate unchanged at their meeting this week (a big deal).  This is the rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans of federal funds, which are the reserves held by banks at the Fed.  This is often confused as being the same thing as mortgage interest rates.  The fact is that they really have nothing much to do with each other except that the Fed determinations tend to dictate how the economy and inflation are trending.  If the Fed feels that inflation is going up, it will increase the Federal Funds Rate to try to combat inflation by increasing the cost of borrowing money.  This causes the buyers of mortgages to fear they will lose value and demand that buyers pay a higher rate of interest to get a mortgage loan.

Sorry, I couldn’t think of an easier way to state the above information!  Just remember: if the Fed is worried about inflation, they will raise their rates.  Investors will worry and charge you more to get a home loan!

Unfortunately, there is a much bigger problem that will likely cause home mortgage rates to rise very soon.  There is a distinct possibility that mortgage interest rates might rise ½ to 1 percent at the end of the month when the Fed quits buying mortgage-backed securities.  They and the Treasury, which quit a few months ago, have been the only buyers of these for about a year now.  These securities are the investment pools that are created when folks like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and big banks sell the mortgages they have issued.  They do this to get their money back to make new loans.  Their profits are based on the loan fees, not the long-term collection of the interest.   It is expected that when the Fed quits buying, private investors will demand a higher rate of return than the Fed was paying, equaling a rise in mortgage rates.

Sorry, not an easier way to explain this one either.  Basically it is supply and demand in action.  If there are no buyers at 5%, then the seller of the security raises the rate until there is a buyer.  It would be nice if other buyers would buy at the same rate, but no one thinks there is anyone that will.

The recent, huge rise in pending sales and buyers out looking is, of course, primarily due to the expiration of the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit at the end of April.  A buyer must have a purchase & sale agreement mutually agreed to by April 30^th.  They will have until June 30^th to close it.  As such, it is pretty much impossible at this time to close a short sale by June 30th, so there is a transition to non-distressed properties taking place by those agents and buyers smart enough to understand this fact.

Until very recently, there was zero interest in Congress for extending the Tax Credit.  However, the continued sorry state of the economy along with the fact that everyone understands that the expiration of the Tax Credit will cause a slump, has caused some discussion to take place about extending it.  Likely higher interest rates and the fact that this year will have the highest foreclosure rates yet, are additional reasons why the housing market will remain severely depressed in most areas of the country.

If I was a buyer right now, I would not bank on an extension and would find my home by the end of April.  First time home buyers will generally quality for a $8000 tax rebate after the closing of the purchase.  Other buyers may qualify for up to $6500.  Obviously, restrictions apply and you should talk with a REALTOR or your CPA.  Happy Hunting!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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 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!

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!

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?

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.

The whole year was occupied by the Recession, or Depression, the severity really depending on whether you still have a job or not.  The good news is that our area is about 90% employed in some fashion.  This is not really good news to the other 10% except that the employed can reach out to make life easier for the unemployed by being generous to the many charities in our community.  The 90% figure is deceiving as there is another 5-10% that are underemployed.  This means part-time, lower wage, fill-in jobs and so forth.  The bad news is that it will likely get worse in early 2010.  If you are fully employed, decide to help your community more in 2010 by giving of your finances and time.  Help make it a better, or at least tolerable year for those not so fortunate.  Then maybe they will have good news by 2011,

Transportation issues had ups and downs in 2009.  The good news is that traffic is slightly better.  The bad news is that it is because of unemployment.  If 10% fewer people are going to work, that is not cause for celebration.  I have worked hard over the last two years trying to learn more about our transportation issues and how to try and solve some of them.  I will be reporting on this on a regular basis in the future.  

More good news is that there are a lot of very smart people trying to figure out how to fix and improve traffic in the Puget Sound area.  The bad news is that there is not enough money in current funding sources.  It is not true that there is “plenty of money if government would just be more efficient”.  The “Free Lunch” ended some time ago!  The numbers are truly staggering and it is about time we stop passing the buck, known as “debt”, to our children and grandchildren!

I can only start with bad news when I think about the multiple tragedies affecting our law enforcement community.  Note that I said “our” not “the”.  We is them, so to speak.  As a community, these multiple tragedies affect all of us in one way or another.  As a former law enforcement officer from way back, I felt the pain just like I was still in uniform.  Inexperienced people say it is like war, as our soldiers face this every day in some parts of the world.  The fact is, it is not the same.  While police officers get extensive training, it is one thing to be carrying weapons at the ready, all the time expecting to be shot at, and another to be patrolling in your own community when it is at peace.  We are not supposed to die serving our community in peacetime.  The fact is, we do not want our police officers acting like they are at war.  It clashes with the idea that we are a “civilized” society. 

Good news is not easily found now, at this sorrowful time, in our law enforcement community.  I hope the good news will come in the next Legislative Session, which begins this month.  Already, several Legislators have proposed some changes to laws to fix what is broken.  Good for them!  Violent, career criminals need to be out of  “our community” and kept in “their community” (prison), away from our families.  Sometimes, you have to throw away the key.  The bad news is that this is going to cost money.  That means taxes, folks!  Are you willing to pay a few dollars more a year?  I hope so.  In 2009, thousands of career criminals were released back to “our community” because there was not enough money to keep them in “their community”.   More on this later!

Notice how good news and bad news are so often inexorably linked together?  Most of us prefer to focus on the good news.  There is another old saying along the lines of one person’s good luck is another person’s bad luck.  Well, this might well be true on the card table, but it does not have to be true in our community.  Spend a little time over the next few days asking yourself how you can help create some good news in our community in 2010.  Thanks for your time!