Just a glance at the front page of many newspapers and it is depressing to read more than a headline. It is clear that Trump does not have a plan for reform. Like his last term he is only capable of destroying agencies like the National Park by reducing their funding.
Congressman Adam Smith is concerned that this term that Trump is more dangerous than before. Here is his concern about Trump from his February newsletter s performance:
“It has been a month of President Trump 2.0. and his chaotic, and often illegal, cuts to the federal workforce and federal funding raise legitimate concerns about a possible autocratic takeover of the United States government”, said Adam Smith who is Congress member from the 9th District. “I don’t come to this conclusion lightly.”
“The Administration has acted in clear violation of the law and the Constitution. The President unilaterally decided not to spend money that Congress has appropriated – which is blatantly illegal.”
“Trump has fired dozens of inspectors general, who are meant to be non-partisan checks on executive power. He is cutting funding for cancer research, school meals, nuclear safety, and environmental protections.”
Although it may at times feel hopeless, and impossible to stop Trump’s rampage, the track record by environmental groups against Trump in his last term, is a clear road map of how to limit this damage this year.
In this newsletter, are stories on how we are fighting back in Pierce County and at state legislature to make a better world.
Donate, volunteer, sign up pro or con at the state legislature on proposed legislation. In Pierce County we’re asking the county council and the executive to put the people firsts at public hearings and other reforms.
[These organizations have a track record of stopping oil drilling.
Environmental organizations were effective in stopping oil drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and in the Arctic. You can stop this rampage by donating to organizations that have a track record in stopping President Trump. My personal favorite is the Center for Biological Diversity which filed 266 lawsuits and won 87% of those cases in which they halted drilling in the Alaskan Arctic.
Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit in late February to stop the Trump administration from opening up vast new areas to offshore oil and gas drilling.
Earth Justice filed a suit in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska . They argue that while Congress granted the president the power to place protections on those areas, it did not grant the executive branch the authority to undo those protections.
During Trump’s first term EarthJustice won 130 of their appeals which achieved an 83% success rate against Trump.
A nearly identical effort by the first Trump administration to expand drilling was stopped by a federal judge in Alaska in 2019. Earth justice and the Natural Resources Defense Council on Wednesday also filed a motion on behalf of a broader collection of groups asking the same judge to reinstate that order.
Most current offshore drilling takes place outside of the areas in question, particularly in the western and central Gulf of Mexico. Steve Mashuda, the lead lawyer on the case for Earthjustice, called Mr. Trump’s move a “long-term handout” of future development rights to the oil industry that puts people and wildlife at risk. Even activities that come before drilling, like seismic surveys used in prospecting, pose an imminent risk to wildlife, the lawsuit argues.
He also pointed to previous opposition to offshore oil development from coastal communities, including in Republican-led states like Florida, that depend on beach tourism and fishing.
The other groups suing are the Sierra Club, Oceana, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Biological Diversity, Healthy Gulf, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Alaska Wilderness League, the Surfrider Foundation, Greenpeace and the Turtle Island Restoration Network.
Christian Wagley, an organizer for the nonprofit group Healthy Gulf and who is based in Pensacola, Fla., pointed out that both Republicans and Democrats have opposed offshore oil and gas development. He cited an order by Mr. Trump late in his first term to extend a drilling moratorium off Florida that he had previously opposed.
“I think there’s maybe more bluster at work here than reality,” Mr. Wagley said of Mr. Trump’s most recent order. “I hope that our elected officials will maintain the long bipartisan tradition of keeping drilling away from Florida.”
Note: Information in this story came from New York Times and other sources in February 2025
end 658 449
Pix = of volunteers at Mt Rainier. here
[ What can you do locally to prevent long term
damage to our National Parks?
Volunteer; If your concern is loss of funding for National Park Service and keeping Mt Rainier open this summer. Check out their ranger volunteer program where you can turn your disappointment into action in the biggest national park in our county.
Read more here:
https://www.nps.gov/mora/getinvolved/volunteer.htm.
County Hearing Examiner denies any responsibility to protect Bald Eagles or their nest at the Spanaway Marsh.
by Kirk Kirkland.
The most interesting testimony at the recent appeal of the Pierce County Fill and Grade Permit for the Spanaway Marsh was about the bald eagles’ nest there.
Eagles have a lifespan of up to 70 years and mate for life. These two have nested in the Spanaway Marsh for at least 23 years. It’s not unusual to see them soaring over Spanaway and Parkland or catching a fish in their talons from any one of the creeks or lakes. U. S. Army wildlife biologists have documented that this eagle pair has nurtured 31 nestlings.
Bald eagles were initially listed as a federally endangered species in 1967. Forty years later, in 2007, bald eagles were delisted from the ESA, and in 2017 were delisted from Washington State’s endangered list. Despite delisting, bald eagle foraging areas (within one-half mile of the nest and 250 feet of shorelines) are protected by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as a Monitored Species and are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Department of the Interior, 2013).
