This Sunday is Father’s Day.  Unlike Mother’s Day, Father’s Day isn’t quite such a big deal.   I suspect that because we all have a mother – - but we don’t all have a father.

I say that with the full realization that we all have to have had a father, but that’s not the point.

Single mothers comprise 40 percent of all births in this country.   In many cases, the father is no where around while that baby is born and is often not in the child’s life at all.

More than 50 percent of all marriages in the United States ends in divorce.   Most often, it is the mother who gains custody of the children.  The father is often gone from the house and has a tentative relationship with his children and sees them rarely.

We have a number of step-fathers who marry women with children by other men.   In some cases, those step-fathers develop a good relationship with those children.  But, sometimes, that’s not the case and the step-father is no more involved in the children’s life than the real father.

Now, I say this, with the full realization that there are good firm loving relationships which bring about strong families and great fathers.

I know many men who father children from women they don’t marry and work hard to develop a good relationship with their child.   Many of them also support the child not only monetarily but with love.

I know divorced men, who sacrifice, to financially support their children and spend as much time as they can with their children.

I know step-fathers, who have adopted the kids from another man.   I know step-fathers who love  their step children as much as they love their own children.

But – - I’m a realist.

Our relationships with our fathers are complicated – - far more so than with our mothers.

Our society not only allows these complicated relationships but openly encourages women to have children outside of marriage.

Divorce is easy and the legal system is stacked against the father in custody cases.

Being a father today isn’t easy.   I’m not certain it ever was, but it’s different now.

So, I congratulate those fathers who love and care for their children.  Those fathers who stick around and support their children even if they’re not married to the mother.

And, I congratulate all of those step-fathers who have taken in other mens children and love them as their own.

Happy Father’s Day to all the true fathers.

My friends are all aghast at the news the government has been monitoring millions of phone numbers and internet usage as a means to fight terrorism.

When they ask me what I think, they’re taken back by my answer.  “Let’s do more,” I said.  “Lets monitor every one and every thing.”

In this day and age when everything we do is already monitored by Google and Facebook and the information sold to private companies – - what difference does it make?   When our every movement is monitored through government cameras and private security cameras – - what difference does it make?

When our car mileage is monitored, when our phone calls are monitored, when our cell phones give our location to anyone who wants it – - what difference does it make?

My suggestion is that we ask the government to do more monitoring.  I think we should ask the government and the big corporations to collect even more data on us.

My reasoning is simple.   The more data they collect, the less valuable it is to them.

By collecting more personal data on us, we simply overwhelm them with information.   They won’t be able to tell which is important and which is not.

We will be anonymous in the collective.

To put it another way – - it’s kind of like monitoring the activity of one bee after he’s returned to the hive.

Gary Alexander, Republican house member from the 2nd Legislative District, will not seek re-election to his house seat  if he is re-elected this fall as Thurston County Auditor.

Alexander made those remarks on “Decision Makers” airing on KGY Radio 1240 AM. on Tuesday.

The ranking Republican member of the house budget committee said he wanted to devote full effort to the auditor’s job, if he gains re-election this year.   Alexander was appointed as Thurston County Auditor following the election of Kim Wyman as Secretary of State.

As a member of the house budget committee, Alexander is hopeful that a compromise budget can be reached within a week.   He also said that he misses the involvement of the governor in budget negotiations.  Under Christine Gregorie, Alexander said, the governor was in the room and active in the negotiations.  Current governor Jay Inslee is represented in budget meetings by his staff.

A permanent homeless shelter?

There’s just something that sounds wrong about that.   However, the county’s new permanent homeless shelter is under construction  on the Mottman property near South Puget Sound Community College and will be open in a few months.

Some 30 cottages and a community building will comprise the complex known as Camp Quixote.   The cost is in the neighborhood of $2.5 million and will cost about a quarter of a million dollars  a year to operate.

In the meantime, a semi-permanent homeless camp in Seattle has been given until September to tear down and move on.   The two-year old camp called Nickelsville (after the former Seattle mayor)  houses some 100 semi-permanent residents.

Ann Freeman-Manzanares has been named the new General Manager of Intercity Transit.    The Transit Authority  made the announcement today.

