Podcasts about general fund

John 21:1-19After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. This is how he showed himself to them. Gathered there were Simon Peter, Thomas who was also called the Twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the Sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” And they went and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.Just after daybreak, Jesus came and stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. He said to them, “My children, you haven't any fish, have you?” They said to him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” So they cast it and they were not able to haul in the net because it was full of so many fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Simon Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was Jesus, he put on some clothes for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. The others went in the boat, bringing with them the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land; only about a hundred yards off.When they had come ashore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring with you some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, one hundred fifty-three of them. But even though there were so many fish, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”Now, none of them dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they new that it was Jesus. He came and took the bread and gave it to them and he did the same thing with the fish. This was the third time he had appeared to them since he had been raised from the dead.After they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time, Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” A third time, Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter, upset that he had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?,” said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. When you were a child, you used to fasten your own belt and go wherever you chose to go. But when you grow old you will stretch out your arms and others will fasten a belt around you and lead you to places that you may not choose to go.” (He said this in order to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) And when he has said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” Pastor Cogan said something, almost in passing last Sunday, in his sermon reflecting on Pope Francis. It was a one-liner that caught my attention in the moment and that came back to me when I read today's Gospel. He said that Pope Francis – faithful, humble servant that he was – “was a shepherd who smelled like his sheep.” “… a shepherd who smelled like his sheep.”Did anyone else catch that? Or remember that? Or wonder any more about that? I did, because I think it has a lot to say about where we find Jesus and his disciples – and especially, this famous conversation and command to Peter – on the beach at breakfast, not long after the resurrection.“Do you love me?” … “Yes.” … “Feed my lambs.”“Do you love me?” … “Yes.” … “Tend my sheep.”“Do you love me?” … “Yes.” … “Feed my sheep.”And you can't blame Jesus for asking again, and again, and again. It's no coincidence that Jesus asked him three times, after what had happened just days before, of course, when Peter, questioned just before the crucifixion, denied Jesus three times to strangers, just as Jesus warned him that he would. So, this “Q and A” between Jesus and Peter – this whole experience on the beach after Easter, really – is chock full of symbolism and meaning. But, to the sheep and the lambs…Too much of the time for us, “sheep” and especially “lambs” – so close to Easter Sunday, in the spring of the year – elicit a warm and fuzzy, soft and sweet, cute, cuddly, cozy kind of vibe – don't you think? They are the stuff of Springtime and Easter baskets, right. But the truth is, sheep are actually dirty and lambs are pretty dumb. (Here's that video I'm sure many of us have seen of a sheep being both – dirty and dumb.) And remember that even the “sheep” Jesus refers to so often, even before this brunch on the beach, are pitiable and lost and in need of redemption, too. Remember that the “sheep” in Jesus' teachings need to be separated from the goats, they need to be found because they've gone astray, they need to be saved from the clutches of the wolves that surround them, and they need to listen for the sound of their shepherd's voice to lead them. And besides, all of that, remember that the warm and fuzzy Lamb, in Jesus himself, gets sacrificed, after all. And remember that the Lamb of God, in Jesus Christ, showed up to do the dirty work of taking away the sin of the world.There's not much “warm and fuzzy” or “cute and cuddly” or “soft and sweet” about any of that, in the end. The Lord's work is dirty work, to say the least. So it's notable, for me, that Jesus uses “sheep” and “lambs” as a metaphor for Peter, the fisherman – again – this time around.So when he talks about feeding sheep and tending to lambs, it seems to me, that Jesus is talking about the hard and holy stuff of life and discipleship for believers, this morning. And he's implying that you really need to LOVE Jesus, in order to fully enter into the business of following him faithfully.So we're invited to wonder, what in the world that means for you and me? Where are the sheep and the lambs, the lost and the lonely, the scared, the sick, the suffering – and the stinky – in this world and in your life?He makes it really hard for us to avoid the question. When Jesus asks us if we love him, who and how and what is he really asking us to consider? How many of us – like Pope Francis – smell like the sheep we're called to love and serve?For starters, it seems random, but it's no mistake that the Gospel writer says there were 153 fish in the net that morning. It's not likely anyone actually counted those fish. It's a number that smarter people than me suggest is meant to symbolize the entirety of creation; or they say it symbolizes all the people and every nation of the world. So, it's just another reminder that, as followers of Jesus, we're meant to tend to, feed, care about, and love all people; from every nation; in every land; even when it's hard. Even when it stinks. Do you love Jesus, even if it leads to people and to places where you may not want to go? Do you love Jesus, even if it leads people to your doorstep who you wish wouldn't come?Of course, we answer this question in other ways, too.I hope, when we consider our financial commitments to the General Fund in the days ahead, we'll hear that question, again: “Do you love me?” And I pray our commitments and the offerings that follow will be one meaningful way that we respond – even if it's uncomfortable, unfamiliar, unconventional by the world's standards and expectations.I hope, as we're filling out our Time and Talent Sheets for the year ahead, too, that Jesus' question will ring in our ears, “Do you love me?” And that how we choose to serve the world through our little part of the kingdom at Cross of Grace will reveal our answer in a faithful way – and that we'll do it even when it's inconvenient sometimes; even if it's new; even if it's something we've done before or something we never thought we'd do at all. Even if it stinks from time to time, like helping to clean the church or to mow the lawn.I hope, that as we live our lives in this broken and hurting world, that we see around us – on the evening news, in the hallways at school, in the house down the street, on the faces of strangers, and in the mirror – I hope we see the sheep and lambs of Jesus – the children of God – who are starving for, who need and who deserve to be fed and tended to and loved with the same grace we long for, need, and try to share around here.I hope that when we wonder about what it looks like to love Jesus, that we aren't afraid to get our hands dirty, to stop pretending that life in this world – our own lives or the lives of our neighbors – are always neat and tidy, soft and sweet, cute, cuddly, and convenient. I hope our lives of faith in this world leave us smelling like sheep.Because the truth is we are all sheep. Each of us is a lamb. We all stink of the sin that covers us. And we're all unable to be free of it on our own.So Jesus shows up to inspire us and to encourage us and to love us, first – all so that we might follow him – like he invites Peter to do – into a new way of life. So that we'll follow him into a kingdom that is built on service and sacrifice, generosity and grace, mercy and good news; a kingdom built with very clear directions from the resurrected and living love of Jesus Christ our Lord – who so faithfully feeds, tend to, and loves us – and the world – so that we can't help but return the favor, in his name.Amen

AlabamaAG Marshall files lawsuit against Tik Tok for causing mental harm to childrenA state version of the Laken Riley Act close to passage if no more delaysAL senate passes General Fund budget  despite Democratic delay tacticsBill that places adult content filters on cellphones for minors passes HouseGovernor Ivey allocates $7.6M for road and bridge projects in stateSen. Tuberville to officially announce his political plans at end of MayNationalPresident Trump holds cabinet meeting on Day 101 since taking officeA Federal judge in CA blocks Border Patrol from arresting illegal aliensNY Governor wants a ban on cellphones in public school classroomsRNC Chair details legal efforts in states to stop non citizens from votingUS and Ukraine sign an energy deal that involves rare earth minerals

Today we have a new state employee benefit and the General Fund budget. And the Poarch Creeks closed on a Birmingham property. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  —Here are 3 big things you need to know—   One — President Trump has officially signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, first created by then-President Carter back in 1979.  The White House says test scores for kids have been in decline for years, and it's time to see education authority be returned to individual states.  Education Secretary Linda McMahon will have to get Congressional approval to officially abolish the department.   Two ---- Governor Gretchen Whitmer is happy state House Speaker Matt Hall has passed a three-point-one-billion-dollar plan to fund road fixes, but says the plan could create budget holes and doesn't solve the problem.  Whitmer says she will work with the state Senate on a compromise that will be acceptable to both parties.  Whitmer and Republicans in the House want to put all taxes collected for fuel to the roads instead of being split up now for road funding, education, and more.  The GOP plan would fill the School Aid Fund hole with money from the General Fund and wouldn't raise taxes but Whitmer says new revenue has to be brought in from somewhere.   And number three —    A private company said Wednesday it has obtained a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to start housing immigrant inmates at its 1,800-bed prison in northern Michigan. GEO Group, a for-profit prison company based in Boca Raton, Florida, owns and operates North Lake Correctional Facility near Baldwin. The company issued a statement that there will be an activation of a federal immigration processing center at North Lake, boasting it will bring in $70 million dollars in annual revenue.  

—Here are 3 big things you need to know—   One — The Pentagon is preparing to eliminate between 50 and 60-thousand civilian jobs over the next few months.  On Tuesday, a senior defense official said the job cuts will hopefully happen via voluntary resignations and by not replacing workers who leave.  The Pentagon will also begin firing probationary employees.   Two ---- The Michigan House has approved a bill to lower income taxes to four-point-zero-five-percent from four-and-a-quarter-percent.  The bill would restore the tax rate that was in place for 2023 after the General Fund revenue grew faster than inflation.  In 2024, the income tax rate went back up following an opinion issued by Attorney General Dana Nessel that the reduction should be temporary.   And number three -- One of the biggest auto shows in Canada says it's removing Tesla from the event over safety concerns.  The Vancouver International Auto Show starts today and bills itself as one of North America's premiere auto shows.  In a statement Tuesday, the director of the event said Tesla vehicles were being removed from the show over concerns for the safety of attendees, exhibitors, and staff. 

GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 21 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball vs Illinois Starts at 1:00 Michigan was asking for a game like this after the last couple months, you can't give up 19 offensive rebounds in a game and expect to win. Illinois got 9 more shots than Michigan and their young guys went off. Vlad Goldin was the only one who was getting an advantage. Danny Wolf is officially in a funk, this likely doesn't affect his draft stock. Michigan might be a popular pick to get upset in the first round of the tournament. They're fading down the stretch and not getting better in a lot of departments, especially rebounding.  [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Men's Basketball vs Michigan State Starts at 23:06 This was a "make your shots" game, Michigan State hit their shots. Also Michigan had an 11 shot deficit. Michigan now has a worse 3-point shooting percentage than Michigan State. Roddy Gayle has not hit a three-pointer since January, nobody is covering him anymore and that extra player is guarding the paint. Tre Donaldson might've had his worst game.  3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Rutgers & Nebraska Starts at 34:06 Takes hotter than yours truly after the 19th Illinois offensive rebound. These two games were polar opposites in what basketball is. Michigan had poor shooting and looked tired after the Michigan State game. The three-point shooting has come down tremendously. Seth thinks the worse three point shooting is mostly random except for Roddy Gayle, opposing defenses can always plan for Roddy not being able to shoot. For one half, Rutgers was the greatest basketball team in the world, then it came crashing back to Earth. Is it time for L.J. Cason to play more? Sometimes he looks great and sometimes he doesn't box out at all. Vlad Goldin is just not a passer in the paint. Who would you take for free throws to win the game, Roddy Gayle or Nimari Burnett? 4. Hockey vs Ohio State Starts at 1:10:08 Michigan steals four points from Ohio State and has their tournament percentage up to 85%. Michigan hosts Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament but Penn State is playing very hot at the end of this season. The "It gets worse" call is now legendary. Win this upcoming series and you're in, get swept and... you might still be in.  MUSIC: "You Don't Know The Shape I'm In"—MJ Lenderman "Loser"—Jerry Garcia "Whip Appeal"—Babyface “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra    

GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 42 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball at Ohio State Starts at 1:00 Bienvenue! Recorded remotely this week because Seth's 19 year old ski boots exploded. Michigan wins a defense-optional shootout, they rebounded half their misses which ended up being the difference (Ohio State just couldn't out-rebound Goldin and Wolf). There's a big difference between Goldin being the role guy and Tschetter being the role guy, so why did Goldin only get 24 minutes? Officiating in this game and how it relates to the Bo Ryan era. Don't elbow someone in the head but also don't put your head into someone's elbow. Roddy Gayle returns to Columbus and silences the boos out of timeouts. Stop missing dunks. Neither team got a double digit lead, the game was tense the whole time.  [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Men's Basketball vs Purdue Starts at 24:50 Michigan avenges a terrible loss to become co-favorites to win the Big Ten. Braden Smith plays an insane 12 minutes to open the game for Purdue, making the first half extra frustrating. His mid-range shots weren't even bad shots, necessarily. Rubin Jones and Roddy Gayle combined for 20 points and played excellent, annoying defense. They came through in a way that was required to win this game. Michigan shoots below their season 3-point average but only had 11 turnovers. They also got to the line a lot (off of some calls that weren't great). Caleb Furst should've fouled out in the first six minutes! The physicality of the Big Ten is more than Dusty May realized. Purdue had zero bench points.  3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Minnesota Starts at 49:12 Takes hotter than Michigan basketball in a three point game. Michigan gets slightly more than a split against Minnesota which decently increases their NCAA tournament chances. A split with Ohio State and a first round win in the Big Ten Tournament should do it. Minnesota was out-shooting Michigan 12-2 to start the game on Saturday, not great! Welcome back, Michael Hage. Tyler Duke played a nice game when everyone else was gassed. Bye week upcoming so we won't know much about tournament chances for a while.  4. Tournament Outlooks Starts at 1:16:40 Men's basketball is now projected to win the Big Ten but Wisconsin is looming with the easier schedule. Purdue and Michigan State both finish with a gauntlet. Of Michigan's last six games, four or five of them will be against tournament teams. Finishing 3-3 could maybe be enough to win a share of the Big Ten and get a banner. It's been a while since it's come down to Michigan and Michigan State down the stretch. Torvik has Michigan jumping between 3 and 4 seeds, which takes win margin into account. Hockey is projected to play Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They're now 80% to make the NCAA tournament but everyone ahead of them in the Pairwise rankings is pretty much a lock. The worst tournament in sports is suddenly in Michigan's favor! There's a regional in Toledo but Michigan probably doesn't go there. Shout out to Hockey Bear.  MUSIC: "Real Life"—The Marias "MUTT"—Leon Thomas "THE BADDEST"—Joey Valence and Brae “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra

GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 28 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Dusty May Talk Starts at 1:00 Welcome to the Plodcast. This game had the awkward undertones of Mike Woodson getting "fired" and Indiana wanting to hire Dusty May. What's a better job, Indiana or Michigan? Indiana is home for Dusty but there's also a lot of pressure there. If Michigan needed the money to match, they could get it. He did turn down the Louisville job so maybe the biggest thing that would bring Dusty May back to Indiana is that his mom still lives in Bloomington.  [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Men's Basketball vs Indiana Starts at 22:30 Once again it is the story of the season where Michigan gets a big lead and then suddenly looks like they forgot how to play basketball. Kenpom said Michigan would win by four so maybe we're overexaggerating. They've gone from a top 10 team to a top 25 team, so a 5-6 seed in the tournament. The turnover margin between the most turnovers and the fewest in the Big Ten is only four turnovers. Three point shooting was extremely frustrating. Gayle is driving to the basketball when he should be shooting a 3. Screwing up the foul on Goldin really hurt Michigan. Nimari Burnett's shooting percentages have simply fallen back down to earth.  3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Oregon Starts at 41:22 Takes hotter than the Indiana fanbase when Dusty May spikes a three hundred million dollar offer in their faces and says "I'm a Michigan man forever, babyyyy". Another game where Michigan had a double digit lead that they almost blew! Roddy Gayle got to the line a lot but also traveled enough that John Beilein would've ripped his esophagus out. Will Tschetter had a nice game and led the team in scoring. The bench players aren't quite ready and that's okay. Is Supreme Cook the best version of Brian?  4. Michigan Hockey vs Michigan State Starts at 1:13:28 Michigan picks up a split against the #2 team in Pairwise, getting one win was the best possible scenario. Both games were about the same but Michigan State actually scored in the second game. Michigan is a team of just guys. Nobody really pops besides Hage. The WWE aspect of these games in the 3rd period against Michigan State has become a bit much. Michigan has a 70% projected chance of making the field, which feels great right now. Is the most boring Michigan hockey team in memory? This isn't a bad team, they're just not the team last year that booted Michigan State out of the tournament. Pre-season expectation was to hopefully make the tournament and that hasn't changed. MUSIC: "Aston Martin Music"—Rick Ross "Waiting For The Bells"—Joel Alme "Vines"—Cameron Winter “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra    

GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 9 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball vs Rutgers Starts at 1:00 Brian returns after a week (or two) of trying not to die ala ice and norovirus. The Rutgers game was a weird game of two offensive-oriented teams not scoring much. Rutgers has 15 more shots than Michigan and still loses due to poor shooting. Michigan did a great job defending Ace Bailey. Rubin Jones made a two! Rutgers likely won't make the tournament but this was still a solid road win. Tre Donaldson is averaging 1.7 fouls per game, can't just pull him with two fouls. Things feel bad but Michigan has a tournament bid pretty much locked up if they stay the course.  2. Men's Basketball vs Penn State and Purdue Starts at 21:34 Penn State is the most Clingon team in college basketball. Tre Donaldson was the hero with 21 points, also the Vlad Goldin "empty tubes" game. Only nine turnovers was a great improvement against a team that forces a bunch of turnovers. Speaking of poop, the Purdue game! This was not a game from the start. Michigan can't handle Purdue's pace and then the second half is just coasting home for both teams. Every Michigan coach has to get their head caved in by Painter once. It was discombobulating to see Michigan so discombobulated. The final stretch of this schedule is a gauntlet, they're all quad 1 games (besides maybe Rutgers). If Michigan finishes .500 they'll be fine.  3. Football Stuff Starts at 41:23 Ross Dellenger got a leak of a portion of Michigan's NCAA response. Michigan is taking the route that the allegations are unsupported and should be level 2 allegations. In the past they've laid down and taken it for allegations. All the released texts about Connor Stalions within the program almost sound like they're annoyed with him. The portal has been pretty quiet recently, this might be it for the incoming wide receivers. All signs point towards Ty Haywood coming to Michigan. The NIL values you see are probably made up.  4. Michigan Hockey vs Penn State Starts at 56:09 Michigan is down to 14th in Pairwise and on the bubble. The remaining games are the hardest part of the schedule so they need to go at least 3-3 to try and get into the tournament. This is such a frustrating team to watch. In some years, the Michigan defense can do spectacular things while making mistakes, this year they just make mistakes. They're running out of time to figure stuff out.  MUSIC: "Alaska"—Maggie Rogers "Help Me"—Joni Mitchell "Don't Dream It's Over"—Crowded House “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra    

November 18, 2024 Rockingham County Commissioners MeetingAGENDA1.   Meeting Called to Order by Chairman Hall2.   Invocation3.   Pledge of Allegiance - Sam Millikan, age 4, attends Apples Chapel Daycare4.   RecognitionA. Lance Metzler, County ManagerRequest consideration of approval for a Resolution recognizing and honoring the Rockingham County Sheriff's Team that was deployed to Buncombe County (Asheville area) on October 6, 2024, to provide law enforcement assistance, search, rescue and recovery, support efforts delivering supplies, damage documentation and neighborhood welfare checks after the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene.                   B. Commissioner Mark RichardsonPresentation of Resolution honoring Rush Collins, Jr. congratulating him for his 100th birthday and thanking him for his service to Rockingham County.                   C. Lance Metzler, County ManagerRequest consideration of approval for a Resolution honoring Donald "Don" T. Powell for his service on the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners and to Rockingham County.                   5.   Approval of the November 18, 2024 Agenda6.   Consent AgendaConsent items as follows will be adopted with a single motion, second and vote, unless a request for removal from the Consent Agenda is heard from a CommissionerA. Dr. Mark Kinlaw, President, Rockingham Community CollegeConsider approval of the 2024-2025 Rockingham Community College Quarter Cent Sales Tax Budget along with a revision to increase the original estimate of $200,000 to install phase one of the security cameras project on campus to $342,543 for the complete installation, saving approximately $25,000.B. Trey Wright, Public Health DirectorRequest approval to increase fees on the Master Fee Schedule. Medicaid is allowing this increase. The current fee is $14.00.8305 Urine Drug Screen/Test $33.00C. Derek Southern, Assistant County Manager/Interim HHS DirectorConfirm designation of Child Fatality Prevention Team/Community Child Protection Team (CFPT/CCPT), Future Local Team, as a single County team.D. Todd Hurst, Tax AdministratorRequest the approval of Tax Collection and Reconciliation reports for October including refunds for October 23, 2024 thru November 4, 2024.E. Lance Metzler, County Manager1. Request approval to add an additional Veterans Treatment Court Coordinator position.2. Consider adoption of a Resolution of concurrence for abandonment of 0.2 miles of SR 2339 (Friddle Road) New Bethel Township.3. Consider approval of the appointments to the Industrial Facilities & Pollution Control Financing Authority for Mark Collins, Grayson Whitt and Scott Barham. Terms: Mark Collins - 11/18/2024 ending 11/17/2030; Grayson Whitt 11/18/2024 ending 11/17/2030; Scott Barham 11/18/2024 ending 11/17/2028; Barry Dodson 11/18/2024 ending 11/17/2028; Gary Gibson 11/18/2024 ending 11/17/2026; and Kathy Hale 11/18/2024 ending 11/17/2026.F.   Justin Thacker, Deputy Finance Director1. Request approval to amend the Rural Operating Assistance Program (ROAP) budget for $34,290 due to less grant dollars awarded to the ROAP program in the Final Disbursement formula. The reduction in expenses will be factored in ADTS for monthly expense requests in the following areas:     EDTAP: $15,100     RGP: $15,110     Work-first Grant: $4,080     Total: $34,2902. Request consideration to appropriate $90 of available fund balance in the General Funds as a transfer to the E-911 Special Revenue Fund. After the NC 911 Board staff review of the FY 24 E-911 report, $90 of costs incurred have been deemed ineligible for E-911 funding and both the NC911 Board and the NC State Treasurer's office require that a transfer from the General Fund be made in order to reimburse the E-911 fund for the ineligivle expenses.G. Mandy McGhee, Finance Director1. Request approval to increase Public Health budget by $20,000 for the Electronic Health Records Grant with Community Care of North Carolina.           2. Request approval to appropriate insurance proceeds of $13,835 and Restricted Other Revenue (Controlled Substance Funds) to cover the cost of replacing a vehicle totaled in an accident. Total cost of new 2024 Dodge Charger is $36,994.3. Request approval to appropriate revenue from the sale of (4) vans in the amount of 9,950 and revenue received RCC Van Lease Agreement in amount of $695 to the paint remaining (2) Youth Service vans 285 and 286.           4. Request approval to adopt Capital Project Ordinance and budget for the Madison Water Transmission Main and Pump Upgrade Capital Project in the amount of $10,000,000 from State of NC-OSBM Grant 20535. As well as approval for the adoption of the Capital Project Ordinance and budget for the Rockingham Miscellaneous Water and Sewer Improvement Capital Project in the amount of $23,550,000 from the State of NC - OBSM Grant 20536.5. Request approval of the modification to the Resolution by the County of Rockingham to Direct the Expenditure of Opioid Settlement Funds. Please see changes which are highlighted in the Resolution.H. Hiram Marziano, Community Development DirectorConsideration of appointment of Dwayne Rakestraw of Madison to a three-year term as a full member of the Rockingham County Planning Board & Board of Adjustment. Mr. Rakestraw is a current alternate member of the Planning Board.7.    Public Comment8.    Public Hearing9.    Hiram Marziano, Community Development DirectorCase 2024-23: Zoning Map Amendment (Rezoning) – A request to rezone a (+/-) 1.1-acre parcel from Residential Protected (RP) to Highway Commercial (HC) – Standard Rezoning – Applicant: Hemal Patel – Tax PIN: 7926-01-28-8445 - 114 Will Rd. – Mayo Township10.   PresentationA. Trey Wright, Public Health DirectorPresentation of the 2023-2024 Community Health Assessment to the BOCC.B. Ronnie Tate, Director of Engineering and Public Utilities & Bill Lester, LKC EngineeringRequest for Board approval of three utlity design contracts: Contract#1 - Influent Pump Station upgrades at Mayodan Sewer Treatment Plant $409,000.00 Contract#2 - Plate Settlers upgrade at Mayodan Water Treatment Plant $399,000.00 Contract#3 - Booster Pump upgrades along US 220 $680,000.00C. Cara Dohner, Vaya HealthUpdated for Vaya Health11.   New Business12.   Commissioner Comments13.   Adjourn###

Measure H would implement a one-cent sales tax for Butte County residents that could lead to millions of dollars in the county's coffers. Also, Plumas County is trying to attract people to live and visit the area by being featured in the PBS show “Viewpoint,” and Gov. Gavin Newsom yesterday released an optimistic progress report on efforts to reach an ambitious goal to conserve 30% of California's land by 2030.

