*Editor’s Note: unfortunately this article was never published on  Sunday, November 29, 2009.  We have just passed the two year mark and thus feel it is fitting to publish this article and give honor to our fallen Lakewood Police Officers.

(Yesterday) will go down in history as one of the most heartbreaking and difficult days to fathom in Pierce County history. The cold blooded slaying of four dedicated and honorable Lakewood Police Officers is a tremendous loss to our law enforcement community and to Pierce County as a whole. These were officers that dedicated their lives to serving others, and did so with great pride and honor. Our heart goes out to the families of these fallen officers and to the Lakewood Police Department and the City of Lakewood.

When a tragedy of this magnitude occurs it does not matter what color uniform you wear or whether or not you are from a local, state, or federal agency. What matters is how we all respond to such a tragedy and how we work collectively to deal with the circumstances that are in front of us.  That is what was required of us today and that’s what I observed from the many local, state, and federal agencies that responded to this horrific scene. In particular, I am extremely impressed and proud by the professional manner by which our department members responded to this tragedy. Many of the first responders to this horrific scene were from our department and did an exceptionally good job in securing the scene and providing information as this incident initially unfolded. Department commanders worked together and quickly to establish incident command and control over department resources initially and throughout the day as well as managed department activities via the department’s Operations Center. Our SWAT Team, Detectives and Forensic personnel from Investigations Bureau, Critical Incident Management Team, and Chaplains worked collaboratively with Lakewood PD and their Pierce County Sheriffs Department counterparts throughout the course of the day in following up leads and supporting fellow officers and their families. This was truly a great team effort and a great demonstration of the care, compassion, and character of our Department members – Thank you!

This is also a time to reflect on the fact that our profession, although a very honorable and fulfilling one, is a profession where tragedy such as the one that occurred today can happen anytime, anywhere, and without warning. This is a sad reality that we have to live with and one that is to me unconscionable.

We will continue to support the City of Lakewood, Lakewood Police Department throughout this investigation and beyond as I know that they would be doing the same for us. This is a very tough time for them and they need all of our support.

Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, Greg Richard came to work today with every intention of returning home at the end of their shift to be in the comfort of their families as we all do as we begin our shift. Please keep these fallen heroes and their families in your thoughts and prayers as we all grieve this great loss.

After a year of inactivity, The Melon is back on track with fresh articles, fresh writers mixed with some of the originals.  Electric Elliot Trotter continues to be the force behind The Melon and Chris “The Wedge” Van Vechten has returned to write.  Both were the original founders of The Melon and genius behind what we have today.

Jen Drake, a contributing author brought on by Elliot and Chris (and who later married the stated Van Vechten), took a hiatus from The Melon to focus on her career and is now back in force  to be Editor-in-Chief and with her has come 25 (and growing) new writers, varying in interests, hobbies, location, and looks.

The Melon has been a voice for Tacoma and abroad in the past and will continue to be so in the future.

The Melon is a forum/community for individualized insights, discussion and enlightenment. Our goal is to empower, inform and inspire.

First planted in 2007 as a news and political talk radio show deemed The Melon on KUPS 90.1FM Tacoma, the seeds of melon have grown into an electro-rag of the same name. Since 2008, The Melon serves as the home of the Melonites who deliver daily news ripenings and various seedlings. For news, opinion, art, discussion and satire that’s good enough to eat, taste The Melon.

Our writers will share their insightful views, and we will continue to be ready, ripe, and juicy as ever.

Recently the Tacoma Urban League hosted an education forum which, from an objective perspective, was flawed for a number of reasons, not the least of which included the fact that the moderator had already publically endorsed one particular candidate on stage, who just so happened to be positioned in a seasaw rotation that always gave him the benefit of hearing what three other school board candidates had to say about a particular issue before delivering his own well-crafted answer. But such gimmicks are routine to modern political theatre and hardly worthy of the first Melon article to be published by this writer in more than a year.

No, what made this forum truly upsetting for me was the response to a question offered by a 17 year old member of the audience, asking if any of the candidates would support lowering the voting age to allow students to participate in school board elections. The audience immediately erupted into laughter. The moderator, upon regaining his composure and wiping away a tear, turned to the candidates on stage and with a smile on his face and voice in his throat that somehow simultaneously seemed amused and nervous, said “do any of you wanna answer that?” An awkward pause followed, the candidates looked at each other, and again, the audience broke out into uncontrolled hysterics.

I could not believe what I was watching. Here was a sincere and valid argument for political enfranchisement from a politically aware American citizen, asked at a candidate forum sponsored by the Urban League (a national civil rights organization) and all but a few people in the room seemed to believe that this question even deserved an answer. Not even incumbent school director Kim Golding offered her opinion on this subject, despite the fact that for the past 6 years she has sat next to a dozen student representatives on the school board; representatives who, despite their age, inexperience, and lack of a vote, are nonetheless often able to contribute to board meetings by providing insight and perspective to a board whose youngest director is more than twice their age.