Freemam-Manzanares is a 20-year employee of Intercity Transit and has worked as interim general manager for the last nine months.  She was selected from a group of three others candidates all from out-of-town.

By Jan Teague, President/CEO

Washington Retail Association

Tuesday night at the Washington Research Council’s annual meeting, author Bill Bishop spoke about how people are clustering into like-minded communities that are far to the right or left, with the middle ground disappearing.

Now this isn’t a revolutionary idea.  You know the saying, “birds of a feather flock together.”  But Bishop did have some valuable observations about how our culture has re-organized since the 1960′s when, he argues, the entire population of the world began to think differently about the future.  People grew less inclined to stay ingrained with their family’s ways, their family’s philosophy or to live in their family’s area.

Bishop noted that those who attended universities became the most isolated from their larger communities.  Their jobs and their friends offered a narrow perspective on life and resulted in groups of people who thought alike the more that time passed.  Again, this makes sense for us all because our work world takes so much of our time.  I hadn’t really given in to the idea that I was isolated, but I do recognize that there is only a small amount of personal time left in a day to think about participating in other interests and meeting people who might not think the way I do.

Bishop’s book, The Big Sort, explains in greater detail how this trend has changed our country.  From my desk there is the question of how we view those who have not moved to the left or the right in their political views, the “undecided voter.”

Bishop believes this group that has been the talk of the media and the campaign focus in recent years is becoming less important. He explained that as people move into like-minded groups, they become more radical in their thinking.  They do that to be accepted by their group and to be known as someone the group can trust.  Undecided people in the middle have a hard time belonging, Bishop maintains.  They read these polarizing pieces of information that don’t provide the clarity they seek.  They tend to stay home, they tend to not act on information and not vote.

This seemed like a fresh observation with political implications.

How do you develop the best campaign strategy to win a race?   Bishop said that phone calls don’t work and mailers don’t work.  Getting your friends out to vote does work, which is what President Obama did in his last two campaigns.  The best influence comes from those like-minded individuals willing to talk to their friends and encourage them to vote.

Forget about the undecided.  Voter turnout is the name of the game now and personal contact is the most effective way to achieve results.

What Bishop didn’t address was that the business of politics was made easier with the clear philosophical distinctions between the two political parties.  Each party’s ability to express its views to its constituents became easier.  The campaign information helped people align with the information they wanted to trust.  It became easier to craft what a candidate would say and not say.  On this point Bishop did say that now it’s hard to find a candidate willing to run from the middle.  There just isn’t the campaign support out there to fund those types of candidates.  Bishop said that if a candidate says, “I would like to be myself,” there just isn’t the party support there.

Public television station TVW taped the interview and it should soon be available to watch.  It’s worth watching.  At the end of the presentation, I learned the book was published in 2008, so it doesn’t consider the recession or its impacts on our culture.

I do think that we continue to be polarized, which is why we can’t get our leaders to come to agreements any more.  If you come to the middle, it’s a sign that the group no longer can trust you. It no longer fits the model where talk is on the more radical side of the policy under debate.  Bishop added that in modern politics, it doesn’t matter what one side says because the other side will simply oppose it.

We’ve lost the middle ground.

Every business person knows that Obamacare is going to cost money.   We’ve just never had a government estimate of the cost.

Now we do.

It’s going to cost every business owner in Washington state, who has employees,  another $1.50 an hour per employee.

We know this, because that’s the estimate put out by Intercity Transit.   Here’s the story.

Intercity Transit just awarded a contract for security at the Lacey and Olympia transit centers.   The cost was nearly $20,000 more than last year.   Staff said the new contract amount included $1.50 per hour for workers,  based on the Affordable Care Act.

There you have it.   A government agency actually made an estimate of what Obamacare will cost an employer.   It’s an additional $1.50 per hour per employee.

Lets see, $1.50 per hour is $12 a day times 22 days a month, times 12 months, times each employee.  Well – -you get the picture.   Now you can actually budget the costs based on a government’s estimate.

They say that familiarity breeds  contempt – - but in some cases, it can also build trust and respect.

That seems to be the case recently as local governments sought and hired local people for open management positions.

