Politics
Eyman’s Latest
Initiative 985 sponsor Tim Eyman sent out another broadside today, this one aimed at Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC) state policy director Bill LaBorde. (LaBorde, formerly the state director for Environment Washington, joined TCC a couple of weeks ago). In the email, Eyman accuses LaBorde of “abandoning ship” because he is no longer listed as the campaign manager and treasurer for the No on 985 campaign. (The initiative would open carpool lanes to all drivers for most of the day, bar tolls from being spent on transit, and redirect tens of millions from the state’s general fund, which primarily funds health care and education, toward building still more roads.) Eyman writes:
On August 6, over a month after we turned in 300,000+ voter signatures for I-985, Bill LaBorde [here Eyman included LaBorde’s cell phone number and personal email] filed his initial campaign report (called a C1PC) naming the opposition committee to I-985 to the state public disclosure commission. He called it No! on I-985 and he named himself Campaign Manager and Treasurer.To date, there’s been no money reported being raised or spent — how do you beat something with nothing?
On August 21, a month and a half after we turned in 300,000+ voter signatures for I-985, a revised report (C1PC AMENDED) was filed and Bill LaBorde’s name is no where to be seen and his email address is no where to be found. A new campaign manager is named (Trevor Kaul…) and a new treasurer is named (Philip Lloyd…) and Bill LaBorde is not even listed as a Committee Officer.The opposition campaign to I-985 is clearly in disarray.
Bill LaBorde has abandoned ship on his efforts to organize I-985’s opposition — he’s moved on, preferring to spend his time and effort trying to get voters to approve his higher priority: the $107 billion/$60,000-per-family Proposition 1 on the Puget Sound’s fall ballot.
But really, who can blame him?
Then he asks for money.
I spoke with LaBorde at a TCC forum on the viaduct downtown this afternoon, and he reassured me that he is definitely still involved with the No on 985 campaign, and laughed at Eyman’s faux naivete about how campaigns work. LaBorde said he merely set up the campaign (it’s a coalition, not “his” campaign), which has since hired a professional campaign manager and treasurer. (Campaigns are usually run by professional managers, not full-time employees of advocacy organizations.) LaBorde says he expects contributions to the campaign to start showing up on disclosure reports next month, and that the campaign is working now to “bring the business and labor communities on board.” LaBorde adds: “I’m pretty confident that we’re going to have more money than Eyman by the end of this campaign.” Currently, Eyman’s own campaign appears to be around $230,000 in the hole, as Eyman has not yet repaid a $150,000 loan and the campaign has spent about $80,000 more than it has received in contributions.
Comments (20)
Hey Asshole: run for office or STFU.
Posted by max solomon | September 5, 2008 3:51 PMBwah hah hah!
For a family to spend $60,000 in taxes due to a 0.5% sales tax increase, they'd have to spend $12 million on taxable goods.
What a stupid and obvious lie.
Posted by Martin H. Duke | September 5, 2008 3:57 PMPlus, nobody has ever reduced congestion before. All of the things Tim Eyman wants to do have failed every time they have been done. Ask Tim if you don't believe me.
Posted by elenchos | September 5, 2008 4:09 PMI don't trust Eyman, but I don't trust Sound Transit either. One of the reasons is Bill LaBorde, and the fact that he was appointed to the citizens oversight committee by ST. LaBorde is a huge backer of everything ST does, and for proper oversight the public needs skeptical people on that committee. There are nothing but yes men on that ST oversight committee.
Posted by take two | September 5, 2008 5:18 PM@3: You got that right. I wish I had a buck for every time a politician (and yes, Tim counts) said that we can fix traffic congestion by synchronizing traffic lights. We've been hearing this for at least a decade--aren't the lights all synchronized yet?
Posted by J.R. | September 5, 2008 5:19 PM@5: they sure as fuck aren't. don't you have a car like real murkins?
Posted by max solomon | September 5, 2008 5:43 PMFrom: Tim Eyman
Here's the part of the email that Ms. Barnett didn't want anyone to know about:
Bill LaBorde has abandoned ship on his efforts to organize I-985's opposition ... But really, who can blame him?