Eagles and their habitats are supposedly protected under Pierce County Code 18E.40.020, too. The army closes Spanaway Marsh and other wetlands areas on Fort Lewis during the eagles’ nesting and fledging time of January through July.
In November 2022, December 2023, and April 2023, Soundview Consultants, an environmental consulting firm specializing in natural and aquatic resource assessments, investigated the property near the nest for the presence of eagles, to review the quality of the wetlands habitat, and for presence of fish and other wildlife habitat. Soundview acknowledged the presence of multiple WDFW Priority Habitats and documented the presence of federally protected species, including eagles and steelhead.
Soundview wrote, ”nesting sites are regulated as a Federal Fish & Wildlife Conservation Area that includes Oregon white oak stands, one bald eagle nest. Salmonid are present within Wetland A and Spanaway Creek and Coffee Creek. These protection areas are outlined in PCC 18E.40.040.”
According to exhibits 105 &106 of the USFWS and WDFW maps that highlight the areas of significance, consultants also found that “Bald eagle foraging areas extend 0.5-mile from the center of the nest in either direction along the shoreline and 250 feet landward, however, no protective buffer is identified.”
At the Administrative Hearing, the Hearing Examiner ruled the “Clearing and Grading within the 75 feet of an eagle nesting tree also violates the state Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations. The applicant clearly needed to obtain permits from the USFWS.”
The Hearing Examiner further wrote: “The applicant and the Planning Department staff agree with Spanaway Concerned Citizens that violations of regulations enforced by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife occurred,” but at the same time he denied any violation of US Fish and Wildlife Service regulations related to eagle protection. “The Pierce County Code is replete with code sections designed to obtain code compliance as opposed to punishment such as revocation of permits or project approval.”
But despite all this, the Hearing Examiner concluded he does not have the authority to revoke or punish the applicant. “The Planning Department staff (PPW) have written orders and require … corrective action … but do not mention revocation of a permit.” And “in the present case the applicant has either resolved violations or is actively in the process of doing so to the satisfaction of the planning department.”
“The site development permit will include…approval of engineering and environmental mitigation plans and will clearly identify the unpermitted work and proposed mitigation.” And therefore, “the PPW is fulfilling the county’s goals of obtaining compliance, and acted appropriately in not withdrawing a previously issued permit.”
The Hearing examiner decision shows the weakness in conty code which allows the applicant to working within the boundaries of the eagles’ nest, as long as he applies for a permit. And the county will not prevent further tree removal or harm to the understory. No effort is made to provide mitigation that could return the eagles to the nest.
The law assumes that any amount of damage done to the habitat can be mitigated even the removal of 900 trees and their understory that is important to wildlife.
So, while bald eagles are mentioned in the Pierce County Code, ultimately, the code offers no protection for eagles’ nests and their habitats.
Kirk Kirkland has appeared before this hearing examiner for over 25 years. He has only won two appeals. One when the examiner allowed a golf course resort to be built in a county designated volcanic hazard area. The second when the examiner failed to revoke a permit when the golf course resort applicant did not comply with conditions of the permit. The costs of these two appeals was over $80,000.
end 1520
=Pix of Capitol dome here
[Protect our coastal beaches from oyster company expansion.
by Kirk Kirkland
In Pierce County and at the state legislature we are passing significant legislation that is going to make our county and the state a better place to live. Avoid the negative news about the U.S. Congress. Tune into the state legislature and watch how the state House of Representatives and the County governments pass legislation with bi-partisan support.
Last month, we worked to defeat a state bill that would allow destruction of ghost shrimp on Pacific Coast beaches and would allow the oyster industry to use herbicides and pesticides to destroy ghost shrimp that are an important food source for diving ducks.
Why are we destroying native ghost shrimp for a non native Oyster species? Learn how a small group of people have a strategy to stop SB 5322 and how you can participate in these hearings by going online and registering your vote and comment.
Read more here:
Senate committee hearing held on SB 5322 which
would destroy Burrowing Shrimp
The Shellfish Industry has proposed legislation SB 5322 that would destroy burrowing shrimp on the bays, harbors and Pacific shorelines where Oysters are grown. Back in 2014, shellfish growers were dealt a significant setback when they lost their primary tool for controlling burrowing shrimp infestations in coastal estuaries.
Back then non native eelgrass was the problem which the industry wanted to eliminate with a pesticide that was not allowed in water dependent farming areas according to the Environmental Protection Agency. At the time, the legislature appropriated funding and the environmental community were able to stop the use of helicopters and other means of spraying. The spray eliminated both native and non-native eelgrass along with impacts on fish and birds..
Now the Shellfish industry is concerned about burrowing shrimp which are returning in high densities which pose a significant threat to shellfish farming. The ghost shrimp negatively impacts productivity according to the industry. The growers also feel that ghost shrimp eliminate the growth of native eelgrass which provides essential habitat for salmon and Dungeness Crab.
The proposed legislation fails to recognize that burrowing shrimp are native to Washington waters and are an important part of the food web. While burrowing shrimp are native, most commercially grown oysters are non-native having been introduced from Asia. It ignores the fact that burrowing shrimp are a natural part of coastal bays and estuaries that support birds, fish, crabs, salmon and people.
