After the public hearing at the Washington Center Yesterday I went on a photographic odyssey. It was a gorgeous day, much like today, except there were more clouds and there was less of a gusty breeze. First I went to the port plaza. There were a few other people there also enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon.

After that I went to Watershed Park. It was a great day for a walk around the loop trail. The Old Growth Forest smelled great. I saw 7 other people while walking the loop.

Citizens for the Future

Check below the fold for a slideshow.

How would Olympia (and Thurston County) be impacted if somewhere around a quarter of the local employees (beware, pdf) got an extra day off a week?

Governor Gregoire recently announced a smattering of state agencies that are testing the four day work week, a good portion of them in downtown Olympia.

The stated reason for the exploration of the four day week was to save costs by lowering how much the state spends on keeping a particular office open. Those expenses are going to be explored by the state, but I'm wondering what other non-state budget impacts there is going to be.

For me, parking came to mind. I used to "steal" a spot at the downtown Department of Personnel lot close to the end of business on my way to the YMCA. Suddenly, that lot will be empty of official business every Friday and (I assume) open to whoever wants to park there.

CTED's big office building on Water will also have some nearby open parking spaces on Friday.

If this new work week expands state-government wide, what other impacts?

Less people downtown on Fridays?

Few packs of state employees taking walks in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon?

"Free Your Heart at Heart of Wellness" Come and enjoy the new Yoga and Wellness Center in Tumwater. We are welcoming the community by having a full day of free 1/2 hour classes by the Heart Room teachers on Saturday, October 4th along with offering first class free during the month of October. Check out our website for directions and class schedules: www.heartofwellness.net or call Kristen at 534-4716

The Close the Gap Coalition is seeking volunteers to help eliminate unsheltered or “street” homelessness. The Coalition aims to boost the volunteer base for existing programs to an extent that opportunities for capacity growth open up.

I have been seeing and hearing of a lot of opposition to the $700B bailout. I am interested in learning more about the reasons.

bert

Free Market Bail Out

From the description:

President Bush says the $700 billion bailout of Wall St. necessary because he's worried about "Main St." Democrats say this plan has nothing in it for Main St. and needs changes. Ron Blackwell, Chief Economist at AFL-CIO says the neo-liberal policies of the last 35 years have failed. Economis Prof. Ellen Frank of the University of Massachusets adds: "This is clearly socializing risk with returns still privatized" Bio

Ron Blackwell is Chief Economist for the AFL-CIO, where he has also worked as Director of Corporate Affairs. Before coming to the AFL-CIO, Blackwell was assistant to the president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, and chief economist of UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Textiles and Industrial Employees). Prior to joining the labor movement, Blackwell was an academic dean at the New School for Social Research in New York (now the New School University), where he taught economics, politics and philosophy.

Ellen Frank , Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, a member of the Dollars & Sense collective. She is the author of The Raw Deal: How Myths and Misinformation about Deficits, Inflation, and Wealth Impoverish America , was published in 2004.

I was riding up 4th Ave last night at about 10 pm when I got a bad vibe as I heard a vehicle approaching. I could hear that it was coming up fast. I felt unsafe enough to stay as far to the right as possible, in the parked car lane. I was worried that the driver was aiming at me. Right when the car was beside me, the driver stepped on the gas and accelerated away up the hill. This was right near the intersection of 4th Ave and Eastside Street. It was an Olympia Police Department squad car.

Why do police speed? Why do police drive aggressively?

It's especially disturbing that police evince aggressive driving tendencies when they are not in pursuit.

The actions of this police officer as a driver(assuming the car was being driven by a police officer) were threatening to me as a bicyclist. This driver seemed aggressive and hostile.

Who writes the tickets for cops when they speed?

I saw this graffiti on my neighbor's fence this morning. Its on Garfield Street between Decatur and Thomas, so a block from Garfield elementary and about the same to the police station on Perry Street. These neighbors have been spending the past few months cleaning up this property- landscaping and whatnot. They've been doing this fence over several Saturdays.

It appears to me to not be a painting expressing a sincere view.

UPDATE: October/November meeting, or...?

Hi All,

OK, I think as many folks who are gonna chime-in have do so, and now it is time to move on-

-let's make a time/place meeting-

I'm gonna suggest meeting at Cherry Street Cafe at 9am on November 1st (a Saturday). Notes will be taken and posted, so how is that for a proposal?

Let's chat about policy in Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater (OLacTum =) and Thurston County, with a focus on rules & laws about food production in the city, and on public land~

~open to suggestions and such (kinda making this up as I go, so please join-in and help make this happen) 

Hola All,

I'm posting to see if any policy wonks in town would be willing to work together to help the City of Olympia draft policy to define the scope and use of public land within the City for the production of foodstuffs.

My neighborhood association has been involved in an on-again/off-again process to discover whether a food-production use could be implemented at the Madison Scenic park, and the City seems open to suggestions/input.

So, if any are out there with a desire to formalize public access to green space, let's get started!

-- UPDATE --

I received a fair amount of interest & input, so the next question is where to meet to discuss this project? Please free to make suggestions, and we all as a group will pick a spot and agree on a time by this Friday, October 3rd.