The Olympian newspaper recently endorsed I-985 after listening to former DOT secretary Doug MacDonald admit that he only read Sonntag's audit report on traffic congestion AFTER he retired (we encourage Doug to continue speaking out against I-985 - you're doing a great job). Elway's August poll shows I-985 overwhelmingly popular among voters, regardless of party affiliation (58% among Republicans, 59% among Independents, 59% among Democrats). State Auditor Brian Sonntag is our state's most trusted elected official, and I-985's policies are based on his recent performance audit on traffic congestion. Opponents spent $1.3 million attacking last year's I-960 while we spent $0 promoting it and yet voters approved I-960 by a comfortable margin. Voters rejected last year's Prop 1 that raised taxes and approved I-960, making it tougher to raise taxes, sending a clear no-new-taxes message -- I-985 is the perfect response to that message.
So to Bill we say: people will understand why you abandoned the No! on
I-985 campaign. You won't be to blame when voters overwhelmingly approve I-985 in November.
DOT Secretary Paula Hammond says in today's Olympian that we're being "mighty presumptuous" -- hardly.
I-985 is a well-thought-out, professional, comprehensive transportation reform proposal; it offers immediate, cost-effective solutions with built-in accountability and oversight by Washington's most trusted elected official.
Posted by Tim Eyman, I-985 co-sponsor, www.ReduceCongestion.org | September 5, 2008 8:13 PMAnd rather than raising taxes, I-985 instead funds its common sense policies with transportation-related taxes and charges that we, the citizens, are already paying.
Bill LaBorde has abandoned ship on his efforts to organize I-985's opposition -- he's moved on, preferring to spend his time and effort trying to get voters to approve his higher priority: the $107 billion/$60,000-per-family Proposition 1 on the Puget Sound's fall ballot.
http://www.bettertransport.info/pitf/taxes.htm
Posted by Tim Eyman, I-985 co-sponsor, www.ReduceCongestion.org | September 5, 2008 8:20 PMHi Tim. Still can't name one example of anybody who has ever reduced congestion. I'd have thought you'd be able to invent something by now.
Even if it were physically possible to synchronize traffic lights in all directions (which it's not), how come every place that has synchronized lights to the best of their ability still gets worse traffic? Same with adding lanes, opening HOV lanes. You name it. Congestion never gets better. Why?
When you say "built in accountability" does that mean we get our money back when they try all these failed schemes and traffic only gets worse?
Posted by elenchos | September 5, 2008 8:39 PMMister Eyman seems to be the only one with the balls to get initiatives out there, Erica shut the hell up(I say that with love and concern for you)about Eyman getting off his firm muscular buttocks and pushing for his interests. If you, or others have interests get off your flabby cheeks and spend the time, blood, sweat and tears for an initiative. I'm so sick of whiners and finger points that do nothing but whine and point fingers.
Posted by Sargon Bighorn | September 5, 2008 9:00 PMyou wrote: Still can't name one example of anybody who has ever reduced congestion. I'd have thought you'd be able to invent something by now.
response: Downtown traffic signals updated for better flow, less waiting
By Mike Lindblom, Seattle Times transportation reporter, Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - Page updated at 01:33 PM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008030020_webtrafficlights02m.html
Computer models predict an overall 40 percent reduction in wait times, said Brian Kemper, electrical systems manager.
Posted by Tim Eyman, I-985 co-sponsor, www.ReduceCongestion.org | September 5, 2008 10:16 PMyou wrote: Still can't name one example of anybody who has ever reduced congestion. I'd have thought you'd be able to invent something by now.
response: I was asked at a recent I-985 debate what city has the best traffic light synchronization program. I responded "every city in Washington after I-985 passes." But Sunday's Everett Herald reports on Lynnwood, a city that's a likely candidate for that distinction:
What it takes to keep traffic flowing in Lynnwood
A high-tech system helps workers keep an eye on the roads and adjust signals accordingly.
By Oscar Halpert, Everett Herald
Published: Sunday, August 31, 2008
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080831/NEWS01/708319880&SearchID=73328633031942
Working from a cramped collection of cubicles inside City Hall, these techno wizards operate what at least one outside expert considers to be one of the best traffic management centers around.
They oversee the computers that synchronize street lights and walk signals and give police, firefighters and buses green-light specials when needed.
"The whole system is coordinated to give the best possible outcomes to traffic flow," deputy public works director Jeff Elekes said.
"I would say the city of Lynnwood's traffic sensor configuration is the best in the United States," Wang said.