Washington State Department Of Fish And Wildlife WDFW has phased-out the use of carbaryl and Washington State Department Of Ecology previously denied a permit to use imidacloprid which left 20 growers without crucial pest control measures.
Burrowing shrimp infestations on shellfish grounds has led to a reduction in growing. Oyster farming is a major industry in the state and our growers provide oysters for other Western coastal states.
Burrowing shrimp infestations on shellfish grounds has led to a reduction in growing operations due to the absence of an effective control tool. The industry proposed Senate Bill 5322 to address this ongoing crisis. The legislature intends to create a program within the Washington State Department Of Agriculture to coordinate research into new and innovative control methods for burrowing shrimp infestations.
This is a significant problem with the research and “collaboration” effort, by the “governing board” created by the Senate Bill. There are only six state officials and eleven shellfish representatives on the proposed board. This composition does not belong in a public “governing board.”
At most such a group should be “advisory” to public officials. The board should be made up of Ecology and WDFW which should have the responsibility and authority over how public funds are spent.
As proposed with an overwhelming voting majority on the board, the shellfish industry can approve a proposal that has no public interest component. This would amount to an unconstitutional gift of public funds to the industry. With such a majority the Director Of Agriculture is strictly limited to the research choices made by the board.
Giving control to the shellfish Industry, the board can identify the control methods, and under this bill, the board could approve chemical poisons that are contrary to various state and federal laws. At best this board should be advisory to the Director of Agriculture and board membership could create a majority with members representing Ecology and WDFW and from one of the state’s environmental communities representing wildlife who share beaches and tidal areas with the shellfish industry..
Speakers from the Environmental Coalition of Pierce County spoke at the February 26 Senate Committee and asked for changes in the bill. If there is a desire to conduct research into burrowing shrimp, then at most, such a program should be assisted by an advisory-only committee that is balanced with non-shellfish-affiliated interests.
This is a popular bill with a number of speakers from the environmental community being outnumbered by oyster growers in South West Washington. We need speakers for the next House committee hearings.
If you have interest in protecting ghost shrimp and native eelgrass in birding habitat, you can testify by zoom. And you can also sign up against the bill from home.
If you have an interest in stopping this legislation Notify me at
[merged
March 2025 Legislative Update
Legislature is half way through the session.
Committees, deadlines, votes, oh my! Well folks, we’ve made it past the first major milestone of the legislative session– what’s called ‘policy cutoff’ –where all bills must first pass out of a policy committee before getting a chance to be heard by the full House or Senate. Legislators have been pruning bills left and right, deciding which ones will move forward.
We’re excited to see things we care about, like rent stabilization, sitting comfortably while they await their next step. But we have a few that will need your support, as the next few weeks brings the next fiscal cutoff and a flurry of voting.
With these deadlines looming, read on for updates, our top actions for the week, and great things happening as we continue the work to grow together!
Read more here
Transit-Oriented Development – HB 1491
Transit-oriented development (TOD, which would allow more homes near transit) is running against the clock! The Capital Budget Committee in the House has less than a week to hear and vote out this bill before the fiscal cutoff this Friday. Good news, it’s scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday the 25th at 9AM, so sign in pro right now and forward the link to your friends!
Rural Housing Solutions
Rural places across Washington have housing needs and affordability concerns just like anywhere else in the state. But the supply-side strategies that we need to adopt in our urban and suburban cities and towns don’t work for Washington’s rural communities.
Rural DADUs – HB 1345/SB 5470
HB 1345 and SB 5470, which would allow detached accessory dwelling units (DADUs) in rural areas with restrictions and accountability in place, are still in the Rules committee where we await to see if it gets pulled for a vote or not. Regardless, we have serious concerns about this bill threatening rural areas from sprawl and environmental damage.
The action this week is to email your legislators asking them to address the major concerns around nonconforming lots (small lots that can’t support a second home), wildfire and forest protection, and short-term rentals.
Wildfire Protections – HB 1254
HB 1254, which would help protect homes and rural communities from wildfires by setting new guidelines, like specific building materials and vegetation setbacks for new homes, is hanging out in the Rules Committee and waiting for a floor vote.
Rent Stabilization – HB 1217/SB 5222
These Rent Stabilization bills would set a 7% cap on rent increases each year. SB 5222, the Senate companion bill, was voted out of the Senate Housing Committee last week! It won’t move further than that, but the vote gives us insight into how that committee will vote when HB 1217 gets to them.
HB 1217 is still in the Rules Committee and will likely stay there until much closer to the March 12 cutoff. This bill has a lot of opposition so lawmakers are waiting for the “3 minute rule” where each legislator only gets 3 minutes, instead of 10, on each proposed amendment to speak. This rule kicks in on March 7, but don’t be surprised if this bill isn’t voted on until March 12 at 5pm. We’ll have more actions later this week, but if you’re itching for more to do, you can learn more and sign up for the Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day lobby day hosted by our friends at WLIHA on March 14.
