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February 3, 2012 NewsRoundup
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Port building moves from
backpacks to egg cartons – Wenatchee World article on a new Port of
Chelan tenant that plans to hire up to 50 employees
ELECTIONS/GOVERNANCE
Wash. panel advances public
records restrictions – AP article on lawmakers are advancing a plan that could limit how governments respond to
requests for public documents
Legislators drop proposed
$1.50 fee on barrel of oil – Seattle Times article on the barrel charge
hitting a dead end but the possibility of other fees taking it’s place
MISC
Port Drivers Step up Pressure in
Seattle – Journal of
Commerce online article on a push by harbor truck drivers for changes in their pay and positions
Olympia council violated law in closed session, lawsuit states – Olympian article on a lawsuit claiming
that the council made a decision to appoint a new councilwoman during a closed
session
TRADE
Take
advantage of rising exports at the Port of Seattle – Seattle Times op-ed piece on full containers
that are leaving the port and the need to fill more containers with
higher-value manufactured goods
Olympia council violated law in
closed session, lawsuit states
MATT BATCHELDOR | Staff writer
The Olympia City Council violated the state Open
Public Meetings Act when it made the decision to appoint Councilwoman Julie
Hankins during a closed session last month, an Olympia woman claims in a
lawsuit.
Kathleen M. Houts is suing the city and
specifically Councilwoman Jeannine Roe for comments Roe made the night of Jan.
4, including that the council had made a decision for a “fresh
start” before the group voted in open session to pick Hankins, a
political newcomer. Roe said later that night that she had misspoken, and that
no decision was made in closed session.
Houts’ suit asks, among other things, that
a Thurston Superior Court judge find that the city violated the open-meetings
act, and that Roe be fined $100 for each knowing violation of the act.
“This is not about me,” Houts said
in an interview Thursday. “This is about the public and what we have a
right to know. I want the determination to be made, and I want the council to
know that they must adhere to that.”
Roe did not return calls seeking comment
Thursday.
City Attorney Tom Morrill declined to comment in
a brief interview Thursday.
“Once we’re in litigation, we
don’t comment on matters that are in litigation,” he said. But he
had told a reporter earlier that no decision had been made in closed session.
Houts’ suit, filed Monday, stems from a
special council meeting Jan. 4 to interview candidates to fill Stephen
Buxbaum’s former council position, which he vacated two years early after
being elected mayor. Council members held two closed sessions ostensibly to
discuss the qualifications of people who applied for the council appointment,
which Morrill said was allowed under state law.
Before the second closed session, the council
was deadlocked 3-3 on whether to appoint Hankins or former Councilwoman Karen
Messmer. Councilman Nathaniel Jones moved for the council to go into closed
session, and it did so for 20 minutes.
When the council returned to open session but before
the official vote for Hankins, Roe said that “as a group we kind of
decided we needed a fresh start on the council.”
Hankins had no experience on the council;
Messmer was a councilwoman from 2006-09.
Roe told a reporter later that night that she
had misspoken and that there was no decision made in executive session, the
suit cites. “It was just a discussion of qualifications and some of us
expressed views of a fresh start,” she said.
Morrill also told a reporter that night that Roe
had misspoken, the suit says.
But Houts’ suit claims that Roe’s
later statement also is evidence of a discussion that shouldn’t have
occurred in closed session.
“A discussion of whether the Olympia City
Council ‘needs’ a ‘fresh start’ is a matter of interest
to the public and the public is entitled to hear a discussion by council
members of what ‘fresh start’ means and how a ‘fresh
start’ would be brought about by the Council as well as what ‘fresh
start’ would mean for citizens,” the suit says.
Houts’ suit notes that state law says an
action may not be taken in closed session, and a discussion could qualify as an
action. It also says an action doesn’t have to be a vote but could also
be a “collective positive or negative decision.”
Councilman Jones changed his vote, and the council
eventually voted 4-2 to appoint Hankins.
Houts said that she has no connection to Hankins
or Messmer and had no preference about who was picked.
She said the council was very good but young.
(Roe has the most experience on the council, with just a little more than two
years.)
“I think that this council is an excellent
council,” she said.
“My interest is finding out just how far a
public agency can go with an executive session, what they can do with
that.”