Posted by Tim Eyman, I-985 co-sponsor, www.ReduceCongestion.org | September 5, 2008 10:18 PMYou wrote:
Response: GETTING SIGNALS IN SYNC WILL HELP TRAFFIC FLOW
By Frank Greve, McClatchy Newspapers, published in Seattle Times, Thursday, May 15, 2008:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004415547_lights15.html
WASHINGTON - Fine-tuning controls on the nation's traffic signals - a project already being undertaken in Seattle - would cut U.S. road congestion by up to 10 percent, transportation experts estimate.
...
Among the most resourceful is Portland, which installed carbon-dioxide-emissions monitors at intersections before it improved their flow. The lower pollution that the monitors recorded enabled Portland to claim pollution-reduction credits that it sold for $560,000 on the carbon-offset market. The money helped pay for intersection improvements.
Technologically, most U.S. traffic signals remain very 20th-century, said Philip Tarnoff, director of the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Centralized timers drive most of them by changing lights at scripted intervals, he explained. "They tell the signals: 'It's 6 a.m. Use timing schedule A until 9 a.m. Then use timing schedule B until 4 p.m."'
If timers are accurate, and the prescribed signal intervals are based on accurate and recent traffic surveys, these systems can do as well as fancier ones in typical situations.
That's a big if, however. Most timed systems aren't refreshed and adjusted at the three-year intervals recommended for busy intersections or ones that see big changes in traffic due to new homes or businesses.
Even perfectly tuned timer-dependent signal systems can't adapt to unpredictable roadway events such as accidents, construction and bad weather. Together, those factors cause half of U.S. traffic congestion, according to Transportation Department statistics.
For all these reasons, Tarnoff and many other traffic engineers favor adaptive signal-timing systems first adopted 30 years ago in the United Kingdom and Australia. They measure traffic minute-to-minute with cameras or in-pavement sensors and automatically adjust signal times to maximize flow for existing conditions, including accidents, construction and bad weather.
These adaptive signals are costly and challenging to program, however, and haven't caught on with local U.S. traffic departments.
Posted by Tim Eyman, I-985 co-sponsor, www.ReduceCongestion.org | September 5, 2008 10:21 PMPoint made.
I-985 requires cities and counties synchronize their traffic lights to "optimize traffic flow" on heavily-traveled streets and arterials and provides all the funding they'll ever need to comply with this 100% funded mandate.
Lynnwood certainly sounds like the 'best practices' program that can be replicated in counties and cities throughout Washington (not a penny of city/county funds will be used; I-985's "Reduce Traffic Congestion Account" provides all the funds to bring every city and county into compliance.
Posted by Tim Eyman, I-985 co-sponsor, www.ReduceCongestion.org | September 5, 2008 10:26 PMTim, didn't your mother teach you any manners? Don't be a spammer, don't send out emails to the media with people's phone number and personal email address, and don't be such an arrogant jerk.
Basic courtesy, Tim. Even for a lying watch salesman, doesn't seem like too much to ask for.
Oh, by the way tim:
NO on your lame initiative 985
Posted by james g | September 6, 2008 12:58 AMHey, Tim.
Stop lying.
Posted by Will in Seattle | September 6, 2008 3:03 AMmany reporters are lazy and unless the contact info is spoon-fed to them, they won't follow-up.
Posted by Tim Eyman, I-985 co-sponsor, www.ReduceCongestion.org | September 6, 2008 9:15 AMTim, if you ever need to burn off some of that repressed sexual anger, give me a call. I'm sure I can squeeze you in to my busy schedule. Or maybe you'd prefer to squeeze me in to yours?...
Posted by M. Driscoll | September 6, 2008 10:46 AMTim, if you ever need to burn off some of that repressed sexual anger, give me a call. I'm sure I can squeeze you in to my busy schedule. Or maybe you'd prefer to squeeze me in?...
Posted by M. Driscoll | September 6, 2008 10:49 AMHere's how to fix traffic in Seattle:
EVERYONE STOP DRIVING LIKE PUSSIES!
Go faster than the speed limit when you can, don't slow down to change lanes, merge (merge! goddammit, it's not that hard!), etc...
Posted by formabostonian | September 7, 2008 11:09 AMComments Closed
Comments are closed on this post.