GMA Compliance – HB 1135
This bill closes a legal loophole that could prevent our legal team from making sure cities and counties are in compliance with new updates to the Growth Management Act. HB 1135 is still hanging out in the Rules Committee! No action needed this week, but I can feel an action getting ready to sprout soon…
Upcoming Floor Vote Actions
March 12 is the Floor-Vote Cutoff, meaning each bill will be voted on by an entire chamber before moving to the next chamber. This is a big deal! This is the first time everyone in the House or Senate has to vote on a bill, and it offers a preview for the other chamber on how popular it is.
Over the next weeks leading up to March 12, Futurewise will have actions delivered to your inbox and events you can join to make it as easy as possible to make your voice heard.
Information for this article is from Futurewise
To get involved contact Marcella Buser is the Futurewise State Organizer.
She can be contacted at: marcella@futurewise.org
end 762
[Pix= Whales in the lagoon.jpg
Appeal of largest county geoduck farm goes to Shoreline Board.
Friends of Burley Lagoon (FOBL) and Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat (Coalition) have appealed a Conditional Use Permit that would allow the largest geoduck aquaculture installation in the county. A federal judge in Seattle in 2019 revoked 900 permits and asked that all new permits have a Cumulative Impact Analysis.
The appeal asks the state Shorelines Hearings Board to review the decisions made by the Pierce County Hearing Examiner and the Department of Ecology. Here again, we have neighbors and environmental groups taking these government agencies to court, asking them to obey the state and federal laws.
Read more
For citizen groups, the cost of such appeals with legal representation and expert witnesses can be prohibitive (over $40,000). So FOBL and Coalition felt compelled to pursue this appeal pro se (without an attorney). Currently, fundraising efforts continue in the anticipation of compensating needed expert witnesses and any future legal representation. The shellfish industry relies on expert witnesses to present their positions, and citizen groups need to respond with expert witnesses that present the opposite side. The emerging science on geoduck aquaculture is contradictory and must be interpreted for the courts by experts.
Again, we have another example of a lack of environmental justice in this country. Most disappointing is the inability of government agencies to enforce county and federal laws when a corporation applies for a Conditional Use Permit.
Your help in funding this appeal is vital to the Puget Sound ecosystem. The proposed aquaculture installation would be sited in an estuary that contains Chinook salmon-bearing streams, which are crucial to the food web and especially our Southern Resident Killer Whales.
Friends of Burley Lagoon is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Send tax-deductible donations to:.
Website at:
www.friendsofburleylagoon.org,
Mail check to:
Friends of Burley Lagoon
P.O. Box 363
Burley, WA 98322-0363.
end
= pix of marsh fish kill
[What atrocity happened up stream
that caused fish to die in Spanaway Lake?
by Kirk Kirkland
It’s complicated by:
Ø Backhoes dredging in creeks without permits;
Ø 900 trees clear cut;
Ø Understory vegetation bulldozed;
Ø Exposed soil left to run off into Spanaway Lake;
Ø Violation Notice from WDFW ignored;
Ø Fill and Grade Permit handed out after-the-fact without a fine.
Ø Then a few weeks later, fish in Spanaway Lake start to die.
These actions without a permit should have triggered an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Instead, the county staff has issued Determinations of Nonsignificance (DNS). How
Why did the Hearing Examiner’s rules not allow him to revoke a permit gone rogue?
“Hundreds of dead fish are washing up along the shores of Spanaway Lake,” Spanaway Concerned Citizens reported in their February newsletter. “While multiple factors may contribute to this environmental harm, the unpermitted site work done by the Tacoma Rescue Mission within the streambeds presents a clear and plausible cause.”
This mass fish kill is the latest atrocity in the continuing legal appeals to protect Spanaway Marsh from deleterious mis-development so close to the water.
According to citizen scientist Don Russell, a former biology teacher, the fish are dying because of the dredging done in the creeks. “Particularly it came from the excavating done by the rescue mission workers when they made hydro-modifications and disturbed the creek. Not only does it have a high iron concentration . . . indicate a chemical fish barrier of a soluble reactive iron concentration, in such a high proportion . . . that the fish can not survive,” Russell wrote.
The fish kill is just one more example of why the county planning department should not have given out a Fill and Grade Permit to the TRM, which had previously dredged the creek without a Hydrology Permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Neighbors reported the creek destruction to Planning Department staff. That resulted in a Notice of Violation to TRM. Two days later the planning department issued a permit for TRM to clear cut 900 trees on the site. Why didn’t the county wait for the ruling from Thurston County Superior Court on March 25 before giving out a permit to Fill and Grade the building site and adjacent 50 acre forest.
Read more here
The logging cleared the way to bulldoze a second access road to the TRM site, and in the process destroyed the forest understory so important to the survival of the resident eagles and several state-listed endangered species listed in the county designated Biodiversity Plan Area.
On the first day of the logging, the Environmental Coalition asked the county staff and WDFW to issue a stop work. Staff refused and WDFW said they had not been given authority—which an Environmental Impact Statement would have triggered. Their hands were tied.