In Lacey, the city did a nation wide search for a new city manager upon the retirement of Greg Cuoio and ended up hiring his assistant Scott Spence into the job.  From all indications, Spence is doing a good job.

When the Lacey Fire District went looking for a new fire chief upon the retirement of Jim Broman, they did a nationwide search and ended up hiring his assistant Steve Brooks, as the new Lacey Fire Chief.  From all indications, Brooks is doing a good job.

Now, Intercity Transit has been involved in a nine-month search for the replacement of former transit manager Mike Harbour, who left after 17 years to take a job with Sound Transit in Seattle.

After a nationwide search for a new general manager, four finalists have been named, including Ann Freeman-Manzanares, a 20-year veteran of Intercity Transit and the acting general manager for the last nine months.

Three other candidates are also in the hunt.  They include:  Douglas Hodson the assistant to the general manager of King County Metro;  Bryan Jungwirth the senior project manager for Valley Metro in Phoenix; and Mary McLain, the assistant to the general manager of Sun Van Transit in Tucson.

I’ve met all the candidates briefly and they all seem well-qualified, friendly, articulate and out-going.  But, it’s tough to beat the home court advantage of Freeman-Manzanares considering the track record for hiring locals here in Thurston County.

I’ve met her and talked with her, but I really know very little about her.  Transit staff are being quiet and not taking sides but there’s a feeling in the air that Freeman-Manzanares is the boss.   During the nine months she has managed the system, my only complaint about the system is the lack of communications on the search for a new general manager.

My guess is that she will be the pick of the transit board, unless one of the other candidates is so outstanding that there’s very little choice but to select him or her.  A tie will go to the local.

It’s been nine months, but Intercity Transit has narrowed down its list of finalists for the General Manager’s position.

No information on the candidates is currently available but those named are:  Ann Freeman-Manzanares – Douglas Hodson – Brian Jungwirth – Mary McLain.  Freeman-Manzanares is currently holding down the general manager’s position on a temporary basis.

During the next two days the candidates will be touring facilities, meeting with staff and learning about the system.

Tomorrow evening at 6 p.m.  they will meet with elected officials and other community leaders at Anthony’s.  The public is invited.

Congratulations.   In a few weeks, Thurston County will become the only county of Washington’s 39 counties, to ban plastic bags.

In addition, of the 200 and some cities in the state, only seven, most of them small, have adopted a plastic bag ban.  The exception of course is Seattle.

The countywide ban on plastic bags is helped by staff at the Thurston County Solid Waste office who have embraced the concept with ravishing delight.   They were helped in their efforts by a handful of Evergreen students glorious in their ignorance.

The ban will go into effect as soon as Thurston County Commissioners put it to approval by the major city councils in the county.

But, once the ban goes into effect, there will be another insignificant but powerful effort to ban food waste products.

That’s right – - food waste.

That’s what happened in Seattle once the plastic bag ban went into effect there.   Environmentalists went after food waste.    It’s now illegal in Seattle to throw out food.  All food must be separated from recyclable  products and regular garbage.   All food waste in Seattle must be composted.   Some garbage workers have refused to pick up a garbage can if it had food waste in it.

I know this is coming.   The recent publication from Thurston County Solid Waste had a full page on food composting and the evils of food waste.

I think about sharks in the water.  Once they’ve tasted blood they continue to circle in expectation of drawing more blood.

As long as county staff see their roles from serving the public to protecting the public from its own ignorance, it’s bound to happen.

The plastic bag ban was forced upon the cities by just a small group.

But, not all efforts to ban plastic products have succeeded.  It wasn’t too many years ago when plastic disposal diapers were the coming danger.   Remember – - they took up so much room in the land fills that we were running out of room to dump more garbage.  The main stream media jumped on the issue and it looked like plastic disposable diapers were going to be banned.

Then – - 40 million American moms jumped into the fray.   They wanted their plastic diapers – - and cities and states listened to them. Isn’t it great now,  that moms can buy plastic disposable diapers but they can’t carry them out of the store in a plastic bag.

Only a concerted effort on the part of Thurston County citizens can stop the sharks from tasting more blood.

