Please join us for the next Unity in the Community meeting, at 7pm, Wednesday, June 7th at the 1st Christian Church. Our meeting will occur in one of the inner rooms of the church, please follow the signs.  Meeting topics include the following:

OLYMPIAN NAMES AD:  Now is the time to submit your name or organization for the Olympian names ad that will have 3 runs in the coming weeks.  The deadlines are for turning in the names to be included are:  June 7th, June 14th and June 21st.  The last deadline is for the full page, full color ad.  Send names to:  infor@olympiaunityinthecommunity.org

JULY 2nd PLANNING:  A significant portion of this meeting will be dedicated to continuing to firm up plans for the upcoming July 2nd Unity in the Community rally.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & RESOLUTIONS:  We'll hear reports on all the many groups and elected/appointed bodies that have heard or requested Unity presentations, and those groups and elected bodies that have passed resolutions in support of Unity

SAFETY:  We will have peace-keepers in the event that we have unwanted visitors at our meeting.  Please be prompt, because getting us all into our meeting room is essential to our safety protocol.  

OTHER BUSINESS:  Volunteers needed for staffing booths at Pride Day and Super Saturday, more posters & stickers to distribute, Unity banners debute, June events, etc.

After repeated e-mails from me to the NSM referring them to my blog, they have finally listed me on their website. Jim Ramm had this to say,

"SO you are replacing Sarah (who is afraid to tell her last name) as Olympia's latest blog-villian? Good! The gang from the NSM are here to give you a warm welcome. See you at the next Oly Unity meeting."

To which I responded,

"I'm not replacing her. That is wishful thinking on your part. I am joining her. As are thousands of others in Olympia who aren't interested in having hate in our town.Please make note."

I notice however, that their list of "NSM-haters" is a tiny fraction of those in this community that oppose them. Where are you guys?

If they wage a major harrassment campaign against me, I'm going to hold you all responsible for not keeping them busy enough. They shouldn't have time to deal with one hundred pound young woman in a sea of thousands of people who oppose them. I took a leap of faith because I love and trust this community. Please show me that you have my back. http://whatthistownneeds.blogspot.com

I see this a lot.  On the Olympian web site, and here at Olyblog.  The last context I saw it in was in regards the protesters hurting businesses near the port.  There are those that want to run the homeless and young people out of town because they are bad for business.  I get tired of hearing this, maybe even pissed off when I hear this.  At any rate it sets me to thinking.

McDonalds, the hamburger giant, has learned a very important lesson as of late.  As the result of learning this lesson they are in much better financial shape where they were considered to be in financial trouble.  So which lesson did they learn?  They learned that a good many of their potential customers did not have huge incomes.   McDonald's number one best selling menu item, far and above any other item, is the $1.00 Double Cheeseburger.  This is a huge seller for them, and it appears very profitable.  Now I don't advocate people eat this burger (it is a nutritional nightmare) but I see a corporation that is recognizing that not everyone has a lot of money.

You can wander over to the McDonalds near the capitol and see this scene time after time.  A couple will go in, they look pretty scroungy  They are hungry, they want to go out and eat.  They are at McDonalds.  So they will order two double cheeseburgers and two of the fried pies.  Total cost $3.00 plus tax.  They have a super cheap date and they have a good time.  The couple really enjoy themselves, this might even be a ritual for them.

Sometimes we don't have to look at Santa Cruz for what will make Olympia cooler.  We can look right in our own back yard.  Jade has said it before.  Where is the buck a cup coffee?  Let's face it, everyone is a potential customer.  But only if the price is right and people feel comfortable patronizing the place.  The very businesses that complain that the young and homeless are hurting their businesses should be cultivating their business, or at least someone should cultivate their business.  This is good for business vis a vis McDonalds.  This is good for the community because it shows the community is inclusive.  Everyone wins and we don't have to hear that crap about the young and the homeless being bad for business.

Expect City Council to review the activities at Port of Oly and also to discuss possible repeal of the Nuclear Free Zone ordinance.

I think I got the same email as Mike:

I think there is good reason to believe that Olympia's Mayor Mark Foutch is considering asking for revocation or repeal of the Olympia nuclear-free zone ordinance. I have written the following plea for help to the mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima:

"The City of Olympia, Washington State, United States of America passed a nuclear-free zone ordinance in 2005 on the 60th anniversary of the terrible bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only a year later, I understand that Mayor Mark Foutch of Olympia is preparing to ask the City Council to consider repealing this nuclear-free ordinance. I think there is a sense that nuclear policy is not the proper concern for a mayor or city government, but I think anyone who has considered the impact a nuclear weapon can have on a city will quickly come to the conclusion that every city has a legitimate concern about nuclear weapons.