Spanaway Concerned Citizens filed an appeal of the Fill and Grade permit. That hearing was delayed several months, until February 7, 2025.There, SCC demonstrated TRM’s ongoing pattern of non-compliance. “This evidence underscores the urgent need for regulatory enforcement and accountability to protect both our community and natural resources,” SCC leaders wrote in an e-mail. They presented these facts:
➢ Pierce County issued clearing, grading, and driveway approach permits to Tacoma Rescue Mission immediately after citing them for unpermitted work and issuing a stop work order — without first requiring the mandated corrections.
➢ TRM commenced filling and grading activities on county-owned Wasmund Road, encroaching onto Federally owned land at JBLM prior to obtaining authorization from JBLM, Pierce County or WDFW.
➢ TRM unlawfully excavated and filled within Spanaway Marsh and Audubon Springs Creeks without obtaining Federal, State, or local authorization.
➢ TRM attributed the work to unnamed “volunteers” but did not take responsibility it.
➢ TRM violated the Federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act by clearing land within 75 feet of an active eagle nest without obtaining the required permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The way the Examiner interpreted the law was the most outrageous decision I have ever heard. Basically, he said there was no provision to revoke the permit: the developer was allowed to ignore any county code, and damage creeks and wetlands, as long as he applied for a permit and agreed to repair the damage done prior to his application. The HE ruled that the “SCC has not satisfied its burden of showing that planning staff was clearly erroneous in issuing or refusing to withdraw a previously issued Site Development Permit and a Fill and Grade Permit due to existing violations.
According to the Examiner “Planning and Public Works (PPW) acted in accordance with the intent of the Pierce County Council by obtaining a voluntary remediation of the code violations.” Therefore, he denied the SCC appeal and once again did not issue a requirement for an Environmental Impact Statement or give them a fine of $9,000 for working without a permit..
He was able to reach this conclusion because the county council did not give authority to staff or the HE to revoke a permit. Revocation is only possible if the developer does not comply with a condition in the Conditional Use Permit.
The county staff has enforcement powers, but as long as the developer shows intent to take appropriate corrective actions, the county has no ability to revoke the permit, no matter the extent of the damage to forests, wetlands or wildlife.
Clearly, filing for appeal of a Fill and Grade Permit is a waste of the people’s time and resources because the HE does not have the authority to enforce county code or issue fines for disobeying county code.
If county staff had wanted to protect the Biodiversity Planning Area from development, they would have required an Environmental Impact Statement from the beginning. Their issuance, instead, of a Determination of Nonsignificance, shows the staff’s disregard for environmental concerns. Clearly they chose not to comply with WDFW Violation Notice, as they chose not to comply with our request for a stop work order on the first day the trees were cut down. I’ve never seen such disregard for statutory mandates by the County Planning staff. It sets a dangerous precedent that threatens legal and critical environmental safeguards.
For the citizens who have funded these appeals ($140,000 so far) and the people who are now faced with a fish kill in their lake, this is an environmental injustice.
Fortunately there is one last chance to correct it. SCC will present their case in March in Superior Court in Thurston County. This judge will have the authority to revoke this permit or require an Environmental Impact Statement and to decide if the development should have to comply with its original Residential Resource Zoning Code.
In this county, enforcement of Federal and county laws are expensive. Help Spanaway concerned Citizens, get a fair hearing in Thurston County Superior Court.
pix = capital dome here
MAIL DONATIONS TO:
Spanaway Concerned Citizens
P.O. Box 562
Spanaway, WA98387
*They are a 501-C4 non profit organizations.
Contributions are not tax deductible.
ONLINE DONATIONS:
https://spanawayconcernedcitizens.com/
Election update:
Looking Ahead to city, park and other local elections in 2025
by Brett Johnson
As the 2024 General Election recedes in the rearview mirror, and a new year begins, it’s a time to reflect on events of the past year, but also look to the future. In other posts, the Coalition has detailed some of our legislative priorities in Olympia that we hope to get passed. In addition, we look forward to collaborating with newly-elected County Executive Ryan Mello and Pierce County Council members to get important things done for our communities and the environment. While there are lots of positives to be enthused about, there are important local offices on the ballot in 2025:
Pierce County Council: After a bit of drama, the council appointed Bryan Yambe to fill the vacant seat left by Marty Campbell when he assumed the office of Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer. Yambe has many years of elected experience as a City of Fife Councilmember, and will be running to retain this seat in a special election for District 5, which includes Northeast Tacoma, Southeast Tacoma, Fife, Summit/Midland, and parts of Parkland and Spanaway. Yambe has yet to draw a challenger.
Washington State Senate: Congratulations to Emily Randall who was recently sworn in as our new Congresswoman in the 6th District. Her vacated State Senate seat in LD-26 was recently filled by Deb Krishnadasan, who was appointed by a combination of Pierce and Kitsap County officials. Krishnadasan is a former President of the Peninsula School Board, and founded an advocacy organization called Stand Up for Peninsula Schools.
