Podcasts about siting

Mark Lundstrom is the founder and CEO of Radia.Radia is developing the WindRunner, the world's largest aircraft, specifically designed to transport massive offshore wind turbine blades—some reaching the length of football fields—to onshore sites. This capability, termed "GigaWind," could redefine the scope and scale of onshore wind projects. Radia isn't stopping at building these groundbreaking aircraft; they also plan to develop wind energy projects to catalyze the GigaWind transformation. This episode dives into Radia's verticalized approach to addressing a major challenge in wind energy: the physical limitations of transporting turbine blades via the U.S. interstate highway system. By circumventing these constraints, Radia envisions a future where wind farms can reach unprecedented scales.In this episode, we cover: [2:13] Mark's background in aerospace [6:27] Logistics of wind turbines on land today[9:03] Onshore vs. offshore wind energy in terms of turbine size, logistics, and economics [14:04] China's wind energy generation[15:53] An overview of Radia's WindRunner aircraft [20:57] Radia's plan to become a power provider[24:07] Siting and permitting process for Radia's projects [28:23] Radia's progress to date [30:20] Capital stack needed to fund Radia's WindRunner[35:05] Radia's decision to come out of stealth[38:32] Who Radia wants to hear from and hire [39:43] How Radia's solution can address AI power demandsEpisode recorded on Sept 19, 2024 (Published on Nov 13, 2024) Stay Connected with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedIn | XVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ NewsletterEnjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.

Quick question and answer epsidode on nutrition getting you the answers on the most asked questions we get both in person and online. Siting a great little article from our friends over at Precision Nutrition "The best answers to your clients top 10 nutrition questions" for refrence. 12 Week Total Body Transformation Now Open ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Built Different Mastermind Community ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to talk more? Schedule a Call with Me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thanks to our Sponsors: My Creatine & Coffee Code JSF for 10% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ AG1 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.DrinkAG1.com/jeremyscott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free year supply of vitamin D3 with 5 free travel packs or want a FREE sample? Shoot us a DM and ask! Sleeves Sold Separately My Workout Gear -  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sleevessoldseparately.com/collections/jscott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Code JSCOTT15 for 15% off all clothes & gear Jaylab Pro Our Protein, Turmeric, Collagen, Krill Oil - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jeremyscottfitness.jaylabpro.com/products.html⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Code JSF40 for 40% off Collagen if you wish to try it. Dry Farms Wine - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠dryfarmwines.com/jeremyscottfitness⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Each new member will earn an extra bottle for just a penny with their first order of wine when they use this link.

This Day in Maine for Friday, October 11, 2024.

On 24 September, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) will unveil their new study showing the availability of community and biodiversity friendly land in Europe for achieving renewable energy targets. This study is a critical step toward balancing our energy needs with conservation efforts.The revised Renewable Energy Directive mandates European countries to conduct national renewable energy spatial mapping within a year. By February 2026, they must designate Renewable Acceleration Areas. The timeline is tight, but it's essential to approach this exercise mindfully, considering both the biodiversity and community values. But countries need to go smart to go fast.TNC's new study "Land use and Europe's renewable energy transition: identifying low-conflict areas for wind and solar development" reveals that Europe has enough low-conflict land to achieve 45% of renewables by 2030. However, it will not happen on its own – achieving this goal requires conscious adoption of smart siting practices as an imperative in the implementation. The launch event will bring together energy, biodiversity and social science experts. They will discuss how smart siting measures can accelerate sustainable and equitable renewable energy deployment, to achieve the required speed and scale of energy transition to tackle climate change.Europe's renewables potential can be unlocked through thoughtful planning, balancing energy needs with environmental stewardship. Smart siting is the key to achieving our renewable energy goals while safeguarding our natural heritage and communities.Organised by: The Nature ConservancyMedia Partner: Euractiv

We often hear about municipalities or individuals pushing back on new cell tower developments in their communities over location or aesthetics. A recent case involved two competing tower companies that went to court over a siting dispute with an interesting outcome.Rod Carter, Partner, Jake Remington, Senior Counsel, and Joe Diedrich, Senior Associate, all with Husch Blackwell's Telecom Law Practice, offer a briefing on the case and what transpired in conversation with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor.Support the show

Says it will assess after first projects open The Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail is delaying a decision on a segment of its 7.5-mile linear park between Dockside Park and Little Stony Point, which has drawn backlash from some elected officials and residents who fear a surge of new visitors to the Village of Cold Spring. Chris Davis, HHFT's chair, and Amy Kacala, its executive director, revealed the long-rumored decision in an Aug. 16 letter to Philipstown Supervisor John Van Tassel, Cold Spring Mayor Kathleen Foley and Nelsonville Mayor Chris Winward. In April, the three officials had jointly declared their opposition to a Cold Spring portion of the trail, which will extend to Long Dock Park in Beacon. HHFT said the preferred route from Cold Spring remains an elevated multi-use path skirting a half-mile stretch of the Hudson River between Dockside Park and Little Stony Point. It would represent the southern section of the Shoreline Trail, which pedestrians and bikers would use to travel along the river between Cold Spring and Breakneck Ridge. Dockside is a state park maintained by the village. Opposition to the Cold Spring section, "rooted in skepticism regarding patterns and numbers of projected visitation," said Davis and Kacala, makes it "sensible" to wait until the Fjord Trail's Breakneck Connector and Bridge and the renovation of Dutchess Manor are complete and operating, as early as 2027. Both are expected to be key contributors to HHFT's goal of reducing the congestion on Route 9D driven by hikers on Breakneck Ridge. Metro-North's Breakneck station is also slated for an upgrade, and HHFT is planning a shuttle to ferry visitors between train stations, parking areas and trails; new signage; and a phone app that visitors can use to plan their trips. "It seemed logical that any decision regarding the eventual routing of the final half-mile of the trail connecting Little Stony Point to the Cold Spring Metro-North train station can be postponed until the data regarding changes in visitation can be gathered and evaluated," said Kacala on Wednesday (Sept. 4). HHFT said that state parks, as part of its environmental review of the Fjord Trail, will analyze routes from Cold Spring other than the Shoreline Trail. HHFT will also provide Cold Spring with funding to mitigate the impact of tourism, said Davis and Kacala. Concern about more visitors was central to a letter sent by Winward, Foley and Van Tassel to state parks, in which they opposed HHFT's proposal to have the Shoreline Trail start in Cold Spring. Siting the trail there would "irreversibly change the landscape, viewshed and character of the village," they said. A group called Protect the Highlands, led by former Cold Spring Mayor Dave Merandy and comprised of other Philipstown residents, has also been a vocal opponent of the Fjord Trail. In May, two village trustees, Aaron Freimark and Eliza Starbuck, wrote to state parks to say they supported having the Shoreline Trail begin at Dockside Park. A Harris Poll commissioned by HHFT and released in June also found widespread regional support for the Fjord Trail, scheduled for completion in 2031. In Nelsonville, Winward said on Tuesday (Sept. 3) that HHFT had yet to respond to "clarifying questions," but she felt "grateful" that the organization "committed to waiting for a Dockside connection" until the impact of visitors to the Cold Spring area can be assessed. "We must ensure that the draw of this new attraction does not become the tipping point of over-tourism for our small community," said Winward, adding that she would also like to see the introduction of a ticketing system like the ones used at heavily visited parks like Arches National Park in Utah. Foley said the Village Board has yet to discuss the letter, and that it "does not accurately represent" what she thought HHFT was proposing "for a period of construction, pause, assessment and future engagement" with the town and villages. "More troublingly, the letter clear...

