Monday, July 22, 2013

The Political Desk: Hey, the Airport is a Port!

Back to stuff that I can actually vote on - Position 3, Port Commissioner. This is a board which oversees not only the sea port (bringing things in) but the airport (bringing people in). And it is interesting in that this year, all three candidates actually talk about the airport in the Voter's Guide.

Also interesting is that the Port Commission has been for years the easy target for looking for corruption. Yet for the past few, things have honestly gotten quieter. So while the humor factor is definitely reduced, it is in danger of slipping into the type of quiet competency that the PNW likes.

Anyway, the candidates are (pick two - well, pick one but the top two go on to the General Election):

First up is Stephanie Bowman, of whom we said nice things about when she was running for State Legislature, and has been temping in the job for a while. She is also the one who alludes (blink and you'll miss it) in her write-up to not wanting to export fossil fuels through the ports, which is a reference to the proposed coal trains coming into downtown Seattle. Michael Wolf is packing a lot of endorsements, and his main thrust is tourism coming in through the airport. Andrew Pilloud is a software engineer, and of the three touches on the idea that we may have too much security, to the point where we are terrorizing ourselves (which you must admit, is a time-saver, as opposed to waiting around to be terrorized). I like the cut of Andrew's jib, but I am afraid he will be the one to pack his knives and go be eliminated. Stephanie Bowman is a good call, and like Michael Wolf as well, so I will have to revisit this one.

More later,