September 3, 2024 Rockingham County Board of Commissioners MeetingAGENDA1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY CHAIRMAN HALL2. INVOCATION - Pastor Christina B. Taylor, Woodmont United Methodist Church, Reidsville3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE4. RECOGNITION - Lance Metzler, County ManagerRecognition of Rockingham County for being presented the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners & Civic Federal Credit Union 2024 Excellence in Innovation Award recognizing the County's efforts to provide needed dental services to children in Rockingham County Schools through Mobile Dental Expansion, which is administered by the Rockingham County Division of Public Health.5. RECOGNITION - Lance Metzler, County ManagerConsideration of approval of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine to honor Keith Duncan for his career and stewardship towards helping the citizens or Rockingham County.6. RECOGNITION - Lance Metzler, County ManagerConsideration of approval of Resolution honoring the life and service of William Leonard "W.L." Pryor, Jr., Fonner County Commissioner and Distinguished Community Leader who passed away on July 7, 2024.7. APPPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 3,2024 AGENDA8. CONSENT AGENDA (Consent items as follows will be adopted with a single motion, second and vote. unless a request for removal from the Consent Agenda is heard from a Commissioner)A) Mandy McGhee, Finance Director1. Amend the Highway 220 Ordinance to transfer available ARPA Revenue Replacement funds to the General Fund to be used for Economic Development activities.2. Increase DSS budget $170,183 for Special Children Adoption Incentive Funds received in June 2024 by the NC DHHS Division of Social Services. Funds arc restricted to be spent on Special Children Adoption program costs.3. Amend FY 25 budget to rollover unexpected grant funds from FY 24 to FY 25. In addition, appropriate $43,711 in Contractor Sales Tax Revenue and interest earned of $526,457 on grant funds that were advanced.B) Justin Thacker. Deputy Finance Director1. Appropriate S5,968 for the addendum related to the WIC program for additional funds received by NCDHI-IS for the Public Health Department.2. Amend the FY 24-25 budget $1,019,813 for the new software subscription Microsoft Office that meets the criteria of a recently implemented governmental accounting standard requiring certain software subscriptions to be capitalized as a Right to Use intangible asset and the corresponding liability to be reported.3. Appropriate $8,203 of4-H Reserve Fund Balance to cover costs of the upcoming FY 24-25 summer camp participates to attend the 4-H Camp Congress. 4-H Reserve Fund Balance are 4-H fees earned in prior fiscal years and reserved for future 4·H program costs.D) Todd Hurst, Tax AdministratorRequest the approval of all refunds for August I. 2024 thru August 20, 2024. E) Susan O. Washburn. Clerk to the BoardApproval of Regular Meeting minutes for July 15, 2024.F) Melissa Joyce, Fire MarshalRequest approval for appointment of Keith Soyars as the Huntsville Relief Fund Trustee on the Local Fire Fighter's Relief Fund Board to replace Gary Fox who will be stepping down.G) Lance Metzler. County Manager1. Consideration of Appointment of Mandy McGhee Rockingham County Finance Director.2. Consideration of appointment or Carye Dickerson as Rockingham County Department of Social Services Director.H) Rodney Stewart, RCEMS Operations SupervisorRequests the approval of submitted accounting reports of billing and collections activity for July 2024 and approval of accounts uncollected that are to be written off. Lists of accounts are maintained and available for inspection in the EMS office.I) Derek Southern, Assistant County ManagerRequest funding for the Division of Forestry to purchase an "Initial Attack Type 6 Engine Truck" in the 24/25 Fiscal Year. Purchasing during the 24/25 FY will allow the truck to be received during the 25/26 FY.9. PUBLIC COMMENT10. PRESENTATION: Ronnie Tate, Director of Engineering and Public UtilitiesRequest approval of utility capacity for Neal Place Subdivision (Newnam Road). DESCO Investment Co., Inc. is requesting capacity for Phase I of construction for 24,000 gpd of water and wastewater capacity. Phase I is 80 single family homes, 4 bedrooms each. Total subdivision homes are 222,80 SF 4 bedrooms. 57 SF 3 bedrooms (Phase 2), and 85 townhomes 3 bedrooms (Phase 3). Total utility capacity for the entire project is 55,950 gpd. Developer has complied with Section 28.1 of the County Water Policy and Sections 18, 18.1 & 18.2 of the County Sewer Policy.11. PRESENTATION: Dr. John Stover, III, Superintendent and Erselle Young, Assistant SuperintendentConsideration of approval to use Restricted Sales Tax Funds in the amount of $57,500.00 plus tax to pay for the services of Cropper GIS Consulting, LLC who were approved on July 22, 2024 by the RCS Board of Education to provide demographic and school realignment planning services for the district.12. OLD BUSINESS: Case 2024 - 12: Zoning Map Amendment (Rezoning) – A Request to rezone a (+/-) 4.42-acre parcel of land from Residential Agricultural (RA) to Neighborhood Commercial Conditional District (NC-CD) - Conditional Rezoning Applicant: Jaime Wall. Owner and Executor - Tax PIN: 7921-02-75-4770 - Location: 225 Farrar Store Rd., Stokesdale - New Bethel TownshipThe Board of County Commissioners first reviewed this request June 17, 2024 and conducted a public hearing. After closing the public hearing, they decided to postpone deliberation of this item to August.The ordinance included with this agenda item is in draft form and may be amended after Commissioner's review.13. NEW BUSINESS14. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS15. ADJOURN###

Boeing's commercial market outlook, the AirVenture and Farnborough air shows, Airbus' A321XLR certification, funding for FAA infrastructure, Embraer's Eve flying taxi prototype, JetBlue's unpaid leave offer to flight attendants, and first officers decline to upgrade to captain. Aviation News Boeing Forecasts Demand for Nearly 44,000 New Airplanes Through 2043 as Air Travel Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Levels Boeing released its Commercial Market Outlook (CMO) for 2024-2043, including an interactive dashboard. CMO forecast highlights through 2043: The global commercial fleet is projected to grow 3.2% annually. The air cargo fleet will increase by two-thirds by 2043, to support 4.1% annual air cargo traffic growth. The number of global routes served by commercial airlines has returned to 2019 levels, even though nearly 20% of them are new, illustrating the adaptability of aviation in a dynamic market. Single-aisle airplanes will make up 71% of the 2043 fleet. The global widebody fleet will more than double, with twin-aisles comprising 44% of the Middle East fleet. It's Opening Week for Two of the World's Largest Airshows EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is July 22 – July 28, 2024. EAA has about 300,000 members worldwide. AirVenture sees more than 500,000 attendees over the week-long event they call The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration®. The Farnborough International Airshow is held every two years, alternating with the Paris Air Show. This year Farnborough is July 22 – July 26, 2024, and targets the global aerospace industry. See Farnborough Air Show 2024 - Preview from the Royal Aeronautical Society. Airbus A321XLR Receives EASA Type Certification The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued Type Certification for the Airbus A321XLR powered by CFM LEAP-1A engines. Airbus has a backlog of over 500 single-aisle A321XLR orders. Iberia is the launch customer and EIS is expected in November 2024. Airbus also has orders from Qantas, Icelandair, and IAG Group. Certification for the Pratt & Whitney GTF variant is to come next. Groups Push Lawmakers To Up FAA's ATC Equipment Budget Twenty-six industry associations sent a letter to the Appropriations Committees, the Senate Commerce Committee, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asking for more ATC modernization funding. The associations represent business and general aviation, airlines, air traffic controllers and specialists, pilots and flight attendants, and manufacturers. The groups note an uncommitted balance in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) that could be used for the FAA's Facilities and Equipment (F&E) account. “We… believe more must be done to not only maintain and sustain the ATC system but also to modernize it.” The Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF), also known as the Aviation Trust Fund, was established in 1970 to help finance the FAA's investments in the airport and airway system, independent of the General Fund. Embraer's Eve rolls out flying taxi prototype, cash needs covered until 2027 Embraer subsidiary Eve Air Mobility revealed their full-scale eVTOL prototype. The fixed-wing aircraft uses eight propellers for vertical flight and an electric pusher motor. The first prototype does not have a cabin or pilot. The final aircraft will seat four passengers and a pilot. Eve was founded in 2020 and plans to obtain certification and enter service in 2026. Five conforming prototypes are planned for 2025. The company says they have letters of intent for 2,900 eVTOLs that seat four passengers and a pilot. Investors include United Airlines, BAE Systems, Thales, and Rolls-Royce. Eve eVTOL protype. JetBlue to Offer Six Months of Unpaid Leave to Flight Attendants, Trim Number of Crew Members On Transatlantic Flights A Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) memo says JetBlue is taking steps to reduce costs. Flight attendants should expect “significantly reduced” flying sched...

May brought a strong economic climate to Virginia, according to the most recent state data. Virginia's general fund revenues rose by 14.2% compared to the same period last year and remain slightly ahead of the revenue forecast included in the budget approved May 13. “With more Virginians working than ever before, Virginia's job market continues to fuel the economic engine of the Commonwealth,” said Gov. Glenn Youngkin. “We are pleased with the underlying strength of Virginia's business climate and job growth, but with inflation at the federal level remaining persistent we will continue to exercise caution in our forecast and...Article LinkSupport the Show.

State budget officials met on May 17, 2024, to finalize state revenue estimates that will be used as guideposts for ongoing FY2025 budget deliberations. The Research Council's Bob Schneider and Craig Thiel provide insights into what the new estimates mean as lawmakers wrap up the budget as well as the budget outlook for Fiscal Year 2026. Scheider said the conference experts delivered a positive outlook, stating that the forecast for the national and state economy was generally good: real GDP, the key metric to monitor the health of the national economy, is expected to continue to grow through the next few years at a normal, healthy rate. Inflation is falling back, though not quite as fast in Michigan as it is nationally; incomes are growing, and Michigan's unemployment rate remains low. The revenue conference, held in January and May each year, brings together the State Treasurer, the Michigan Legislature's top budget advisors and economists who present information on the state and national economy, workforce, wages, the auto industry, and spending patterns by businesses and the public in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The May Revenue Estimating Conference is a key step for state lawmakers in finalizing the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins October 1. Economists and state officials determined that revenue estimates in May showed a slight increase for the state's General Fund and a slight decrease for the School Aid Fund from January estimates. Schneider says the most important takeaway is that revenues continue to grow. Revenues for the state General Fund is expected to grow about 1.5 percent, or just over $200 million. School Aid Fund revenues were adjusted down to about $160 million, or about 1 percent, from January, and that largely reflects slightly slower sales tax growth. "During COVID, people shifted their spending patterns towards goods and 'stuff.' People were buying stuff rather than services. So now, maybe we're seeing a sort of return to normal on that front, which is slowing sales tax growth."

The 2024 race for Northfield Mayor took an interesting turn yesterday when Erica Zweifel, a three-term member of the Northfield City Council from 2009 until she chose to not run in 2020, announced that she is a candidate for the City of Northfield's highest elected office.   Zweifel said as mayor, her priorities would be fiscal […]

 Zweifel announces candidacy for Northfield Mayor; School Board hears '24-'25 General Fund budget presentation; Watermain flushing begins on Sunday 

Today we have a Legislative roundup that includes a $3.4 billion General Fund budget. A North Alabama chef won the Alabama Seafood Cook-Off. An NFL team is helping build girls flag football in Alabama. Jonathan Sobolewski explains the new federal noncompete rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legislative session talk is still on the stalled lottery/casinos package. Biden now only needs Ivey's signature to be on the ballot. House passes General Fund budget. Finding and affording childcare is no easy task. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fiscal and Administrative Services is providing weekly briefings to the Charles County Board of Commissioners on different aspects of the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget.  Throughout the month of April and into early May, Let's Get Fiscal will have weekly "Budget Bite" mini-episodes to give quick overviews of what was presented and what's coming next!  Tune in to this episode to hear about all about the budget presentations on April 23 and April 24, and the budget public hearing on April 24th.  Tune back in next week to hear about Special Revenues Funds (grants, fire & rescue, special programs), recapping the Enterprise funds and discussing any Commissioner Proposed Changes to the Budget.

Fiscal and Administrative services is providing weekly briefings to the Charles County Board of Commissioners on different aspects of the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget.  Throughout the month of April, Let's Get Fiscal will have weekly "Budget Bite" mini-episodes to give quick overviews of what was presented and what's coming next!  Tune in to this episode to hear about the Tuesday, April 16th presentation that discussed the County Administrator's proposed fiscal 2025 general fund proposed budget, our partner agency budget requests, and the capital improvement program. Check back in next week to hear about the April 23rd presentation, and don't forget to block your calendar to attend the public hearing on April 24th!

Acts 4:32-35Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.John 20:19-31When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors on the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” When he said this, he showed them his hands and his sides, and the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. He said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so now I send you.” And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”Now, Thomas (who was called “the Twin”) one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared. So the disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands, and put my fingers in the marks of the nails, and my hands in his side, I will not believe.”A week later, the disciples were again in the house and this time, Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your fingers here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”Now, Jesus did many other signs which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you might have life in his name. If I were to meet Thomas today, I would ask him, which would have been harder for him to believe: What we heard about in this Gospel reading from John or what took place in that reading, later in Acts, Chapter 4.In John's Gospel, immediately following Easter's resurrection, we hear the familiar story about the unfairly infamous “Doubting Thomas” with all of that heavy breathing, behind the locked doors of that hideout of a house. There are Jesus' holey hands and scarred sides. There are those commands to be sent into the world with the authority to forgive the sins of others, at their discretion. And there's that invitation to “not doubt, but believe.” That's a whole lot of hard, holy stuff to take in, to buy, and to make sense of.But it's at least as easy to believe, if you ask me, as what happens later in Acts. Did you hear it? Were you paying attention? Did you consider it with at least as much seriousness as Easter's good news and Thomas' doubts? First, it's worth knowing that “the whole group who believed” as we hear about in Acts, was bigger than just the handful of disciples who saw Jesus in that house with Thomas on Easter Sunday. By the time we get to that Acts reading, thousands had been baptized and had come to believe; believers and followers were being added to the mix every day. And this is what we're told:- The whole group of those thousands who believed were of one heart and soul. (How could that be?)- And not one of them claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. (Can you imagine?)- There was not a needy person among them, as the story goes. They sold their land and houses, and laid the proceeds of it at the feet of the apostles' to be handed out, as any had need, no strings attached. (Call me “Thomas.” I'd need to see it, for myself, to believe it.)Because that sounds like a cult to me. Or socialism, God forbid. Nothing most of us – and the culture surrounding us – are willing to believe or buy into, practice or propagate as faithful capitalists. But there it is, in black and white, lifted up as a model for faithful living, right there in the Word of God.And it makes me wonder if people in the world might have an easier time believing the former – the Gospel good news that the love of God, in Jesus, was more powerful, even, than death – if they could see and experience the latter, from his followers like you and me – that kind of radical, selfless, sacrificial, generosity – I mean. And that's a question we're called to ponder, still.…We were blessed enough to have celebrated a couple of baptisms the last couple of weeks here, in worship – one, each, on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, too. Depending on which service you attended, you may or may not have known that. And, as is customary at Cross of Grace, especially when the family of the baptized and/or a sanctuary full of people who don't usually attend Cross of Grace – or church, generally, for that matter, as is customary on a typical Easter Sunday – we make a deliberate effort at explaining ourselves.What I mean is, we baptize at the back, by the door. We move the baptismal bowl. We encourage everyone to stand and turn to see it. And we explain our reasoning for that is two-fold. First, because baptism is a sign of our invitation, welcome and entry to the Church on this side of heaven. And it's also a sign of our promised welcome into God's heaven, on the other side of eternity. Hence, the doors.And the second reason we turn our attention to the back, is to show that the kind of grace we celebrate, pour out, and promise to one another by way of Holy Baptism, is meant to turn us around, quite literally, in as many ways as we'll allow that to happen. It's meant to change us, utterly. God's love is meant to inspire and transform the way we live and move and breathe in the world – here and now, on this side of heaven, in great gratitude for God's love in our lives and for the sake of the world.…That's what the good news of Easter's grace and love and new life was doing in that room with Thomas and those first disciples – everything was changed and changing. And that's what the good news of Easter's grace and love and new life was doing in the lives of those followers in Acts, just the same – everything was changed and changing, still, for those who wanted in on the action, too.They were so captivated by who they now knew Jesus to be – the Messiah, the Son of God – that they let that good news have its way with every part of their life, as individuals and as a community of faith. They devoted themselves to each other in prayer, fellowship, teaching, worship … and in sharing their money for the good of the cause, too. …Several weeks ago, before we got knee deep into the season of Lent, in preparation for Easter, we engaged some wonderful Holy Conversations as a congregation. Those conversations were about a lot of things – what we've been up to as a family of faith, what we hope to see happen around here in the future, and how we plan to make that happen. And we have some big dreams brewing among us. We heard about building projects, expanding our food pantry ministry, growing our influence in social justice efforts, adding programming for kids and youth, and more.And we'd like to continue those conversations now that we've made it to the other side of Easter. Not in the same way. We won't be hosting special events, happy hours, or luncheons and whatnot, like we did for those Holy Conversations. But we're gearing up to make our General Fund financial commitments in early May, and we want to pray and prepare for that in the context of worship, learning, and service on the other side of the empty tomb – like Thomas and the first disciples; like the apostles and the throngs of the faithful, changed by Easter's good news and wanting to change the world with the same kind of grace, generosity, love, mercy and forgiveness they had experienced, in Jesus.That's God's call and my hope for all of us, every day that we live on the other side of Easter – that we'll be so captivated by the grace and blessing of God's love for the world, that we'll return the favor as much as we're able by sharing ourselves and our resources for the sake of what's so unique about the ministry we share in this place, for the sake of the communities we serve.And our ministry is uniquely beautiful as far as churches go in our community. I'm talking about our wide, sincere welcome of all people – and especially the LGBTQ neighbors among us. And I'm talking about our food pantry, our teaching about and our doing of justice for those others ignore, and our generosity when we get it right. (We have 25 grant applications to review for the $50,000 we get to give away from our Building and Outreach Fund.)…After that baptism on Palm Sunday, one of the family members of the newly baptized little boy came looking for me to very deliberately thank me for whatever I had preached that day and, generally, for the spirit of welcome and grace and whatever else he felt by being here. He lives out west, so won't be back anytime soon, but he could see and feel something different about this placed than is true in so many other churches out there in the world. You all deserve to know that just as much as I do.…Like Thomas, sometimes you just have to see and experience it to believe it. So, I'm praying we're all paying attention. And, like the early Church in Acts – growing and giving and sharing their resources and themselves – I'm hopeful we'll all get in on the action in the days ahead, because I know others will be drawn to and inspired by what we're up to when they see and experience the kind of grace we proclaim, right along with us, just the same.Amen

Let's talk about a new way to allocate resources for Portland. Maria Sipin is working with the Community Budgeting for All campaign and they just launched a petition drive to get participatory budgeting (PB) on the November 2024 ballot in Portland. They want to take 2% of the city's General Fund (about $15.6 million) and put it in the hands of everyday people. In this conversation, you'll learn what PB is and how it's different than the traditional, top-down budgeting process.Links:https://www.communitybudgetingforall.com/

Nate Benefield, Senior VP at the Commonwealth Foundation joins Dawn LIVE! Nate expands on the recent Commonwealth report expanding on the Shapiro budget, and the deficit that PA residents could face long after Gov. Shapiro's stint as Governor...  From the report: Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a $48.3 billion 2024–25 General Fund budget, a $3 billion or 7.1 percent spending increase compared to last year's ongoing general fund spending.The proposal overestimates revenue growth and underestimates spending growth compared to projections from the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO), meaning deficits under Shapiro's plan may be even higher than projected.Shapiro's budget would balloon the structural deficit to more than $6 billion. His proposed series of startling increases and new initiatives would empty Pennsylvania's checking account and illegally raid the Rainy Day Fund, necessitating a tax hike of more than $2,000 per family of four.Pennsylvania's aging population and the persistent, troubling outmigration of its working-age residents present long-term budgetary challenges for policymakers. Shapiro's budget, as proposed, fails to address our economic competitiveness, exacerbating these trends. Nathan (Nate) Benefield is the Senior Vice President at the Commonwealth Foundation.An Ohio native, Nate holds an undergraduate degree in political science and economics and a master's degree in public service management from DePaul University in Chicago. He also completed his doctoral studies (ABD) in political science at Loyola University, also in Chicago. Nate joined the Commonwealth Foundation in 2005. Now as senior vice president, he provides strategic leadership as well as operational oversight spanning policy analysis, government relations, marketing, and communications. Tune in 10 AM - 12 PM EST weekdays on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT; or on the Audacy app!

Over the past decade Arizona's population and economy have grown rapidly, but more recent data suggests this pace is slowing. Today the state is facing the end of its fastest period of revenue and spending growth ever – over the past five years, General Fund revenue collections have grown 52%, while spending has increased by over two-thirds (to $17.8 billion this year). In October, the Arizona Legislature's Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) – a nonpartisan body tasked with forecasting State revenue collections – projected a cumulative $1.0 billion General Fund cash deficit over the next three fiscal years. The last time the state was in this position was in 2015, following years of tepid revenue growth after the Great Recession and during the peak of K-12 formula funding litigation. How did this happen, and how did it happen so quickly? Host and National Chairman of CSI Earl Wright welcomes President & CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry Danny Seiden and CSI Arizona's Director of Policy and Research Glenn Farley to discuss the issue's origins, its history, and its possible solutions.  Thank you for listening to Common Sense Digest. Please rate, review, and subscribe on your favorite podcatcher. All of our podcasts can be found here.

The month of November was dominated by talk about the inadequacy of state funding for K-12 education in Oregon. It was a primary reason cited by Portland Public Schools as they navigated negotiations with their teachers' union, and also by Salem-Kaiser as it announced SKPS would be enacting $30 million in reductions immediately. School funding is a very complex issue, so it's not surprising that it is one where solutions can be a bit elusive. Governor Kotek has committed to deeply studying and bringing more transparency to how Oregon funds schools in the coming year, which is welcome news.  In the meantime, we have created a six-page document with graphs and narrative content that highlights some of the key features of Oregon's funding for schools over time, how HSD spends its money, our current costs, and the various ways we demonstrate both fiscal responsibility and stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Find this and more information on the Budget Matters page of our website. We do not currently anticipate any mid-year reductions to our budget in 2023-24, and the State's December Economic and Revenue Forecast supports that belief. That said, costs for our district continue to escalate and we will be keeping that in mind as we develop a balanced budget for the 2024-25 school year next spring.  Legislators again received positive financial news, as the Forecast showed another surge in revenue that is projected to generate an additional $343.5 million in net general fund and lottery resources for the 2023-25 biennium. That said, the State's revenue outlook appears to have stabilized. The revenue boom seen during the 2021 tax year is unlikely to be repeated, with collections expected to revert back to their long-term trends. Traditional gains in General Fund collections are expected to resume in the 2025-27 biennium and beyond. As we look ahead to the short Legislative Session in 2024, we are hopeful that resources will be allocated to summer learning programs, which have proven to be immensely helpful to HSD students as we continue to recover from the pandemic and work to ensure students have the supports they need to be successful in school.  Our featured students are our Downtown Marketing summer interns. One of the many exciting aspects of HSD's Career and College Pathways program is the opportunity for students to participate in paid summer internships. The Downtown Marketing internship matches students with local businesses in downtown Hillsboro to help them modernize their approach to communications and marketing. Students counsel business owners on how to utilize social media, refresh their messaging, and update graphics to reach their intended audiences and expand sales of goods and services. HSD's Downtown Marketing summer interns presented their findings to the Workforce Development team and partners at the Civic Center. Their presentation secured a budget from the City of Hillsboro, ensuring their project's continuation through the school year and summer of 2024. Way to go, students! You make us Proud to be HSD! Hot News is produced and emailed to HSD families and staff each week school is in session. Please add the address to your “safe sender” list to make sure you always receive the latest issue. Please also bookmark our district website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hsd.k12.or.us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to stay informed about what's happening in our district and schools.