Krishnadasan grew up on a farm in Puyallup, and worked in communications and human resources with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Microsoft. She will work to defend this critical swing seat in a special election this fall, and (hopefully) again in 2026. Longtime GOP Representative Michelle Caldier enters the race as a strong challenger. Other candidates include Laurel Kingsbury and Renee Hernandez Greenfield.
City of Tacoma: Tacoma will elect a new mayor this year, as Victoria Woodards is completing here second and final term. Early filings indicate a 4-way race between current City Councilmember John Hines, former City Councilmember Anders Ibsen, previous mayoral candidate Steve Haverly, and 27th District Democrats Chair Whitney Stevens.
This looks to be a competitive primary election in August, after which the top two candidates will face off in November. Four city council seats are also on the ballot this year. Sarah Rumbaugh and Joe Bushnell are both running for second terms, and Zev Cook is campaigning to challenge Bushnell in District 5. In District 4, Silong Chhun will challenge recent appointee Sandesh Sadalge. For At-Large Position 6, Deputy Mayor Kiara Daniels has decided not to run for reelection. Krista Perez has secured several endorsements from elected officials as an early frontrunner for the seat. Hunter Henderson has decided not to run for Mayor, and instead will join Perez, Lindsay Wills, and Latasha Palmer to compete for the At-Large Position 6 open seat.
Port of Tacoma Commission: Incumbents for Positions 1 and 2, John McCarthy and Dick Marzano, are reportedly running for reelection, and potential challengers have yet to emerge. In the race for Position 4, incumbent Don Meyer has decided to retire, creating a rare open seat. Former Washington State House Minority Leader JT Wilcox filed with the PDC, and will have resources and assistance to run a countywide campaign. No one else has announced yet.
Parks Tacoma: Three positions will be on the ballot this year, as the Board is currently in process of appointing new members to fill three vacancies. Rosie Ayala was elected to the Pierce County Council, Aaron Pointer retired after many years of service, and longtime board member Tim Reid passed away in December.
The first appointment was given to Alisa Lee, who is now running to retain Position 1. The second appointment was given to Carla Santorno, former Tacoma Public Schools Superintendent. The Board will make its third and final appointment in March. On this year’s ballot, Positions 1 and 2 will be a full 6-year term while Position 3 will be a short 2-year term before resetting the cycle in 2027. Two candidates have filed to run for Position 3: Bronwyn Clarke and Malachi Cabera.
In addition, there are several races for city council positions in Lakewood, University Place, Puyallup, Sumner, DuPont, and elsewhere. We will continue to work with environmentally-minded candidates in these jurisdictions. It continues to be important to “build the bench” of candidates outside of Tacoma!
[Despite Trump, European Nations push back.
They have united To Continue Actions To Stop Global Warming.
On the first Monday of his presidency Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. This was a part of his flurry of moves upon taking office. To the world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, it represented a shot across the bow.
Many political and business figures attended this annual World Economic Forum and joined together to combat climate change, and support the Paris Agreement, which almost all nations agreed to in 2015.
Pulling the United States out of the pact is a signal of both the administration’s lack of concern about rising planet-warming emissions, and also a rebuke of the kind of multilateralism that has come to define Davos.
The World Economic Forum’s annual gathering has a long-running focus on climate and the environment. A survey by the organization ranked extreme weather as one of the world’s top threats.
For years, the policymakers and companies in Davos have promoted their efforts to reduce emissions, embrace clean energy and work collaboratively to blunt global warming.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Tuesday that President Trump’s actions would not lead Europe to change its plans. “Europe will stay the course and keep working with all nations that want to protect nature and stop global warming,” she said.
“The Paris Agreement continues to be the best hope for all humanity.”
Simon Stiell, the United Nations climate chief, said the shift to clean power would happen with or without the United States. “The world is undergoing an energy transition that is unstoppable,” he said, adding that the U.S. could rejoin the Paris pact at any time.
Corporate leaders were more circumspect in their remarks about Mr. Trump. “While it is deeply disappointing that the new U.S. presidential administration has decided to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, one country’s decision does not change the global course of action,” the group said in a statement.
“I think we all knew Paris Accord was coming,” said Kate Brandt, Google’s chief sustainability officer. “A lot of the early conversations we’ve been having with the new administration is around things like advanced nuclear, advanced geothermal, battery storage technology, the use cases of A.I.”
Environmental Activists were more forthright in their condemnation of Mr. Trump’s move to pull out of the Paris Agreement.
“No one country, let alone one man, can stop the global energy transition,” said Tzeporah Berman, a Canadian climate activist who is chairwoman of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
“Trump is desperately trying to hold onto the past even though the reality of our heavy dependence on fossil fuels is etched into the scorched landscape of Los Angeles. What he did in January when the city burned down will cost lives and hold Americans and the world back from protecting what we love.”
During the last Trump administration when he didn’t send a delegation to the Climate Change conference, several public officials from the blue states attended the conference in including the then Speaker Of the House, Nancy Pelosi. They told the conference that in their states they were delivering on the goals of the U.S in meeting climate change goals. And they were also the leaders in the most successful state economies.