Hour 3- BT says that Robert Saleh is not the only head coach who may need to watch out for his job.

Today - The City of Willcox has announced that it has received a $10.7mm grant from the Department of Energy's Transmission Siting and Economic Development program. This grant will fund the transformation of Cochise Lake into a wetland sanctuary, creating a riparian area that will serve as a haven for birds and other wildlife.Support the show: https://www.myheraldreview.com/site/forms/subscription_services/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This meditation uses a phrase for practice from Thich Nhat Hanh: May I have compassion and understanding for myself just as I am.

The Gone Fission Nuclear Report travels to the nation's capital this week to join a national conversation on next steps for identifying a community to host interim spent fuel storage from America's nuclear power plants. Our podcast sponsor, the Energy Communities Alliance, convened a meeting of elected officials, community leaders, economic developers and Department of Energy officials to discuss what kind of incentives a community will need--and what kind of economic benefits can accrue--from volunteering to host an interim storage facility. This is an important topic as the U.S. finds itself on the brink of a nuclear renaissance that will increase the role of nuclear energy in meeting our national energy needs. Is your community interested in exploring safe spent fuel storage as an economic driver? Raise your hand!Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

Curious about battery storage and its role in our energy future? Dive into all things BESS as we break down the basics, and explore emerging trends. Don't miss it!Time Stamps00:46 - Episode & Guest Intro03:21 - Importance of Battery Energy Storage04:19 - Battery Storage Projects Across the U.S.05:18 - Siting and Location Considerations08:12 - Utility Scale vs. Distributed Battery Storage10:50 - Land Agreements in Battery Storage Projects14:56 - Agreement Structures & Terms17:06 - Challenges and Community Relations19:44 - Strategies for Landmen in Battery Storage22:45 - Prioritizing and Vetting Potential Sites23:29 - Challenges and Strategies in Competitive Markets30:44 - Navigating Political and Economic Factors35:11 - Emerging Markets and Trends37:23 - Understanding Distributed Generation38:56 - Title Process and Mineral Review42:40 - Current State of Battery Storage Projects43:53 - Conclusion and Future OutlookHelp us improve our podcast! Share your thoughts in our quick survey.Snippets from the Episode"We've got to find a way, wouldn't say preach, but educate these landowners." - Patrick Durman"Every landowner, no matter where they're at in the country, can relate to not having power. And that's really what these projects are for." -Blake Thomas"It's a fantastic solution for these short term outages to prop up the grid. That's why we're seeing a huge push to get these batteries into play." -Natalie Johns"Every project is unique and different, but you can't avoid the mineral review. You need to understand and know what your exposure is." -Brent BroussardResourcesNeed Help With A Project? Meet With DudleyWatch On YoutubeFollow Dudley Land Co. On LinkedInSubscribe To Our Newsletter, The Land Dept. MonthlyHave Questions? Email usMore from Our GuestNatalie Johns on LinkedInBlake Thomas on LinkedInPatrick Durman on LinkedInMore from Our HostsConnect with Brent on LinkedInConnect with Khalil on LinkedIn

State Rep. Cam Cavitt. Rep. Cavitt has introduced, and also pledged support for, legislation that would repeal the solar and wind energy siting laws passed last November

May 9, 2024 - The state budget includes overhauling the transmission siting process in New York, but what will it really do? We try to answer that question with John Howard, former chair of the state's Public Service Commission.

There are several obstacles to overcome when building a clean-energy project, but perhaps the biggest is getting through the generator interconnection queue (GIQ). Every regional transmission organization (RTO) and independent system operator (ISO) in the U.S. has a significant backlog in its GIQ and processing interconnection requests can take years to complete. This has created a significant barrier to deploying renewable energy, as companies often face long wait times, and high costs for new transmission lines and other upgrades when the local grid is near or at capacity. Part of the problem is the complexity of the interconnection process, which involves multiple studies. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) reports that historically about 70% of projects submitted to its queue ultimately withdraw, resulting in extensive rework and delays, as studies must be redone when projects withdraw. MISO recognizes change is necessary and has implemented some reforms. On Jan. 19, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) accepted MISO's filing (ER24-340) to increase milestone payments, adopt an automatic withdrawal penalty, revise withdrawal penalty provisions, and expand site control requirements. These provisions were designed to help expedite the GIQ process, and maximize transparency and certainty. MISO said the filing was developed through extensive collaboration in the stakeholder process, including multiple discussions in the Planning Advisory Committee and Interconnection Process Working Group. MISO expects these reforms to reduce the number of queue requests withdrawing from the process. It said the fewer projects in studies, the quicker the evaluations can be completed, and the fewer projects that withdraw, the more certain phase 1 and 2 study results are. Still, it's likely that more needs to be done to improve the GIQ process. The Clean Grid Alliance (CGA), a nonprofit organization that works to advance renewable energy in the Midwest, conducted a survey of 14 clean energy developers who've had solar, wind, hybrid, and battery storage projects in the MISO interconnection queue over the last five years to better understand the challenges they've faced. Aside from interconnection queue challenges, the CGA survey also identified other hindrances to clean-energy project development. Soholt explained that a lot of development work is done face to face. COVID prevented that, which was a big problem that had a ripple effect. Some leases that developers had negotiated began to expire, so they had to go back out to communities and renegotiate. “Siting in general is getting more difficult, as we do more volume, as we do transmission in the MISO footprint,” said Soholt. “We need new generation to be sited, we need new transmission, and we have to find a pathway forward on that community acceptance piece,” she said. Among other challenges, Soholt said some projects saw generator interconnection agreements (GIAs) timing out and needing MISO extensions. Meanwhile, transmission upgrade delays also presented problems, not only the large backbone transmission upgrades, but also the transmission owners building interconnections for individual projects to connect breakers, transformers, and other equipment. Soholt said longer and longer component lead times presented timing challenges, which were also problematic for developers. These were all important takeaways from the CGA survey, and items the group will work to resolve. Yet, for all the difficulties, Soholt seemed optimistic that MISO would continue to find ways to improve the process. “When we get overwhelmed, we really step back and say, ‘What's going to be the best thing to work on to really make a difference?' So far, that really has been the big things like transmission planning. We feel good about where that's at in MISO—they are doing good long-range planning,” Soholt said.

⭐ My guest today is Rohan Puri, CEO of Stable. Stable maximizes EV charging station ROI with strategic placement and pricing solutions. Rohan brings experience from MIT, Harvard, and TechStars. Hope you enjoy it! And give Rohan and Stable a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people. ---

Rep Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River. Reps. Markkanen, Prestin encourage public input on new wind, solar siting laws

Feb. 15, 2024 - Assembly Energy Committee Chair Didi Barrett, a Hudson Valley Democrat, shares her concerns with the governor's effort to overhaul the siting of transmission lines in New York.