Legislators drop proposed $1.50 fee on barrel of oil
MIKE LINDBLOM; The Seattle
Times, Published: 02/03/12 12:05 am
Gov.
Chris Gregoire’s proposal to impose a $1.50 charge on every barrel of oil
refined in Washington state has hit a dead end.
The
barrel charge – to raise $2.75 billion for highway maintenance, in a $3.6
billion package for state and local transportation – lacks support, a pair
of leading senators said Thursday.
“We’ve
stripped the $1.50 out, and we’re looking now at (driver) fees,”
said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, who chairs the Senate
Transportation Committee.
Such
fees could include additional weight charges on motor vehicles, higher fees to
renew driver’s licenses and surcharges on studded tires.
Fees
can be increased by lawmakers without a citizen vote, and nearly were in 2011.
Haugen
said a barrel charge probably would be declared a general tax by Lt. Gov. Brad
Owen, and there’s no way it could win a two-thirds legislative majority
for tax hikes, as required by Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1053, or even win half the Senate votes.
“There’s a lot of reasons,” she said. “They
listen to the oil companies.”
A
barrel tax would affect aviation fuel and marine diesel, beyond just raising
gas prices a few cents for motorists.
Haugen
also says a state ballot measure for transportation is unlikely because leaders
think they can only afford to put one measure before voters this year – a
sales tax to mend education and the social-services safety net.
However,
she did sponsor a bill that would let cities and counties enact local gas taxes
of up to 3 cents a gallon, plus higher car-tab fees or taxes.
Wash. panel advances public records restrictions
The Associated Press, Published:
02/02/12 12:36 pm | Updated: 02/02/12 4:26 pm
OLYMPIA,
Wash. — Lawmakers are advancing a plan that could
limit how governments respond to requests for public documents.
A
Senate panel voted 4-2 on Thursday to approve the measure. Democratic Sen.
Maralyn Chase of Shoreline had initially opposed the bill, saying she had
"serious concerns" and that current law may already remedy the
situation. But she changed her vote after the hearing and then said through a
spokesman that she actually only had technical concerns.
Lawmakers
did vote to remove language from the bill that allowed agencies to seek a court
order blocking a request if they could prove it was "significant
burden." They kept in rules that would permit agencies to adopt policies
limiting the amount of time devoted to responding to records requests.
Some
local government officials are seeking the law change to deal with abusive
requesters. Open government advocates say there are already tools to deal with
excessive requests.
Take advantage of rising
exports at the Port of Seattle
The
number of containers leaving the Port of Seattle full is on the rise. This
bodes well for the Port and suggests opportunities for investment
Seattle Times op-ed piece
HERE'S an
eye-catching statistic from the Port of Seattle. In 2011 came a sharp drop in
the number of containers moving to foreign ports empty. Our chart shows the
reason: a powerful rise in the number of containers leaving Seattle full.
Of
what? Lumber for buildings in China. Hay to feed livestock in Japan. Fish and crab for the people
of Asia. Apples. Cherries. Paper and pulp. Peas and beans.
The next step is to
fill more containers with higher-value manufactured goods. That is no false
hope. In its report on the state's economy in 2011, the state Employment
Security Department says: "Manufacturing led all sectors in annual job
growth."
Manufacturing? Yes. Many of the new jobs are at Boeing, but leading companies all over
Washington have begun a cautious economic advance.
"There is a
common denominator at those companies," says Port of Seattle Commissioner
Gael Tarleton. "They all trade." They import materials. They export
some — and with the dollar down they should export more, especially to
the booming economies of Asia.
All of this is on the
minds at the Port of Seattle, which wants to keep a working waterfront alive in
our 21st-century city. It can, with some cooperation.
The state will have
to improve its roads and rail crossings. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe will
have to improve its Stampede Pass tunnel. Seattle will have to preserve its
industrial lands and remain a city that Commissioner Tom Albro says "makes
it feel safe to invest here."
For its part, the
Port has cut staff and expenses, repairing its balance sheet and credit rating.
"We are deciding how we want to invest," says Commissioner Bill
Bryant. "That's a conversation you can have only if your house is in
order."
The quiet surge of
containers going out full — which is also happening in Tacoma —
underlines the value of ports that are able to invest and grow.