On this Election 2023 re-air, Crystal chats with Teresa Mosqueda about her campaign for King County Council District 8 - why she decided to run, the experience and lessons she'll bring to the County from serving on Seattle City Council, and her thoughts on addressing progressive revenue options, public service wage equity and morale, housing and homelessness, public safety, transit rider experience, climate change, and budget transparency. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Teresa Mosqueda at @TeresaCMosqueda.   Teresa Mosqueda As a Progressive Labor Democrat, Teresa Mosqueda is committed to creating healthy and safe communities, investing in working families through job training, childcare and transit access, and developing more affordable housing for all residents. She brings a proven track record of successfully passing progressive policies and building broad and inclusive coalitions. Teresa was named one of Seattle's Most Influential People 2018 for acting with urgency upon getting elected, received the Ady Barkan Progressive Champion Award from Local Progress in 2019; and earned national attention by leading the passage of JumpStart progressive revenue to invest in housing, economic resilience, green new deal investments, and equitable development. Prior to elected office Teresa worked on community health policies from SeaMar to the Children's Alliance, and championed workers' rights at the WA State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, where she helped lead state's minimum wage increase, paid sick leave, farmworker protections, workplace safety standards, and launched the Path to Power candidate training with the AFL-CIO.   Resources Campaign Website - Teresa Mosqueda   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I am very excited today to have joining us - current Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who is a candidate for King County Council District 8, which covers Seattle - including West Seattle, South Park, Georgetown, Chinatown International District, and First Hill - as well as Burien, part of Tukwila, and unincorporated King County - in White Center and Vashon Island. Welcome to the program - welcome back. [00:01:22] Teresa Mosqueda: Thank you so much for having me back - I appreciate it. [00:01:25] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. So I guess the first question is - what made you decide to run for King County Council after being on the Seattle City Council? [00:01:35] Teresa Mosqueda: I've been really, really honored to be able to serve the full City of Seattle - 775,000 residents at this point - to be able to pass progressive policies like progressive revenue through JumpStart, Green New Deal and affordable housing that it was funding, to be able to quadruple the investments in affordable housing, to expand worker protections. But the truth is, we know that much of the population that I was elected by - the folks that I really center in my public policy - also work and have family outside of the City of Seattle. And in many ways, I want to build on what I've been able to accomplish in Seattle - investments in affordable housing, investments in new career pathways, good union jobs, to expand on the childcare and working family supports that I've centered in my work on City Council. But in order to reach the broader population of working families who are just outside of Seattle's borders but may work in Seattle and come in and out of the City - I want to create greater equity and stability across our region - the County is the place to do it. And in terms of stability, the County is the only place that has purview over public health, has the purse strings for behavioral health investments. And so if I want to complement efforts to try to house folks and create long-term housing stability, especially for our most vulnerable community members, the County is the place to do that - through investments in behavioral health, by sitting on the Public Health Board, by being directly involved in the budget that has purview over public health and behavioral health investments. I see it as an extension of my work at the City to create housed and healthy communities. And it actually goes full circle back to my roots where I started my career in community health. It is exciting opportunity, and I see it as a growth and expansion of the work that we've done in Seattle. [00:03:24] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. You talk about progressive revenue - the JumpStart Tax, which is a really, really important source of revenue that has been so helpful for businesses in the City, for residents, so many people in need - and has been a benefit to the City, especially in this time of a budget downturn in that the JumpStart Tax helped to bail out a budget shortfall there. So this revenue seemed to come just in time. You had to fight for it. You led the fight for it. What lessons do you take out of that fight to the County, and what progressive revenue options are there at the county level that you would be willing to pursue? [00:04:05] Teresa Mosqueda: I think one major lesson is how I've approached building these big progressive policies that have not only earned the majority of votes, but the vast majority - if not unanimous vote sometimes - that have withstood the test of time, have not been overturned, and have not been overturned by legislative councilmatic action nor by the courts. I will take with me to King County the ability to build these broad coalitions. And think about JumpStart - who was there when we launched it? It was ironworkers and hardhats, along with business entrepreneurs from both small and large business, with community and housing advocates standing collectively together to say - We will not only stand by this progressive revenue, we will stand by it knowing that it's five times the amount of the previous policy and it's twice as long. That's a huge effort that took place to try to get people on the same page, and we had to - with growing income inequality, growing needs, an increase in our population. There was no other option. This had to succeed, and so I will take that same approach to King County Council. So much is on the needs list right now in the "wake" of the global pandemic. We have the ongoing shadow pandemic. We have increased needs for mental health and community health investments. We have increased needs for food security and housing stability. There is not an alternative. We must invest more and we must do it in a way that withstands the test of time, like I've done on Seattle City Council. So for me, it's the how I bring people together that I will bring to King County Council. And I think it's also the what - not being afraid to push the envelope on what's possible. Many people said it was impossible to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights - and we got sued, and we won. People said it was impossible to legislate having hotel workers get access to guaranteed healthcare at the gold level, protections from retaliation, maximum workload. We not only passed that in legislation, but we withstood that in the court. And the same is true of JumpStart. We withstood multiple litigation attempts to try to take away JumpStart, and it's withstood the test of time. And I'm excited to see what else we can do in a city that sees so much growth but incredible inequity across our region - to bring people together to address these pressing needs. [00:06:24] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. You talked about housing and homelessness, and one thing called out by experts as a barrier to our homelessness response is that frontline worker wages don't cover their cost of living. Do you believe our local service providers, a lot of whom are nonprofits, have a responsibility to pay living wages for the area? And how can we make that more likely with how we bid and contract for services at the county level? [00:06:54] Teresa Mosqueda: Yeah, two things I would say. One is - absolutely, we need to make sure that folks who are working on the frontline as human service providers - think folks who are the counselors to youth, or people who have mental health or substance abuse needs that we need to help address so that they can get stably housed, think about services to our vets and seniors. These are workers on the frontline who rely on relationships and have skills, expertise in the human service category. They need to have investments in these deeply needed services. And in order for us to create greater stability, we need to be paying them living wages. I say "we" - because this is not about the nonprofits needing to pay them more. It is about we, the public entities, needing to increase our contracts to these organizations who then employ people to be on the frontline. For better or worse, we have a human services system that has largely relied on contracting out critical services that are arguably public services. They are supported by public dollars, and we, public officials, have a responsibility to pay those organizations enough so that they can invest in the wages for frontline workers. That is what I have tried to do at Seattle City Council. The first year that I came in at Seattle City Council, the Human Services Coalition came to me and said - We have not had a cost of living increase in 10 years. To not have a COLA in 10 years for most workers in our region and across the country is unheard of, but it's especially unheard of for the very folks on the frontline trying to address the most pressing crisis in our country right now - and that is housing instability and homeless services. So we worked in 2019, and we passed the Human Services cost of living adjustment - that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what needs to be addressed. The historic and chronic underfunding of these positions still needs to be addressed. We are not going to be able to close this gap of 40, 50, 60% turnover in our critical organizational partners, organizations, if we don't address the wage stability issue. So I think actually going to the County and bringing that experience of having worked directly with the human service providers and hearing their stories about why it was so critical not only to have a cost of living adjustment, but to get at this chronic underfunding is going to be really coming at a pivotal moment. Seattle does have a cost of living adjustment. I want to bring that cost of living adjustment to King County and collectively with Seattle, I want to work to address the underpayment for human service providers as well. [00:09:26] Crystal Fincher: There's been a lot of action when it comes to addressing housing and homelessness from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to new legislation, and potentially even more legislation coming out through the end of this legislative session. We're currently recording this in mid-April, so it may come out a little bit further when there's a definitive answer for everything that happens. But amid a lot of this work that is currently being implemented or has just been authorized, there's a lot in process but still seemingly a lot more that needs to be done. What would your top priorities be to make a noticeable and meaningful difference in both homelessness and housing affordability if you're elected to this position? [00:10:11] Teresa Mosqueda: Resources for housing is critically needed across King County. Resources will help local jurisdictions be able to implement the new requirements that are going to be coming forth from our State Legislature, which - I want to thank our State legislative members - every year they go to Olympia and every year we ask them to be bold - be bold on housing solutions, recognizing that housing is the solution to being houseless. Housing helps people who have multiple compounding factors get healthy, get stable, and be productive members of our community. Housing is the solution to this biggest crisis that we see, not only in Seattle and King County, up and down the West Coast, but across our entire country. We have not built enough housing to house our current population plus the population who will continue to come to our region. So one of the things that I think I can take to the County is the desire to make sure that local jurisdictions, whether it's Burien or Tukwila, or unincorporated areas like in Vashon and Maury Island or in White Center - that they have resources as well to help build the type of housing that's being requested from the State Legislature - to do so in accordance with their Comprehensive Plan so that people can implement it in the time frame that works for those local jurisdictions, but to help them take away the barrier of not having enough resources. Seattle is unique in that we have pushed forward different resources. We have different types of tax revenues - thanks to JumpStart, for example - but in areas that don't have those type of resources, I hope the County can continue to be a good partner, in addition to the state, to build the type of diverse housing that we're now going to be required to build and hopefully we can do even more. The State Legislature is actually creating a new floor. We should be building upon that, and where we can go higher and denser - that is good for the local environment, it is good for the local economy, it's good for the health of workers and small businesses. And it's what I've heard from Vashon Island to Tukwila - people have said, "We don't have enough workforce housing." Small business owners have said, "I don't have enough workers in this area because they can't afford to live here." So I want to hopefully break down misperceptions about what type of housing we're talking about. We're talking about housing for seniors and vets, kiddos, youth, workers. We're talking about supporting the creation of that housing with additional revenue - that's one of the things I'd like to bring to the County. And to also recognize that when we have diverse economies that are prosperous, it's because workers can live next to their place of employment. Workers can walk to their childcare. We don't have time to spend two hours in the car commuting back and forth - that's not good for our health, our family's health, and it sure isn't good for the health of our planet. So it's a win-win-win, and I think that's something that I can really bring in as a County Councilmember - the knowledge that these local jurisdictions want to do more, but sometimes are limited with their resources. And wherever I can, I want to help step up and provide that support. [00:13:08] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Public safety has also been an area where the County continues to make a lot of news, has a lot of responsibility - they operate a jail, and that has itself made a lot of news. Over the past couple years throughout the pandemic, some of the employees of the jails - the guards - other people, the Public Defenders Association have called out overcrowding conditions, unsafe conditions in the jail. There's been times where the jail has not had clean water, several illness outbreaks, people not being treated correctly. It seems to be a really bad situation. Recently, the King County Council just voted to extend a contract to rent additional beds from a SCORE facility in Des Moines. This, during a backdrop of events where the King County Executive has made a promise to close the King County Jail, but it seems like we're getting further away from that, or at least not getting closer to that. Would you have voted to extend the SCORE contract? And should we close the jail? What is your vision for the short term? [00:14:17] Teresa Mosqueda: I think that the move to close down a jail that's both outdated and unsafe is not only good for the inmates, it's good for the folks who are working there. I think this is another example of where there's a false perception of sides. People who work within the jail, as well as those who are incarcerated, have expressed their not only horror when seeing mold and deterioration of the building, but it is extremely unsafe as well - as you mentioned - due to overcrowding. There's a few things that I think we can do. Number one, we should address upstream - who was being sent to these facilities in the first place. In a presentation that the Seattle City Council received from the City Attorney's Office, there was a large number of people who were initially booked and jailed, and ultimately were released because there was no grounds to put forward charges. And I think we need to stop the habit or the practice of putting folks in that situation to begin with. Even if they are not incarcerated for long periods of time, the fact that people are being jailed - especially youth - creates consequences down the road, mental health consequences, consequences for your housing, for your livelihood, your employment. And the negative impact of just being booked in the first place - both for the physical health of somebody, but also the trajectory of their life - is quantifiable. It is known, and we should stop that practice early. I agree with the effort to move folks into a situation that is healthier, but I also want to continue to look at how we can reduce the chance that someone is ever incarcerated in the first place, invest more in restorative justice practices. I'm optimistic by some of the conversations I've heard from folks in the community, specifically in Burien, about the ways in which some of the initial conversations have taken place with the Burien City Police Chief Ted Boe, and some of the commitments that have been made to try to look at restorative justice differently. And I think that holistically we need to look at what leads someone to be in that situation in the first place and back up to see what additional community investments we can be making so that people can have greater access to economic security, community safety, and reduce the chance that someone ever interacts with the carceral system to begin with. [00:16:40] Crystal Fincher: What do you think, or for people who are considering this voting decision and who are looking around and who are feeling unsafe, and who are not quite sure what the right direction is to move forward, or what can be done but feel like something should be done - what is your message to them? And what can make us all safer? [00:17:01] Teresa Mosqueda: There's a few things that I think have really come to light, especially during the pandemic. We tell people to stay home to stay healthy. Well, if people don't have a home, they can't stay healthy. If we can think about the increased situation where many of us have probably seen loved ones in our lives - whether it's family members or friends - who have turned to substances to cope, to self-medicate with the stress, the trauma, the isolation that has only increased during the pandemic. I hope there's greater empathy across our community and across our country for why people may be self-medicating to begin with. And I think if we think about these recent examples of where we have seen people become more unstable in their housing situation or turn to substances because of increasing stress and pressure, that hopefully there's greater empathy for why it is so critical that we invest upstream. It is not an either/or - it's creating greater balance with how we invest in community safety, in what we know equals the social determinants of health. When we invest in housing, it helps reduce the chance that someone is going to engage in criminal activities later in life. When we invest in early learning, in job opportunities, in youth interactive programs, when we invest in even gun reduction and youth violence reduction strategies, it helps create healthier individuals and healthier populations, reduce the chance that someone ever interacts with an officer to begin with. These are public safety investments, and they shouldn't be seen as a separate silo from "traditional safety." It actually saves lives, and there's a huge return on investment when we make some of these upstream program policies a priority. I think it actually creates healthier communities, and for those who are looking at it through the economic lens, healthier economies - knowing that that return on investment has been proven time and time again. And it's good for individuals and community health as well. [00:19:02] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, there's a shortage of workers across the board - certainly King County is included in this shortage of county workers in several areas, including in many front-line positions that impact public safety - maintenance, care, health - all of those that are crucial to delivering services and help that the residents of the County need. We've seen hiring, retention, and referral bonuses for public safety employees. Do you think we should be considering those for other employees? [00:19:39] Teresa Mosqueda: Absolutely. This is part of the conversation that I raised while at Seattle City Council. There is, I think, a detrimental impact to workplace morale across public servants when we're not uniformly treating people the same. It's not what I feel, it's not that that's my perception - that's actually coming from workers within the City of Seattle who completed a survey that our Human Resources Department, in addition to Seattle Police Department and other Seattle agencies, completed to ask, "What would you like to see? How would you feel if certain employees got a hiring bonus or retention bonus?" And overwhelmingly, workers in public service said that they thought that this would hurt morale - if existing public servants weren't treated the same. I mentioned that in the Human Services category, there's a 40% to 60% turnover rate for our nonprofit organizations who are helping folks on the frontline. There's a huge turnover rate, as well, within our Human Services Department - we've had to freeze the hiring, and reduce hours, and reduce positions. Public libraries, community centers are front-facing programs for the community during COVID and we are slowly starting to scale those back up, but they're nowhere at capacity right now. And what workers themselves have said within the City of Seattle is - they want to see greater strategies for retention. Investments in childcare keeps coming up. Investments in more affordable housing keeps coming up. And if you want to look specifically at the Seattle Police Department, the officers themselves said that they did not think that hiring bonuses was the way to address retention and morale issues - that played out in their comments in the press, as well as the survey results that we saw. I think that there's a more equitable approach that we should be taking. I think that we should be looking at how we recruit and train and incentivize people to come to public service overall, whether that means you're coming in to work as a firefighter or a police officer, or whether that means that we want to recruit you to be serving the public in libraries or as a lifeguard - which we don't have enough of - or as a childcare provider, which we don't have enough of. We should be looking across the board at these public service programs and figuring out ways to both address retention and morale, and to do so equitably. And to listen to what workers have said - they want housing, they want childcare, they want regular and routine transit. And they want us to, especially within the City of Seattle, address disparity in wages for folks of color and women compared to their counterparts. Those are some things that I think we should be taking on more seriously. [00:22:17] Crystal Fincher: Definitely. Now, you talk about people saying they want regular and routine transit. Lots of people want that. Lots of people - more importantly - need that, are relying on that. And there's been lots of talk about the rider experience around safety on transit, but also about the availability and accessibility of service and all-day service - not just some of those commuter-centric commute-time service bumps that we've seen. What would your approach to Metro be as a councilmember? [00:22:50] Teresa Mosqueda: So I appreciate that you raise safety because it is an issue that comes up for riders as well as the drivers. Members of ATU, who drive buses around King County, have expressed increased concern around their safety. Whether they're driving in the day or night - given COVID has increased interpersonal violence across our country, they are on the receiving end of that as well. So I'm excited to talk with ATU, with members who have been out on the frontline as our bus drivers, as well as riders to talk about how we can improve safety for everyone. That is - again, on the preventative side, trying to figure out ways that structurally and through public policy we can ensure that riders and drivers are safe. There's also two things that drivers have talked to me about and folks within King County Metro. They say there's a lot of focus on new routes and how do we expand routes - routes, routes, routes - which I also agree with. But they've also brought up that we need to continue to invest in the people, maintenance, and operation to make sure that there's enough people to be working on existing routes and new routes to come. Similar to housing, we don't want to just build units. We want to make sure that for those who need personnel in those units to make sure that folks stay stably housed, we're investing in the workforce to ensure that that housing, that that unit is successful. We need to be looking at investments in the workforce, recruiting folks to come to these good living wage union jobs, and to be thinking about how we improve retention and stability as well. And for as far as maintenance is concerned - thinking more about how we can invest in greener fleets, greener maintenance opportunities, and ensure that those vehicles are running well and routinely. So those are two of the things that have come directly from the frontline drivers themselves. And then more broadly - workers. You mentioned all-day services. I would also argue all-night services to the degree that we can add additional stops, because many of the childcare providers who are coming in early in the morning, construction workers who are coming in early in the morning, janitors who might be going out late at night, talk about how they have to rely on vehicles because there are not times that the buses are showing up to get them to work and back home in time. So I think that it's multi-prong. But again, I think the common ground here is that the workers in this sector are agreeing with the recipients of the service. And collectively, I'm hoping that we can address safety, workforce needs, and increase routes as well. [00:25:23] Crystal Fincher: Definitely, and I really appreciate you bringing up the workforce needs. I know a couple people who use transit regularly but ended up getting vehicles because of the unpredictable cancellations due to staff shortages, whether it's maintenance or drivers, just making it unreliable to get to work on time. And already the time taken to commute that way is a lot, so that would improve the experience greatly - definitely appreciate that. Transit is also very, very important to achieving our climate goals. And by most measures, we're behind on our 2030 climate goals - while we're experiencing devastating impacts from climate change, including extreme heat and cold, wildfires, floods. What are your highest-priority plans to get us on track to meet our 2030 climate goals? [00:26:17] Teresa Mosqueda: One thing might surprise folks in that category - probably not a huge surprise for folks who have heard me talk before - but I think if we can invest in additional housing, dense housing across our region, it will actually reduce CO2 emissions. And it's really common sense, right? We are the third-highest mega-commuter city or region in the nation. We have more people who are commuting back and forth to work than most of the country. And the reason is because they can't afford to find a house near their place of employment. If CO2 emissions from cars - single-occupancy cars - is the number-one contributor to pollution in our region, I believe that is at the top of our list for helping to reduce our carbon footprint across the country and across the globe. We should be increasing density. We should see it not only as a good economic stimulant, what's right to do for workers and working families, but it is one of the best things that we could also do for our climate. I think that there's - again, a misperception or a false divide between folks who are environmentalists and want to see more trees, and their perception that additional housing or density takes that away. It does not. We can both create setbacks for higher buildings and use the airspace to create living opportunities, while we plant additional trees and preserve old growth. I've gone to at least three ribbon-cutting ceremonies for Habitat for Humanity, who created - basically - townhouses connected altogether. We don't have a lot of row houses in Seattle, but row houses, if you will, around trees created in the shape of a U with old-growth trees in the middle - allowing for greater shade, and a play area for kiddos, and a place to sit for elders. It is very much possible to build dense housing options and preserve old growth while planting new trees. So I think in addition to creating density, we can plant more trees. We can do more to incentivize good living-wage jobs in industries that are cleaner. I heard from our friends in Georgetown Community Center that they had to beg and plead for one of the local industries to incorporate more greener options for a glass manufacturer down there. And we should simultaneously be seeing the opportunity to promote good jobs as a requirement for also promoting good green jobs. And I worked very hard with members of both the environmental community and the labor community in the past to push Just Transition policies - to ensure that as we transition to greener economies or greener manufacturing strategies, that we're preserving good living-wage jobs and, even better, preserving good union living-wage jobs. So I look forward to making sure that we have denser cities, that we have greener cities, and that we have greener industries. [00:29:13] Crystal Fincher: Now, King County does incremental budgeting, making it more challenging for people to understand how county funds are allocated in a base budget. The budget is known as one of your areas of strength. What do you think can be done to make the budget process easier for the public to understand and influence at the county level? [00:29:35] Teresa Mosqueda: I've been really proud of what we've been able to accomplish in Seattle. And coming from working the halls of Olympia on behalf of the Washington State Labor Council for eight years and then for three years before that with the Children's Alliance, I was used to this concept of having these biennial budgets that needed to be seen in full, that you could see the red line to know what was the investment from last year versus the upcoming year. Unfortunately, the City of Seattle doesn't have such a budget document. It's basically like single pages - page after page of narrative descriptions of what the dollars will do. That's fine for some budget notes, but what I think we are working towards in the City of Seattle - a preview for folks who love budget talk - is we're going to one day have a true biennial budget and an actual budget document where you will be able to see the red line, either additions or subtractions to specific programs so that everyone knows what is being invested in, how funding is changing, and where priorities are showing up in the budget. I am excited about being able to build on that work that I've done in Seattle, especially as Budget Chair, in some of the most pressing economic times in recent history, starting in 2020. And have been able to not only allocate millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, but also to create greater transparency in how we budget. One of the things that I think is maybe misunderstood out there is the way in which we've helped to provide transparency in the entire budget, but specifically the Seattle Police Department. It had not been exposed year-over-year that Seattle Police Department actually had about $40 million that was rolling over year-over-year on top of funding that the chief, that the mayor, that the department had acknowledged they could not use. And in a time where we saw an economic crisis on the horizon, growing needs in our community, and knew that that was $40 million that was not going to be put to use, not going into direct services for the community - and for those who wanted to see additional officers, wasn't even going to be able to use to increase the hiring plan. It's good budgeting to be able to make sure that that funding is transparently accounted for in the General Fund - and where we can deploy it to things like food, housing, childcare, economic security for small businesses that we do so. That's something I'm really proud of - that we were able to show what the full picture was, not only for that department, but for all departments. And to make some important investments in mental health services, behavioral health services, youth violence, gun violence reduction strategies - things that similarly invest in community safety, but we were able to show where those line items move. I will bring to King County Council the ability to structurally push for greater transparency for members of the public, encourage us as the legislative branch to own the separate but equal branch of government that the council is as the legislative branch, and ensure that the public has an opportunity to dive into the proposal that comes from the executive, just like the proposal that comes from the governor to the State Legislature. You receive that, you dissect it, you talk to community about what it means - and then ultimately the legislative branch reconvenes, reconfigures the budget, and presents it to the executive for a signature. It's good governance, it's good transparency. I think it's understandable from folks across whatever political spectrum - it's important to have budget transparency and accountability, and that's what I've been able to accomplish in the City of Seattle. [00:33:02] Crystal Fincher: It is, and I think there are a number of people, especially listeners to Hacks & Wonks, who do enjoy budget conversations, who would definitely look forward to more budget transparency at the County level, like you've been working towards at the City level. As we close here and as people are going to be making the decision about who they're going to be voting for for this County Council position, what is your message to voters and people listening about why they should choose you? [00:33:30] Teresa Mosqueda: I'm very thrilled to be in this race for King County Council. I think I have not only proven that I'm an effective legislator at the council level, but that I know how to center folks who have been left out of policy conversations in the room, but more importantly - follow the lead of those who've experienced the injustices over the years. We have been able to move historic, monumental, national-headline-grabbing policies within the City of Seattle in my now going into six years in Seattle City Council. And it has been done, I believe, in a collaborative way, in a way that has made transformational change, and in a way that I think has always centered - been centered on my progressive commitments to investing in working families, folks of color, and the LGBTQ community, workers to ensure that there's greater opportunity and prosperity. And creating housing and stability - that is something that is good for our entire community. I do this work because it's all about how we create healthy communities. You have to have investments in good living wage jobs and housing stability and opportunity education to have self-determination and control over your own life and your own decisions. And I think through public policy, through investments with public resources, we can create greater opportunity across our county. I am excited, as well, to be coming to this race as a woman, as a Latina, as a Chicana - poised to be the first Latina ever elected to King County Council. And with a King County population that is made up of half people of color and a quarter immigrant and refugee, it is critical that we have more voices with folks who have the lived experience coming from communities of color serving in these positions. I think that's why I've been able to effectively and efficiently move policy through so quickly - because I have put at the front of the line many of the community members who are often left out of policy discussions. I hope to bring in my commitment to working with folks who are workers, women, folks of color, members of the LGBTQ community to hear more about what we can do at King County Council. I know I have big shoes to step into with Councilmember McDermott and his commitment to public health, working with the LGBTQ community, his tenure in the State Legislature - and I'm also excited to add to that and serve our broader region and our growing needs. [00:35:59] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much, Councilmember Mosqueda, for spending this time with us today and having this conversation. Sincerely appreciate it, and we'll certainly be following your campaign eagerly over the next several months. Thank you. [00:36:13] Teresa Mosqueda: Thank you so much - I appreciate it. [00:36:15] Crystal Fincher: Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is co-produced by Shannon Cheng and Bryce Cannatelli. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Today, on the Hudson Mohawk Magazine: We begin with Mark Dunlea's interview of Doug Bullock regarding The Annual Solidarity Committee of the Capital District potluck picnic. Then, roaming labor correspondent Willie Terry interviews historian Paul Cole to discuss Kate Mullany and the historic site named after her. Later on, Dr. Xavier Coughlin of People's Health Sanctuary answers what IS Healing Day? After that, Angela Beallor reports on the Timber report "Damaging Trends in Troy's General Fund, 2000-2023." Finally, we introduce you to the Sanctuary's new staff member: our volunteer coordinator through VISTA, Marshall Hildereth.