10:41 – 10:56 (15mins) Weekly: "Vic Porcelli's East Coast Report with Douglas Blair" We call Him: 503-956-9899 @RisingTheHill@DouglasKBlair Formerly @DailySignal and @Heritage @FDRLST Proud Oregonian!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10:41 – 10:56 (15mins) Weekly: "Vic Porcelli's East Coast Report with Douglas Blair" We call Him: 503-956-9899 @RisingTheHill@DouglasKBlair Formerly @DailySignal and @Heritage @FDRLST Proud Oregonian!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan. 8, 2024 - It's been nearly four years since the state overhauled its siting process for large renewable energy projects and Gov. Kathy Hochul appears interested in rethinking the siting rules for transmission projects. To reflect on the work of the state's Office of Renewable Energy Siting and consider the future siting of new transmission lines, we talked with Brenda Colella and Ekin Senlet, the co-chairs of the regulatory practice area at Barclay Damon.

When you Master Yourself - You Master Money - They are not Separate. Get a pen and paper for this one so you can do this exercise alongside me!  Your health, relationships and business are all way more connected than you may think. If your career/business/money situation is out of balance, typically that will spill over and show up in your health or relationships.. if you don't prioritize your health, typically that impacts business or relationships and VV.  Typically if you're struggling with money - you're likely struggling in other areas of your life or you haven't mastered yourself.. because when you do the healing and master yourself, money just fixes itself alongside that. EXERCISE:  Lets get crystal clear on your dream life and what type of life you want to be living in the next 3-5 years You MUST get crystal clear about WHY you want ‘more money' and what that ‘more money' is going to do for you and what type of life thats going to create for yourself. what is ‘enough' for you in regards to money?  Helping you identify current expenses and then what the costs would look like if you were living your dream life in 3-5 years and factoring those things in to get super clear so you know exactly what type of earnings goals you need to set for yourself.  Working out the TANGIBLE numbers so you can get clear on how much you want to increase your earnings in 2024-2028 so you can be living out your own ‘dream life' in the next 3-5 years. Where did you learn you have to ‘work hard' or ‘work long hours' to be successful?  Identifying and questioning your limiting beliefs Talking workstyle vs Lifestyle + starting to set the intention on dropping your work hours down to 20-30 hours a week as you increase your earnings and wealth profile…. You should be able to outsource more and more and reduce how much you have to be working. When you take time to be still  - you will be able to gain clarity on what you really want and instead of working hours and hours “working” - you will take more aligned actions and be able to yield better results in a shorter amount of time Stop trying to do 10 new things at once and focus on one and master it before you move on to the next one.  Sometimes you need to slow down and take a step back to figure out a game plan for how you're going to create financial freedom I your life and get out of being a slave to the system.  Be willing to start hiring help and delegating any of the tasks that someone else would be capable of doing for you.  Be willing to INVEST in yourself - it is ALWAYS WORTH IT - and you will get your money back when you invest in things that are going to better you. The most important thing to invest in IS YOU! Nothing else should take priority over this because this is the thing that will shift and change your whole life!  Stop focussing on how much things cost and trust you'll be blessed with more abundance when you invest in YOU.  Where did you get the “ is it worth it” belief? Like thats something you'll have to dig deeper on if you're questioning whether or not investing in you is worth it because you likely have a self worth issue to start reflecting more deeply on. More money will always come to you when you're willing to bet on yourself  When you' re willing to invest and not choose things out of an energy of scarcity instead choose abundance, you will always be blessed with more.  Money Is just an exchange for value - be willing to increase prices if you need to Siting in your comfort zone will never give you a magical life  Your business is a reflection of your heart and your soul  OFFERINGS + WOMENS EVENTS: Jan 19 - Calling in More Abundance for 2024 Women Circle Feb 2-4 Women's Retreat -a Remembering  - Use Code BOXINGDAY15 for 15% off 12/26 Only Boxing Day SALE LINK (Payment Plan) MONEY MINDSET ⁠FREEBIE ⁠ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL : ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠Tik Tok⁠

Peter's DIY addition appears on Google Street View. Ed shares a chart of common house problems. A listener says ethernet cables are not for lighting. Evan asks for help flashing the bottom of a metal building.  Listeners email about energy retrofits and siting new houses.

Jake & Ben recapped the Jazz's win over the Trail Blazers and gave their draft picks in What You Got Wednesday. 

Bigfoot siting in Colorado and we (not Curtis) believe it See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Siting a manufacturing plant or warehouse is a supreme challenge in today's economy. TreeHouse Foods' David Varalli and CBRE's Seth Martindale and A.J. Magner offer insights on balancing infrastructure, labor and resource availability, automation and costs in site selection and deciding whether to lease or own.

Siting down to catch up with Freddy fox

Clogged interconnection queues and an inefficient permitting process have the attention of federal policymakers. At last. But even big recent wins leave much work to be done.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Order 2023 is a positive first step, advocates say, despite its favoring utility interests. Siting guidelines for transmission and clean energy projects on federal land, meanwhile, remain cumbersome and require immediate overhaul to achieve sustainability goals.Episode 59 of the Factor This! podcast features Luigi Resta, a clean energy industry veteran and president of rPlus Energies, a developer of utility-scale solar, wind, battery storage, and pumped hydro projects.Resta breaks down the impact of FERC's interconnection reform plan and shares his vision for the policy battle still ahead.You've heard me talk a lot about the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast event being held in Newport, Rhode Island Oct. 23-25. Well, registration is now LIVE. We're excited to partner with the DOE to bring together DER developers, utilities, and regulators around the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast. Click here to register today.

