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M AY 8, 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O .31
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
M AY DAY
Restoring
Home
Values
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Report shows impact
of foreclosure crisis in
Seattle metro area
Kids from Amistad School in Seattle came out on May 1, to show their support for immigrants’ rights at the annual
May Day March and Rally. Their signs say, ‘Quiero mas justo,’ (I want more fairness) and ‘We nide (need) more love.’’
The event drew thousands of participants.
Gregoire’s Retirement Benefits
Outdated pension rules mean fat checks for former governor
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) —
Former Gov. Chris Gregoire is
benefiting from old state pen-
sion rules that ended in 1977.
Gregoire receives a pension of
$159,608, the most of any
retiree from state government,
The Olympian reported in Sun-
day’s newspaper. She benefits
from an old rule that gave elect-
ed officials a special deal on
retirement. She was eligible
because she began working in
state government a long time
ago.
Gregoire served two terms as
governor and three terms as
attorney general, plus another
20 years working in state gov-
ernment before being elected.
“I’m one who frankly believes
that everybody should be treat-
ed the same. So I was sur-
prised,” Gregoire said of
learning about the special bene-
fits around the time she became
governor in 2005.
Lawmakers closed the special
plan for long-time retirees in
1977, but lawmakers felt it
would have been legally ques-
tionable to change benefits for
INDEX
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employees already in the plan,
like Gregoire.
“To me it’s never been about
(a) pension. If it was, I probably
wouldn’t have run, out of con-
cern that I would have lost,” she
said. “To me, it’s always been
about service and not about
money.”
Once most of her fellow mem-
bers of the old pension plan
known as Plan 1 of the Public
Employees’ Retirement System
work 30 years, further longevity
no longer boosts their benefits.
That cap doesn’t apply to time
in elected office, so Gregoire’s
40 years of public service are all
counted toward her benefit.
Another difference: most
members of the group receive a
payout of 2 percent of their final
pay for every year they worked.
The formula for elected officials
uses 3 percent of pay for every
year they are in political office.
“It’s one of the reasons why
they closed the plan back in
‘77,” said Dave Nelsen, legal
and legislative services manager
at the Department of Retirement
See PENSION on page 3
SEATTLE, WA – With over 16,500 Seat-
tle homes foreclosed on and over 42,000
homeowners underwater, Reset Seattle is
calling on City Council to stop at nothing
short of principal reduction to provide real
relief to struggling families.
The campaign, a coalition of more than
30 faith, community and labor groups, is
trying to achieve significant principal reduc-
tion for these families in crisis. Communi-
ties
of
color
have
been
hit
dis pro portionately hard by the housing cri-
sis, losing 15 years in homeownership gains
for minority families.
“What we are seeing here is a deteriora-
tion of generations of hard work for African
American families,” said Reverend
Lawrence Willis, the head of TrueVine Mis-
sionary Baptist Church and the President of
the United Black Clergy. “Our elders are
losing their legacies, and our young adults
are losing hope that they will ever make it.”
At a kick-off event on Thursday, Reset
Seattle released a new report, “The Wall
Street Wrecking Ball,” which details the
impact of the foreclosure crisis on Seattle.
The findings are grim. Between 2008 and
2012, there has been $4.4 billion in lost
home value and a $142 million cost to the
City of Seattle. $91,999 is the average
amount by which Seattle homeowners are
underwater.
In addition, the report details the positive
impact that resetting mortgages to fair mar-
ket value would have on Seattle. The results
are staggering. It would save underwater
homeowners in Seattle an average of $9,253
annually. This would pump $392 million
into our local economy every year, creating
5,800 new jobs.
Reset Seattle leaders said that anything
short of principal reduction will not provide
real relief to struggling families or stop the
crisis.
“I received a loan modification two years
ago,” said Vera Johnson, a Seattle Resident
and owner of the Village Green Perennial
See FORECLOSURE on page 3
Spokane Air Force Crew Killed in Crash
The three fallen soldiers are remembered for their dedication
By Nicholas K. Geranios
The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Capt. Victo-
ria A. Pinckney was a mother and college
rugby player.
Capt. Mark T. Voss was a graduate of the
Air Force Academy and was known for his
smile.
Tech. Sgt. Herman Mackey III was
humorous and the father of a young daugh-
ter.
All three died when their KC-135 tanker
refueling plane crashed in the mountains of
Kyrgyzstan on Friday.
All three were members of the 93rd Air
Refueling Squadron stationed at Fairchild
Air Force Base near Spokane and were
operating out of a U.S. air base in Kyrgyzs-
tan that supports military operations in
Afghanistan.
A public memorial service is being
planned near the eastern Washington state
base for all three.
“These brave airmen leave behind an
incredible legacy and remind all of us that
freedom is never free,” said U.S. Rep. Cathy
McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., whose district
See SOLDIERS on page 3