Timber recently published a report "Damaging Trends in Troy's General Fund, 2000-2023." Angela Beallor sat down with Timber Co-director Greg Campbell-Cohen to find out more about Timber, to discuss the findings of this study, and their recommendations for the City of Troy. The report can be found here: https://timbercorp.org/positions/ib-rdtgf

On this Primary Week re-air, Crystal chats with Becka Johnson Poppe about her campaign for King County Council District 4 - why she decided to run, the skill set she brings from overseeing half of King County's $16 billion budget, and her thoughts on addressing human services sector wages, issues plaguing the King County Jail, housing and homelessness, drug possession and substance use disorder, climate change and air quality, and budget transparency and efficiency. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Becka Johnson Poppe at @votebecka.   Becka Johnson Poppe Becka has been putting progressive ideas into action across our region's largest public entities for more than a decade. Currently, Becka oversees half of King County's $16 billion budget and leads a team that works to advance environmental, transportation, and racial justice priorities. Previously, at the University of Washington, she promoted equitable access to higher education and led state budget and policy analysis as the Director of Policy, Planning & State Operations. Becka volunteers as a Director on the Board of YouthCare, working to end youth homelessness, and chairs the Race Equity Justice Committee.  She also volunteers on the Board of Doney Coe Pet Clinic, supporting the animal companions of people experiencing homelessness. Becka is an elected Precinct Committee Officer, a member of the Jackson Foundation Leadership Council, and has served on the King County Democrats Endorsement Committee.  She previously worked in mental health research for Stanford University and has mentored students from diverse communities over the last two decades. In her free time, Becka enjoys traveling with her spouse and their cat, Edgar, as well as spending time outdoors and cheering on the Mariners.   Resources Campaign Website - Becka Johnson Poppe   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I'm very pleased to have King County Council candidate Becka Johnson Poppe joining us today. Welcome to the show. [00:01:01] Becka Johnson Poppe: Thank you so much, Crystal. It's really nice to be here. [00:01:04] Crystal Fincher: Great to be here with you. So I guess just starting off - what made you choose to run for this King County Council position? [00:01:12] Becka Johnson Poppe: Thank you. Yeah, so I've lived in District 4 for over a decade. I was born and raised here in the Puget Sound region. I'm the granddaughter of two veterans, daughter of two public servants - and they really taught me what it meant to be tough and what it meant to serve the community. Growing up, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew that I wanted to take care of my community. I studied biology and psychology in college and spent a couple of years doing mental health research at Stanford after that. While I was there, I volunteered as an after-school program leader in a low-income community - and between my work and my volunteering - I saw a lot of challenges that people were facing with navigating mental health issues, economic injustice, the first effects of climate change, and really all the societal structures and policies that do an unfortunately impressive job of inhibiting social mobility and access to basic services. In many cases, the only thing keeping people afloat was having a supportive community around them. And that really hit home for me - I realized I wanted to get back to my community and work on these issues back at home. I am honored to be part of this community in District 4 and in King County. There are a lot of incredibly dedicated, creative, supportive people who have made careers out of finding ways to make the world a better place - and like I said, the community that you have around you can really make all the difference. A dear friend of mine was living out of their car in King County not that long ago, and I think about them when I think about the 50,000 people who were unhoused in King County last year. I think that there are moments in life that many of us have had where you can see how close you are to going from making it work to not making it work. For a little while, I was working three jobs and had a bank account with two digits. I had tons of support around me, so I was fine - but I was in a precarious spot and if I hadn't had that support, it could have looked really different. I think that there is so much work that needs to be done to create communities that truly support each other. I think we can all agree we have a housing crisis, a behavioral health crisis, a climate crisis - and to take on these issues, we need someone who can bring people together and make progress right out of the gate. So over the last decade, I've led budgets and policy development for some of the region's largest public entities. I've gone from a bank account with two digits to overseeing half of King County's $16 billion budget. Really, a budget is about our values - it's about our priorities and how we make those real, and that's a unique skill set that I bring. I really see three priorities connecting everything that the County does - protecting the environment, advancing equity, and stimulating the economy. These three E's - the environment, equity, and the economy - all intersect, and I'm really committed to centering our community's voices and our community's needs, because I've seen firsthand what that looks like and what that can do. I think we really have an opportunity to show the state and the rest of the nation what it means to be a community that is diverse and inclusive and dedicated to solving the most complex issues. King County is bigger than 15 states, and so we have the opportunity and the responsibility to lead in taking on the existential threat of climate change, and creating more housing that's affordable for more people, in delivering universal childcare, improving our transportation experience. And all of this is going to take centering the voices of people most affected, creating accessible career pathways with family-sustaining wages, moving big capital initiatives faster and more equitably, and making sure that everyone feels safe, respected, and supported. And I've spent my career turning progressive ideas into progressive action - with the voices and votes of our community, I'm really excited to hit the ground running. [00:04:59] Crystal Fincher: All right - you talked about the three E's. Those three E's are absolutely impacted, as you talked about, by housing and homelessness and how accessible or not those are to people. One thing called out by experts that's a barrier to our homelessness response is that frontline workers are short-staffed, they're overworked, and their wages are not covering the cost of living for this area. Do you believe our local nonprofits have a responsibility to pay living wages, and how can we make that more likely with how we bid and contract for services? [00:05:32] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thanks Crystal. So there was a recent UW research study that showed that social service staff are underpaid by 37%. And with a combination of lagging wages, rising cost of living, and just the really challenging work that folks have to do in these spaces - that's created a real workforce crisis in the human services sector. In King County and Seattle, this kind of work is primarily performed by nonprofits, like you pointed out, in contracts with government agencies. So we really need to make sure that, as a government, that we are using the tools that are available to us to make sure that nonprofits have the ability to pay their employees more. And where we're really seeing this hit home is for social workers, for people working with youth, for intake specialists, for people who are doing that really tough human services work. Women account for - it was 79% of all human services workers in King County. And that same UW study showed that it's workers of color who are overrepresented in the lowest paid human services job, including frontline care work. So when we're looking at what we can be doing as a county to make sure that nonprofits can increase the minimum pay for folks, to be providing inflationary wage adjustments, to be improving non-wage benefits - that's all gonna come down to how we as a government can be supporting that work. So I think we absolutely need to be doing this, not just for the sake of our work in our homelessness communities, but for the sake of work in so many different spaces. [00:07:05] Crystal Fincher: Public safety is top of mind for so many people - and just what it means to be safe, what comprehensive public safety means. And a focus on addressing root causes - really getting to the heart of people being victimized and reducing it - people have been asking for that for quite some time. Part of this process and part of what King County is responsible for is operating multiple jails, really. And the main jail has been having a number of problems - from overcrowding, they had a lack of water for a while, inadequate healthcare, shortages. Would you have voted to approve the transfer of inmates to the SCORE jail to try and alleviate the issues plaguing the King County Jail, or would you have a different plan? [00:07:51] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, so a close family member of mine was incarcerated, and this is something that is really near and dear to my heart. I think the human experience in our jails is something that we really have to focus on. We didn't prioritize, the County didn't prioritize COVID vaccines for this population. And we are seeing a behavioral health problem that's manifesting in our jails with the suicide numbers. This is really concerning. I am worried about the fact that SCORE doesn't have options for in-person visitation. I'm worried about folks in our jails not being able to access their legal representation, support from behavioral health professionals. I'm worried about the experience for people who are trying to do that critical work to support their clients - who need interpreters, who need that in-person access to just do basic things like pass documents back and forth. And what this really comes down to is making sure that we are keeping folks out of jail in the first place - that we're looking at equitable, human-centered, criminal legal strategies. And these takes the form of things like community courts, community diversion programs, and scaling that up is really critical. It is a fact that we don't have enough staff to fill our jails right now. We don't have enough people to even escort folks from the front desk to meet with their clients, and that is - that's really unacceptable. We need to be looking at those staffing shortages and making sure that we are being efficient with our resources. If we're paying people to do work but they aren't even able to access their clients, that's not efficient - let alone the human experience that's going on for the people in our jails. So investing in those holistic solutions to keep people out of jail in the first place is a big part of this, and I'm hopeful that the behavioral health levy that was recently passed is going to be part of this solution. I think we also need to be looking at our community courts - and one thing that I want to spend more time looking at is misdemeanor cases, which are not currently eligible for community court. Just really making sure that we are taking a step back and paying attention to the human experience and also how to keep people from being in that situation in the first place. [00:09:57] Crystal Fincher: Should we close the King County Jail? [00:09:59] Becka Johnson Poppe: I think that we should absolutely be moving toward that - and doing that in concert with all of these holistic services, and making sure that we are having alternatives to that jail that are going to be better suited to the community needs. [00:10:14] Crystal Fincher: And I may have just missed it, so would you have also voted to - you talked about a number of other things that were absolutely crucial and critical, and people who are incarcerated having connections to the outside is critical to lower chances of recidivism and them able to integrate back in the community successfully. Would you have voted to approve that SCORE contract? [00:10:35] Becka Johnson Poppe: I would not have voted to approve that SCORE contract. [00:10:38] Crystal Fincher: Okay, and so I assume that if it comes back, which some people think that it will - and need to be extended or expanded - that you would be a No vote on that too. [00:10:46] Becka Johnson Poppe: That's right. [00:10:47] Crystal Fincher: Gotcha. So we talked about homelessness, affordable housing, about the need to increase pay for frontline workers and that being crucial to being able to solve this response. What are your top priorities for taking action to reduce homelessness and increase the affordability of housing? [00:11:06] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thank you. So I mentioned earlier that a good friend of mine was living out of their car in King County not that long ago and so this hits home for me. And I've also been working to end youth homelessness as a volunteer for . YouthCare, and as a volunteer for a really small nonprofit that provides care to the animal companions of people who are experiencing homelessness. And one of the things that I've observed is that we really need to be leveraging partnerships to support the needs of the community and making sure that we are not missing handoffs. We need to make sure that we are communicating between the systems, making sure that we're providing a safety net for the community. And the fact is a lot of our contracts right now don't allow for resources to be used flexibly for wraparound support. So that's one thing I want to work on. And as we were talking about, keeping the team is really critical. When I'm volunteering for YouthCare, it's our frontline staff who make all the difference for our unhoused young people. I've advocated for wage increases because it's the right thing to do - and because the bottom line is if we don't take care of our people, we lose them and we lose the vital individual connections that make the work matter. I think in order to take care of our community, we really need to take care of our people. And whether you care about any of that or not, which I hope you do - I know that you do, Crystal, and I hope that all of our listeners do here - if we are constantly losing people and having to navigate that turnover, it's just really inefficient from a resource standpoint. Those hiring processes - going through that over and over - that's tapping into scarce resources that we could be using for so many other important things. So it's about leveraging those partnerships, it's about keeping the team together. And then how we pair this with affordable housing - it is really hard for people to afford to live here and rents are at all-time highs, housing prices are really tough. Having a comprehensive approach that addresses zoning, affordability, that links housing with transportation - it's not only going to be critical to help with equity, to help with the economy, but also with the environment - getting back to those three E's - to make sure that we have diverse communities while we're mitigating the impacts of climate change by pairing housing where transportation is. I'm really for making sure that we have more housing that's affordable to more people, and doing that with what I would consider a 'Yes, And' approach. So making sure that we have mixed-use development where housing is built alongside commercial and retail spaces, making it easier to build with permitting, with design review - really taking a look at those processes - finding ways to support first-time home buyers as well. And I get kind of excited about this, but talking about the full life cycle of these projects - everything from land acquisition - the timing of land acquisitions with our budget processes, that is a big challenge right now. Building capacity in the community to do these projects so that we have culturally competent developers, making sure that we move construction faster and more equitably to get these affordable housing units created, making sure that we have green building features that are part of this construction and these plans from the start, thinking about the jobs that we're creating - good union jobs as part of this. And incentivizing the creation of affordable housing that isn't just tiny units - that is available for multi-generational households, which are often folks from immigrant communities. And all of this is going to get back to those multi-benefits of how we are supporting the environment, equity, and the economy simultaneously. I could nerd out here a little bit talking about a program at the County around transfer of development rights, which is something that we use to preserve open space by transferring the development potential of that land to areas where we can have more density because the services and utilities are available to support that. And this is something that I think is really cool because the revenue that we generate by selling these development credits allows us to then purchase more open space, and be preserving those open spaces. So these multi-benefits, I think, are where things can get really cool. And how we can be using those incentives to make sure that we have green building features, and even access to childcare services where people live and not just wherever it makes sense to build them otherwise. This is going to make everyone's lives easier, healthier, and better. So I get really excited about this stuff. [00:15:30] Crystal Fincher: Makes sense. Now, drug decriminalization is a big topic of discussion locally and at the state legislative level right now. We had our legislators working on legislation to try and establish a new policy for personal possession of substances, after our State Supreme Court invalidated the law that criminalized that. Legislature did that, but put a sunset provision in the first go-round that they did - after they made it a misdemeanor, tried to fund some infrastructure across the state for treatment and diversion, those types of programs. But they weren't able to come to a new agreement in this session. Governor Inslee recently called a new special session to address this, and we'll see if they come up with a solution after that. But if not, it's going to be up to counties, cities, and towns to figure out what policy is the right policy for them. Should we be criminalizing simple possession of substances? And if not, what should the plan be? [00:16:31] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thanks Crystal. We need to be making sure that folks are getting the help that they need rather than punishment. Historically, we have just not seen evidence that shows that punishment works, and it's disproportionately affecting Black and Brown communities. There needs to be a fix that happens at the state level because I don't think that it's a great solution to have 40 different rules with 40 different jurisdictions - where people have to wonder if they step across one line, if they're going to be treated differently than if they're hopping over here. And so I'm really hopeful that the state comes through with a fix. If they don't, we really need to be focusing again back on the root issues. What is resulting in people having substance abuse disorder, having these challenges in the first place? Possession - drug possession is not the biggest public safety threat facing our communities right now. And we have scarce resources to devote to public safety so prioritizing that differently is an imperative, while recognizing that substance abuse is a big problem. Fentanyl death rates are growing year over year, we've already exceeded the 2022 death rates so far - and we're only a few months into 2023 - but we absolutely cannot prosecute our way out of the problem. Prevention, treatment, long-term care - these are all critical pieces - and data gathering to support that. Another really important thing that I've noticed is that this is hitting the people who are experiencing homelessness the hardest. I think we need a healthcare team that is really dedicated to supporting people who are experiencing homelessness. And recognizing that if people refuse treatment - that's part of the disease, that is part of the process. So we still need to have that treatment available - we need to help folks work through that part of the disease that presents as refusal, and not just giving up on folks. So I am really hopeful that the state comes through with a fix - and I think at the County level, we need to be prioritizing our scarce resources in a way that is going to help people, rather than try to prosecute them. [00:18:38] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely makes sense. Now, you talked about another one of your Es, the environment. On almost every measure, we're behind on our 2030 climate goals but we're experiencing impacts from climate change more than we ever have before, whether it's extreme weather events with heat and cold, wildfires, floods. What are your highest priority plans to get us on track to meet our 2030 goals? [00:19:02] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, it's really important to be recognizing that climate change is a threat multiplier that burdens communities already facing public health and economic disparities. I think that we can be looking at ways to center community voices in how we are working to address climate change, and this is something that I've had direct experience with. A couple years ago, I created the County's first Climate Equity Bond - it's a $20 million pool of funds - and in doing so, had the honor to sit with frontline communities experiencing the first and worst consequences of climate change. I met with them for seven months and found a way to make their priorities a reality. I really want to scale up that work at the County and do even more of this - and make sure that we are not being performative about the way that we are involving community voices, but really doing that deliberately - and balancing that need to move quickly, but making sure that we are not leaving folks behind. Another really critical piece to this is moving our big construction initiatives faster by breaking down barriers to delivering on those initiatives. So much of what we need to do to address climate change is going to come down to how we can deliver on our capital projects - whether it's installing electric vehicle infrastructure, whether it is creating big solar fields, affordable housing that's close to transportation - these large-scale energy projects, these large-scale construction initiatives are gonna be key. This is something that I've been working on at the County - is figuring out how to break down the barriers that all of our construction initiatives are facing right now, which are around permitting, procurement, supply chains, labor shortages. And this is something that I'm really excited about because there are things that we can be doing to break down those barriers and move these projects faster and more equitably for the sake of the environment. Another thing that I've been working on related to our big capital projects is making sure that when we are making decisions, we are doing that in a way that recognizes the carbon emissions from our buildings will harm future generations. This is called social cost of carbon. It's a real dollar amount that we can actually be applying to calculations about which alternatives we should pursue when we're looking at different construction projects and construction options - and bringing that into our decision-making is really critical. We also need to be going after federal and state funding. There are huge opportunities right now. The Inflation Reduction Act, Federal Infrastructure Bill, Climate Commitment Act, Clean Fuel Standard, the EPA has a $5 billion grant option opportunity for climate pollution reduction. We have a huge opportunity right now to be going after those dollars in a coordinated manner that those grant opportunities - actually, in some cases, demand that we be coordinated across the region. And the County - one of the biggest things that the County can do is bring people together to bring that coordination. And then a huge part of this is transportation. We need to have a coordinated plan for installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, working with our neighboring jurisdictions and private entities. We need to be electrifying our bus fleet, but recognizing that if no one is riding our buses, it doesn't really matter if they're electric if everyone's using their cars instead. So we need to be bringing people back to our buses, and if it's reliable, accessible, and safe, people are going to use it. [00:22:25] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, one related item is the air that we breathe - you talked about reducing the pollution there. Certainly, air quality impacts everything about our lives - from life expectancy, to whether we're experiencing asthma, heart disease, lung disease, many things like that. What role does the County have to play, or what responsibility does the County have, to ensure that clean air and appropriate ventilation happens in public buildings? But also, we're seeing a lot of new construction - just passed some legislation that will probably spur construction of housing units. How should the County be enforcing air standards, or should it? [00:23:05] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, well, to start off here, a really critical piece of this is transportation, because the biggest source of emissions in the County is emissions from transportation. So to expand on that a little bit, we really need to be bringing people back to our buses. And as I was saying, if it's reliable, accessible, safe, people are going to use it. Right now, our buses are arriving late, on reduced schedules, too many of our neighbors who are in crisis are having episodes on buses completely unsupported. And I think if we asked a big room of people - how many of us have had an uncomfortable experience on a bus - we'd probably all raise our hands. So to be reducing our emissions, we need to bring people back to our buses. And I think we can do that by making our experience safer, by having an on-demand care team, where our Metro operators who have such a tough job already - my neighbor actually is a Metro operator, he's in his 80s, he is one of the toughest people that I know - and we can make a system where those Metro operators can flag down a care team to meet them en route and provide human-oriented holistic support to people who are in crisis on our buses. We also need to recognize that the traditional commute isn't the main reason that people are using buses anymore. So to get people to transition away from single-occupancy vehicles, we need to have transportation that's available around the clock and not just in those traditional commute hours. We have the Metro Connects vision to help us move toward that vision, but there's a big funding gap and it was put together in 2016. So we need to refresh that data with post-pandemic data to make sure that we're moving toward the right solutions and the right targets here. We have a lot of one-time funding that we can be using right now to make sure that we are staffed up with Metro, to make sure that we're improving that safety and that ridership experience. We also need to be pursuing long-term solutions. So I think all of this is going to be really key to improving our air quality and making sure that we have better air quality for everyone. And in terms of our buildings, it gets back to those choices that we're making about how we construct and factoring those emissions - those long-term emissions - and the effects of those into our decision-making. We also can be making sure that, when we have these wildfire incidents and smoke, that we have spaces for people to go where they can escape that. There are not enough places right now where people can be safe from the effects of our wildfire season, which is really what it is right now, unfortunately - it's a season of the year that we've become pretty familiar with. There are things called - I might mispronounce this here - Corsi–Rosenthal Boxes, which are quick ways to clean the air for folks. It cleans the air by up to 60%. And that's something that we can use in a lot of different settings to essentially retrofit spaces that aren't already constructed in ways that allow folks to be able to breathe clean air. And we really need to be engaging people at every stage of the process in conversations about indoor air quality. We've learned this through COVID - we can be leveraging those same learnings to move forward and be ensuring that as the climate continues to warm and as we continue to have more wildfire smoke, that we are not having that impact all of us. But really that - if we look at the maps of air pollution where folks are most affected by this, it's the same regions of the County that are disproportionately impacted by existing public health disparities, by economic disparities, by gun violence, by so many different things. And recognizing where needs are greatest is going to be key in making sure that we are improving the air quality in meaningful ways. [00:26:44] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, you manage half of the County budget. You talked about how huge the County is - it is large, it is formidable - so that is quite the undertaking that you have. But when it comes to that budget, King County does incremental budgeting - making it really difficult for people to understand how funds are allocated in the base budget. Being that this is one of your strengths and an area you are very familiar with, what can be done to make the budget easier for the public to understand and influence? [00:27:15] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, this is something I get really excited about. Few things are more important than how we use our resources and transparency from a lot of different angles is critical - the funding sources, how that funding is being used, how communities are being involved in those choices, and in the implementation of things that get funded. I've been working on this at the County and on the campaign trail so far - just demystifying the budget process. It doesn't have to be complicated. Everyone understands income coming in, expenses going out. We budget for ourselves individually in ways that align with our values and priorities. If you really care about cooking, maybe you're going to spend a little bit more on the supplies that you're using or the ingredients that you're using. Those are your priorities reflected in your own personal budget. And that same thing happens at the County. There are opportunities that we're using - that I've been using right now - to really try to make this easier for folks to be involved in and to understand. And part of this is meeting people where they're at. It's great to have town halls, it's great to have office hours, it's great to have presentations - but thinking about the timing and location of those is really critical. If we're holding space for folks to engage with these processes at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, you're going to get a very different set of people than if you have it at 7 p.m. And it's - for me, one of the most fun parts of the campaign so far has been knocking on doors and literally engaging with folks where they're at - at their home, where they don't have to go anywhere. They can just share their thoughts with me when I come up and ask for a few minutes of their time. But I think the bottom line here is - it doesn't have to be complicated. There are ways that we can be putting that information online to make this more accessible to folks, to make it easier to understand. It's not about sharing more data - that can just be overwhelming, that can be more cumbersome. It's about presenting that data in ways that people can access and understand, and really going to people to make sure that they have their voices heard in the process. [00:29:23] Crystal Fincher: Now, the list of things that everyone says is necessary and a lot of the things that we've talked about today cost more money than we appear to have in the budget, so new revenue is needed. What progressive revenue options exist at the County level and will you pursue any of them? [00:29:39] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, we are unfortunately heading into lean times at the County. The state did not pass a revenue fix that we really needed. So as a little bit of background - right now, so the General Fund for the County is our most flexible source of revenue that funds a lot of the critical things that the County does. The biggest source of funding for the General Fund is property tax revenue. And right now, revenue from our property tax is capped - the growth of that revenue is capped at 1% per year, plus the cost of new construction. This comes out to essentially about 2% per year, or a little bit more. And I think we've all seen that inflation has been going up by way more than 2% per year. So we have more money going out the door than we have coming in. And this means that to even just sustain the level of service that we have now, we are going to need way more than that 2%. So we're headed into lean times because the state did not lift that cap on property tax revenue growth. And I think that voters deserve someone who has the budget experience to think creatively about how to avoid cuts and maximize the dollars that we have. So as I mentioned - as you mentioned - over the last few years, I've been overseeing half of the County's budget and this has given me some insight into some of the tools that we can be using. We talked earlier about going after big federal dollars - that's an opportunity that we have to help shore up the work that we're doing. We have opportunities to be multiplying the dollars that we have with matching funds, with pilot projects that make the County competitive for larger dollars. We can also be getting more aggressive with our bonding strategy. So right now the County has a AAA rating, which is great. And you don't need to know anything about bonds to know that AAA is the best - it's really freaking good. We can be taking that down a notch - and still getting pretty much all of the benefits that we have at our AAA - with something that's just a smidge lower than that, but freeing up a lot of dollars to meet urgent needs now. These needs are only going to get more expensive the longer that they're left unaddressed, so this is actually a fiscally responsible solution. If we use that bonding authority right now to get more dollars right now, that's gonna help in the long run. And then base budget. So you mentioned earlier that we budget at the County on an incremental basis, and this is absolutely true. This is true of a lot of local jurisdictions. And what this means essentially is that when we have new money coming in, we decide what to do with those new dollars, but we don't take a lot of time to dig back into the resources that were decided upon in the past. And those resources were guided by different values and priorities than we have now. We're talking decades of decisions. And that means that the values and priorities that we have now - that are really intentionally centering racial justice and equity - that's great for the way that we're using our resources now, but that's not what was guiding resource decisions in the past. So we have a huge opportunity to not only free up dollars and reprioritize those dollars to help as we're headed into lean times, but to also undo systemic racism by reevaluating the way that we have used resources in the past and reassigning those dollars to meet where needs are greatest. We need to keep getting dollars out into the community and recognizing that King County taxpayers can't be the only ones to shoulder this burden in perpetuity, but we can be the ones to model this work and how we can do this correctly and creatively - to then work with our colleagues at the state and federal levels to find sustainable progressive funding solutions for the long-term. [00:33:21] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely, and anyone who knows me in real life has probably had a conversation with me about how crucial and important bonding is - and using it in times like now is to be able to solve problems at the scale that we're experiencing them. Now, you're in a competitive race. This position - District 4 is a contested race. The filing deadline is May 19th, so who knows if anyone else is gonna get in the race. But at this point in time, people are trying to evaluate the differences between candidates and who you are, and how you may vote. What do your endorsements say about you, and what are you most proud of? [00:33:59] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thank you. I am really proud to be endorsed by a lot of folks who really represent the community - small business owners, nonprofit leaders, people who are out there doing the work in the community. I'm also proud to be endorsed by State Representative Liz Berry, State Representative Kristine Reeves, County Councilmember Joe McDermott - these are folks who I really respect because of the way that they've led our community toward progressive solutions to some of the most complex issues. And I recognize that I haven't been working toward a specific elected office for a long period of time, and so - I have, though, been operating in the community, connecting with my community, and I think that my endorsements really reflect that. [00:34:50] Crystal Fincher: Thank you. Now another thing that you covered was talking about - with the budget - that how we deliver projects is as important as the overall goal of it, and can influence the quality of it. This has been a continued issue that we've seen at many levels of government, including the County, where great policy is passed that's gonna help a lot of people, but it experiences some challenges in the implementation. What can we do to improve how we implement policy at the County level? [00:35:19] Becka Johnson Poppe: That is such a big question, and I really appreciate that question. There is so much that we can be doing to improve how we implement policy - it is really up to our elected officials and our governments. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to be undoing the status quo and replacing it with something better, to be centering the voices of people most affected, to be understanding the racial justice impact of policies and programs by using data carefully and intentionally - and this really factors into how we roll out those policies. As a County Councilmember, part of my job will be recognizing the maps showing where needs are greatest - whether it's gun violence, public health disparities, urban heat - and making sure that we are involving the voices of folks in those areas where needs are greatest. We need to be forming partnerships to be implementing our policies effectively - partnerships with frontline workers, partnerships with labor, partnerships with nonprofit organizations - and really paying attention to the experience of people who are doing the work and the expertise of people who are doing that work. We were talking about moving big capital initiatives faster. So much of what the County does is constructing things, building things - and so I've seen firsthand the importance of our capital design and our construction work. And if we move capital projects faster, we create more jobs, more union jobs, we sustain those jobs, and we get that value out into the communities faster. As I mentioned, our big capital initiatives are facing barriers around permitting, procurement, supply chains, labor shortages. We need to be paying attention to that because those problems probably aren't going away, but there are ways that we can be breaking that down by really making sure that we are using all of the tools in the toolbox. With procurement, for example, there are alternative processes with design-bid-build, that - and a whole bunch of different options here - where we can be staffing in a way that allows us to be creative, that will actually save us more money in the long run if we staff up in ways that will allow for that creativity. And sometimes this work is going to be more complex at the outset, but it's going to save us money and save us time in the long run, and so thinking about those trade-offs and thinking about how we can be making fiscally responsible investments, investments and policy implementation plans that really involve people at every step of the way - it's all going to end up being better for us in the long run. This is such a big question. I feel like there's so many things that we could talk about here, but this is really critical to the work that the County does. [00:38:03] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, as we conclude today - as we talked about - there are lots of voters and residents in this community who are trying to figure out not only what's happening, but who you guys are and where you stand, what the differences are, and how to make their decision on who they're going to vote for. When you talk to people like that, what do you tell them? [00:38:25] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, I tell them - I've spent my career turning progressive ideas into progressive action. And whoever gets elected is going to have a lot to navigate. We have 50,000 unhoused neighbors, we have public safety issues, we have land conservation challenges, transportation issues, backlogs in our criminal legal system. If we are going to take on the biggest, most urgent issues in the region, we need someone who can make progress right out of the gate. We're headed into lean times at the County, and I think voters deserve someone who has the budget experience to think creatively about how to avoid cuts, how to maximize the dollars that we have. And I have that experience, and that's a unique skillset that I bring. I'm excited to bring my experience not only with budgets, but with moving construction projects faster and more equitably, with centering community voices, and turning those asks and those values into tangible outcomes. My experience doing mental health research - understanding data and science - my experience volunteering working with our unhoused neighbors. As I said earlier, King County is bigger than 15 states. We can show the rest of the state and the rest of the nation what it means to be a community that is diverse and inclusive, and solving the most complex issues. We can lead in taking on the existential threat of climate change, in creating more housing that's affordable to more people, in delivering universal childcare, improving our transportation experience. And I'm really committed to this community - to the region I grew up in - and I'm really excited to hit the ground running. [00:39:53] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much, Becka Johnson Poppe, candidate for King County Council District 4, for spending this time with us and helping us get to know you better today. Really appreciate it. [00:40:02] Becka Johnson Poppe: Thank you so much for having me here, Crystal. I am a huge fan, and this is a huge honor. Thank you. [00:40:07] Crystal Fincher: Thank you. Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is co-produced by Shannon Cheng and Bryce Cannatelli. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