On this week-in-review, Crystal is joined by metro news columnist and opinion editor for The News Tribune in Tacoma, Matt Driscoll! They discuss numerous counties suing Washington state over behavioral health failures, the importance of a raise for Tacoma City Council and other public servants, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward's shady association with Christian nationalist Matt Shea, devastating wildfires and smoke across Washington, and the backstory of Pierce County Village and a recent veto override. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find today's co-host, Matt Driscoll, at @mattsdriscoll.   Resources “Most of Washington's counties are suing the state for refusing to provide necessary behavioral health treatment under state law” by Andrew Villeneuve from The Cascadia Advocate   “More than half of WA counties have filed suit against the state for behavioral health failures” by Shauna Sowersby from The News Tribune   “Tacoma City Council is getting a big raise. Think they don't deserve it? Think again” by Matt Driscoll for The News Tribune   “Spokane mayor says she didn't know Matt Shea would be at Christian nationalist concert headlined by Matt Shea's Christian nationalist buddy” by Nate Sanford from Inlander   “Destructive fires swept through Spokane County last weekend, killing two and leaving hundreds without homes” by Samantha Wohlfeil and Nate Sanford from Inlander   “How behind-the-scenes politics helped win approval for Pierce County homeless village” by Shea Johnson from The News Tribune   “In rare move, Pierce County Council overrides executive veto on homeless village zoning” by Becca Most from The News Tribune   Find stories that Crystal is reading here   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 Tuesday topical show and our Friday week-in-review 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. Today, we are continuing our Friday week-in-review shows where we review the news of the week with a co-host. Welcome back to the program, friend of the show and today's co-host: metro news columnist and opinion editor for The News Tribune in Tacoma, Matt Driscoll. Hey! [00:01:08] Matt Driscoll: Hello - thanks for having me once again - it's always a pleasure. [00:01:11] Crystal Fincher: Thanks for coming back. We love our super informative and inside look into Pierce County whenever you're on - always a pleasure. I wanna start off talking about something that a lot of counties got together to do this week - and that is sue the state of Washington. Why are they suing and what's happening here? [00:01:32] Matt Driscoll: It's part of a long-running failure in our state mental health system involving folks who enter the criminal justice system and then get referred, one way or the other, to either competency evaluations or to stand trial, then flipped over to a system of civil commitments. This lawsuit involves 22 counties coming together to sue the state, claiming that the state - at facilities like Western State Hospital - is failing to provide the services to folks who do flip into that civil commitment area. And recently DSHS, Western State has been refusing a lot of those patients because they say they've been working to make room for folks who fall under the Trueblood settlement, which was the State Supreme Court ruling that basically - found that the state has an obligation and needs to do more to provide the competency evaluations and those sorts of things and potential restorative services to make someone able to stand trial. So it all involves folks who enter into the criminal justice system, then get referred to behavioral health, mental health stuff, and basically just the state's long-running failure to be able to provide the kinds of services and beds that those folks need and they deserve. It's all very complicated. It's just another indication of the state's continued failure to provide those services and beds. We've been talking about this for a very long time. It's very clear that it's still a total failure on the state's part, at least in my opinion. [00:03:01] Crystal Fincher: As you said, we've been talking about failures in this system for years - have heard some shocking and horrifying stories over the years. This is an issue that has been one of the biggest dogging Governor Inslee's administration during this term. And not to say he's absolutely the cause of all of these problems - I'm sure some of them were definitely inherited, there's a lot of challenges within this system. And as they point out, there have been recent investments to try and deliver on that settlement in the Trueblood decision, to try and turn the corner and get out of this crisis. One of the challenges here that they brought up is that there seems to be a conflict in that Trueblood decision - something that essentially is breaking this current system. As the Governor's office pointed out in their response, the Trueblood decision actually prevents them from taking new civil commitment clients. And that's one of the things that the counties are saying - Hey, they shouldn't be doing. So this almost seems like partly a corrective measure or seeking order to say - There's a conflict here - this order is essentially grinding this system to a halt. Once again, we're trying to fix it - we need some order. Do you know if there's some other entity that can take these civil commitments? [00:04:15] Matt Driscoll: Just to be 100% clear on this, I am by no means an expert on the intricacies of the state's behavioral health system - it's supposed to work and it's not working. That being said, it's another one of these massive gaps that we see so often in our system. You're right about the horror stories, going back to the Trueblood decision - you still hear, to this day, stories about folks who end up in jails for long periods of time, even before they've stood trial, waiting to have services available at somewhere like Western State where they can even get a competency evaluation. Think about the human rights aspects of that - of people being warehoused in jails, awaiting these court-mandated evaluations - that's the problem that Trueblood's intending to fix. On the same token, we've clearly got all these folks who shouldn't be in the criminal justice system. As the governor pointed out and others pointed out - in defense of the state, if you will - the referrals for these civil commitments are way up in recent years. I forget the statistics off the top of my head, but I think it might be like 40%, so we're seeing more and more of these folks being flipped out of the criminal justice system intended to send to the civil commitment system. It's just not working and there's a huge gap. And we can talk about how complicated it all is, and the way it gets siloed, and all the ways it's supposed to work, and the way it's not working - we have a wholly inadequate behavioral health system in our state. Decades and decades of underfunding - we've never acknowledged, we've done some piecemeal stuff. I certainly give the state and the Inslee administration credit for recent investments, but the bottom line is that this is piecemeal drops in the buckets trying to patch up a system that is just wholly unprepared to meet the demands of today. And people are suffering because of it. [00:05:54] Crystal Fincher: People are suffering, their civil rights are being violated, and some of these are resulting in horrific abuses in these overworked, sometimes unaccountable systems. This is happening against a backdrop of several employees within DSHS calling for the head of DSHS to resign. How does this even get untangled? It's time for major, systemic, urgent action beyond what we've done - clearly, what is already happening is not enough. [00:06:25] Matt Driscoll: One thing that the counties point out in the lawsuit is because these civil commitments are not being accepted or in some cases being discharged, you've got public safety issues. You have folks who the system has determined would be best served by ongoing treatment and civil commitments essentially being released. And that's, again - wherever you fall on the debates of how the state should be handling the interaction of criminal justice and behavioral health, it's just a bad scene all around. As a state with as many resources as Washington, we should be ashamed - similar to our public education system. A left-leaning state with progressive lawmakers and clear Democratic majorities - the fact that we are so clearly failing on this stuff is a black eye and again, people are suffering because of it. [00:07:10] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. I also wanna talk about a recent decision from a commission in Tacoma that's going to take effect soon to increase the salaries, by a pretty significant amount, of the Tacoma City Council. And you wrote a column about this this week, which I thought was very timely and appropriate and a conversation that a lot of cities are having and more will continue to. And that's - these raises are absolutely justified and should go further when we look at the scope of responsibility involved in these positions. What did you talk about in your column? [00:07:46] Matt Driscoll: This has been an issue for me for a long time, as someone who's followed City Council government in Tacoma. At the root of the problem, it's that historically - City Council in Tacoma, third largest city in the state - it's considered a part-time job, it's paid as such. The reality of it is that anyone who served in that position knows it's not a part-time job, it's a full-time job. When I started at The News Tribune, councilmembers were making $40,000. Considering the challenges that Tacoma faces, I think there's lots of room for critique. People can see these raises and think about job performance - Do these guys deserve raises? But that's not really what it's about, right? It's about our system of government and who has the ability to run for office and serve under kind of the framework we have set up. We have historically considered this a part-time, low-paying position. If you're an average person in Tacoma with a family or financial responsibilities, the idea of signing up for what you're paid for as a part-time job that's clearly gonna be a full-time job and still trying to meet any of that - it becomes impossible. It severely limits the pool of candidates that are available. [00:08:56] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely - several perspectives are left out. Beyond that, we're asking them to do such an important job. The things we talk about every week on this show - from public safety to economic development to land use policy and educational decisions - every thing that touches your life, we're asking them to