There will be a discussion on the NFZ on Tuesday, it is at least officially to consider admendments to the ordinance. From what I can tell, Foutch is requesting that only the annual notification of the NFZ be removed.

Here is some info from the staff report. I've also attached the entire staff report and the attachments at the bottom of this post. If you're interested in the city council packet in general, you can download it here.

In order to implement the ordinance, the City has adopted a nuclear-free certification form that is attached to certain kinds of contracts. See attachment 4. The certification form requires the contracting agency to have a notarized signature. This has created some concern from nonprofit and neighborhood associations who find this notary requirement cumbersome. This form is typically used in construction contracts. Another method of implementing the ordinance that is used is to integrate the certification language as a clause in the agreement itself. The City is currently using this method as part of its professional service agreements.

Another somewhat regular contract is the interlocal agreement, which in a nutshell is a contract between two local governments.

The Olympia City Council passed the Nuclear-Free Zone ordinance in 2005 at the end of the Beyond Hiroshima week of activities and events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was a carefully crafted ordinance drawing on a long tradition of local governments, municipalities, and sovereignties work at writing nuclear-free zone statutes. There is a sense that nuclear policy might better be addressed in larger spheres than in municipalities, but given the failure of nuclear policy and compliance by the larger governmental bodies, the people will and should use their influence and voice at local levels to make their wishes known.

I think there is good reason to believe that Olympia's Mayor Mark Foutch is considering asking for revocation or repeal of the Olympia nuclear-free zone ordinance. I have written the following plea for help to the mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima:

The City of Olympia, Washington State, United States of America passed a nuclear-free zone ordinance in 2005 on the 60th anniversary of the terrible bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only a year later, I understand that Mayor Mark Foutch of Olympia is preparing to ask the City Council to consider repealing this nuclear-free ordinance. I think there is a sense that nuclear policy is not the proper concern for a mayor or city government, but I think anyone who has considered the impact a nuclear weapon can have on a city will quickly come to the conclusion that every city has a legitimate concern about nuclear weapons.

It seems very wrong to be asking the Mayor or City Government of Hiroshima or Nagasaki for help with an American city's politics and issues, but I feel that the abolition of nuclear weapons is so important that I must ask.

The people of Washington State who worked to create the Olympia Nuclear-Free Zone ordinance would greatly appreciate it if you could send a message to Mayor Mark Foutch and the City of Olympia regarding the Olympia Nuclear-Free Zone ordinance and any consideration of revoking or repealing this ordinance. Mayor Mark Foutch's webpage is here and he may be reached by email at mfoutch@ci.olympia.wa.us .

Sincerely,

Michael H. Coday
Chehalis, WA 98532

I expect that the City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 6th will be an important event given the civil disobedience at the Port last week. I expect that there may be many folks at the council meeting to make their wishes known. I plan to be there. I hope to see you there also.

In peace and solidarity,

Mike

[Promoted to front page by Rick]

Lead Editorial in today's Olympian (6-5-2006):

Last week's protests at the Port of Olympia are protected by the Bill of Rights. Simply put, protesters have a constitutional right to assemble and to peaceably protest.

The operative word is "peaceably." In this case, protesters crossed the line when they tore down gates on the port property and did about $7,500 in damage. At that point, the protesters broke the law, and they must be held accountable for their actions and for their damage to public property.

More than 20 people were arrested. They should shoulder full restitution costs.

The $7,500 estimate is made up of two numbers: $5,000 to replace two gates destroyed by the protesters and $2,500 in staff time to clean up the Port Plaza and surrounding area after the final day of protests. Those are the fixed costs and don't include the big-ticket item - the costs of overtime pay for law enforcement officers.

The city of Olympia had 172 hours of overtime for a total cost of $11,000, according to Chief Gary Michel. The Washington State Patrol had five people on overtime, with costs expected to hit $1,050, said Capt. Jeff Deviere. Tumwater said its costs will be less than $1,000, and the sheriff's office expects to tally time sheets today.

Who is going to pick up those additional law enforcement costs? Should departments be expected to simply absorb the costs, passing the bill onto taxpayers?

How shallow of the Olympian to start worrying about this? It's a common ploy for the mainstream media to divert the attention of the public from what the protesters message was to something else. Also, if these types of shipments elicit such responses from the community, maybe the port should consider not letting the military use the port?

We know they only put the First Amendment up at the top of their paper to give the illusion of supporting the 1st Amendment, so they can drag it out whenever people accuse them of not supporting it. I know there are honest writers at the paper, so that comment is not directed at you. It's more directed at the amorphous blob that writes these editorials and I will call them Mike Oakland. I think your opinions are WAY out of step with most of those in Olympia - there is no way you can claim the high ground, so don't let your exalted position go to your head.