On this Primary Week re-air, Crystal chats with Teresa Mosqueda about her campaign for King County Council District 8 - why she decided to run, the experience and lessons she'll bring to the County from serving on Seattle City Council, and her thoughts on addressing progressive revenue options, public service wage equity and morale, housing and homelessness, public safety, transit rider experience, climate change, and budget transparency. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Teresa Mosqueda at @TeresaCMosqueda.   Teresa Mosqueda As a Progressive Labor Democrat, Teresa Mosqueda is committed to creating healthy and safe communities, investing in working families through job training, childcare and transit access, and developing more affordable housing for all residents. She brings a proven track record of successfully passing progressive policies and building broad and inclusive coalitions. Teresa was named one of Seattle's Most Influential People 2018 for acting with urgency upon getting elected, received the Ady Barkan Progressive Champion Award from Local Progress in 2019; and earned national attention by leading the passage of JumpStart progressive revenue to invest in housing, economic resilience, green new deal investments, and equitable development. Prior to elected office Teresa worked on community health policies from SeaMar to the Children's Alliance, and championed workers' rights at the WA State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, where she helped lead state's minimum wage increase, paid sick leave, farmworker protections, workplace safety standards, and launched the Path to Power candidate training with the AFL-CIO.   Resources Campaign Website - Teresa Mosqueda   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I am very excited today to have joining us - current Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who is a candidate for King County Council District 8, which covers Seattle - including West Seattle, South Park, Georgetown, Chinatown International District, and First Hill - as well as Burien, part of Tukwila, and unincorporated King County - in White Center and Vashon Island. Welcome to the program - welcome back. [00:01:22] Teresa Mosqueda: Thank you so much for having me back - I appreciate it. [00:01:25] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. So I guess the first question is - what made you decide to run for King County Council after being on the Seattle City Council? [00:01:35] Teresa Mosqueda: I've been really, really honored to be able to serve the full City of Seattle - 775,000 residents at this point - to be able to pass progressive policies like progressive revenue through JumpStart, Green New Deal and affordable housing that it was funding, to be able to quadruple the investments in affordable housing, to expand worker protections. But the truth is, we know that much of the population that I was elected by - the folks that I really center in my public policy - also work and have family outside of the City of Seattle. And in many ways, I want to build on what I've been able to accomplish in Seattle - investments in affordable housing, investments in new career pathways, good union jobs, to expand on the childcare and working family supports that I've centered in my work on City Council. But in order to reach the broader population of working families who are just outside of Seattle's borders but may work in Seattle and come in and out of the City - I want to create greater equity and stability across our region - the County is the place to do it. And in terms of stability, the County is the only place that has purview over public health, has the purse strings for behavioral health investments. And so if I want to complement efforts to try to house folks and create long-term housing stability, especially for our most vulnerable community members, the County is the place to do that - through investments in behavioral health, by sitting on the Public Health Board, by being directly involved in the budget that has purview over public health and behavioral health investments. I see it as an extension of my work at the City to create housed and healthy communities. And it actually goes full circle back to my roots where I started my career in community health. It is exciting opportunity, and I see it as a growth and expansion of the work that we've done in Seattle. [00:03:24] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. You talk about progressive revenue - the JumpStart Tax, which is a really, really important source of revenue that has been so helpful for businesses in the City, for residents, so many people in need - and has been a benefit to the City, especially in this time of a budget downturn in that the JumpStart Tax helped to bail out a budget shortfall there. So this revenue seemed to come just in time. You had to fight for it. You led the fight for it. What lessons do you take out of that fight to the County, and what progressive revenue options are there at the county level that you would be willing to pursue? [00:04:05] Teresa Mosqueda: I think one major lesson is how I've approached building these big progressive policies that have not only earned the majority of votes, but the vast majority - if not unanimous vote sometimes - that have withstood the test of time, have not been overturned, and have not been overturned by legislative councilmatic action nor by the courts. I will take with me to King County the ability to build these broad coalitions. And think about JumpStart - who was there when we launched it? It was ironworkers and hardhats, along with business entrepreneurs from both small and large business, with community and housing advocates standing collectively together to say - We will not only stand by this progressive revenue, we will stand by it knowing that it's five times the amount of the previous policy and it's twice as long. That's a huge effort that took place to try to get people on the same page, and we had to - with growing income inequality, growing needs, an increase in our population. There was no other option. This had to succeed, and so I will take that same approach to King County Council. So much is on the needs list right now in the "wake" of the global pandemic. We have the ongoing shadow pandemic. We have increased needs for mental health and community health investments. We have increased needs for food security and housing stability. There is not an alternative. We must invest more and we must do it in a way that withstands the test of time, like I've done on Seattle City Council. So for me, it's the how I bring people together that I will bring to King County Council. And I think it's also the what - not being afraid to push the envelope on what's possible. Many people said it was impossible to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights - and we got sued, and we won. People said it was impossible to legislate having hotel workers get access to guaranteed healthcare at the gold level, protections from retaliation, maximum workload. We not only passed that in legislation, but we withstood that in the court. And the same is true of JumpStart. We withstood multiple litigation attempts to try to take away JumpStart, and it's withstood the test of time. And I'm excited to see what else we can do in a city that sees so much growth but incredible inequity across our region - to bring people together to address these pressing needs. [00:06:24] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. You talked about housing and homelessness, and one thing called out by experts as a barrier to our homelessness response is that frontline worker wages don't cover their cost of living. Do you believe our local service providers, a lot of whom are nonprofits, have a responsibility to pay living wages for the area? And how can we make that more likely with how we bid and contract for services at the county level? [00:06:54] Teresa Mosqueda: Yeah, two things I would say. One is - absolutely, we need to make sure that folks who are working on the frontline as human service providers - think folks who are the counselors to youth, or people who have mental health or substance abuse needs that we need to help address so that they can get stably housed, think about services to our vets and seniors. These are workers on the frontline who rely on relationships and have skills, expertise in the human service category. They need to have investments in these deeply needed services. And in order for us to create greater stability, we need to be paying them living wages. I say "we" - because this is not about the nonprofits needing to pay them more. It is about we, the public entities, needing to increase our contracts to these organizations who then employ people to be on the frontline. For better or worse, we have a human services system that has largely relied on contracting out critical services that are arguably public services. They are supported by public dollars, and we, public officials, have a responsibility to pay those organizations enough so that they can invest in the wages for frontline workers. That is what I have tried to do at Seattle City Council. The first year that I came in at Seattle City Council, the Human Services Coalition came to me and said - We have not had a cost of living increase in 10 years. To not have a COLA in 10 years for most workers in our region and across the country is unheard of, but it's especially unheard of for the very folks on the frontline trying to address the most pressing crisis in our country right now - and that is housing instability and homeless services. So we worked in 2019, and we passed the Human Services cost of living adjustment - that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what needs to be addressed. The historic and chronic underfunding of these positions still needs to be addressed. We are not going to be able to close this gap of 40, 50, 60% turnover in our critical organizational partners, organizations, if we don't address the wage stability issue. So I think actually going to the County and bringing that experience of having worked directly with the human service providers and hearing their stories about why it was so critical not only to have a cost of living adjustment, but to get at this chronic underfunding is going to be really coming at a pivotal moment. Seattle does have a cost of living adjustment. I want to bring that cost of living adjustment to King County and collectively with Seattle, I want to work to address the underpayment for human service providers as well. [00:09:26] Crystal Fincher: There's been a lot of action when it comes to addressing housing and homelessness from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to new legislation, and potentially even more legislation coming out through the end of this legislative session. We're currently recording this in mid-April, so it may come out a little bit further when there's a definitive answer for everything that happens. But amid a lot of this work that is currently being implemented or has just been authorized, there's a lot in process but still seemingly a lot more that needs to be done. What would your top priorities be to make a noticeable and meaningful difference in both homelessness and housing affordability if you're elected to this position? [00:10:11] Teresa Mosqueda: Resources for housing is critically needed across King County. Resources will help local jurisdictions be able to implement the new requirements that are going to be coming forth from our State Legislature, which - I want to thank our State legislative members - every year they go to Olympia and every year we ask them to be bold - be bold on housing solutions, recognizing that housing is the solution to being houseless. Housing helps people who have multiple compounding factors get healthy, get stable, and be productive members of our community. Housing is the solution to this biggest crisis that we see, not only in Seattle and King County, up and down the West Coast, but across our entire country. We have not built enough housing to house our current population plus the population who will continue to come to our region. So one of the things that I think I can take to the County is the desire to make sure that local jurisdictions, whether it's Burien or Tukwila, or unincorporated areas like in Vashon and Maury Island or in White Center - that they have resources as well to help build the type of housing that's being requested from the State Legislature - to do so in accordance with their Comprehensive Plan so that people can implement it in the time frame that works for those local jurisdictions, but to help them take away the barrier of not having enough resources. Seattle is unique in that we have pushed forward different resources. We have different types of tax revenues - thanks to JumpStart, for example - but in areas that don't have those type of resources, I hope the County can continue to be a good partner, in addition to the state, to build the type of diverse housing that we're now going to be required to build and hopefully we can do even more. The State Legislature is actually creating a new floor. We should be building upon that, and where we can go higher and denser - that is good for the local environment, it is good for the local economy, it's good for the health of workers and small businesses. And it's what I've heard from Vashon Island to Tukwila - people have said, "We don't have enough workforce housing." Small business owners have said, "I don't have enough workers in this area because they can't afford to live here." So I want to hopefully break down misperceptions about what type of housing we're talking about. We're talking about housing for seniors and vets, kiddos, youth, workers. We're talking about supporting the creation of that housing with additional revenue - that's one of the things I'd like to bring to the County. And to also recognize that when we have diverse economies that are prosperous, it's because workers can live next to their place of employment. Workers can walk to their childcare. We don't have time to spend two hours in the car commuting back and forth - that's not good for our health, our family's health, and it sure isn't good for the health of our planet. So it's a win-win-win, and I think that's something that I can really bring in as a County Councilmember - the knowledge that these local jurisdictions want to do more, but sometimes are limited with their resources. And wherever I can, I want to help step up and provide that support. [00:13:08] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Public safety has also been an area where the County continues to make a lot of news, has a lot of responsibility - they operate a jail, and that has itself made a lot of news. Over the past couple years throughout the pandemic, some of the employees of the jails - the guards - other people, the Public Defenders Association have called out overcrowding conditions, unsafe conditions in the jail. There's been times where the jail has not had clean water, several illness outbreaks, people not being treated correctly. It seems to be a really bad situation. Recently, the King County Council just voted to extend a contract to rent additional beds from a SCORE facility in Des Moines. This, during a backdrop of events where the King County Executive has made a promise to close the King County Jail, but it seems like we're getting further away from that, or at least not getting closer to that. Would you have voted to extend the SCORE contract? And should we close the jail? What is your vision for the short term? [00:14:17] Teresa Mosqueda: I think that the move to close down a jail that's both outdated and unsafe is not only good for the inmates, it's good for the folks who are working there. I think this is another example of where there's a false perception of sides. People who work within the jail, as well as those who are incarcerated, have expressed their not only horror when seeing mold and deterioration of the building, but it is extremely unsafe as well - as you mentioned - due to overcrowding. There's a few things that I think we can do. Number one, we should address upstream - who was being sent to these facilities in the first place. In a presentation that the Seattle City Council received from the City Attorney's Office, there was a large number of people who were initially booked and jailed, and ultimately were released because there was no grounds to put forward charges. And I think we need to stop the habit or the practice of putting folks in that situation to begin with. Even if they are not incarcerated for long periods of time, the fact that people are being jailed - especially youth - creates consequences down the road, mental health consequences, consequences for your housing, for your livelihood, your employment. And the negative impact of just being booked in the first place - both for the physical health of somebody, but also the trajectory of their life - is quantifiable. It is known, and we should stop that practice early. I agree with the effort to move folks into a situation that is healthier, but I also want to continue to look at how we can reduce the chance that someone is ever incarcerated in the first place, invest more in restorative justice practices. I'm optimistic by some of the conversations I've heard from folks in the community, specifically in Burien, about the ways in which some of the initial conversations have taken place with the Burien City Police Chief Ted Boe, and some of the commitments that have been made to try to look at restorative justice differently. And I think that holistically we need to look at what leads someone to be in that situation in the first place and back up to see what additional community investments we can be making so that people can have greater access to economic security, community safety, and reduce the chance that someone ever interacts with the carceral system to begin with. [00:16:40] Crystal Fincher: What do you think, or for people who are considering this voting decision and who are looking around and who are feeling unsafe, and who are not quite sure what the right direction is to move forward, or what can be done but feel like something should be done - what is your message to them? And what can make us all safer? [00:17:01] Teresa Mosqueda: There's a few things that I think have really come to light, especially during the pandemic. We tell people to stay home to stay healthy. Well, if people don't have a home, they can't stay healthy. If we can think about the increased situation where many of us have probably seen loved ones in our lives - whether it's family members or friends - who have turned to substances to cope, to self-medicate with the stress, the trauma, the isolation that has only increased during the pandemic. I hope there's greater empathy across our community and across our country for why people may be self-medicating to begin with. And I think if we think about these recent examples of where we have seen people become more unstable in their housing situation or turn to substances because of increasing stress and pressure, that hopefully there's greater empathy for why it is so critical that we invest upstream. It is not an either/or - it's creating greater balance with how we invest in community safety, in what we know equals the social determinants of health. When we invest in housing, it helps reduce the chance that someone is going to engage in criminal activities later in life. When we invest in early learning, in job opportunities, in youth interactive programs, when we invest in even gun reduction and youth violence reduction strategies, it helps create healthier individuals and healthier populations, reduce the chance that someone ever interacts with an officer to begin with. These are public safety investments, and they shouldn't be seen as a separate silo from "traditional safety." It actually saves lives, and there's a huge return on investment when we make some of these upstream program policies a priority. I think it actually creates healthier communities, and for those who are looking at it through the economic lens, healthier economies - knowing that that return on investment has been proven time and time again. And it's good for individuals and community health as well. [00:19:02] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, there's a shortage of workers across the board - certainly King County is included in this shortage of county workers in several areas, including in many front-line positions that impact public safety - maintenance, care, health - all of those that are crucial to delivering services and help that the residents of the County need. We've seen hiring, retention, and referral bonuses for public safety employees. Do you think we should be considering those for other employees? [00:19:39] Teresa Mosqueda: Absolutely. This is part of the conversation that I raised while at Seattle City Council. There is, I think, a detrimental impact to workplace morale across public servants when we're not uniformly treating people the same. It's not what I feel, it's not that that's my perception - that's actually coming from workers within the City of Seattle who completed a survey that our Human Resources Department, in addition to Seattle Police Department and other Seattle agencies, completed to ask, "What would you like to see? How would you feel if certain employees got a hiring bonus or retention bonus?" And overwhelmingly, workers in public service said that they thought that this would hurt morale - if existing public servants weren't treated the same. I mentioned that in the Human Services category, there's a 40% to 60% turnover rate for our nonprofit organizations who are helping folks on the frontline. There's a huge turnover rate, as well, within our Human Services Department - we've had to freeze the hiring, and reduce hours, and reduce positions. Public libraries, community centers are front-facing programs for the community during COVID and we are slowly starting to scale those back up, but they're nowhere at capacity right now. And what workers themselves have said within the City of Seattle is - they want to see greater strategies for retention. Investments in childcare keeps coming up. Investments in more affordable housing keeps coming up. And if you want to look specifically at the Seattle Police Department, the officers themselves said that they did not think that hiring bonuses was the way to address retention and morale issues - that played out in their comments in the press, as well as the survey results that we saw. I think that there's a more equitable approach that we should be taking. I think that we should be looking at how we recruit and train and incentivize people to come to public service overall, whether that means you're coming in to work as a firefighter or a police officer, or whether that means that we want to recruit you to be serving the public in libraries or as a lifeguard - which we don't have enough of - or as a childcare provider, which we don't have enough of. We should be looking across the board at these public service programs and figuring out ways to both address retention and morale, and to do so equitably. And to listen to what workers have said - they want housing, they want childcare, they want regular and routine transit. And they want us to, especially within the City of Seattle, address disparity in wages for folks of color and women compared to their counterparts. Those are some things that I think we should be taking on more seriously. [00:22:17] Crystal Fincher: Definitely. Now, you talk about people saying they want regular and routine transit. Lots of people want that. Lots of people - more importantly - need that, are relying on that. And there's been lots of talk about the rider experience around safety on transit, but also about the availability and accessibility of service and all-day service - not just some of those commuter-centric commute-time service bumps that we've seen. What would your approach to Metro be as a councilmember? [00:22:50] Teresa Mosqueda: So I appreciate that you raise safety because it is an issue that comes up for riders as well as the drivers. Members of ATU, who drive buses around King County, have expressed increased concern around their safety. Whether they're driving in the day or night - given COVID has increased interpersonal violence across our country, they are on the receiving end of that as well. So I'm excited to talk with ATU, with members who have been out on the frontline as our bus drivers, as well as riders to talk about how we can improve safety for everyone. That is - again, on the preventative side, trying to figure out ways that structurally and through public policy we can ensure that riders and drivers are safe. There's also two things that drivers have talked to me about and folks within King County Metro. They say there's a lot of focus on new routes and how do we expand routes - routes, routes, routes - which I also agree with. But they've also brought up that we need to continue to invest in the people, maintenance, and operation to make sure that there's enough people to be working on existing routes and new routes to come. Similar to housing, we don't want to just build units. We want to make sure that for those who need personnel in those units to make sure that folks stay stably housed, we're investing in the workforce to ensure that that housing, that that unit is successful. We need to be looking at investments in the workforce, recruiting folks to come to these good living wage union jobs, and to be thinking about how we improve retention and stability as well. And for as far as maintenance is concerned - thinking more about how we can invest in greener fleets, greener maintenance opportunities, and ensure that those vehicles are running well and routinely. So those are two of the things that have come directly from the frontline drivers themselves. And then more broadly - workers. You mentioned all-day services. I would also argue all-night services to the degree that we can add additional stops, because many of the childcare providers who are coming in early in the morning, construction workers who are coming in early in the morning, janitors who might be going out late at night, talk about how they have to rely on vehicles because there are not times that the buses are showing up to get them to work and back home in time. So I think that it's multi-prong. But again, I think the common ground here is that the workers in this sector are agreeing with the recipients of the service. And collectively, I'm hoping that we can address safety, workforce needs, and increase routes as well. [00:25:23] Crystal Fincher: Definitely, and I really appreciate you bringing up the workforce needs. I know a couple people who use transit regularly but ended up getting vehicles because of the unpredictable cancellations due to staff shortages, whether it's maintenance or drivers, just making it unreliable to get to work on time. And already the time taken to commute that way is a lot, so that would improve the experience greatly - definitely appreciate that. Transit is also very, very important to achieving our climate goals. And by most measures, we're behind on our 2030 climate goals - while we're experiencing devastating impacts from climate change, including extreme heat and cold, wildfires, floods. What are your highest-priority plans to get us on track to meet our 2030 climate goals? [00:26:17] Teresa Mosqueda: One thing might surprise folks in that category - probably not a huge surprise for folks who have heard me talk before - but I think if we can invest in additional housing, dense housing across our region, it will actually reduce CO2 emissions. And it's really common sense, right? We are the third-highest mega-commuter city or region in the nation. We have more people who are commuting back and forth to work than most of the country. And the reason is because they can't afford to find a house near their place of employment. If CO2 emissions from cars - single-occupancy cars - is the number-one contributor to pollution in our region, I believe that is at the top of our list for helping to reduce our carbon footprint across the country and across the globe. We should be increasing density. We should see it not only as a good economic stimulant, what's right to do for workers and working families, but it is one of the best things that we could also do for our climate. I think that there's - again, a misperception or a false divide between folks who are environmentalists and want to see more trees, and their perception that additional housing or density takes that away. It does not. We can both create setbacks for higher buildings and use the airspace to create living opportunities, while we plant additional trees and preserve old growth. I've gone to at least three ribbon-cutting ceremonies for Habitat for Humanity, who created - basically - townhouses connected altogether. We don't have a lot of row houses in Seattle, but row houses, if you will, around trees created in the shape of a U with old-growth trees in the middle - allowing for greater shade, and a play area for kiddos, and a place to sit for elders. It is very much possible to build dense housing options and preserve old growth while planting new trees. So I think in addition to creating density, we can plant more trees. We can do more to incentivize good living-wage jobs in industries that are cleaner. I heard from our friends in Georgetown Community Center that they had to beg and plead for one of the local industries to incorporate more greener options for a glass manufacturer down there. And we should simultaneously be seeing the opportunity to promote good jobs as a requirement for also promoting good green jobs. And I worked very hard with members of both the environmental community and the labor community in the past to push Just Transition policies - to ensure that as we transition to greener economies or greener manufacturing strategies, that we're preserving good living-wage jobs and, even better, preserving good union living-wage jobs. So I look forward to making sure that we have denser cities, that we have greener cities, and that we have greener industries. [00:29:13] Crystal Fincher: Now, King County does incremental budgeting, making it more challenging for people to understand how county funds are allocated in a base budget. The budget is known as one of your areas of strength. What do you think can be done to make the budget process easier for the public to understand and influence at the county level? [00:29:35] Teresa Mosqueda: I've been really proud of what we've been able to accomplish in Seattle. And coming from working the halls of Olympia on behalf of the Washington State Labor Council for eight years and then for three years before that with the Children's Alliance, I was used to this concept of having these biennial budgets that needed to be seen in full, that you could see the red line to know what was the investment from last year versus the upcoming year. Unfortunately, the City of Seattle doesn't have such a budget document. It's basically like single pages - page after page of narrative descriptions of what the dollars will do. That's fine for some budget notes, but what I think we are working towards in the City of Seattle - a preview for folks who love budget talk - is we're going to one day have a true biennial budget and an actual budget document where you will be able to see the red line, either additions or subtractions to specific programs so that everyone knows what is being invested in, how funding is changing, and where priorities are showing up in the budget. I am excited about being able to build on that work that I've done in Seattle, especially as Budget Chair, in some of the most pressing economic times in recent history, starting in 2020. And have been able to not only allocate millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, but also to create greater transparency in how we budget. One of the things that I think is maybe misunderstood out there is the way in which we've helped to provide transparency in the entire budget, but specifically the Seattle Police Department. It had not been exposed year-over-year that Seattle Police Department actually had about $40 million that was rolling over year-over-year on top of funding that the chief, that the mayor, that the department had acknowledged they could not use. And in a time where we saw an economic crisis on the horizon, growing needs in our community, and knew that that was $40 million that was not going to be put to use, not going into direct services for the community - and for those who wanted to see additional officers, wasn't even going to be able to use to increase the hiring plan. It's good budgeting to be able to make sure that that funding is transparently accounted for in the General Fund - and where we can deploy it to things like food, housing, childcare, economic security for small businesses that we do so. That's something I'm really proud of - that we were able to show what the full picture was, not only for that department, but for all departments. And to make some important investments in mental health services, behavioral health services, youth violence, gun violence reduction strategies - things that similarly invest in community safety, but we were able to show where those line items move. I will bring to King County Council the ability to structurally push for greater transparency for members of the public, encourage us as the legislative branch to own the separate but equal branch of government that the council is as the legislative branch, and ensure that the public has an opportunity to dive into the proposal that comes from the executive, just like the proposal that comes from the governor to the State Legislature. You receive that, you dissect it, you talk to community about what it means - and then ultimately the legislative branch reconvenes, reconfigures the budget, and presents it to the executive for a signature. It's good governance, it's good transparency. I think it's understandable from folks across whatever political spectrum - it's important to have budget transparency and accountability, and that's what I've been able to accomplish in the City of Seattle. [00:33:02] Crystal Fincher: It is, and I think there are a number of people, especially listeners to Hacks & Wonks, who do enjoy budget conversations, who would definitely look forward to more budget transparency at the County level, like you've been working towards at the City level. As we close here and as people are going to be making the decision about who they're going to be voting for for this County Council position, what is your message to voters and people listening about why they should choose you? [00:33:30] Teresa Mosqueda: I'm very thrilled to be in this race for King County Council. I think I have not only proven that I'm an effective legislator at the council level, but that I know how to center folks who have been left out of policy conversations in the room, but more importantly - follow the lead of those who've experienced the injustices over the years. We have been able to move historic, monumental, national-headline-grabbing policies within the City of Seattle in my now going into six years in Seattle City Council. And it has been done, I believe, in a collaborative way, in a way that has made transformational change, and in a way that I think has always centered - been centered on my progressive commitments to investing in working families, folks of color, and the LGBTQ community, workers to ensure that there's greater opportunity and prosperity. And creating housing and stability - that is something that is good for our entire community. I do this work because it's all about how we create healthy communities. You have to have investments in good living wage jobs and housing stability and opportunity education to have self-determination and control over your own life and your own decisions. And I think through public policy, through investments with public resources, we can create greater opportunity across our county. I am excited, as well, to be coming to this race as a woman, as a Latina, as a Chicana - poised to be the first Latina ever elected to King County Council. And with a King County population that is made up of half people of color and a quarter immigrant and refugee, it is critical that we have more voices with folks who have the lived experience coming from communities of color serving in these positions. I think that's why I've been able to effectively and efficiently move policy through so quickly - because I have put at the front of the line many of the community members who are often left out of policy discussions. I hope to bring in my commitment to working with folks who are workers, women, folks of color, members of the LGBTQ community to hear more about what we can do at King County Council. I know I have big shoes to step into with Councilmember McDermott and his commitment to public health, working with the LGBTQ community, his tenure in the State Legislature - and I'm also excited to add to that and serve our broader region and our growing needs. [00:35:59] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much, Councilmember Mosqueda, for spending this time with us today and having this conversation. Sincerely appreciate it, and we'll certainly be following your campaign eagerly over the next several months. Thank you. [00:36:13] Teresa Mosqueda: Thank you so much - I appreciate it. [00:36:15] Crystal Fincher: Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is co-produced by Shannon Cheng and Bryce Cannatelli. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Welcome to Episode 206! Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham and Associate Hannah Garcia discuss the recently released, City of Austin FY 23-24 Budget. The discussion covers: City of Austin released FY23-24 Budget on July 16th → https://assets.austintexas.gov/budget/23-24/downloads/FY24_Proposed_Budget.pdf KEY DATES • July 26 → Work Session focused on General Fund with Public Comment being heard on Budget • August 1 → Work Session focused on Enterprise Fund with Public Hearing regarding maximum tax rate. • August 10 → Work Session focused on Budget Amendments and Budget IFCs • August 16 - 18 → Council will vote on Budget EPISODE 206 ABOUT THE BINGHAM GROUP, LLC Bingham Group works to advance the interests of businesses, nonprofits, and associations at the municipal and state level. Follow Bingham Group on LinkedIn at: bit.ly/3WIN4yT Connect with A.J. on LinkedIn at: bit.ly/3DlFiUK Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn at: bit.ly/3RberR3 Contact us at: info@binghamgp.com We are a HUB/MBE-certified Austin lobbying firm.