do. It's wild to me that in the same society, we will justify $100 million salaries of CEOs of companies, yet cities and organizations with comparable budgets we're asking to settle for $30,000, $50,000. When we look at how important the job is and the expertise and commitment that it really does require, there's no getting around the fact that this is definitely a full-time job, especially - when it's done right, it's beyond a full-time job. I think most people can agree, no matter what your political affiliation, that it's not. We also are talking about shortages in several of these sectors too, so we need to pay people more for the work that's being done if we wanna expect better results. [00:10:00] Matt Driscoll: And it's like, regardless of what you think about the current council's job performance, what do you want your City Council person to be? Do you want it to be someone who is dedicating 20 hours a week to it and juggling a bunch of other stuff, or do you want somebody who's able to attack it like a full-time job and dedicates the time and energy it takes - both to be responsive to citizen concerns and do the homework that it takes to make good policy decisions? This isn't to call out any particular City councilmembers over the years, but I think if you've closely observed City Council here in Tacoma, you can see folks are learning these issues as they go and they're asking these questions, and a lot of times you'll be - Oh my God, that's a pretty obvious question. Do you want someone who has the time to dedicate to the job? And even more than that, do you want to make this a job feasible for some people to take on, or do you want to make this a job that only a few fairly privileged, essentially wealthy or better off folks can take on? For most people, the question is the latter. I think historically the idea of making Tacoma City, or a city council, and even the State Legislature part-time is that it would allow average people to serve in democracy - that's one of the ideals there. But in practice, I think what it really does, particularly these days, is it severely limits the type of people who are able to feasibly serve in office. You see that in some of the races that we've got going this year in Tacoma, particularly on the Jamika Scott District 3 race, where she's a local community activist and artist. She's more of an average person - she doesn't have a bunch of money, she's not the executive director at some nonprofit. For an average person to make the commitment to run for office and find the time to doorbell, it's a huge commitment - full-time plus work for part-time pay. [00:11:50] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely - completely agree. I want to talk about another city - the City of Spokane and the activities of its mayor. The mayor and Christian nationalist extremist, former State Representative Matt Shea, attended a TPUSA event where they were just talking about a bunch of extreme, out-of-touch things while the ashes of neighborhoods were still smoldering nearby. What happened here? What is the reaction? [00:12:23] Matt Driscoll: Mayor of Spokane, Mayor Woodward, appeared at an event - Matt Shea was involved, Christian nationalist organization. She was apparently invited on stage for prayer, and Shea was there and prayed for her. And of course then all hell broke loose because of Shea's background and the backgrounds of some of the other folks involved. Of course, the mayor immediately said - Didn't know Shea was going to be there, wasn't my intention, I'm disgusted by all his views. It turns out maybe she'd been to events with Matt Shea in the past - I think a lot of people really didn't buy that excuse. But the bigger thing here, really, is yet another instance that illustrates the complexity and tension in the Republican Party. Lawmakers on the right who are "the good ones" or "the saner ones" - and there are a lot of Republicans, on the whole - in Pierce County in particular, Bruce Dammeier, JT Wilcox, leaders that I disagree with fundamentally. This tension between trying to be one of those not-extremist conservatives, but then the votes relies to some extent to courting the more extreme elements of the party. What ends up happening is these leaders awkwardly, unsuccessfully try to find this middle ground where they can not alienate the extreme elements of the party while not appearing extreme themselves, or maybe not even being "extreme" themselves. But it just never works and it ends up looking dumb. And this is just another example of that where they try to have it both ways - they try to disavow the extreme elements of the party, but then they still rely on extreme elements of the party for the support they need to win elections and serve in office. I certainly have no sympathy for the mayor of Spokane. It was very predictable that this would happen. If you find yourself at white nationalist organized events or religious extremist organized events, it's very easy to not get on stage or not do that. She signed up for it. She got what she deserved. I don't think it's probably the last time we'll see something like this either. [00:14:20] Crystal Fincher: I don't even view the situation as there being extreme elements within the party - that is the party, that is the base, that is now the mainstream of the party. It's beyond local party activists - these are their leaders. There is a nostalgia that I see, especially from national political pundits, wanting to still give credit to those moderates - those moderates are enabling the extremism. They are enabling this extremism that in public they try and distance themselves from. Even though she tried to say - Oh, I had no idea, she's been to an event just like this before. Even if she had no idea Matt Shea was there before, which no one buys, she got up there, saw him there and gave him a hug, and allowed him to lay hands on her and pray. Heard right before - them talk about the "problem with homosexuality" - obviously there is no problem with homosexuality, that's an extreme belief. That is the party - several electeds within the party, donors within the party, the people making decisions about the platform on the party. I made the bad decision of watching that Republican debate. I saw a lot of people going - Oh, these are extreme beliefs. They're not targeting the average American anymore - they're really fine with disenfranchising the average American. They are speaking to that base that's going to elevate people like this to these elected positions and hope for treatment as moderates in the media. This is an opportunity in Spokane to once again point out that these are extreme beliefs. These are beliefs that our Supreme Court has rejected, our State Supreme Court has rejected - and that we don't want. Clearly she knows that. She wasn't really sad about it happening, or else she wouldn't have appeared with him before and been chummy. They want to be able to do this behind closed doors. And lots of people will cite JT Wilcox, who I know lots of people have good relationships with - people like that need to contend with who the party is today. You're affixing your name to that label? - you can be what you are without that label. If you are attaching that label and participating in that, this is what you are enabling. [00:16:24] Matt Driscoll: Where do the folks like the JT Wilcoxes or the Bruce Dammeiers go within this party, right? If they are the moderates they claim to be, the Republican Party depends on that support. If they try to find that middle ground, then it ends up working out like this. Again, I don't have any sympathy for it. I wrote a column in the Trump years and I've just halfway defended folks like JT Wilcox and Bruce Dammeier about why they hadn't condemned Trump. What JT Wilcox will tell you - I'm a local guy and I stay out of national politics. And that's fine, I have a lot of respect for JT as an individual. But can you see what's going on? And do you have the backbone to stand up and say - This is wrong, this is not what I represent - even if it means that you might get voted out, or that you might not be in office, or that you might make your life more difficult. What we see most of the time is elected officials, politicians - they're not willing to do that. They're not willing to disavow or distance themselves from this stuff because they don't want to risk their jobs as an elected official or their powers - and maybe some of them genuinely do it out of the hope that if they just stick it out long enough, they'll be able to course correct on that party. That's a flawed idea. Whether you agree with Chris Vance or not, the way he describes it is pretty accurate at this point - it's the base of the party and folks need to make their decisions on whether that's the party they agree with. What we see, more times than not, is folks trying to have their cake and eat it too. [00:17:56] Crystal Fincher: Chris Vance made the decision to not affiliate with that label - if that's who's standing beside him, then he needs to move to a different place. On both the Republican and Democratic side, that affiliation with the party comes with tremendous resources - an absolute resource advantage over someone who is running as an Independent or with a minor party - everything from voter file access, which is useful, important information about voters from public sources and from private commercial sources, information like that is very helpful to a campaign. Things like donations and structure and endorsements and volunteers - those kinds of things are often built-in to the support of a party. It is a challenge to run outside of a major party. There were some character-defining moments for a lot of these people - maybe if they would have seen this rising extremism take over the mainstream of the party, maybe we don't find ourselves here. That attachment to power also can be corrosive - if you see something that is turning your stomach, it's not okay to stay silent, no matter which party you're a part of. [00:19:03] Matt Driscoll: Yeah, this continues to be a character-defining moment. These leaders still have the opportunity - they can still come out and say - This is wrong. And continually they don't. I don't really expect that to change. The opportunity still is there for them to take a stand. They don't, because if you alienate the base of the party, you're gonna be out of luck. And Chris Vance, for all his wisdom, is out of luck. He ran for office a couple cycles ago, and he lost badly - can't be a moderate conservative without the support of the Republican Party and if you alienate the Trump support, you're out of luck. [00:19:40] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, part of what made this so scandalous in the