You create big government – - by eating a piece of  individual freedoms a little at a time.

Citing the decline in traditional media and the popularity of social networking, the City of Lacey has finally decided to ride the digital social media wave.

Starting June 24, the city will have a city wide Twitter account to coincide with the announcement of the July 3 fireworks display.

As traditional media continues its decline, the city sees Facebook and Twitter as a means to reach a generation of Americans who no longer read newspapers or listen to radio.

Problems associated with previous Twitter efforts include inconsistent tweets, infrequent posts and vague standards.  The city hopes to avoid these issues by adopting policies and setting standards.   The public affairs office of the city will manage the Twitter account and track its usefulness.

During the recent filings for elective office in Thurston County, there were 19 school board seats up for election or re-election.

And, of those 19 seats in 17 of them the incumbent ended up unopposed.

No opposition in 17 school board races.  That’s incredible!   In a society that questions everything the government does, we couldn’t find a few people to challenge incumbent school board members?   This is the part of our local government which takes in and spends more money than almost every other facet of government  – - and we couldn’t find anyone to be involved.

Why is it that no one runs for local school board positions?

The usual answer is that people are satisfied with the way their school runs.

But, I think it goes deeper than that.

Most parents don’t really understand how the state’s educational system works.  They don’t know where the money comes from and they don’t know how the money’s spent.   They don’t even really know who runs the school districts.   Hint:  It’s not the school board  or the superintendent.

School board positions are not glamorous.  People seeking higher elective office usually don’t start at the school board level – - with some exceptions.  Former congressman and current insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler is the exception.

School board members have to be policy wonks.  They have to delve into the details and they have to love to do homework.

And, school board meetings are boring – - really boring.

There’s not a lot of glamor and there’s a great deal of work involved.

No wonder people don’t want to run for their local school board.  It’s hard work.

After the dust had settled Friday, only two local races will have a Primary run-off in August.

Lacey incumbent city council member Ron Lawson has drawn two opponents in his effort to retain his seat and out in Tumwater three candidates are running for an all but open seat on the city council.

Lawson has drawn two candidates for his seat – - Lacey planning commission member Michael Steadman and newcomer Jacob Vaughan.

In Tumwater, Kyle Taylor Lucas who was appointed a few weeks ago to the seat left vacant by the resignation of Betsy Spath has drawn two opponents David Reeder and Debbie Sullivan.

Those are the only two races which will be on the primary ballot.

But, the filing period was not without some interesting twists.

For the first time ever in his history, Lacey Mayor Virgil Clarkson has drawn opposition.   His opponent is Walker Morton.   Clarkson in more than a decade and a half on the council, has never had any opposition to his election.

Lawson, and fellow councilmembers  Andy Ryder and Cynthia Pratt, were swept into office nearly three years ago in a campaign financed by Lacey firefighters who were upset with the council’s position on starting its own fire department.   This time around Pratt has drawn an opponent Raymond Payne while Ryder escaped without an opponent.

It’s not expected that fire fighters have much interest in the contests this time around since they’ve already accomplished their goal of stopping a city fire department.

In that vein, incumbent fire commissioner Judy Wilson has drawn an opponent – - Gary Hartloff.    The position left open by John Christiansen, who chose not to seek re-election, had drawn two candidates – - Dan Cathers and Dennis Jones.  It’s anticipated that fire fighters will concentrate their efforts in those races.

And, the two incumbent members of the North Thurston school board – - Chuck Namit and Aaron Owada drew no opponents and will continue in office.

Ports in this state were established in the 1920′s by the Washington State Legislature for the purposes of providing economic opportunities by creating and running public ports.

That measure stopped the growing struggle and conflicts between competing private companies that was causing economic chaos to the state’s economy.

Making the water front public property and creating public port districts allowed for some public control over the water front.

In creating public port districts, the legislature also authorized them to levy taxes.

The Port of Olympia was one of the first public port districts.  But, instead of confining itself to the Olympia water front, the Port of Olympia was set as a county wide port district.

In that capacity, it not only runs the Olympia port but also operates the Tumwater airport.  The port also owns land and property throughout the entire county.