Port Drivers Step
up Pressure in Seattle
Bill Mongelluzzo, Associate
Editor | Feb 3, 2012 10:40PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story
Some terminals see drayage shortages as drivers eye pay, independent status
Some operations at the Port of Seattle are feeling the impact of a push by
harbor truck drivers for changes in their pay and positions.
Officials say some marine terminals at the port of Seattle saw driver
shortages over the past week amid complaints from drivers that trucking
companies are paying them below market rates. At the same time, other drivers
were not working because they went to the state capitol in Olympia, where the
Washington State Legislature has been holding hearings on two bills that will
have a direct impact on harbor drayage.
One bill would classify the independent-contractor drivers as employees,
which would allow them the legal right to join a union. The second bill would
clarify the handling of chassis that are not properly maintained.
Both developments have created spot shortages of drivers in the harbor. The
Teamsters union supports the drivers in both instances, seeing the developments
as furthering the union’s attempt to organize harbor truck drivers in
Puget Sound.
The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, an advocacy group affiliated with
the Teamsters, released a statement Wednesday saying the drivers had shut down
the Port of Seattle. Although there were container backlogs at some terminals,
the port was not shut down.
“Seattle has been open and operating all week,” port spokesman
Peter McGraw said on Friday.
Drivers at several trucking companies that haul containers between the port
and intermodal rail yards are refusing loads because they charge the companies
they contract with are paying them less than the market rate in the harbor
area.
Harbor trucking companies normally negotiate a drayage rate with shipping
lines or cargo interests. The general practice is for the trucking company to
keep a percentage of the rate and then pass the rest on to the drivers. In this
instance, drivers say some motor carriers are retaining a higher percentage of
the drayage rate than is customary in Puget Sound.
Washington Trucking Association spokesman Jim Dutton said it appears two or
three motor carriers that dray containers to intermodal rail facilities have
been targeted.
TJ Michels, a spokeswoman for Change to Win, a Teamsters-affiliated
organization, said the intermodal pay issue is the latest in a series of
incidents that have plagued harbor truck drivers in the Pacific Northwest. Many
drivers in the region charge that the harbor drayage system is in need of an
overhaul, she said.
Port building moves from
backpacks to egg cartons
By
Mike Irwin, World staff writer, Friday, February 3, 2012
WENATCHEE — The first equipment’s arrived and wiring improvements
are underway to ready a 38,000-square-foot space here for a Chinese
manufacturer of egg and food cartons
Fibro Inc., the name
of the new Wenatchee division of Hong Kong-based Dandong Kaite Group Ltd., is
expected to begin full installation of machinery by Feb. 18 and production by
late spring, according to Raylene Dowell, property
and facilities manager for the Port of Chelan County.
“We been pushing
here for foreign investment,” she said. “Well, here it is.”
Fibro has signed a
five-year lease with the Port to manufacture biodegradable molded paper pulp
cartons at a sprawling industrial building near the Confluence Technology
Center in Olds Station.
Beginning in May, the
multi-national company will begin making monthly lease payments of $18,666.
The company has
experienced slight delays in their set-up schedule, said Dowell, due to the
slow pace of obtaining work visas for some of the company’s key
personnel. “That’s why the schedules have a little play in them, to
allow for these contingencies.”
Otherwise, about 30
employees are expected to be hired initially, said Dowell, with plans to
gradually increase to 50.
Fibro’s parent
company, the Kaite Group, is a leading pulp and molded fiber packaging company
with several production plants around the world. Their products are sold
throughout the United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Southeast Asia.
The Wenatchee plant
will be designed to duplicate a Kaite Group facility recently opened in
Malaysia that makes cartons from recycled paper and orchard wood debris.
Buyers for the
company’s Wenatchee products have not yet been announced, said Dowell.
But Port officials said in October that Fibro was negotiating with Wilcox
Farms, one of the Northwest’s largest organic egg producers.
The site for the plant
— the Port’s Building No. 5 — was previously occupied by
JanSport outdoor gear. Accupak and Loomis Golf were also previous tenants.
In recent months, the
building housed offices of M&M Productions and practice space for the Apple
Valley Roller Derby teams. Both of those tenants will relocate to new spaces
when Fibro is fully moved in.