first place and so offensive to people is that this was happening amidst really destructive fires that swept through Spokane County last weekend. We see the 20,000 acres at that time up in flames, 265 structures destroyed, including a ton of homes, two people killed that we know of, lots of people not knowing what to do. Spokane City Councilmember Zack Zappone showed a picture of the street where his parents live - all of the houses were burnt down - his parents lost their home, his uncle lost his home. Just feel for everybody involved in that situation - I can't even imagine - it's just so totally devastating. [00:20:21] Matt Driscoll: On the human level, on the individual level - that loss, the death toll is staggering - just a lot of thoughts for everyone going through that. For a long time in my life, we talked about climate change and we talked about the problem it presented. It was academic, right? We saw the video of the polar bear with nowhere to go. When I started at The News Tribune, there wasn't really a summer smoke season. And now it's late August - it's the smoke season - it's a reality of life now. And then I think about my kids - I got a 16-year-old daughter, a 12-year-old son, 8-year-old daughter. It's really heavy to think about the impacts that we've seen from climate change and the way it's escalated. History is so long - a lot of times it's difficult to track the change, right? - it feels long. But with this devastation that we've seen that's tied to climate change in recent years and that trend - it's just really depressing - in Western Washington now, and this will probably be our reality moving forward. It's heartbreaking. [00:21:24] Crystal Fincher: This has not been normal for me my entire life. The warnings from climate scientists - we did not heed them for decades, and here we are - it's scary. The reality is this is as good as it's going to be for a while. This is actually going to get much worse. It's up to us and what we decide to do now - it's gonna get worse before it gets better. Are we gonna choose to make it better or not? This is a tangent - I'm on an age divide - you look at polling, and I'm right there on the divide where opinion splits. I talk to people on the older side of that divide who are more complacent, who don't necessarily feel the urgency. And then those on the younger side - and it's 15, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, especially working in politics - you see things like slogans, "fighting for our lives, fighting for our futures," and those are slogans to some people. What does it look like when you are literally fighting for your life? What does it look like when you don't want to see this kind of destruction happening everywhere? We're not even talking about the hurricane in Southern California and Nevada - this is all wild, and we're seeing increasingly wild things across the globe. This is only going to accelerate. It's decisions like whether to build a new freeway or not. It's decisions like whether to invest in and build out pipelines for gas and coal. At every level of government, at every level of power - decisions are being made every day - we can't afford for more hurt right now. We're seeing activism, we're seeing direct action. These stakes are high, and I just wish more people understood and felt that. It's just really hard right now. There are a lot of different interests. These are the consequences. [00:23:00] Matt Driscoll: There is one thing that gives me any glimmer and hope in this - is the younger generation. The stakes are exactly as you described for them. I think of my kids and the world that we've left them - the idea that this is baseline. How much worse do you want it to get? I'm not going to chalk this up to human nature, but you mentioned complacency. It's a little crazy how easy people grow accustomed to something like smoke season now. Are we cool with just getting used to this? Are we all right with that? It feels like a lot of people are. Maybe it's just my nature, but I have a lot of empathy for people in general, 'cause it's hard, man. It's hard out there being a person. It's hard to support yourself. We haven't made it any easier in the United States. There's a lot that just goes into surviving. Asking people to think above and beyond that, it's a big ask - and it's also unfair. We lay a lot of this climate change stuff, this environmental stuff on the individual - like you shouldn't be watering your grass, or you should buy an electric car. Those things are good, but it almost gives the real culprit - the governments and the fossil fuel companies - a pass. We end up guilt tripping each other - How long was your shower and stuff? If we really want to do something about this, it's gonna take exactly what you talked about - reimagining transportation, not building freeways, being willing to say - Yeah, traffic's bad right now, we're not gonna build another freeway, we gotta figure this out a different way. Or we have the capacity for a new airport, but air travel's terrible and it's one of the biggest causes of greenhouse gases - we're gonna figure something else out, and it's probably gonna be difficult in the interim, but we just don't have a choice. We never want to make that choice. We always want to push it down the road a little bit, make a little bit of improvements. This incremental change - the incremental change is not going fast enough. It's gonna take drastic measures. It's gonna take major changes to the way our life. It's gonna take just major restructuring of the way we do things. We still get to make the choice. It's just that one of those options results in stuff like we're seeing now. [00:25:09] Crystal Fincher: The final thing I want to talk about today has been the topic of discussion in Pierce County for quite some time, a hot topic on the Pierce County Council - and they've gone back and forth. It's this Pierce County Village, which is the county trying to solve one of the problems, one of the crises that it's dealing with - homelessness - and looking at building a, what is it, 265-unit building to house and service people who've been experiencing homelessness and try and get them on a path to housing stability. But oh, it is not simple, and there have been some twists and turns. What is this and what has been happening? [00:25:50] Matt Driscoll: Yeah, it's a very Pierce County story - I really love it for that, 'cause it is very complicated. What the county wants to do - and by the county, I mean the County Executive Bruce Dammeier and his administration - is permanent supportive housing. It's housing designed for chronically homeless individuals. It's not like an apartment building-type situation - it's actually individual homes in a community. The County Executive's office became enamored with this model - it has had some success, from what I understand, in Texas - and they wanted to bring it back to Pierce County. This was a number of years ago. They started the process of potentially looking for a location for it, which proved really difficult because it's a major project. They eventually settled on a piece of land out in the Spanaway area - it's got some wetlands, it's got some concerns around it. They ended up choosing a provider to run it - Tacoma Rescue Mission. What they want to do is use about $21, $22 million in federal COVID money to build this site and then let Tacoma Rescue Mission run it. To make it feasible, they changed some zoning. Broadly, it's an idea that has widespread support. It's something that the Democrats, liberals have supported for a long time. I support it, I think it's a good idea. Providing permanent supportive housing, 200-some-odd units of it, it's a good idea. But the details of it have become very tricky. There's some questions about - was the Rescue Mission kind of baked in as a provider even before they saw it for applicants? Are they pushing too hard on this specific piece of land? There's challenges now to the zoning changes. It is very complicated. It's moving forward, but it's got some significant hurdles to clear. The most recent development is the County Council changed the zoning to make it possible - that was challenged by a couple of places, and that's where things stand. [00:27:34] Crystal Fincher: I just want to point out for those who are not familiar with Pierce County politics, Pierce County Council - the Pierce County Executive is a Republican. And what's the split on the Council now between Republican and Democrat? [00:27:46] Matt Driscoll: It's a slight Democrat majority - I believe it's 4-3. The only reason I hesitate is because Tacoma has nine, Pierce County has seven - I always have to do the math - it's 4-3, 4-3 leaning Dems. [00:27:56] Crystal Fincher: I always get confused with the numbers. You look at a city like Burien and the mess that they're going through with their majority on their council - this is a different kind of situation. Sometimes where you have a Republican executive saying - Hey, we think this can work, there's a model somewhere, let's go learn about it - actually engaging in trying to have a solution, the conversation is starting with action, and what are we going to do? There was a piece this week in The News Tribune going through public records - looking at this model, one of the controversies starting out was that this trip was taken with the Tacoma Rescue Mission and went on this learning, fact-finding mission to see what Austin's doing up close, to see if it's something that could be feasible here. And the contract to do this that was competitively bid ended up going to the same person, which made - the same organization involving this person - making some people go - Wait a minute. Was the fix in on this contract? - especially looking at some of the scoring of the bidding. That seems like maybe it was cooked a little bit in favor of this, but then you have other people saying - This is a pretty normal way that something like this progresses. How did you see this? [00:29:09] Matt Driscoll: Yeah, Pierce County is a big county, but just small-town style - I love this stuff, there is so much depth to it. At the center of this, you have the county, which has access to $21, $22 million in federal funds to do something about homelessness. The county executive wants to give that to Tacoma Rescue Mission, which as you point out, won a competitive bid to build this facility. The idea is that through philanthropic fundraising and just what the Rescue Mission does, they'll be able to fund it moving forward. What makes it slightly different is you've got a Republican county executive saying - We have to do something to serve this population, to house this population, and the answer is permanent supportive housing - which is a little