Listen today as I talk to Matt Newburg from Fort Meyers, Florida.  Matt leads a church in Southwest Florida that has grown from a small group of 30 to over 140.  He talks about the things that have led to consistent growth: ·        Focusing on the “One Thing.” ·        Radical transparency and vulnerability ·        Surrendering control quicker and allowing God to work in all situations. More about Matt: ·        49 years old ·        Married to Deanna since 2001 ·        Baptized in 1992 ·        Father of two girls, 13 and 18 ·        He works as a minister and his wife works as an engineer   How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast Thanks for listening today.  Pam and I have been able to plant 5 churches and my dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  My next planting target is Green Valley and Sahuarita, Arizona.  This area is one of the fastest growing in Arizona.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will help get this church off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

Today, I interview Steve and Charley Stevenson from Orange County, California.  Steve and Charley led a campus ministry in Long Beach California that grew from 25 disciples to 135.  Their leadership training helped put 17 graduates go into the professional ministry.  Find out their secret to spirit-led growth in this episode. How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I want to say thank you for supporting the Rob Skinner Podcast.  I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    and Flagstaff, Arizona.  My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

Join me today as I talk with Nick Galang from Oahu, Hawaii.  Nick and his wife, Shelley, are the interim leaders of the Oahu Church of Christ.  They have stepped in for Nick's parents, Saun and Anthony Galang.  Listen as Nick shares: ·        What it was like growing up in the Galang household ·        How he met and married his high school sweetheart ·        How he got started as a songleader ·        How he started and runs his own marketing firm in Hawaii ·        What it's like to work in his business along with his brother, Chris. ·        How his Dad's advice to “Be Who You Are” has guided his choices in life ·        What gets him up in the morning ·        The importance of “Saying Yes!” to God ·        And a secret surprise in his family   Nick's Company: "Founded in the heart of Honolulu, The Creative Co. is a full-service marketing agency that blends traditional marketing expertise with forward-thinking digital strategies. With 9 years in the industry, we specialize in delivering a broad range of services, from web development and graphic design to branding and search engine optimization. Our mission is to drive success for our clients by crafting unique, creative solutions that harness the power of innovation and ensure their brand's visibility in the digital age." How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I want to say thank you for supporting the Rob Skinner Podcast.  I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    Flagstaff, Arizona.   My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

oday, I read chapter seven of my book, How to Plant and Grow a Church.  The chapter subject is how to raise money.  I'll be sharing the tips and tools to raise money personally or for your church planting from friends, family and those you don't know. How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I want to say thank you for supporting the Rob Skinner Podcast.  I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    and Flagstaff, Arizona.  My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

Today, I'm talking to Travis Albritton, founder and host of Honest Podcasts and the Practical Christian Podcast.  Travis worked for a time as a campus minister at Georgia Southern and then worked as a mechanical engineer for Lockheed Martin.  Now he runs his own company helping businesses with strategic content marketing.  His podcast has over 360 episodes.  He lives in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Listen today as I talk to him about: Why he started a podcast How to start a podcast What are the pitfalls of podcast production What microphone to start with if you're on a budget What he thinks about F.I.R.E (Financial Independence Retire Early) What was his favorite episode of nearly four-hundred podcast episodes How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I want to say thank you for supporting the Rob Skinner Podcast.  I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    Flagstaff, Arizona.  My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

On this midweek show, Crystal chats with Becka Johnson Poppe about her campaign for King County Council District 4 - why she decided to run, the skill set she brings from overseeing half of King County's $16 billion budget, and her thoughts on addressing human services sector wages, issues plaguing the King County Jail, housing and homelessness, drug possession and substance use disorder, climate change and air quality, and budget transparency and efficiency. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Becka Johnson Poppe at @votebecka.   Becka Johnson Poppe Becka has been putting progressive ideas into action across our region's largest public entities for more than a decade. Currently, Becka oversees half of King County's $16 billion budget and leads a team that works to advance environmental, transportation, and racial justice priorities. Previously, at the University of Washington, she promoted equitable access to higher education and led state budget and policy analysis as the Director of Policy, Planning & State Operations. Becka volunteers as a Director on the Board of YouthCare, working to end youth homelessness, and chairs the Race Equity Justice Committee.  She also volunteers on the Board of Doney Coe Pet Clinic, supporting the animal companions of people experiencing homelessness. Becka is an elected Precinct Committee Officer, a member of the Jackson Foundation Leadership Council, and has served on the King County Democrats Endorsement Committee.  She previously worked in mental health research for Stanford University and has mentored students from diverse communities over the last two decades. In her free time, Becka enjoys traveling with her spouse and their cat, Edgar, as well as spending time outdoors and cheering on the Mariners.   Resources Campaign Website - Becka Johnson Poppe   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I'm very pleased to have King County Council candidate Becka Johnson Poppe joining us today. Welcome to the show. [00:01:01] Becka Johnson Poppe: Thank you so much, Crystal. It's really nice to be here. [00:01:04] Crystal Fincher: Great to be here with you. So I guess just starting off - what made you choose to run for this King County Council position? [00:01:12] Becka Johnson Poppe: Thank you. Yeah, so I've lived in District 4 for over a decade. I was born and raised here in the Puget Sound region. I'm the granddaughter of two veterans, daughter of two public servants - and they really taught me what it meant to be tough and what it meant to serve the community. Growing up, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew that I wanted to take care of my community. I studied biology and psychology in college and spent a couple of years doing mental health research at Stanford after that. While I was there, I volunteered as an after-school program leader in a low-income community - and between my work and my volunteering - I saw a lot of challenges that people were facing with navigating mental health issues, economic injustice, the first effects of climate change, and really all the societal structures and policies that do an unfortunately impressive job of inhibiting social mobility and access to basic services. In many cases, the only thing keeping people afloat was having a supportive community around them. And that really hit home for me - I realized I wanted to get back to my community and work on these issues back at home. I am honored to be part of this community in District 4 and in King County. There are a lot of incredibly dedicated, creative, supportive people who have made careers out of finding ways to make the world a better place - and like I said, the community that you have around you can really make all the difference. A dear friend of mine was living out of their car in King County not that long ago, and I think about them when I think about the 50,000 people who were unhoused in King County last year. I think that there are moments in life that many of us have had where you can see how close you are to going from making it work to not making it work. For a little while, I was working three jobs and had a bank account with two digits. I had tons of support around me, so I was fine - but I was in a precarious spot and if I hadn't had that support, it could have looked really different. I think that there is so much work that needs to be done to create communities that truly support each other. I think we can all agree we have a housing crisis, a behavioral health crisis, a climate crisis - and to take on these issues, we need someone who can bring people together and make progress right out of the gate. So over the last decade, I've led budgets and policy development for some of the region's largest public entities. I've gone from a bank account with two digits to overseeing half of King County's $16 billion budget. Really, a budget is about our values - it's about our priorities and how we make those real, and that's a unique skill set that I bring. I really see three priorities connecting everything that the County does - protecting the environment, advancing equity, and stimulating the economy. These three E's - the environment, equity, and the economy - all intersect, and I'm really committed to centering our community's voices and our community's needs, because I've seen firsthand what that looks like and what that can do. I think we really have an opportunity to show the state and the rest of the nation what it means to be a community that is diverse and inclusive and dedicated to solving the most complex issues. King County is bigger than 15 states, and so we have the opportunity and the responsibility to lead in taking on the existential threat of climate change, and creating more housing that's affordable for more people, in delivering universal childcare, improving our transportation experience. And all of this is going to take centering the voices of people most affected, creating accessible career pathways with family-sustaining wages, moving big capital initiatives faster and more equitably, and making sure that everyone feels safe, respected, and supported. And I've spent my career turning progressive ideas into progressive action - with the voices and votes of our community, I'm really excited to hit the ground running. [00:04:59] Crystal Fincher: All right - you talked about the three E's. Those three E's are absolutely impacted, as you talked about, by housing and homelessness and how accessible or not those are to people. One thing called out by experts that's a barrier to our homelessness response is that frontline workers are short-staffed, they're overworked, and their wages are not covering the cost of living for this area. Do you believe our local nonprofits have a responsibility to pay living wages, and how can we make that more likely with how we bid and contract for services? [00:05:32] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thanks Crystal. So there was a recent UW research study that showed that social service staff are underpaid by 37%. And with a combination of lagging wages, rising cost of living, and just the really challenging work that folks have to do in these spaces - that's created a real workforce crisis in the human services sector. In King County and Seattle, this kind of work is primarily performed by nonprofits, like you pointed out, in contracts with government agencies. So we really need to make sure that, as a government, that we are using the tools that are available to us to make sure that nonprofits have the ability to pay their employees more. And where we're really seeing this hit home is for social workers, for people working with youth, for intake specialists, for people who are doing that really tough human services work. Women account for - it was 79% of all human services workers in King County. And that same UW study showed that it's workers of color who are overrepresented in the lowest paid human services job, including frontline care work. So when we're looking at what we can be doing as a county to make sure that nonprofits can increase the minimum pay for folks, to be providing inflationary wage adjustments, to be improving non-wage benefits - that's all gonna come down to how we as a government can be supporting that work. So I think we absolutely need to be doing this, not just for the sake of our work in our homelessness communities, but for the sake of work in so many different spaces. [00:07:05] Crystal Fincher: Public safety is top of mind for so many people - and just what it means to be safe, what comprehensive public safety means. And a focus on addressing root causes - really getting to the heart of people being victimized and reducing it - people have been asking for that for quite some time. Part of this process and part of what King County is responsible for is operating multiple jails, really. And the main jail has been having a number of problems - from overcrowding, they had a lack of water for a while, inadequate healthcare, shortages. Would you have voted to approve the transfer of inmates to the SCORE jail to try and alleviate the issues plaguing the King County Jail, or would you have a different plan? [00:07:51] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, so a close family member of mine was incarcerated, and this is something that is really near and dear to my heart. I think the human experience in our jails is something that we really have to focus on. We didn't prioritize, the County didn't prioritize COVID vaccines for this population. And we are seeing a behavioral health problem that's manifesting in our jails with the suicide numbers. This is really concerning. I am worried about the fact that SCORE doesn't have options for in-person visitation. I'm worried about folks in our jails not being able to access their legal representation, support from behavioral health professionals. I'm worried about the experience for people who are trying to do that critical work to support their clients - who need interpreters, who need that in-person access to just do basic things like pass documents back and forth. And what this really comes down to is making sure that we are keeping folks out of jail in the first place - that we're looking at equitable, human-centered, criminal legal strategies. And these takes the form of things like community courts, community diversion programs, and scaling that up is really critical. It is a fact that we don't have enough staff to fill our jails right now. We don't have enough people to even escort folks from the front desk to meet with their clients, and that is - that's really unacceptable. We need to be looking at those staffing shortages and making sure that we are being efficient with our resources. If we're paying people to do work but they aren't even able to access their clients, that's not efficient - let alone the human experience that's going on for the people in our jails. So investing in those holistic solutions to keep people out of jail in the first place is a big part of this, and I'm hopeful that the behavioral health levy that was recently passed is going to be part of this solution. I think we also need to be looking at our community courts - and one thing that I want to spend more time looking at is misdemeanor cases, which are not currently eligible for community court. Just really making sure that we are taking a step back and paying attention to the human experience and also how to keep people from being in that situation in the first place. [00:09:57] Crystal Fincher: Should we close the King County Jail? [00:09:59] Becka Johnson Poppe: I think that we should absolutely be moving toward that - and doing that in concert with all of these holistic services, and making sure that we are having alternatives to that jail that are going to be better suited to the community needs. [00:10:14] Crystal Fincher: And I may have just missed it, so would you have also voted to - you talked about a number of other things that were absolutely crucial and critical, and people who are incarcerated having connections to the outside is critical to lower chances of recidivism and them able to integrate back in the community successfully. Would you have voted to approve that SCORE contract? [00:10:35] Becka Johnson Poppe: I would not have voted to approve that SCORE contract. [00:10:38] Crystal Fincher: Okay, and so I assume that if it comes back, which some people think that it will - and need to be extended or expanded - that you would be a No vote on that too. [00:10:46] Becka Johnson Poppe: That's right. [00:10:47] Crystal Fincher: Gotcha. So we talked about homelessness, affordable housing, about the need to increase pay for frontline workers and that being crucial to being able to solve this response. What are your top priorities for taking action to reduce homelessness and increase the affordability of housing? [00:11:06] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thank you. So I mentioned earlier that a good friend of mine was living out of their car in King County not that long ago and so this hits home for me. And I've also been working to end youth homelessness as a volunteer for . YouthCare, and as a volunteer for a really small nonprofit that provides care to the animal companions of people who are experiencing homelessness. And one of the things that I've observed is that we really need to be leveraging partnerships to support the needs of the community and making sure that we are not missing handoffs. We need to make sure that we are communicating between the systems, making sure that we're providing a safety net for the community. And the fact is a lot of our contracts right now don't allow for resources to be used flexibly for wraparound support. So that's one thing I want to work on. And as we were talking about, keeping the team is really critical. When I'm volunteering for YouthCare, it's our frontline staff who make all the difference for our unhoused young people. I've advocated for wage increases because it's the right thing to do - and because the bottom line is if we don't take care of our people, we lose them and we lose the vital individual connections that make the work matter. I think in order to take care of our community, we really need to take care of our people. And whether you care about any of that or not, which I hope you do - I know that you do, Crystal, and I hope that all of our listeners do here - if we are constantly losing people and having to navigate that turnover, it's just really inefficient from a resource standpoint. Those hiring processes - going through that over and over - that's tapping into scarce resources that we could be using for so many other important things. So it's about leveraging those partnerships, it's about keeping the team together. And then how we pair this with affordable housing - it is really hard for people to afford to live here and rents are at all-time highs, housing prices are really tough. Having a comprehensive approach that addresses zoning, affordability, that links housing with transportation - it's not only going to be critical to help with equity, to help with the economy, but also with the environment - getting back to those three E's - to make sure that we have diverse communities while we're mitigating the impacts of climate change by pairing housing where transportation is. I'm really for making sure that we have more housing that's affordable to more people, and doing that with what I would consider a 'Yes, And' approach. So making sure that we have mixed-use development where housing is built alongside commercial and retail spaces, making it easier to build with permitting, with design review - really taking a look at those processes - finding ways to support first-time home buyers as well. And I get kind of excited about this, but talking about the full life cycle of these projects - everything from land acquisition - the timing of land acquisitions with our budget processes, that is a big challenge right now. Building capacity in the community to do these projects so that we have culturally competent developers, making sure that we move construction faster and more equitably to get these affordable housing units created, making sure that we have green building features that are part of this construction and these plans from the start, thinking about the jobs that we're creating - good union jobs as part of this. And incentivizing the creation of affordable housing that isn't just tiny units - that is available for multi-generational households, which are often folks from immigrant communities. And all of this is going to get back to those multi-benefits of how we are supporting the environment, equity, and the economy simultaneously. I could nerd out here a little bit talking about a program at the County around transfer of development rights, which is something that we use to preserve open space by transferring the development potential of that land to areas where we can have more density because the services and utilities are available to support that. And this is something that I think is really cool because the revenue that we generate by selling these development credits allows us to then purchase more open space, and be preserving those open spaces. So these multi-benefits, I think, are where things can get really cool. And how we can be using those incentives to make sure that we have green building features, and even access to childcare services where people live and not just wherever it makes sense to build them otherwise. This is going to make everyone's lives easier, healthier, and better. So I get really excited about this stuff. [00:15:30] Crystal Fincher: Makes sense. Now, drug decriminalization is a big topic of discussion locally and at the state legislative level right now. We had our legislators working on legislation to try and establish a new policy for personal possession of substances, after our State Supreme Court invalidated the law that criminalized that. Legislature did that, but put a sunset provision in the first go-round that they did - after they made it a misdemeanor, tried to fund some infrastructure across the state for treatment and diversion, those types of programs. But they weren't able to come to a new agreement in this session. Governor Inslee recently called a new special session to address this, and we'll see if they come up with a solution after that. But if not, it's going to be up to counties, cities, and towns to figure out what policy is the right policy for them. Should we be criminalizing simple possession of substances? And if not, what should the plan be? [00:16:31] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thanks Crystal. We need to be making sure that folks are getting the help that they need rather than punishment. Historically, we have just not seen evidence that shows that punishment works, and it's disproportionately affecting Black and Brown communities. There needs to be a fix that happens at the state level because I don't think that it's a great solution to have 40 different rules with 40 different jurisdictions - where people have to wonder if they step across one line, if they're going to be treated differently than if they're hopping over here. And so I'm really hopeful that the state comes through with a fix. If they don't, we really need to be focusing again back on the root issues. What is resulting in people having substance abuse disorder, having these challenges in the first place? Possession - drug possession is not the biggest public safety threat facing our communities right now. And we have scarce resources to devote to public safety so prioritizing that differently is an imperative, while recognizing that substance abuse is a big problem. Fentanyl death rates are growing year over year, we've already exceeded the 2022 death rates so far - and we're only a few months into 2023 - but we absolutely cannot prosecute our way out of the problem. Prevention, treatment, long-term care - these are all critical pieces - and data gathering to support that. Another really important thing that I've noticed is that this is hitting the people who are experiencing homelessness the hardest. I think we need a healthcare team that is really dedicated to supporting people who are experiencing homelessness. And recognizing that if people refuse treatment - that's part of the disease, that is part of the process. So we still need to have that treatment available - we need to help folks work through that part of the disease that presents as refusal, and not just giving up on folks. So I am really hopeful that the state comes through with a fix - and I think at the County level, we need to be prioritizing our scarce resources in a way that is going to help people, rather than try to prosecute them. [00:18:38] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely makes sense. Now, you talked about another one of your Es, the environment. On almost every measure, we're behind on our 2030 climate goals but we're experiencing impacts from climate change more than we ever have before, whether it's extreme weather events with heat and cold, wildfires, floods. What are your highest priority plans to get us on track to meet our 2030 goals? [00:19:02] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, it's really important to be recognizing that climate change is a threat multiplier that burdens communities already facing public health and economic disparities. I think that we can be looking at ways to center community voices in how we are working to address climate change, and this is something that I've had direct experience with. A couple years ago, I created the County's first Climate Equity Bond - it's a $20 million pool of funds - and in doing so, had the honor to sit with frontline communities experiencing the first and worst consequences of climate change. I met with them for seven months and found a way to make their priorities a reality. I really want to scale up that work at the County and do even more of this - and make sure that we are not being performative about the way that we are involving community voices, but really doing that deliberately - and balancing that need to move quickly, but making sure that we are not leaving folks behind. Another really critical piece to this is moving our big construction initiatives faster by breaking down barriers to delivering on those initiatives. So much of what we need to do to address climate change is going to come down to how we can deliver on our capital projects - whether it's installing electric vehicle infrastructure, whether it is creating big solar fields, affordable housing that's close to transportation - these large-scale energy projects, these large-scale construction initiatives are gonna be key. This is something that I've been working on at the County - is figuring out how to break down the barriers that all of our construction initiatives are facing right now, which are around permitting, procurement, supply chains, labor shortages. And this is something that I'm really excited about because there are things that we can be doing to break down those barriers and move these projects faster and more equitably for the sake of the environment. Another thing that I've been working on related to our big capital projects is making sure that when we are making decisions, we are doing that in a way that recognizes the carbon emissions from our buildings will harm future generations. This is called social cost of carbon. It's a real dollar amount that we can actually be applying to calculations about which alternatives we should pursue when we're looking at different construction projects and construction options - and bringing that into our decision-making is really critical. We also need to be going after federal and state funding. There are huge opportunities right now. The Inflation Reduction Act, Federal Infrastructure Bill, Climate Commitment Act, Clean Fuel Standard, the EPA has a $5 billion grant option opportunity for climate pollution reduction. We have a huge opportunity right now to be going after those dollars in a coordinated manner that those grant opportunities - actually, in some cases, demand that we be coordinated across the region. And the County - one of the biggest things that the County can do is bring people together to bring that coordination. And then a huge part of this is transportation. We need to have a coordinated plan for installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, working with our neighboring jurisdictions and private entities. We need to be electrifying our bus fleet, but recognizing that if no one is riding our buses, it doesn't really matter if they're electric if everyone's using their cars instead. So we need to be bringing people back to our buses, and if it's reliable, accessible, and safe, people are going to use it. [00:22:25] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, one related item is the air that we breathe - you talked about reducing the pollution there. Certainly, air quality impacts everything about our lives - from life expectancy, to whether we're experiencing asthma, heart disease, lung disease, many things like that. What role does the County have to play, or what responsibility does the County have, to ensure that clean air and appropriate ventilation happens in public buildings? But also, we're seeing a lot of new construction - just passed some legislation that will probably spur construction of housing units. How should the County be enforcing air standards, or should it? [00:23:05] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, well, to start off here, a really critical piece of this is transportation, because the biggest source of emissions in the County is emissions from transportation. So to expand on that a little bit, we really need to be bringing people back to our buses. And as I was saying, if it's reliable, accessible, safe, people are going to use it. Right now, our buses are arriving late, on reduced schedules, too many of our neighbors who are in crisis are having episodes on buses completely unsupported. And I think if we asked a big room of people - how many of us have had an uncomfortable experience on a bus - we'd probably all raise our hands. So to be reducing our emissions, we need to bring people back to our buses. And I think we can do that by making our experience safer, by having an on-demand care team, where our Metro operators who have such a tough job already - my neighbor actually is a Metro operator, he's in his 80s, he is one of the toughest people that I know - and we can make a system where those Metro operators can flag down a care team to meet them en route and provide human-oriented holistic support to people who are in crisis on our buses. We also need to recognize that the traditional commute isn't the main reason that people are using buses anymore. So to get people to transition away from single-occupancy vehicles, we need to have transportation that's available around the clock and not just in those traditional commute hours. We have the Metro Connects vision to help us move toward that vision, but there's a big funding gap and it was put together in 2016. So we need to refresh that data with post-pandemic data to make sure that we're moving toward the right solutions and the right targets here. We have a lot of one-time funding that we can be using right now to make sure that we are staffed up with Metro, to make sure that we're improving that safety and that ridership experience. We also need to be pursuing long-term solutions. So I think all of this is going to be really key to improving our air quality and making sure that we have better air quality for everyone. And in terms of our buildings, it gets back to those choices that we're making about how we construct and factoring those emissions - those long-term emissions - and the effects of those into our decision-making. We also can be making sure that, when we have these wildfire incidents and smoke, that we have spaces for people to go where they can escape that. There are not enough places right now where people can be safe from the effects of our wildfire season, which is really what it is right now, unfortunately - it's a season of the year that we've become pretty familiar with. There are things called - I might mispronounce this here - Corsi–Rosenthal Boxes, which are quick ways to clean the air for folks. It cleans the air by up to 60%. And that's something that we can use in a lot of different settings to essentially retrofit spaces that aren't already constructed in ways that allow folks to be able to breathe clean air. And we really need to be engaging people at every stage of the process in conversations about indoor air quality. We've learned this through COVID - we can be leveraging those same learnings to move forward and be ensuring that as the climate continues to warm and as we continue to have more wildfire smoke, that we are not having that impact all of us. But really that - if we look at the maps of air pollution where folks are most affected by this, it's the same regions of the County that are disproportionately impacted by existing public health disparities, by economic disparities, by gun violence, by so many different things. And recognizing where needs are greatest is going to be key in making sure that we are improving the air quality in meaningful ways. [00:26:44] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, you manage half of the County budget. You talked about how huge the County is - it is large, it is formidable - so that is quite the undertaking that you have. But when it comes to that budget, King County does incremental budgeting - making it really difficult for people to understand how funds are allocated in the base budget. Being that this is one of your strengths and an area you are very familiar with, what can be done to make the budget easier for the public to understand and influence? [00:27:15] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, this is something I get really excited about. Few things are more important than how we use our resources and transparency from a lot of different angles is critical - the funding sources, how that funding is being used, how communities are being involved in those choices, and in the implementation of things that get funded. I've been working on this at the County and on the campaign trail so far - just demystifying the budget process. It doesn't have to be complicated. Everyone understands income coming in, expenses going out. We budget for ourselves individually in ways that align with our values and priorities. If you really care about cooking, maybe you're going to spend a little bit more on the supplies that you're using or the ingredients that you're using. Those are your priorities reflected in your own personal budget. And that same thing happens at the County. There are opportunities that we're using - that I've been using right now - to really try to make this easier for folks to be involved in and to understand. And part of this is meeting people where they're at. It's great to have town halls, it's great to have office hours, it's great to have presentations - but thinking about the timing and location of those is really critical. If we're holding space for folks to engage with these processes at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, you're going to get a very different set of people than if you have it at 7 p.m. And it's - for me, one of the most fun parts of the campaign so far has been knocking on doors and literally engaging with folks where they're at - at their home, where they don't have to go anywhere. They can just share their thoughts with me when I come up and ask for a few minutes of their time. But I think the bottom line here is - it doesn't have to be complicated. There are ways that we can be putting that information online to make this more accessible to folks, to make it easier to understand. It's not about sharing more data - that can just be overwhelming, that can be more cumbersome. It's about presenting that data in ways that people can access and understand, and really going to people to make sure that they have their voices heard in the process. [00:29:23] Crystal Fincher: Now, the list of things that everyone says is necessary and a lot of the things that we've talked about today cost more money than we appear to have in the budget, so new revenue is needed. What progressive revenue options exist at the County level and will you pursue any of them? [00:29:39] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, we are unfortunately heading into lean times at the County. The state did not pass a revenue fix that we really needed. So as a little bit of background - right now, so the General Fund for the County is our most flexible source of revenue that funds a lot of the critical things that the County does. The biggest source of funding for the General Fund is property tax revenue. And right now, revenue from our property tax is capped - the growth of that revenue is capped at 1% per year, plus the cost of new construction. This comes out to essentially about 2% per year, or a little bit more. And I think we've all seen that inflation has been going up by way more than 2% per year. So we have more money going out the door than we have coming in. And this means that to even just sustain the level of service that we have now, we are going to need way more than that 2%. So we're headed into lean times because the state did not lift that cap on property tax revenue growth. And I think that voters deserve someone who has the budget experience to think creatively about how to avoid cuts and maximize the dollars that we have. So as I mentioned - as you mentioned - over the last few years, I've been overseeing half of the County's budget and this has given me some insight into some of the tools that we can be using. We talked earlier about going after big federal dollars - that's an opportunity that we have to help shore up the work that we're doing. We have opportunities to be multiplying the dollars that we have with matching funds, with pilot projects that make the County competitive for larger dollars. We can also be getting more aggressive with our bonding strategy. So right now the County has a AAA rating, which is great. And you don't need to know anything about bonds to know that AAA is the best - it's really freaking good. We can be taking that down a notch - and still getting pretty much all of the benefits that we have at our AAA - with something that's just a smidge lower than that, but freeing up a lot of dollars to meet urgent needs now. These needs are only going to get more expensive the longer that they're left unaddressed, so this is actually a fiscally responsible solution. If we use that bonding authority right now to get more dollars right now, that's gonna help in the long run. And then base budget. So you mentioned earlier that we budget at the County on an incremental basis, and this is absolutely true. This is true of a lot of local jurisdictions. And what this means essentially is that when we have new money coming in, we decide what to do with those new dollars, but we don't take a lot of time to dig back into the resources that were decided upon in the past. And those resources were guided by different values and priorities than we have now. We're talking decades of decisions. And that means that the values and priorities that we have now - that are really intentionally centering racial justice and equity - that's great for the way that we're using our resources now, but that's not what was guiding resource decisions in the past. So we have a huge opportunity to not only free up dollars and reprioritize those dollars to help as we're headed into lean times, but to also undo systemic racism by reevaluating the way that we have used resources in the past and reassigning those dollars to meet where needs are greatest. We need to keep getting dollars out into the community and recognizing that King County taxpayers can't be the only ones to shoulder this burden in perpetuity, but we can be the ones to model this work and how we can do this correctly and creatively - to then work with our colleagues at the state and federal levels to find sustainable progressive funding solutions for the long-term. [00:33:21] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely, and anyone who knows me in real life has probably had a conversation with me about how crucial and important bonding is - and using it in times like now is to be able to solve problems at the scale that we're experiencing them. Now, you're in a competitive race. This position - District 4 is a contested race. The filing deadline is May 19th, so who knows if anyone else is gonna get in the race. But at this point in time, people are trying to evaluate the differences between candidates and who you are, and how you may vote. What do your endorsements say about you, and what are you most proud of? [00:33:59] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, thank you. I am really proud to be endorsed by a lot of folks who really represent the community - small business owners, nonprofit leaders, people who are out there doing the work in the community. I'm also proud to be endorsed by State Representative Liz Berry, State Representative Kristine Reeves, County Councilmember Joe McDermott - these are folks who I really respect because of the way that they've led our community toward progressive solutions to some of the most complex issues. And I recognize that I haven't been working toward a specific elected office for a long period of time, and so - I have, though, been operating in the community, connecting with my community, and I think that my endorsements really reflect that. [00:34:50] Crystal Fincher: Thank you. Now another thing that you covered was talking about - with the budget - that how we deliver projects is as important as the overall goal of it, and can influence the quality of it. This has been a continued issue that we've seen at many levels of government, including the County, where great policy is passed that's gonna help a lot of people, but it experiences some challenges in the implementation. What can we do to improve how we implement policy at the County level? [00:35:19] Becka Johnson Poppe: That is such a big question, and I really appreciate that question. There is so much that we can be doing to improve how we implement policy - it is really up to our elected officials and our governments. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to be undoing the status quo and replacing it with something better, to be centering the voices of people most affected, to be understanding the racial justice impact of policies and programs by using data carefully and intentionally - and this really factors into how we roll out those policies. As a County Councilmember, part of my job will be recognizing the maps showing where needs are greatest - whether it's gun violence, public health disparities, urban heat - and making sure that we are involving the voices of folks in those areas where needs are greatest. We need to be forming partnerships to be implementing our policies effectively - partnerships with frontline workers, partnerships with labor, partnerships with nonprofit organizations - and really paying attention to the experience of people who are doing the work and the expertise of people who are doing that work. We were talking about moving big capital initiatives faster. So much of what the County does is constructing things, building things - and so I've seen firsthand the importance of our capital design and our construction work. And if we move capital projects faster, we create more jobs, more union jobs, we sustain those jobs, and we get that value out into the communities faster. As I mentioned, our big capital initiatives are facing barriers around permitting, procurement, supply chains, labor shortages. We need to be paying attention to that because those problems probably aren't going away, but there are ways that we can be breaking that down by really making sure that we are using all of the tools in the toolbox. With procurement, for example, there are alternative processes with design-bid-build, that - and a whole bunch of different options here - where we can be staffing in a way that allows us to be creative, that will actually save us more money in the long run if we staff up in ways that will allow for that creativity. And sometimes this work is going to be more complex at the outset, but it's going to save us money and save us time in the long run, and so thinking about those trade-offs and thinking about how we can be making fiscally responsible investments, investments and policy implementation plans that really involve people at every step of the way - it's all going to end up being better for us in the long run. This is such a big question. I feel like there's so many things that we could talk about here, but this is really critical to the work that the County does. [00:38:03] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, as we conclude today - as we talked about - there are lots of voters and residents in this community who are trying to figure out not only what's happening, but who you guys are and where you stand, what the differences are, and how to make their decision on who they're going to vote for. When you talk to people like that, what do you tell them? [00:38:25] Becka Johnson Poppe: Yeah, I tell them - I've spent my career turning progressive ideas into progressive action. And whoever gets elected is going to have a lot to navigate. We have 50,000 unhoused neighbors, we have public safety issues, we have land conservation challenges, transportation issues, backlogs in our criminal legal system. If we are going to take on the biggest, most urgent issues in the region, we need someone who can make progress right out of the gate. We're headed into lean times at the County, and I think voters deserve someone who has the budget experience to think creatively about how to avoid cuts, how to maximize the dollars that we have. And I have that experience, and that's a unique skillset that I bring. I'm excited to bring my experience not only with budgets, but with moving construction projects faster and more equitably, with centering community voices, and turning those asks and those values into tangible outcomes. My experience doing mental health research - understanding data and science - my experience volunteering working with our unhoused neighbors. As I said earlier, King County is bigger than 15 states. We can show the rest of the state and the rest of the nation what it means to be a community that is diverse and inclusive, and solving the most complex issues. We can lead in taking on the existential threat of climate change, in creating more housing that's affordable to more people, in delivering universal childcare, improving our transportation experience. And I'm really committed to this community - to the region I grew up in - and I'm really excited to hit the ground running. [00:39:53] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much, Becka Johnson Poppe, candidate for King County Council District 4, for spending this time with us and helping us get to know you better today. Really appreciate it. [00:40:02] Becka Johnson Poppe: Thank you so much for having me here, Crystal. I am a huge fan, and this is a huge honor. Thank you. [00:40:07] Crystal Fincher: Thank you. Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is co-produced by Shannon Cheng and Bryce Cannatelli. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Today, I'm talking with Douglas Arthur from Boston, Massachusetts.  I spoke with Doug in 2021 and at that time, he was just starting a new program called “Chance of a Lifetime.”  This program gives people a 15-month paid internship to explore three facets of ministry in a HOPE youth camp, the Boston campus ministry and finally a foreign missionary adventure.  I thought it would be good to check back in with Doug and see how that program as well as the 15 missionary schools that he's helping to develop globally are doing.   How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!  