I have often lectured and lambasted people and policies that conflict with my belief that students should not be prevented from reaching their natural stages of maturity and, ultimately, adulthood. While America’s aging adolescents cheer that “40 is the new 20” America’s teenagers and now “tweenagers” continue to long for the day when they can stop studying (and paying for the privilege) and start proving themselves as capable adults. But there is one truth I cannot ignore.

While 16-year-olds have historically served as soldiers, bore children, and worked full-time jobs, there is no precedent (that I’m aware of at least) for them participating as enfranchised members of any democracy (though a few, like King Tut & Louis XIV who were absolute monarchs before hitting puberty). But then again, women’s sufferage was also unprecedented in the annals of democracy, and now we live in an age of serious female contenders for the White House.

This past year, Washington’s courageous young State Senator, the Honorable Scott White, heroically responded to constituents who work, pay taxes, largely drive national trends and styles and – in a select few cases – found multibillion dollar internet startups, but are then laughed at when they ask for a say in the administration of their schools. Senate Bill 5621 would lower the voting age in school board races to 14 for students currently enrolled in their school district. The bill quickly died in committee last year, and probably will not pass next year because the budget crisis will likely eclipse all other concerns.

However, given the economic woes of our school district, and past failures to pass bonds and even a levy back in 2007, it would seem to me that enfranchising those who are supposed to most directly benefit from this tax revenue would be a no-brainer for our school board members.

As to concerns that high schoolers cannot make mature, rational decision in the voting booth (if, in fact, we still had voting booths in Washington) the results from Tuesday’s Primary should prove, yet again, that neither maturity nor rationality has ever been a prerequisite to eligibility. In one school board race, 12.74% of the electorate voted for Betsy Elgar, a candidate who identified her priorities in the voter guide as “Saving the US Military Bases in our US Territories and Foss High School.” In another race, 20.36% voted for Kim Washington, even after she tried to get her name pulled from the ballot and did nothing as a candidate beyond submitting a picture and brief statement for the voter guide. Her numbers were enough to put her in second place, ahead of the competent incumbent and active candidate: Kim Golding. The fact that she was the only Black female in the race may explain her numbers, or perhaps the voters were confused by two “Kim”s on the ballot.  However, the fact that Kim Washington’s numbers require explanation prove that her victory was not rational.

Word from the News Tribune is that two officers have been shot somewhere in Pierce County around 9pm. A suspect is reported shot and potentially decease and the officers are in critical condition. Officers are still reporting to the scene which started as a domestic violence call.

More info as it becomes available.

We were pleased to hear that we would have the opportunity to sit down with three fantastic authorities on voting reform.

• Paul Jacob, former President of U.S. Term Limits and current President of Citizens in Charge
• Krist Novoselic, former bassist from Nirvana (yeah, that Nirvana), current voting reform advocate and Chair of FairVote
• Kelly Haughton, President of Citizens for a Better Ballot

Huddled in The Melon’s studio, what followed was a riveting discussion on Ranked Choice Voting, democracy, and three big amendments in Pierce County’s upcoming election.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download mp3

protectvoterchoice.com – Official No on Amendment 3, RCV website

noriggingthesystem.com – Official No on All 3 website

rankedchoice.blogspot.com – Kelly Haughton’s personal blog on RCV

fairvote.org – National election reform organization

Special thanks to Erik Connell for making this interview possible

In 2007 Pierce County voters overwhelmingly approved extending the Sheriff’s, the Assessor-Treasurer’s and the Auditor’s term of office from two four-year terms to three four-year terms.

During Thanksgiving week in 2008, Pierce County Councilman Dick Muri sponsored a resolution to do the same for the County Council and the County Executive. On December 2 at a County Council meeting held in Sumner, with only County resident Ken Paulson speaking in opposition, the Council voted five to two to put the issue before the voters this November.

On Christmas Day the County Council, using their official organ, The Puyallup Herald, published their intent for a vote by the people that if approved would extend their own and the Exec’s term limits to three four-year terms. A vote, if passed, that would also guarantee themselves another four years in office and another $400,000 in pay, not to mention a massive increase in their retirement accounts.

Fast forward to June of this year when this publication began asking questions as to how and when the “pro” and “con” committees, who write the statement in the voters’ pamphlet, would be appointed. The Auditor’s office, the County Exec’s office and County Councilman Tim Farrell didn’t have a clue.

Subsequently Farrell, who was one of two no votes on the measure, was instrumental in the formation of the “Con” committee.

Then out of the blue, in mid July, three elected officials, County Exec Pat McCarthy, Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma and State Auditor Brian Sonntag send the Council a letter asking to be appointed to the committee opposing the extension of term limits.

