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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 2012)
News Complaint Pullman Porter Blues continued from page 1 filed with the Senate this year. In that inci- dent, the document says, Roach yelled at Hoover during a meeting with the rest of the caucus. The complaint alleged that Roach has tar- geted Hoover since 2003, and that during that first year, she ``regularly yelled at him, demanded that he swear loyalty to her, and threatened to have him fired if he crossed her.’’ Hoover had argued that the sanctions were ``improperly removed’’ when she was began debate on the budget. The Senate has said that the sanctions against Roach interacting with staff, as set by the Senate Facilities and Operations Committee, had not, in fact, been lifted. Roach was out of the country on Friday but emailed a statement saying that the accusations against her were false. ``Political hate aimed at hurting me is wrong and needs to be addressed,’’ she wrote. The settlement says that the Senate will review its current policy and look for areas to improve it, including des- ignating a senator from each party for staff to con- fidentially discuss work- place problems with. ``While I hope it will never be needed, this is a change that I think would go a long way towards keeping an appropriate balance in member and staff interaction,’’ Hoover wrote. Under the settlement, Hoover will not return to the Senate, but the Senate will pay his attorney fees and restore his leave time that he took while the case played out. Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Olympia, who chairs the Senate Facilities and Operations Committee, said she was pleased an agree- ment was reached. ``I think the settlement is in the interest of the taxpayers and is equitable to all parties involved,’’ she said. allowed back into the caucus around the time of a key budget vote in the Legislature this year. Democrats hold majorities in both the House and the Senate, but earlier this year, three Democrats stood with Republicans on a GOP-crafted budget plan that passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Roach also voted with them. Documents show one let- ter to Roach, dated Feb. 29, invited her back into the caucus, and a second letter, saying that ``caucus sanctions’’ were lifted, was dated March 2, the same day the Senate PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED The Senate has said that the sanctions against Roach interacting with staff had not, in fact, been lifted Thomas Gray; who worked as a chair car porter and whose father started working as a Pullman Porter in 1923, and his mother CA Domio joined playwright Cheryl L. West at the Pullman Porter Blues Community Gala Thursday, September 27th at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. The premier night was a fundraiser for 8 local non-profits including the Black Child Development Institute, Southeast Youth and Family Services, Black Heritage Society of Washington State and Clean Greens Farm and Market. Mascots continued from page 1 are the Indians and about a quarter of the district population are Native American or Alaskan Native students. ``I think it’s maybe time to ask the ques- tions,’’ Morgan said Friday. He said he would probably make some calls to tribal leaders as well as the school board and other community leaders to see if this is an issue the community wants to tackle. Reardan schools have a long tradition of Native American students, as well as having enthusiastic sports fans, Morgan said. He doesn’t think the Indian mascot has been seen as derogatory, but he added that the issue deserved more research. Washington’s resolution, which is similar to resolution passed by the board in 1993, was inspired by research by the American Psychological Association citing the adverse effects of Native American mascots on students Other Washington communities have had acrimonious battles over retiring a Native American mascot, including some districts close to Reardan. The Colville Indians time the people turned 18 the information would be old. Drew counters that engaging young peo- ple in the electoral process is vital and that allowing adults to register on Election Day would be a convenience that acknowl- edges people’s hectic lives. ``Most voters, when they move to the state, have that opportunity to register when they get their driver’s license, but not our kids,’’ Drew said. Among the states that allow some form of pre-registration for youth are Hawaii, Maryland, Delaware and Florida. Both Drew and Wyman are trying to succeed Reed, who has been in office since 2001. Wyman, who last year won re-election to her fourth term as Thurston County’s audi- tor and previously served as the county’s elections manager, says she has skills her opponent lacks. ``I have 20 years of doing the work of the secretary of state’s office at the county level,’’ she said. ``My opponent doesn’t have that.’’ Drew points to her four years in the state Senate, working on good government legis- lation, budget and election-related issues. asked the Colville High School Indians to find a new name in 1997, but they’re still the Indians today. Ten schools have changed their names in the past decade, including Eatonville Mid- dle School, which went from the Warriors to the Eagles; Eisenhower Middle School in Everett, which went from the Warriors to the Patriots and Issaquah High School, which changed from the Indians to the Eagles. About 10 tribal schools or those on Wash- ington reservations also have Native Amer- ican mascots, but the majority of schools in the state with Indian mascots are part of their community’s long-standing history. Elections continued from page 1 Drew, who represented Seattle’s eastern suburbs in the Legislature, wants to change the way Washington registers voters. Her goal is to expand the number of people cast- ing ballots by letting people register on Election Day and allowing 16- and 17-year olds to pre-register when they get their driv- ers’ licenses. Wyman says Drew’s plans won’t work. ``On the surface, they sound like good ideas, but they would be a bad fit,’’ Wyman said. Election Day registration would take finite resources away from counting ballots, she said, and slow the posting of results in Washington, a state notorious for the glacial pace of its election count. Voters only have to mail their ballot on Election Day; other states with mail balloting require people’s votes to be received by Election Day. And Wyman says the time spent managing the records of teenagers who pre-register would be an unwise use of resources, and by the related national issues is a bit of a moot point in Washington state — voter identifi- cation laws. Washington votes by mail — it’s not like people can show ID to a mail- box. So while courts have grappled with the ideologically charged question of what is an appropriate form of ID to show at polling places in Penn- sylvania and Texas, Drew and Wyman agree that’s not really an issue here. Another thing both candidates agree on is providing a statewide, printed primary voters’ pamphlet. They each list it as their top issue on their campaign websites. Earli- er this year, the state axed the printed pri- mary pamphlet to save about $1 million, but critics said it hurt people without access to online voter information and made it easier on incumbents with greater name recogni- tion. Wyman says the time spent managing the records of teenagers who pre-register would be an unwise use of resources She also served on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s policy staff for six years. ``My opponent, she’s never dealt with the state budget. She has no idea where the secretary of state fits into the overall state budget. I’ve had years of experience with that,’’ Drew said. One of the most contentious election- October 3, 2012 The Seattle Skanner Page 3