____________________________________________________
Note:
Information for this story came from climate change articles in the New York Times in January 2025
end 582 487 507 581
Get pix =
[ Bold U.S. Congressman speak out against Trump’s lies.
“Everybody in this country should be outraged that Donald Trump is standing up on that podium and lying to you — deliberately lying to you,” Senator Chris Murpy said in an impassioned video he recorded and posted within 30 minutes of Mr. Trump’s news conference about the mid air crash into the Potomac River earlier this month.
“Every single senator and member of Congress should call Trump out for how disgraceful it was.”
Many did, but none managed to do so quite as quickly or concisely as Mr. Murphy, 51. Since Inauguration Day, he has staged a loud and constant resistance to Mr. Trump at a time when Democrats are struggling to figure out how to respond to him.
Read more about Chris Murphy’s protests here
Senaor Murphy is a career politician who rose to national prominence as a gun safety advocate after the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., has emerged in the opening weeks of Mr. Trump’s second term as one of the most effective Democratic communicators pushing back against a president unbound.
In newspapers and floor speeches; and essays Murphy explains in digestible sound bites that what is happening in Washington is very simple: It’s a billionaire takeover of American democracy.
Mr. Murphy in 2013 with activists against gun violence. He rose to national prominence as a gun safety advocate after the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown,
“It’s an overwhelming moment,” Mr. Murphy said in an interview on Wednesday in his office on Capitol Hill. “Our political brand is fundamentally broken, the rule of law is disintegrating and a lot of people still don’t know what Trump’s actual agenda is.”
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said that Mr. Murphy has been meeting the moment “when too many Democratic elected officials seem several steps behind. He’s providing Democrats with a messaging blueprint for how to take on Trump and Musk and win back working-class voters.”
Mr. Murphy, who is aging out of the “boy wonder” phase of his political career (he was 33 when first elected to the House), is not exactly charismatic; he is cerebral and serious.
At times, Mr. Murphy can sound like a high school history teacher giving a civics lesson.
“Dictators and despots, they use law enforcement to try and compel loyalty,” he said in one video, explaining why people needed to care that the Justice Department had dropped its charges against Mayor Eric Adams of New York. “They threaten you with arrest if you’re not loyal; they will let you get away with crimes if you are loyal. That’s what’s happening in America today.”
“Right now, there is a distinct possibility that we do not have a free and fair election in 2028, and all of our work is to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.
Mr. Murphy said he can easily envision a future where “the press is so demoralized, the opposition is so beleaguered and harassed that you just don’t have the ability to mount an opposition.”
“Nothing matters other than the question of whether or not we let the billionaires destroy our democracy,” he said. “There’s a ticking time bomb inside our body politic right now. It’s very possible this thing could be completely rigged by the summer or fall of this year.”
Mr. Schumer, who has come in for criticism from some progressive activists for failing to effectively respond to Mr. Trump, has been encouraging him to keep going.
“Chris Murphy’s frustration and anger at what Trump is doing is genuine and he has a unique, strong, and incredibly valuable way of pushing back,” he said.
His party’s devastating 2024 losses, coupled with Mr. Trump’s blatant abuses of his authority, have made Mr. Murphy rethink a conventional approach to politics. These days, he has been meeting with his Senate colleagues to persuade them that this is not a time to play by any old political rules.
“Trump does not deserve the benefit of the doubt,” Murphy told other Democrats of Mr. Trump and Republicans. “They are deliberately hiding what they are doing so that responsible, thoughtful, fact-based people will say nothing.”
When Elon Musk made a straight-armed gesture on Inauguration Day that drew comparisons to a Nazi salute, Mr. Murphy was not among those wringing his hands about misinterpreting it.
“It was absolutely a ‘Heil’ — a Hitler salute,” he said. “Their pattern of lying allows us to assume the worst.”
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pix = south Tacoma warehouse district
The High Price of Environmental Justice in Pierce County
In both the city of Tacoma and Pierce County, planning departments use a Determination of Nonsignificance to avoid enforcing environmental rules and Growth Management policies. Neighborhoods then must use the court system at great costs.
Both Tacoma and the county neighbors had the support of their local Land Use Advisory Commission (LUAC) or Planning commission, which vetoed large commercial projects which were an environmental Justice issue. It was then up to he community to raise thousands of dollars to have environmental rules enforced.
Three recent local zoning appeals since 2018 demonstrate how poorly Pierce County Planning protects the environment. Lately the leadership to appeal these Conditional Use Permit appeals come from local neighborhood activism, rather than from countywide groups like Tahoma Audubon or Sierra Club which challenged zoning determinations in the past.
Reasons for the decline include the cost of an appeal and the need for local experience with the state Environmental Policy Act, which is necessary to appeal local planning policies and zoning laws.
In South Tacoma, a mega-warehouse was proposed to be built on an EPA Superfund site, which also sits on a significant aquifer. This aquifer provides a backup drinking water supply for Tacoma.