Had that letter not been submitted, is it likely that the Council would do as it has done in years passed and defer to the County Auditor to take the applications. However in the 2007 election no “pro” or “con” statements appeared in the voters’ pamphlet for charter amendments. So either nobody applied or, as Muri said, the Auditor fell down on the job.

By August 17 twelve people applied to be on the term limits “con” committee. On August 18 the council appointed Larry Faulk, Sherry Bockwinkel, and yours truly to the committee giving the members just six days to write and submit their statement.

To further confound the committee members the ballot title written by the Prosecuting Attorney’s office changed the traditional “Yes or No” vote on the ballot to “Accept or Reject” vote. Combined on the same measure was whether to change the election years for the County Exec and Council from even to odd number years.

So what if the voter was in favor of one and not the other; how are they suppose to vote? For the one they favor the most? The way the title was written is patently unfair to the voter.

That ballot title is now being challenged in Pierce County Court, not only over the “Yes or No” / “Accept or Reject” language, but also over a portion of the wording being argumentative.

There is also a question of Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Lindquist have been appointed to the committee in favor of the measure being a conflict of interest since the ballot title was written by a member of his staff. Arguments on the case will be heard August 31, a week after the committee statements are due at the Auditor’s office.

Also appointed to the pro committee was current City Councilman Rick Talbert a county employee who works directly for the County Council. Talbert, another career politician, if elected to the County Council, could then serve twelve years as opposed to eight.

Is what we have here a Machiavellian plot hatched by some County Council members for their own personal gain rather than for the benefit of Pierce County residents as some would have you believe, or is the simpler explanation that this elected body just can’t seem to get their act together?

It’s possible Muri came up the answer when he said, “People (County Council Members) who can make a difference don’t hit their stride until their sixth or seventh year (in office).”

Either way this is one hell of a political pill to swallow.

Editor’s note: This article was written while Hathaway was wearing his New Takhoman fedora.

The campaign to stop the repeal of ranked choice voting, the No on 3 Campaign, has launched its official campaign website: http://www.protectvoterchoice.com. Pierce County Charter Amendment 3 was put on the ballot by the Pierce County Council this past February. If passed, it would repeal ranked choice voting for county elections. RCV was first passed by county voters in 2006, and in 2007, voters voted to keep RCV elections on track for 2008.

If you care about improved democracy in Pierce County, please visit the campaign’s website, and volunteer to donate your money and/or your time. For more on why we should keep RCV, please see my recent article on this very website: Give Ranked Choice a Chance (http://themelononline.com/2009/05/give-ranked-choice-a-chance/).

As a former University of Puget Sound student who worked on the “Yes on Three” campaign to bring ranked choice voting (or, as we called it during the campaign, instant runoff voting) to Pierce County in 2006, I was disappointed to hear the news that the Pierce County Council voted put a repeal measure on the ballot this fall. Its action flies in the face of how well ranked choice voting (RCV) is working in other states and the rising support for the system, which now includes President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain.

Talking to friends back in Pierce County, the perception is that not enough voters understand the system. This comes as a big surprise to me. Of the countless number of voters that I talked to in 2006, only a single person objected to the system because they thought it was confusing. In the nine other municipalities that have run ranked choice elections this decade, voters have handled it quite well – in fact the number of invalid ballots was very low in Pierce’s RCV races as well. I have faith that people in my former county can handle ranking candidates just as well as they can in any of the other places using RCV.

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Readers may have periodically heard me lament about the funding situation of the Pierce County Arts Commission since shortly after first joining roughly a year ago.  In my time, I’ve watched the commission’s budget fall from $180,000 to $135,000 in September of 2008, to – literally – $0 for the 3/09-12/09 budget cycle.

To say I’m disappointed by the council’s decision would be an understatement: I’m pissed.  Pissed because all these cuts are being done in the name of “creating jobs” but which nonetheless ultimately have the effect of spawning mass lay-offs.  Pissed because those about to be laid off represent several productive members of society whose industry is ultimately no less essential to our community than any other.

After a year on the commission, I’ve come to realize our limits and they are, I’m sorry to say, surprisingly short.  But at the end of the day, I consider myself fortunate enough to be on a commission that actually accomplishes what it sets out to do: promote art awareness and development.  The recession aside, Pierce County’s artistic community has bloomed in ways nobody expected over the past five years and for that alone our county and cities’ commissions deserve a lot of credit.

I can only assume that its time to once again remind our elected officials of that fact, and I would therefore encourage every reader to write their county councilman (which can be found here) and tell he/she to support the arts this recession.  (If you don’t know which district you live in, find out here.)

In the video below, members of the Pierce County Arts Commission, including myself, speak about the cutting of our budget and the importance of public arts funding.