Today I talk to Ben and Susan Borland, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  I interviewed them on episode 140 in February of 2022.  They are planting a new church in Montevideo, Uruguay in South America.  Listen as they share how they made the decision to go on the foreign mission field in their thirties with three young kids.  They talk about their timeline, finances, team-gathering and how they are preparing for learning a new language.  You can reach Ben at MissionMontevideo@gmail.com or 940-390-7592   ·        The Climb Conference is coming up November 30th-December 3rd in Dallas, Texas.  We already have a ton of people going.  I'm getting emails from Denmark, India, and other places around the world.  You can register at RobSkinner.com if you haven't already.   ·        If you are looking to find old episodes on the Rob Skinner podcast, just google Rob Skinner Podcast along with the name or subject of the episode.  It'll take you right to where you want to go.   ·        I'm looking for an assistant to help me with my podcast and website.  If you or someone you know might be interested, email me at RobSkinner.Com   ·        I just went on a scouting trip last week to my next mission target in Sahuarita/Green Valley in Southeastern, Arizona.  Sahuarita is one of the top five fastest growing cities in Arizona.  I'm looking for team members and a church leader to plant that church in September of 2023.  We are looking for families with kids, empty nesters and retirees to plant this beautiful area of Arizona.  If you are looking to preach the word while raising your family, or you want to retire with a purpose, contact me at rob@robskinner.com How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I want to say thank you for supporting the Rob Skinner Podcast.  I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    and Flagstaff, Arizona.  My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