“In particularly challenging years, we use the South Tacoma Wellfield to supplement our water supplies. This enables us to reserve adequate storage for augmenting natural stream flows and maintaining healthy fish habitats,” according to the Tacoma Public Utilities website.
Instead of completing an environmental impact analysis, the City of Tacoma’s planning department used a Determination of Nonsignificance. The city asserted that increased truck traffic could be mitigated without studying neither the public health of the surrounding community nor impacts on groundwater recharge.
This was an environmental injustice. The city did not analyze the impact that such a large commercial development would have on the surrounding community with many people of color, or who are retired people with income below the poverty level.
A request for an Environmental Impact Statement was ignored by the city. Then, the city’s Hearing Examiner was not interested in the findings from the neighbors, and their appeal was rejected. The City of Tacoma Planning Department ignored the Growth Management Plan Policy that limits development in what the city calls “Underserved Communities”.
If an Environmental Impact Statement had been conducted to analyze the situation, the problems with the aquifer and Superfund site would have been studied, and the Health Department would have provided statistics of the declining health for poor people and early deaths of retired residents living near the proposed project.
When an environmental impact study is done, an appeal in court by environmental groups is less costly. Often, the Growth Management Hearing Board can make a determination without causing legal costs to soar.
A proposal by Mor Furniture company to build a Retail Store in a neighborhood that was across the street from a public school. The store would need a change in zoning and approval from the Planning Commission to build on a neighborhood street that was also a dead end.
The 11 neighbors protested, the commission denied the zoning change and the planning department overruled the commission. The zoning was changed, but the furniture company found a building site that was not controversial.
In the case of the proposal to build a Tiny Home Village near Spanaway Marsh and Audubon Springs, Pierce County also issued a Determination of Nonsignificance, ignoring the zoning requirements for wetland buffers, and allowing over 280 units to be built on 30 acres. An environmental impact analysis should have been conducted.
After over $140,000 in legal fees were paid to go to the Growth Management Hearing Board and the Pierce County Hearing Examiner, the neighborhood group still faces more legal fees to appear before other courts before arriving at the State Court Of Appeals. At a minimum, the additional cost of going to the Appeals Court will be another $50,000.
Fortunately, the high cost of an appeal did not stop neighbors who live around Burley Lagoon. When Pierce County published a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the largest geoduck farm in the county, the Friends of Burley Lagoon made their appeal with minimal attorney involvement.
The geoduck farm would impact the protected Pacific Salmon by eliminating eelgrass habitat. In turn, whales that visit the site are not protected either. The shellfish company used their boat to disturb seals and sea lions during feeding. All of these species are protected by the National Marine Mammal Act, and Pierce County did nothing in response.
What’s more, Pierce County planning staff ignored a 2019 Federal Court Decision that required a Cumulative Impact Analysis for the entire South Puget Sound before granting a permit. Staff insisted this large geoduck farm would only have minor impacts.
Friends of Burley Lagoon the neighbors decided to appeal to Shoreline Hearing Board Pro Se — without an attorney. If they win this appeal, they’ll need funding for attorney for next appeal to the County Superior Court at $40,000 then they’ll need at least $20,000 to appear before the State Court of Appeals.
This year, a new Environmental Coalition was formed by activists who were previously active in Audubon and Sierra Club. Some testified at hearings and wrote comment letters. Volunteers in the Environmental Coalition have no legal staff and limited fundraising capability, but we work hand-in-hand with a variety of organizations to meet their objectives.
So what can be done to reduce these high court costs in Pierce County?
- Win the appeals. Sounds easy, but it really means hard work at fundraising, finding environmental sympathy in the community.
- Ask attorneys to set a ceiling for appeal costs. Once the cost is estimated, attorneys may finish the job on a pro bono basis, if asked. When court costs for initial hearings are over $100,000, some attorneys are willing to share in the cost of justice.
- Apply for grants. The Center for Biological Diversity funded protection for Audubon Springs and stopped the Cross Base Highway two decades ago. Their contact information is online.
- Change county policy for environmental review. With a newly elected County Executive in office, he could set a size limit for new projects that would require environmental review for large projects. The planning department can then require an environmental impact statement or a Cumulative Impact Analysis. This environmental review will create an opportunity for the county staff and environmental groups to work together and address the environmental concerns that are fought over in court.
We have good environmental laws, and Pierce County Code, it is just the last 8 years when the Determination of Nonsignificance was used repetitively to avoid the State Environmental Protection Act.
For example when a golf course resort for 600 people was proposed to be built in a volcanic hazard area, the the permit applicant should have been told to put the shopping center and convention center on higher ground. Instead, $80,000 later, before a state appeals court, the judge told the county to move the buildings out of the volcanic hazard area.
- Determination of Nonsignificance.
It’s time for the county council to change the way DNS is used to avoid the environmental review required by SEPA. County Code can be changed to give the local planning advisory boards the authority to deny a DNS and overrule the Planning staff. These advisory boards would require the new applicant to review the environmental problems that are identified in SEPA and write an Environmental Impact Statement.
We have good state environmental laws to protect wildlife habitat, wetlands, rivers and streams. We just need to use them.
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