outside the box for conservatives. The County Executive's Office believes that, with this one-time investment, the government can step back. Then you get into questions of Duke Paulson from the Rescue Mission going on these trips even before the bids start being taken - lo and behold, the Rescue Mission wins the bid, LIHI was the other bidder. There was a competitive bid process - they did go through steps, but naturally it raises questions of - Was that kind of procedural? Was that legitimate? When it all comes out in the wash, it's a very Pierce County thing - there's reason for concern of - was this the outcome everyone wanted from the beginning? You can make the answer that - yeah, yeah, clearly it was. I think they went down there, they got this idea in mind, they thought the Rescue Mission would be a good place to run it, and that's where they ran with. On the other end of the spectrum there, I think it's important to keep in mind that the Rescue Mission has a long history of serving homelessness in Pierce County. Regardless of what you believe about the religious aspects of Rescue Mission does, they're a well-respected organization in Pierce County when it comes to serving the homeless. Pierce County is a small place. Should we not expect the County Executive's Office to have a close working relationship with one of the primary providers of homelessness in Pierce County? It raises a lot of questions about backroom deals. It's important to keep in mind at the end of the day, they are trying to do something good. I think it's good that we're asking these questions. It's good that we have this coverage. My colleague, Shea Johnson, just delivered a big package on this this week - it's really well done, folks should read it. It's small-town politics and they're trying to do something good, but there are a lot of questions along the way. [00:31:21] Crystal Fincher: Including questions about the site that has been determined for this. Siting is always a major issue, especially when it comes to siting things that are going to serve the homeless. People have a lot of feelings about this - some don't want it to happen at all, but a site was chosen. This site that was chosen - in the Spanaway area - there may be some environmental concerns. Sometimes things look very black and white from a simple explanation, but it is not infrequent in these situations where you have multiple issues, multiple interests, multiple people who ultimately want good things having different perspectives and having issues impact these groups and these stakeholders in different ways. Is it okay to move forward on a site? We just talked about having to take urgent action to mitigate climate change, to not - continuous sprawl, destroying local ecosystems - that seems to be the major issue in first passing this and then the repeal of the passage over the veto of the Pierce County Executive of the zoning for the site. They could still move forward, but wouldn't have future flexibility attached to this use without another change. [00:32:36] Matt Driscoll: You're right. The Rescue Mission has cleared certain hurdles at this point - the reversal of the zoning change wouldn't affect them - they're vested, they can move forward provided they continue to check the boxes in terms of all the sorts of things they'd have to do to make it happen. The ways that this is potentially getting derailed has a lot to do with politics. At the center of what we have going on here is a dispute on the Growth Management Act. And one of the reasons that this was interesting from the beginning is you had a Republican county executive proposing a major facility to serve the chronically unhoused - the most difficult population to serve. He wanted to put that in rural Pierce County. Normally what happens with something like that is it gets smack dab in the middle of Tacoma, right? Because none of these outlying, more conservative areas want anything to do with that. So the very fact that he was willing to acknowledge that it would be advantageous to put a facility like this somewhere in the more rural parts of the county where - assuming his base is out there - that took some guts and there's been a lot of pushback on that. But you also see attention here where the county executive is saying - Look, in order to build the type of housing we need to serve the unhoused, we need to build facilities like this in areas that are potentially sensitive. That's a broad description, but I think that's what it comes down to. The zoning was challenged and the County Council is getting advice that there might be something to those challenges, particularly the second one has them a little bit worried. They went back and changed the zoning to get out of trouble, to quash those challenges. You have a much broader debate about land use and sprawl and what we should build where, and you've got familiar conservative talking points of - like we need to make it easier for people to build wherever they want. Then you've got kind of Democrats on the Council saying - You know, zoning matters, we have to protect these areas, we have to limit sprawl. But does that then mean that all the stuff that we build ends up being dense, transit-oriented? One of the elements that the county executive's office would say is appealing about this model is because it is more individual homes, it's not a warehousing situation, it's a community. This tension over growth management and how much flexibility should we create to allow this to be built in areas that are designated as sensitive or more rural - I don't know. [00:35:01] Crystal Fincher: You're doing a fantastic job explaining it. This is a complex issue that takes some time to talk through. One of the reasons why I do this show is so we can talk through it and really come to an understanding. I really appreciated that package in The News Tribune this week that gave really helpful background and context to what's happening. The final element is that the viability and success of this relies on private fundraising - it does seem there's some money out there. The flags raised with this repeal of zoning is that this may make fundraising for this property more complicated, more challenging - seeing as that there may not be the flexibility moving forward, or the seeming collaboration, or green light that some people may have previously thought was there. Who knows what's gonna happen? Do you see this likely being built? What do you see moving forward? [00:35:55] Matt Driscoll: I'm not exactly sure how much of that I buy from Tacoma Rescue Mission and its supporters - I've got a lot of respect for that agency - I know Duke well. What we're seeing here is they're trying to maintain as much flexibility as possible to move forward from a development standpoint, as advantageous to what they wanna do in the future. The bottom line is they could build what they propose to build, provided they clear the necessary hurdles as it speaks. So I don't know how sympathetic I am to the idea that they need additional flexibility to build even more on sensitive areas or whatever - or we need to change the zoning across the whole county to make this thing possible - but I could be wrong on that. But in terms of its overall prospects, one other thing I would note that makes this interesting is because there is another political element in this question about funding. The Democrats on the Council, to their credit, support such an idea. They really leveraged the County Executive and Republicans' desire to build this thing into passing a behavioral health sales tax, which could potentially go to fund something like this, or something much like this, down the road. That's another element of that - the support for this village ultimately hinged on Republicans being willing to support them and passing that - they needed a super majority. So that's another interesting wrinkle on this. And one of the reasons I love this issue - because it's just so Pierce County - it's politics and power and relationships, but I think everyone is trying to do a good thing. We're trying to build permanent supportive housing. We're trying to protect sensitive areas and limit sprawl. So your broader question - Will this thing get built? I have no idea. When it initially went through, I probably would have put it at maybe 70/30. The package that Shea Johnson put together really illustrates the desire and the support to get this thing together. It has bipartisan support. Everybody wants to build 200-some odd units of permanent supportive housing. There's the desire locally to do it. I do think that politics in Pierce County requires Democrats and Republicans to work together to do things. There's not a potential here in Pierce County for Democrats to just do everything the way they want to do it - that's not gonna happen - you're gonna have to work together in some regard. And here you have an opportunity to work together to build what could be a really important project for the area. [00:38:09] Crystal Fincher: Makes sense to me. Well, we will continue to follow that - certainly a lot to follow and a lot left to see as it develops. And with that, we thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks on this Friday, August 25th, 2023. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is the incredible Shannon Cheng. Our insightful co-host today is metro news columnist and opinion editor for The News Tribune in Tacoma, Matt Driscoll - always great insight and information from Matt. [00:38:38] Matt Driscoll: It was wonderful to be here once again - like I think I said last time - I always enjoy the opportunity to come on here and play exotic Pierce County man for the listeners up north. Again, I feel like I - there's so much to get into with the homeless village and I appreciate your time, your willingness to dedicate some time to it and talk about it. I would just recommend folks read the package 'cause I don't really feel like I did it justice - it's very complicated, it's been going on for a long time, but it's really important for this neck of the woods. So thanks for having me on. [00:39:04] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. And we will link that in the resources in the show notes and online. You can find Matt on Twitter @mattsdriscoll. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can find me on all of the platforms @finchfrii, that's two I's at the end. 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 get the podcast - to get the Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show - delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, please 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 podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - we'll talk to you next time.