But, for decades, very few people knew or understood the port’s operations; and even fewer people knew that the port of Olympia is actually a county wide entity.

Although we see on our annual property tax statement a fee for the Port of Olympia, we often don’t understand what that money goes for.

Ask a port commissioner and he will tell you that the property tax we pay each year goes to pay for environmental clean up of polluted port property.

Almost all ports in Washington state depend on some form of public tax support although many of the ports are financially sound.  The Port of Olympia just signed an agreement with Weyerhaeuser to continue log exports, but it still depends on taxpayer support.

The port also, just recently, gave $10,000 to each of the cities of Rainier, Tenino, Yelm and Bucoda to help them with local civic projects.

It’s the port’s way of letting them know that it’s a county wide port district.  Giving away $40,000 of taxpayer money is just their way of letting the smaller cities know that the port cares about them.

But, what about the taxpayers?  Why should taxpayers support the give away of their property tax dollars to something that has nothing to do with economic development?

Has the port changed its goals?

The next time you see one of your port commissioners  – - Bill McGregor, Jeff Davis or George Barner – - ask him that question.

The first dirt in Thurston County’s election this year has already been thrown by Roger Erskine, chair of the Thurston County Democrats.

Erskine has accused Thurston County Auditor Republican Gary Alexander, who is the county’s chief elections officer,  with trying to squelch voter turnout in the county.  Erskines has tried to tie Alexander to a 25-year old comment by a right-wing Republican saying that he didn’t want everyone to vote.

In the meantime, Thurston County’s chief elections officer has been a Republican for the last 30 years and voter turnout in the county has reached 80 percent – - one of the top voter participation rates in the entire United States.

For those last 30 years Republicans have been the chief election’s officer in Thurston County – - two of them – - Sam Reed and Kim Wyman – - have gone on to become Secretary of State and the state’s chief election’s officer.   When Wyman ran for Secretary of State last year she carried Thurston County by more than 22,000 votes.  An over-whelming endorsement of a Republican in a Democratic county.

Democratic chair Erskine said that Republicans hate the fact that “we have 80 percent voter turnout .  They hate the resounding success of our voter turnout in Thurston County.”

All of which have come under Republican auditors who have been at the forefront in encouraging voter turnout.

Erskine is pushing Alexander’s opponent, Mary Hall.

Endorsing Hall, and in essence endorsing Erskine’s rhetoric are Lacey councilmembers Jeff Gadman, Cynthia Pratt and Andy Ryder.

Other local elected officials endorsing Erskine’s remarks are Sandra Romero, Steven Drew, Shawn Myers, Sam Hunt, Pete Kmet, Nicole Hill, Tom Oliva and Jim Cooper.   They all signed an endorsement ad for Mary Hall

I’ve been getting a lot of invitations to attend kick-off or fund-raising events for our local people who are seeking election or re-election this year.  Usually its early in the morning and breakfast is dangled as a reason to go.

All serious candidates have announced and are in the process of gathering support and that usually starts with getting the endorsement of other elected officials.

Most of the local races are non-partisan but you can usually tell who’s a Republican or who’s a Democrat.  All you have to do is look at the list of those who endorse them.  You can also tell by whom they’ve received campaign funds from.    You can do that by going on line to the Public Disclosure Commission’s web page.

It appears to be a lonely campaign this year. There are few declared candidates and many of the incumbents have yet to receive an opponent.

As of now, I can almost predict the outcome of the races this fall, but I’m going to refrain from doing so right yet.

All I can say is that other candidates will come out of the woodwork as we get closer to filing week next week – - May 13-17.  But, for the most part, those are candidates with little hope of getting elected.

Campaigning for public office, while not a full time job, does take considerable time.  When the candidate is not out shaking hands and door belling houses, she has to be meeting people whose opinion counts.

And, she has to be out raising money.  Even a city council race can cost $10,000 or more.

In a few weeks it will be all worked out.  We’ll know which incumbents will get re-elected and which opponents stand a chance to win.

Until then, I’ll see you at one of the kick-off activities.   I’ve already attended one and have three more in the pipeline.

And, I don’t have to contribute a dime for breakfast, if I don’t want to.