On this midweek show, Crystal chats with Teresa Mosqueda about her campaign for King County Council District 8 - why she decided to run, the experience and lessons she'll bring to the County from serving on Seattle City Council, and her thoughts on addressing progressive revenue options, public service wage equity and morale, housing and homelessness, public safety, transit rider experience, climate change, and budget transparency. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Teresa Mosqueda at @TeresaCMosqueda.   Teresa Mosqueda As a Progressive Labor Democrat, Teresa Mosqueda is committed to creating healthy and safe communities, investing in working families through job training, childcare and transit access, and developing more affordable housing for all residents. She brings a proven track record of successfully passing progressive policies and building broad and inclusive coalitions. Teresa was named one of Seattle's Most Influential People 2018 for acting with urgency upon getting elected, received the Ady Barkan Progressive Champion Award from Local Progress in 2019; and earned national attention by leading the passage of JumpStart progressive revenue to invest in housing, economic resilience, green new deal investments, and equitable development. Prior to elected office Teresa worked on community health policies from SeaMar to the Children's Alliance, and championed workers' rights at the WA State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, where she helped lead state's minimum wage increase, paid sick leave, farmworker protections, workplace safety standards, and launched the Path to Power candidate training with the AFL-CIO.   Resources Campaign Website - Teresa Mosqueda   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I am very excited today to have joining us - current Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who is a candidate for King County Council District 8, which covers Seattle - including West Seattle, South Park, Georgetown, Chinatown International District, and First Hill - as well as Burien, part of Tukwila, and unincorporated King County - in White Center and Vashon Island. Welcome to the program - welcome back. [00:01:22] Teresa Mosqueda: Thank you so much for having me back - I appreciate it. [00:01:25] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. So I guess the first question is - what made you decide to run for King County Council after being on the Seattle City Council? [00:01:35] Teresa Mosqueda: I've been really, really honored to be able to serve the full City of Seattle - 775,000 residents at this point - to be able to pass progressive policies like progressive revenue through JumpStart, Green New Deal and affordable housing that it was funding, to be able to quadruple the investments in affordable housing, to expand worker protections. But the truth is, we know that much of the population that I was elected by - the folks that I really center in my public policy - also work and have family outside of the City of Seattle. And in many ways, I want to build on what I've been able to accomplish in Seattle - investments in affordable housing, investments in new career pathways, good union jobs, to expand on the childcare and working family supports that I've centered in my work on City Council. But in order to reach the broader population of working families who are just outside of Seattle's borders but may work in Seattle and come in and out of the City - I want to create greater equity and stability across our region - the County is the place to do it. And in terms of stability, the County is the only place that has purview over public health, has the purse strings for behavioral health investments. And so if I want to complement efforts to try to house folks and create long-term housing stability, especially for our most vulnerable community members, the County is the place to do that - through investments in behavioral health, by sitting on the Public Health Board, by being directly involved in the budget that has purview over public health and behavioral health investments. I see it as an extension of my work at the City to create housed and healthy communities. And it actually goes full circle back to my roots where I started my career in community health. It is exciting opportunity, and I see it as a growth and expansion of the work that we've done in Seattle. [00:03:24] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. You talk about progressive revenue - the JumpStart Tax, which is a really, really important source of revenue that has been so helpful for businesses in the City, for residents, so many people in need - and has been a benefit to the City, especially in this time of a budget downturn in that the JumpStart Tax helped to bail out a budget shortfall there. So this revenue seemed to come just in time. You had to fight for it. You led the fight for it. What lessons do you take out of that fight to the County, and what progressive revenue options are there at the county level that you would be willing to pursue? [00:04:05] Teresa Mosqueda: I think one major lesson is how I've approached building these big progressive policies that have not only earned the majority of votes, but the vast majority - if not unanimous vote sometimes - that have withstood the test of time, have not been overturned, and have not been overturned by legislative councilmatic action nor by the courts. I will take with me to King County the ability to build these broad coalitions. And think about JumpStart - who was there when we launched it? It was ironworkers and hardhats, along with business entrepreneurs from both small and large business, with community and housing advocates standing collectively together to say - We will not only stand by this progressive revenue, we will stand by it knowing that it's five times the amount of the previous policy and it's twice as long. That's a huge effort that took place to try to get people on the same page, and we had to - with growing income inequality, growing needs, an increase in our population. There was no other option. This had to succeed, and so I will take that same approach to King County Council. So much is on the needs list right now in the "wake" of the global pandemic. We have the ongoing shadow pandemic. We have increased needs for mental health and community health investments. We have increased needs for food security and housing stability. There is not an alternative. We must invest more and we must do it in a way that withstands the test of time, like I've done on Seattle City Council. So for me, it's the how I bring people together that I will bring to King County Council. And I think it's also the what - not being afraid to push the envelope on what's possible. Many people said it was impossible to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights - and we got sued, and we won. People said it was impossible to legislate having hotel workers get access to guaranteed healthcare at the gold level, protections from retaliation, maximum workload. We not only passed that in legislation, but we withstood that in the court. And the same is true of JumpStart. We withstood multiple litigation attempts to try to take away JumpStart, and it's withstood the test of time. And I'm excited to see what else we can do in a city that sees so much growth but incredible inequity across our region - to bring people together to address these pressing needs. [00:06:24] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. You talked about housing and homelessness, and one thing called out by experts as a barrier to our homelessness response is that frontline worker wages don't cover their cost of living. Do you believe our local service providers, a lot of whom are nonprofits, have a responsibility to pay living wages for the area? And how can we make that more likely with how we bid and contract for services at the county level? [00:06:54] Teresa Mosqueda: Yeah, two things I would say. One is - absolutely, we need to make sure that folks who are working on the frontline as human service providers - think folks who are the counselors to youth, or people who have mental health or substance abuse needs that we need to help address so that they can get stably housed, think about services to our vets and seniors. These are workers on the frontline who rely on relationships and have skills, expertise in the human service category. They need to have investments in these deeply needed services. And in order for us to create greater stability, we need to be paying them living wages. I say "we" - because this is not about the nonprofits needing to pay them more. It is about we, the public entities, needing to increase our contracts to these organizations who then employ people to be on the frontline. For better or worse, we have a human services system that has largely relied on contracting out critical services that are arguably public services. They are supported by public dollars, and we, public officials, have a responsibility to pay those organizations enough so that they can invest in the wages for frontline workers. That is what I have tried to do at Seattle City Council. The first year that I came in at Seattle City Council, the Human Services Coalition came to me and said - We have not had a cost of living increase in 10 years. To not have a COLA in 10 years for most workers in our region and across the country is unheard of, but it's especially unheard of for the very folks on the frontline trying to address the most pressing crisis in our country right now - and that is housing instability and homeless services. So we worked in 2019, and we passed the Human Services cost of living adjustment - that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what needs to be addressed. The historic and chronic underfunding of these positions still needs to be addressed. We are not going to be able to close this gap of 40, 50, 60% turnover in our critical organizational partners, organizations, if we don't address the wage stability issue. So I think actually going to the County and bringing that experience of having worked directly with the human service providers and hearing their stories about why it was so critical not only to have a cost of living adjustment, but to get at this chronic underfunding is going to be really coming at a pivotal moment. Seattle does have a cost of living adjustment. I want to bring that cost of living adjustment to King County and collectively with Seattle, I want to work to address the underpayment for human service providers as well. [00:09:26] Crystal Fincher: There's been a lot of action when it comes to addressing housing and homelessness from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to new legislation, and potentially even more legislation coming out through the end of this legislative session. We're currently recording this in mid-April, so it may come out a little bit further when there's a definitive answer for everything that happens. But amid a lot of this work that is currently being implemented or has just been authorized, there's a lot in process but still seemingly a lot more that needs to be done. What would your top priorities be to make a noticeable and meaningful difference in both homelessness and housing affordability if you're elected to this position? [00:10:11] Teresa Mosqueda: Resources for housing is critically needed across King County. Resources will help local jurisdictions be able to implement the new requirements that are going to be coming forth from our State Legislature, which - I want to thank our State legislative members - every year they go to Olympia and every year we ask them to be bold - be bold on housing solutions, recognizing that housing is the solution to being houseless. Housing helps people who have multiple compounding factors get healthy, get stable, and be productive members of our community. Housing is the solution to this biggest crisis that we see, not only in Seattle and King County, up and down the West Coast, but across our entire country. We have not built enough housing to house our current population plus the population who will continue to come to our region. So one of the things that I think I can take to the County is the desire to make sure that local jurisdictions, whether it's Burien or Tukwila, or unincorporated areas like in Vashon and Maury Island or in White Center - that they have resources as well to help build the type of housing that's being requested from the State Legislature - to do so in accordance with their Comprehensive Plan so that people can implement it in the time frame that works for those local jurisdictions, but to help them take away the barrier of not having enough resources. Seattle is unique in that we have pushed forward different resources. We have different types of tax revenues - thanks to JumpStart, for example - but in areas that don't have those type of resources, I hope the County can continue to be a good partner, in addition to the state, to build the type of diverse housing that we're now going to be required to build and hopefully we can do even more. The State Legislature is actually creating a new floor. We should be building upon that, and where we can go higher and denser - that is good for the local environment, it is good for the local economy, it's good for the health of workers and small businesses. And it's what I've heard from Vashon Island to Tukwila - people have said, "We don't have enough workforce housing." Small business owners have said, "I don't have enough workers in this area because they can't afford to live here." So I want to hopefully break down misperceptions about what type of housing we're talking about. We're talking about housing for seniors and vets, kiddos, youth, workers. We're talking about supporting the creation of that housing with additional revenue - that's one of the things I'd like to bring to the County. And to also recognize that when we have diverse economies that are prosperous, it's because workers can live next to their place of employment. Workers can walk to their childcare. We don't have time to spend two hours in the car commuting back and forth - that's not good for our health, our family's health, and it sure isn't good for the health of our planet. So it's a win-win-win, and I think that's something that I can really bring in as a County Councilmember - the knowledge that these local jurisdictions want to do more, but sometimes are limited with their resources. And wherever I can, I want to help step up and provide that support. [00:13:08] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Public safety has also been an area where the County continues to make a lot of news, has a lot of responsibility - they operate a jail, and that has itself made a lot of news. Over the past couple years throughout the pandemic, some of the employees of the jails - the guards - other people, the Public Defenders Association have called out overcrowding conditions, unsafe conditions in the jail. There's been times where the jail has not had clean water, several illness outbreaks, people not being treated correctly. It seems to be a really bad situation. Recently, the King County Council just voted to extend a contract to rent additional beds from a SCORE facility in Des Moines. This, during a backdrop of events where the King County Executive has made a promise to close the King County Jail, but it seems like we're getting further away from that, or at least not getting closer to that. Would you have voted to extend the SCORE contract? And should we close the jail? What is your vision for the short term? [00:14:17] Teresa Mosqueda: I think that the move to close down a jail that's both outdated and unsafe is not only good for the inmates, it's good for the folks who are working there. I think this is another example of where there's a false perception of sides. People who work within the jail, as well as those who are incarcerated, have expressed their not only horror when seeing mold and deterioration of the building, but it is extremely unsafe as well - as you mentioned - due to overcrowding. There's a few things that I think we can do. Number one, we should address upstream - who was being sent to these facilities in the first place. In a presentation that the Seattle City Council received from the City Attorney's Office, there was a large number of people who were initially booked and jailed, and ultimately were released because there was no grounds to put forward charges. And I think we need to stop the habit or the practice of putting folks in that situation to begin with. Even if they are not incarcerated for long periods of time, the fact that people are being jailed - especially youth - creates consequences down the road, mental health consequences, consequences for your housing, for your livelihood, your employment. And the negative impact of just being booked in the first place - both for the physical health of somebody, but also the trajectory of their life - is quantifiable. It is known, and we should stop that practice early. I agree with the effort to move folks into a situation that is healthier, but I also want to continue to look at how we can reduce the chance that someone is ever incarcerated in the first place, invest more in restorative justice practices. I'm optimistic by some of the conversations I've heard from folks in the community, specifically in Burien, about the ways in which some of the initial conversations have taken place with the Burien City Police Chief Ted Boe, and some of the commitments that have been made to try to look at restorative justice differently. And I think that holistically we need to look at what leads someone to be in that situation in the first place and back up to see what additional community investments we can be making so that people can have greater access to economic security, community safety, and reduce the chance that someone ever interacts with the carceral system to begin with. [00:16:40] Crystal Fincher: What do you think, or for people who are considering this voting decision and who are looking around and who are feeling unsafe, and who are not quite sure what the right direction is to move forward, or what can be done but feel like something should be done - what is your message to them? And what can make us all safer? [00:17:01] Teresa Mosqueda: There's a few things that I think have really come to light, especially during the pandemic. We tell people to stay home to stay healthy. Well, if people don't have a home, they can't stay healthy. If we can think about the increased situation where many of us have probably seen loved ones in our lives - whether it's family members or friends - who have turned to substances to cope, to self-medicate with the stress, the trauma, the isolation that has only increased during the pandemic. I hope there's greater empathy across our community and across our country for why people may be self-medicating to begin with. And I think if we think about these recent examples of where we have seen people become more unstable in their housing situation or turn to substances because of increasing stress and pressure, that hopefully there's greater empathy for why it is so critical that we invest upstream. It is not an either/or - it's creating greater balance with how we invest in community safety, in what we know equals the social determinants of health. When we invest in housing, it helps reduce the chance that someone is going to engage in criminal activities later in life. When we invest in early learning, in job opportunities, in youth interactive programs, when we invest in even gun reduction and youth violence reduction strategies, it helps create healthier individuals and healthier populations, reduce the chance that someone ever interacts with an officer to begin with. These are public safety investments, and they shouldn't be seen as a separate silo from "traditional safety." It actually saves lives, and there's a huge return on investment when we make some of these upstream program policies a priority. I think it actually creates healthier communities, and for those who are looking at it through the economic lens, healthier economies - knowing that that return on investment has been proven time and time again. And it's good for individuals and community health as well. [00:19:02] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, there's a shortage of workers across the board - certainly King County is included in this shortage of county workers in several areas, including in many front-line positions that impact public safety - maintenance, care, health - all of those that are crucial to delivering services and help that the residents of the County need. We've seen hiring, retention, and referral bonuses for public safety employees. Do you think we should be considering those for other employees? [00:19:39] Teresa Mosqueda: Absolutely. This is part of the conversation that I raised while at Seattle City Council. There is, I think, a detrimental impact to workplace morale across public servants when we're not uniformly treating people the same. It's not what I feel, it's not that that's my perception - that's actually coming from workers within the City of Seattle who completed a survey that our Human Resources Department, in addition to Seattle Police Department and other Seattle agencies, completed to ask, "What would you like to see? How would you feel if certain employees got a hiring bonus or retention bonus?" And overwhelmingly, workers in public service said that they thought that this would hurt morale - if existing public servants weren't treated the same. I mentioned that in the Human Services category, there's a 40% to 60% turnover rate for our nonprofit organizations who are helping folks on the frontline. There's a huge turnover rate, as well, within our Human Services Department - we've had to freeze the hiring, and reduce hours, and reduce positions. Public libraries, community centers are front-facing programs for the community during COVID and we are slowly starting to scale those back up, but they're nowhere at capacity right now. And what workers themselves have said within the City of Seattle is - they want to see greater strategies for retention. Investments in childcare keeps coming up. Investments in more affordable housing keeps coming up. And if you want to look specifically at the Seattle Police Department, the officers themselves said that they did not think that hiring bonuses was the way to address retention and morale issues - that played out in their comments in the press, as well as the survey results that we saw. I think that there's a more equitable approach that we should be taking. I think that we should be looking at how we recruit and train and incentivize people to come to public service overall, whether that means you're coming in to work as a firefighter or a police officer, or whether that means that we want to recruit you to be serving the public in libraries or as a lifeguard - which we don't have enough of - or as a childcare provider, which we don't have enough of. We should be looking across the board at these public service programs and figuring out ways to both address retention and morale, and to do so equitably. And to listen to what workers have said - they want housing, they want childcare, they want regular and routine transit. And they want us to, especially within the City of Seattle, address disparity in wages for folks of color and women compared to their counterparts. Those are some things that I think we should be taking on more seriously. [00:22:17] Crystal Fincher: Definitely. Now, you talk about people saying they want regular and routine transit. Lots of people want that. Lots of people - more importantly - need that, are relying on that. And there's been lots of talk about the rider experience around safety on transit, but also about the availability and accessibility of service and all-day service - not just some of those commuter-centric commute-time service bumps that we've seen. What would your approach to Metro be as a councilmember? [00:22:50] Teresa Mosqueda: So I appreciate that you raise safety because it is an issue that comes up for riders as well as the drivers. Members of ATU, who drive buses around King County, have expressed increased concern around their safety. Whether they're driving in the day or night - given COVID has increased interpersonal violence across our country, they are on the receiving end of that as well. So I'm excited to talk with ATU, with members who have been out on the frontline as our bus drivers, as well as riders to talk about how we can improve safety for everyone. That is - again, on the preventative side, trying to figure out ways that structurally and through public policy we can ensure that riders and drivers are safe. There's also two things that drivers have talked to me about and folks within King County Metro. They say there's a lot of focus on new routes and how do we expand routes - routes, routes, routes - which I also agree with. But they've also brought up that we need to continue to invest in the people, maintenance, and operation to make sure that there's enough people to be working on existing routes and new routes to come. Similar to housing, we don't want to just build units. We want to make sure that for those who need personnel in those units to make sure that folks stay stably housed, we're investing in the workforce to ensure that that housing, that that unit is successful. We need to be looking at investments in the workforce, recruiting folks to come to these good living wage union jobs, and to be thinking about how we improve retention and stability as well. And for as far as maintenance is concerned - thinking more about how we can invest in greener fleets, greener maintenance opportunities, and ensure that those vehicles are running well and routinely. So those are two of the things that have come directly from the frontline drivers themselves. And then more broadly - workers. You mentioned all-day services. I would also argue all-night services to the degree that we can add additional stops, because many of the childcare providers who are coming in early in the morning, construction workers who are coming in early in the morning, janitors who might be going out late at night, talk about how they have to rely on vehicles because there are not times that the buses are showing up to get them to work and back home in time. So I think that it's multi-prong. But again, I think the common ground here is that the workers in this sector are agreeing with the recipients of the service. And collectively, I'm hoping that we can address safety, workforce needs, and increase routes as well. [00:25:23] Crystal Fincher: Definitely, and I really appreciate you bringing up the workforce needs. I know a couple people who use transit regularly but ended up getting vehicles because of the unpredictable cancellations due to staff shortages, whether it's maintenance or drivers, just making it unreliable to get to work on time. And already the time taken to commute that way is a lot, so that would improve the experience greatly - definitely appreciate that. Transit is also very, very important to achieving our climate goals. And by most measures, we're behind on our 2030 climate goals - while we're experiencing devastating impacts from climate change, including extreme heat and cold, wildfires, floods. What are your highest-priority plans to get us on track to meet our 2030 climate goals? [00:26:17] Teresa Mosqueda: One thing might surprise folks in that category - probably not a huge surprise for folks who have heard me talk before - but I think if we can invest in additional housing, dense housing across our region, it will actually reduce CO2 emissions. And it's really common sense, right? We are the third-highest mega-commuter city or region in the nation. We have more people who are commuting back and forth to work than most of the country. And the reason is because they can't afford to find a house near their place of employment. If CO2 emissions from cars - single-occupancy cars - is the number-one contributor to pollution in our region, I believe that is at the top of our list for helping to reduce our carbon footprint across the country and across the globe. We should be increasing density. We should see it not only as a good economic stimulant, what's right to do for workers and working families, but it is one of the best things that we could also do for our climate. I think that there's - again, a misperception or a false divide between folks who are environmentalists and want to see more trees, and their perception that additional housing or density takes that away. It does not. We can both create setbacks for higher buildings and use the airspace to create living opportunities, while we plant additional trees and preserve old growth. I've gone to at least three ribbon-cutting ceremonies for Habitat for Humanity, who created - basically - townhouses connected altogether. We don't have a lot of row houses in Seattle, but row houses, if you will, around trees created in the shape of a U with old-growth trees in the middle - allowing for greater shade, and a play area for kiddos, and a place to sit for elders. It is very much possible to build dense housing options and preserve old growth while planting new trees. So I think in addition to creating density, we can plant more trees. We can do more to incentivize good living-wage jobs in industries that are cleaner. I heard from our friends in Georgetown Community Center that they had to beg and plead for one of the local industries to incorporate more greener options for a glass manufacturer down there. And we should simultaneously be seeing the opportunity to promote good jobs as a requirement for also promoting good green jobs. And I worked very hard with members of both the environmental community and the labor community in the past to push Just Transition policies - to ensure that as we transition to greener economies or greener manufacturing strategies, that we're preserving good living-wage jobs and, even better, preserving good union living-wage jobs. So I look forward to making sure that we have denser cities, that we have greener cities, and that we have greener industries. [00:29:13] Crystal Fincher: Now, King County does incremental budgeting, making it more challenging for people to understand how county funds are allocated in a base budget. The budget is known as one of your areas of strength. What do you think can be done to make the budget process easier for the public to understand and influence at the county level? [00:29:35] Teresa Mosqueda: I've been really proud of what we've been able to accomplish in Seattle. And coming from working the halls of Olympia on behalf of the Washington State Labor Council for eight years and then for three years before that with the Children's Alliance, I was used to this concept of having these biennial budgets that needed to be seen in full, that you could see the red line to know what was the investment from last year versus the upcoming year. Unfortunately, the City of Seattle doesn't have such a budget document. It's basically like single pages - page after page of narrative descriptions of what the dollars will do. That's fine for some budget notes, but what I think we are working towards in the City of Seattle - a preview for folks who love budget talk - is we're going to one day have a true biennial budget and an actual budget document where you will be able to see the red line, either additions or subtractions to specific programs so that everyone knows what is being invested in, how funding is changing, and where priorities are showing up in the budget. I am excited about being able to build on that work that I've done in Seattle, especially as Budget Chair, in some of the most pressing economic times in recent history, starting in 2020. And have been able to not only allocate millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, but also to create greater transparency in how we budget. One of the things that I think is maybe misunderstood out there is the way in which we've helped to provide transparency in the entire budget, but specifically the Seattle Police Department. It had not been exposed year-over-year that Seattle Police Department actually had about $40 million that was rolling over year-over-year on top of funding that the chief, that the mayor, that the department had acknowledged they could not use. And in a time where we saw an economic crisis on the horizon, growing needs in our community, and knew that that was $40 million that was not going to be put to use, not going into direct services for the community - and for those who wanted to see additional officers, wasn't even going to be able to use to increase the hiring plan. It's good budgeting to be able to make sure that that funding is transparently accounted for in the General Fund - and where we can deploy it to things like food, housing, childcare, economic security for small businesses that we do so. That's something I'm really proud of - that we were able to show what the full picture was, not only for that department, but for all departments. And to make some important investments in mental health services, behavioral health services, youth violence, gun violence reduction strategies - things that similarly invest in community safety, but we were able to show where those line items move. I will bring to King County Council the ability to structurally push for greater transparency for members of the public, encourage us as the legislative branch to own the separate but equal branch of government that the council is as the legislative branch, and ensure that the public has an opportunity to dive into the proposal that comes from the executive, just like the proposal that comes from the governor to the State Legislature. You receive that, you dissect it, you talk to community about what it means - and then ultimately the legislative branch reconvenes, reconfigures the budget, and presents it to the executive for a signature. It's good governance, it's good transparency. I think it's understandable from folks across whatever political spectrum - it's important to have budget transparency and accountability, and that's what I've been able to accomplish in the City of Seattle. [00:33:02] Crystal Fincher: It is, and I think there are a number of people, especially listeners to Hacks & Wonks, who do enjoy budget conversations, who would definitely look forward to more budget transparency at the County level, like you've been working towards at the City level. As we close here and as people are going to be making the decision about who they're going to be voting for for this County Council position, what is your message to voters and people listening about why they should choose you? [00:33:30] Teresa Mosqueda: I'm very thrilled to be in this race for King County Council. I think I have not only proven that I'm an effective legislator at the council level, but that I know how to center folks who have been left out of policy conversations in the room, but more importantly - follow the lead of those who've experienced the injustices over the years. We have been able to move historic, monumental, national-headline-grabbing policies within the City of Seattle in my now going into six years in Seattle City Council. And it has been done, I believe, in a collaborative way, in a way that has made transformational change, and in a way that I think has always centered - been centered on my progressive commitments to investing in working families, folks of color, and the LGBTQ community, workers to ensure that there's greater opportunity and prosperity. And creating housing and stability - that is something that is good for our entire community. I do this work because it's all about how we create healthy communities. You have to have investments in good living wage jobs and housing stability and opportunity education to have self-determination and control over your own life and your own decisions. And I think through public policy, through investments with public resources, we can create greater opportunity across our county. I am excited, as well, to be coming to this race as a woman, as a Latina, as a Chicana - poised to be the first Latina ever elected to King County Council. And with a King County population that is made up of half people of color and a quarter immigrant and refugee, it is critical that we have more voices with folks who have the lived experience coming from communities of color serving in these positions. I think that's why I've been able to effectively and efficiently move policy through so quickly - because I have put at the front of the line many of the community members who are often left out of policy discussions. I hope to bring in my commitment to working with folks who are workers, women, folks of color, members of the LGBTQ community to hear more about what we can do at King County Council. I know I have big shoes to step into with Councilmember McDermott and his commitment to public health, working with the LGBTQ community, his tenure in the State Legislature - and I'm also excited to add to that and serve our broader region and our growing needs. [00:35:59] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much, Councilmember Mosqueda, for spending this time with us today and having this conversation. Sincerely appreciate it, and we'll certainly be following your campaign eagerly over the next several months. Thank you. [00:36:13] Teresa Mosqueda: Thank you so much - I appreciate it. [00:36:15] Crystal Fincher: Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is co-produced by Shannon Cheng and Bryce Cannatelli. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Today, my wife, Pam, and I interview Jeanie Shaw, author of 17 books.  She shares about her life and ministry and writing career and how she's coped with losing her husband, Wyndham.  More about Jeanie Shaw: After graduating from the University of Florida, Jeanie Shaw went into the ministry, helping women learn how to apply the Bible to real life. Over forty-five years later, she is a New Englander continuing to minister. She has taught classes and workshops worldwide on issues such as marriage, parenting, leadership, adoption, and loss. For eight years of those years, she served as a vice-president of HOPE worldwide, working with orphans and the elderly in New England and Europe. She holds a master's degree in Christian Spirituality and Formation and is pursuing her doctorate in the same field. She has four grown children, eight grandchildren, and a tennis-ball-obsessed golden retriever.  You can reach Jeanie at shaw.jeanie@gmail.com   How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I want to say thank you for supporting the Rob Skinner Podcast.    I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.      Portland, Oregon 2.     Anchorage, Alaska 3.     Ashland, Oregon 4.    Tucson, Arizona 5.     and Flagstaff, Arizona.    Thanks for listening today.  Pam and I have been able to plant 5 churches and myy dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  My next planting target is Green Valley Arizona.  This area is one of the fastest growing in Arizona.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will help get this church off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

Have you ever: ·        Felt like there was a gap between what you are experiencing spiritually and what the New Testament describes? ·        Wanted God to speak more directly with you? ·        Wondered if your relationship with God is as deep as it should or can be? ·        Wondered what Jesus was talking about when he describes “springs of living water” flowing from those who believe in God? If so, David Takle in his book: “Forming:  A Work of Grace” talks about how to take your relationship with God to a deeper and more meaningful level.  In this interview he talks about his book and how a person can work with God to build a more interactive and satisfying connection with God.  You can reach David Takle at David@KingdomFormation.org. His course can be found at Forming-Course.Com His books can be found at Amazon.com or humbleshack.net Find out more information at KingdomFormation.org   It's April 11th, 2023 and I hope you had a fantastic Easter weekend.  Here in Tucson, we were praying to have over 200 in attendance.  Prior to Covid, we had several Easter services of over 300 and yet we haven't broken 200 in over three years.  God blessed our Sunday service with over 220 in attendance.  We also had our first Spanish-speaking service after our English service.  Angel Armenta is doing a great job leading our Spanish work. ·       We hired a great couple to lead our campus ministry, Coleman and Alexa Gordon.  They moved to Tucson at the end of March. ·       I read a book called “Backpacking with the Saints” and in the book, the author talks about backpacking Aravaipa Canyon in Arizona.  I've been wanting to do that since I read about it 6 or seven years ago.  So last week I took my two ministry interns, Kevin Lu and Coleman Gordan and we spent three days and two nights backpacking through 23 miles of Aravaipa creek.  It's a combination of trail and hiking in the stream.  Our feet were constantly wet and the scenery was staggering.  You have to make reservations because only 10 people per day are allowed to be in the canyon.  It was super bonding, tiring and we made a great memory, walking, talking and praying together. ·       I'm looking forward to the Climb Conference November 3oth in Dallas Texas.  I want to ask you to please register to go.  This Friday, April 15th is the last day to register for the early bird discount of $125 per person.  After that, it will go up to $150 per person.  If you are listening to this podcast, you need to come.  You are the type person who will be inspired and motivated by the fellowship and preaching.  Just go to RobSkinner.Com and look for the Climb Tab.   How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I want to say thank you for supporting the Rob Skinner Podcast.    I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in an effort to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    and Flagstaff, Arizona.    My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give. 

This is part two of a discussion with Michael Pewtress (Enoch). He explains how pyramids, mounds, ziggurats, and other dome-like structures were built to harvest energy and focus it. These structures are traced back to ancient times and were used to harness the energy in the air and on the ground. Enoch and the hosts discuss how George Washington played a vital role in the creation of the United States of America and facilitated the new Babylon so that the end times can come. The conversation continues with talking about Nimrod and how he was responsible for the building of the first cities, and was then ascended into God. It was theorized that the pyramids and ziggurats had a massive charge. This charge was thought to be connected to the dark resurrection, which is symbolized by the sculpture in the Vatican of demons coming out behind the Pope. It was theorized that the pyramids and mounds will be used to bring back ancient gods during the Tribulation, when the great adversary is given the keys. It is believed that these gods will be brought back into cloned bodies and placed in areas where the charge is. The conversation includes the concept of resurrection and the disclosure event that is currently happening. And about the upcoming disclosure that is set to occur.https://rumble.com/c/TheRundownOfOurRealityhttps://www.bitchute.com/channel/5W3JeLwUJbPp/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBn0otmAed3MErmRprMFdSQCampHermon.comOUR NEW MERCH SHOP ->https://unrefined-podcast.com/store-MFHja-1https://unrefinedpodcast.comTimestamps0:00:08Harnessing Free Energy: Exploring the Ancient Structures of Pyramids, Mounds, and Ziggurats0:03:41Conversation on the Theory of Demonic Resurrection and Ancient gods0:06:03The Dark Resurrection and Disclosure Event Timeline0:08:04Disclosure of the White Hats and the Coming Alien Invasion0:11:03Exploring the Potential of Med Beds and AI-Driven Technology in Canada0:16:35Discussion on Healing Prayer and Med Beds in the Tribulation0:18:53Exploring AI Quantum Tech0:21:04Discussion on AI Quantum Technology and the Mark of the Beast0:25:25The Mark of the Beast and AI Connections0:27:22Exploring the End Times and the Great Reset 0:35:42Investigating the Mysterious Disappearance of Jordan Peterson and the Alleged Use of Benzos0:37:49Exploring the Role of Freemasonry in World War II and the Current Economic Decline0:40:14Exploring the Public Trust and General Fund 0:44:58Exploring the Return of the Giants 0:47:17Exploring the Theories of Gilgamesh 0:50:29Exploring Inequity in the Transgender Movement and Ancient Times0:53:11Iniquity, Growth Hormone, and the Creation of Giants0:56:43Discussion on the Queen and Ancient Bloodlines0:58:55The Ten Kings, the Antichrist, and the Supernatural1:00:58Interdimensional Mind Games and the Spirit Realm1:03:13Demonic Entity Encounter1:07:13Paranormal Experiences

Today I interview a 65-year-old semi-retired Chiropractor named Karen Kolarik.  She retired with a purpose to Green Valley Arizona and has converted her Dad, Stepmother and is studying the Bible with a large number of her neighbors currently.  She joined our church during COVID and has been on fire since she arrived.  She reminds me of this scripture in Psalm 92 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,     they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the Lord,     they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age,     they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;     he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”  Karen is still bearing fruit and like Caleb, hasn't lost her passion in maturity.  If you've ever wondered how to be effective as a senior disciple, you need to listen to Karen's story! Climb Conference Please register today for the Climb Conference!  Now more than ever, you need the practical training, warm encouragement and powerful inspiration that this conference will provide you with.  Whether you are a small church leader, planter, ministry leader or campus leader, you are going to thank yourself for showing up in Dallas, Texas, November 30th through December 3rd.  We have people coming from India, Europe and New Zealand and more are signing up every week.  Sign up today by going to RobSkinner.com and looking for the Climb Conference tab.  How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast Thank you for listening to the Rob Skinner Podcast.  I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic to inspire you to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in: 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    and Flagstaff, Arizona.   My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online   Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

In this episode I talk with Joel Peed and Joel Nagel, co-planners of the 2023 Climb Conference.  Listen as we talk about what to look forward to at this year's conference!  We talk about: Who's speaking What the theme is Why you need to be there! How to Support The Rob Skinner Podcast I started this podcast at the beginning of the COVID pandemic to inspire people to multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.  I wanted to learn from others and share what I've learned over the years.  God has enabled me and my wife Pam to plant churches in 1.     Portland, Oregon 2.   Anchorage, Alaska 3.   Ashland, Oregon 4.   Tucson, Arizona 5.    and Flagstaff, Arizona.  My dream is to plant at least five more churches by the year 2030.  Your support will help me to turn that dream into reality.  Your tax-deductible gift will be given to get those churches off the ground.  Please give today at: https://tucsoncoc.breezechms.com/give/online    Please look for and select the “General Fund” when you give.  Thank you!

Welcome to The Kinship Collective Podcast! We are a community where people marginalized by faith can reimagine it together. This week we are starting something new called a “Reimagine Episode” where I will have a solo conversation to speak into current events and reimagine some ideas that keep us divided and feeling "othered". This week we reflect on the deaths of Tyre Nichols and Charlie Mack. Then, we reflect a bit on Habakkuk 1:2-6 and the power of our imagination to create the world we experience! Please subscribe, rate and review our podcast. As you listen week after week and share the podcast we will keep ending otherness and growing solidarity! Please share our podcast with a friend who needs to be part of a more inclusive conversation about scripture and community. You are loved! We are family! Supporting Pastor Eric Chen Please pray for Eric and Gloria as they do the difficult work of being present and caring for those suffering in the aftermath of the deadly shooting in Monterrey Park. Please help defray some of the costs they are incurring. If you would like to support them online (through a tool provided by the Presbyterian Foundation), please use this link, choose "General Fund," "One Time" (Under “Frequency”), and write "Fund 2029" under “Notes”.

Today's Topic Du Jour is Healthy San Francisco a policy that collected hundreds of millions of dollars from businesses for worker healthcare that never wound up helping the workers. The City now wants to move the money into the General Fund where it can be used for *anything* and the Fun Police have OPINIONS about this. Also covered: Supervisor committee assignments, and a fun idea for the whole city is explored.

San Francisco has just 815,000 residents. But its annual budget is nearly $14 billion. The budget covers the operations of both the city and county of San Francisco, and half of that is money earmarked for the airport, port, Muni, and public utilities, among other enterprise agencies. But that leaves nearly $7 billion in General Fund money for a city with less than a million people. And, the city is projecting a $728 million deficit over the next two years. Where does the money go and does San Francisco's budget reflect the values of its citizens? We'll talk about the budget, the looming deficit, and the financial state of San Francisco, which has had one of the slowest economic recoveries from the pandemic in the nation. Guests: Jim Wunderman, President and CEO, Bay Area Council - A regional business-sponsored public policy group JD Morris, City Hall reporter, SF Chronicle Michelle Allersma, director, San Francisco Controller's Office Budget and Analysis Division Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Solomon has been an Eagle County resident since 1996. After dedicating 21 years of his life to public service, Matt took the bold step of becoming Western Colorado's candidate for the state Senate in District 8. As a candidate, Matt believes in individual freedom and liberties; and advocates for the safety and prosperity of Coloradans not just on the Western Slope but across Colorado. Matt's appreciation and understanding of real Western Colorado values and passions and his ability to bring experience and perspective from both the public and private sector is what makes him District 8's best choice for Senator. As has been noted by people from across the political spectrum Matt's wide-ranging background and interests lead them to say “Matt is Western Colorado. Matt graduated from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina with a B.A. in Sociology. Matt also attained an A.A.S. from Colorado Mountain College in Paramedicine. Matt serves on the Board of Directors for two non-profits and was nominated for the 2021 Community Impact Award in Eagle, Colorado. After playing college football, Matt was a Professional Whitewater Kayaker and was one of the pioneers of SUP (stand-up paddle boarding) in the Continental United States. Matt is also a published author. His book Fortunate Accidents uses stories from Matt's life to teach lessons on personal growth and leadership. Matt's story is an example of not only how he strives to live everyday but is emblematic of his candidacy and how he will represent District 8 in the state Senate. Matt has spent the last 21 years in public service. He has proudly served his community and country as a paramedic, deputy coroner, through work as a civilian contractor with the United States military, and as a twice-elected Council Member for the Town of Eagle. Matt has a principled record of respecting private property owners' rights, fighting unnecessary tax increases, defending individual freedoms, and consistently making decisions within the limitations of the both the federal and state constitutions; all while listening to, respecting, and advancing, at times, competing ideologies for the betterment of the community and those living in it. After growing up working in a family business, Matt transitioned to adulthood by carrying the knowledge from his family into several private sector endeavors. Matt built teams and launched two outdoor sports industry companies internationally. He then started two of his own companies in Colorado – one of which, is the longest standing firearm shop in Eagle County. Matt's decades worth of experience leading both national and international companies taught him the power of fiscal responsibility and how to navigate the suffocating regulations of an over-reaching government When asked, Matt shares the credit with others. He was instrumental in many policies and resolutions supporting the Town of Eagle. He helped start the Eagle River Park as a citizen, then saw it through to completion as a Council Member. Matt also worked on creative solutions for Page 2 of 2 the Town of Eagle. This included the Town of Eagle's Climate Action Plan, short-term rental policy, and General Fund reserves. He was also the spark that created a unanimous approval for returning Council paychecks to the General Fund during the pandemic's shut-down of local businesses. After sweeping the vote at the District Assembly and winning the Republican Primary by keeping his opponent off the ballot, Matt is now focused on sharing this message of values with the High Country and Western Slope. In Matt's own words: “This is a huge district with many shared concerns. The safety and education of our children is paramount. We must also address the legislation passed by our current [majority party] representation that has contributed to the increased crime and inflation. Ensuring that actual Western Slope interests stop taking a backsea