Lacey is still a relatively new city, at least compared to its sister cities of Olympia and Tumwater which are past 150 years old.  Lacey has yet to reach its 50 year mark.

But,  just because something is new, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have older sections that need review.

That’s the case with the Lacey Woodland District.  It’s been under review for nearly a year trying to determine if and how this section of the city should re-develop.

For many people, the Woodland District is the city’s downtown.  It encompasses South Sound Center, Fred Meyer and Huntamer Park.  It’s bounded College Street and the west city limits and Pacific Avenue and I-5.

It contains nearly 2.5 million square feet of commercial space, around 350 businesses and about 4800 people  who work in the district.

But, it also has some problems.  Since 2008 and the cutback in state government, it has 240,000 square feet of vacant office space and two of its major buildings are sitting empty.

That’s the situation facing the steering committee which is looking at the future of Lacey’s downtown core.

But, while it has problems, it also has some things going for it that makes it perfect for an Urban Village.

That’s something that planners love – - Urban Villages.  That’s the kind of place that make a planner’s heart sing.  The kind of place they can point to and say – - see – - you too can have an alternative lifestyle – - free from the confines of an automobile.

That’s an Urban Village  and planners love them, so local planners have fallen in love with Lacey’s Woodland District.

It has parks, businesses, jobs, two colleges and an Intercity Transit hub.  It’s perfect for a 21st Century Urban Village.

But, it has some problems.  It doesn’t have many people living in the area and it has too much concrete and asphalt.

So, urban planners have been working for a year to develop a plan which will make the Woodland District something to be proud of and maybe bring a song to your heart as well.

Wednesday night May 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Lacey City Hall, these planners, their consultants and the steering committee will  release their concept of what the Woodland District can become.

Is it destined to be an Urban Village or is it just a concept with no relationship to reality?

Impossible is not a fact.  It’s an opinion.   Impossible is not a declaration.  It’s a dare.  Impossible is potential.  Impossible is temporary.  Impossible is nothing. – - Muhammad Ali

Does anyone, besides me, think the search for a million dollars from the state legislature, to buy up two old buildings and then demolish them, is the wrong use of taxpayer money?

Think about it for a minute.  Your taxes, my taxes, should be used to benefit the most people possible, but more significantly, our taxes should only go to do those important things that need to be done.

If you’ve been out of town lately – - here’s the run down.

The City of Olympia wants a million dollars from the state legislature to purchase the old Health Department building and an adjacent building, for the purposes of tearing them down.

The city mothers and fathers think that the buildings distract from the waterfront view and thus need to be demolished in order to create a view corridor from the Capitol to Budd Inlet.

OK – maybe.  But why should taxpayers put up any money for the project when there are other significant needs.

A million dollars will hire a dozen school teachers.  A million dollars will keep eight or ten state troopers on the road.   A million dollars would help keep a state park open full time.

There’s a lot of need that a million dollars could buy.  Giving that money to the City of Olympia to tear down two old buildings so that someone can get a better view of Budd Inlet just doesn’t make any sense.

While this attempt at getting money from government is just the most recent and the most visible, it’s been going on for years.

Both the Hands on Children’s Museum and the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey were all built with state money.  And, the City of Lacey is looking at getting state funds to build its new Train Depot Museum.  This is echoed throughout the state and isn’t just confined to Olympia and Lacey.

Maybe – - when times are flush and state government has more money than it needs – - then maybe they could use state funds for local projects – - maybe.

But, in this time of austerity, when we’re trying to come up with more money for education and we’re trying to find ways to keep our state parks open – - why are we even considering spending a million dollars to buy and tear down two old buildings?

It just doesn’t make any sense.

Dan Cathers, former chair of the Thurston County Republican party, has announced that he is a candidate for the Lacey Fire Commission.

Cathers will run for the seat currently held by John Christiansen.  Christiansen has said he wouldn’t seek re-election, but he hasn’t made it final.

In making his announcement Cathers said he has always had an interest in fire protection and emergency management.

Christiansen has been on the fire commission since 2007.

Also up for election this year is the seat currently held by Judy Wilson.  She has not yet indicated whether she will seek re-election.