June 28, 2023 - New York League of Conservation Voters President Julie Tighe explains legislation advanced by Democratic lawmakers designed to ensure an offshore wind project is able to get power to the consumers who need it.

This month we talk to Director of Solid Waste, Chad Centola and Incoming Director, Tim Brownell. They discuss the landfill siting process and some of the adventures on their jobs. You won't want to miss this very interesting conversation.

Episode notes: Lawrence Livermore National Lab is preparing for El Capitan, the National Nuclear Security Administration's first exascale supercomputer.

Studies have shown that transmission infrastructure in the U.S. will have to double – maybe even triple – in order to reach a net-zero economy by 2050 and to support widespread electrification. But one persistent challenge to expanding the transmission system and deploying more clean energy is the inefficient siting and permitting process for critical infrastructure such as transmission lines. EEI advocates for a coordinated, consistent, and efficient siting and permitting regulatory framework to ensure that electricity is reliable and affordable for customers. On this episode, Dominion Energy Vice President of Federal Affairs Ann Loomis and EEI Senior Director of Government Relations Patrick Arness discuss the urgent need for permitting and siting reform, Dominion Energy's experience going through the environmental and regulatory review process for its offshore wind project, new developments on the Hill that might impact permitting and siting reforms, and more. 

The week the ep is jam packed, we talk Shattered (old c4 reality show) an update on a fake Dr of Love, some Author DRAMZ and a Tiktoc Giant mystery... Its buffet of strange! Grab a plate and stuff it in ...

"A kid in politics in the early 70's," Ken Sunshine describes his journey as a PR-Political Consultant, his clients: Mayor David Dinkins, Senator Ted Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, Barbra Streisand, to today, as a member of the CUNY Board of Trustees, chairman of the Governance Committee. Siting the affection New Yorkers have for CUNY, Mr. Sunshine outlines the City University's value to New Yorkers, its business and leadership communities.

Producer/Host: Steve Kahl Power for the People: Energy education and solutions for Mainers and Maine communities This month: The perspective of Maine Audubon for appropriate siting of renewable energy for protection of habitats and biodiversity -Off-shore wind –On-shore wind -Industrial-scale solar power arrays Guest/s: Eliza Donoghue, Director of Advocacy, Maine Audubon About the host: Steve Kahl is Professor of Science at Thomas College where he teaches environmental and energy courses and advises the student sustainability club. He writes the monthly ‘Sustainability Minute' email which is distributed to over 1,200 readers. He is a member of the Quarry Road Recreational Area board of directors where he is advocating for a net-zero energy new welcome center. He has advised the board of WERU on the current plan for the station to become 100% solar powered in 2020. Steve is a member of the Green Campus Coalition of Maine, the working group of sustainability directors at Maine college campuses. Steve's past positions include Sustainability Director at Unity College where he developed a plan for the college to become 100% solar powered and earned the college the prestigious STARS Gold ranking with the American Association of Sustainability in Higher Education. Before that, he was Director of Environmental and Energy Strategies for the James Sewall Company of Old Town where he led a Maine Technology Institute research project that found that Maine could be 79% solar powered if all suitably-oriented rooftops had solar PV panels. Prior to moving home to Maine, he was a member of the Energy Commission in Plymouth NH where he was obtained funding for the renovation of a town office building to net-zero energy and the installation of 160 KW of solar PV panels on town properties included a major PV array at the sewage treatment plant that offsets 40% of its electrical costs. In his own home, he has installed two air-source heat pumps to completely eliminate heating oil, a hybrid hot water heater to reduce his water heating costs by 70%, and insulated the basement and attic to further reduce energy consumption and increase comfort. He would like to install rooftop solar panels but so far his shade trees that also produce maple syrup each year have convinced him otherwise. However, he has solar panels on his summer place at the lake and hasn’t paid for any electricity there since 2011. Steve has a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the University of Maine. The post Power for the People 12/28/22: Maine Audubon on Appropriate Siting of Renewable Energy Projects first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

What to do with stockpiled nuclear waste at the Millstone Power Station? Suffolk County poverty, and free phone calls for Connecticut inmates.

Oct. 27, 2022 - In response to an arduous and burdensome regulatory process for developers seeking to construct renewable energy projects, the state overhauled the approval process in New York, but not all upstate communities are happy about the change. USA Today Network reporter Tom Zambito explains how the siting landscape has changed and highlights a legal challenge to the new state office overseeing these projects.

Hi everyone, On this Monday's panel, we have Christine Kiefer and Shane Thrapp. Christine is a wife and empty nester with 2 adult children, and an attorney with her own firm. She is also an author and hosts her own podcast. Shane is an ADHD Life, Relationship, and Career Coach. He is also an admin of the largest Men's ADHD Support Group on Facebook, with over 10k members. He is the moderator of their Discord channel, Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook Page with Marc Almodovar, the creator of the group. This Monday's dilemmas are: Should I tell my best friend that her boyfriend doesn't treat her properly? My ex-boyfriend died and his parents want me to be with them as family at the funeral. My boyfriend's grandfather has just been put in hospice. How can I be a supportive partner? Friends agree to give a guy a chance to game with us. Mad at how my family reacted to me announcing I have cancer? Guest links: Christine Kiefer Facebook: What did they mean by that? Instagram: @whatdidtheymeanbythat Podcast: Apple podcast Spotify Google podcast Shane Thrapp Website: www.creatingorderfromchaos.com Facebook: CreatingOrderFromChaosCoaching Instagram: creatingorderfromchaoscoaching Tiktok: @creatingorderfromchaos Twitter: Order_From_Ka0s LinkedIn: creatingorderfromchaos Men's ADHD Group FB: mensadhdsupportgroup If you have a dilemma that you want a panel to talk about or you want to be on a panel, then send us an email at ask@juliaandjasper.com. If you want to support us please follow this link: https://anchor.fm/juliaandjasper/support Music by Gage Wright --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/juliaandjasper/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/juliaandjasper/support

Lesley was recently honored to welcome businesswomen and uplifter of other women extraordinaire, Linda LoRe, to the podcast. Those who tune into this episode are going to find themselves inspired, motivated, and empowered as Linda shares from her vast well of experience and wisdom. To quote one of Linda's core beliefs, “No one has to loose for us to win” we immediately understand how she approaches all of life.    From becoming the first female Fortune 500 CEO in 1990 to her company Linda shares from her wealth of wisdom. Linda founded InJoy Global as a social enterprise focused on empowering teams to their greatest potential by giving every member a sense of having a true stake in the overall success. Linda speaks to the power of creating teams in which it is commonplace for members to call out their peers, for their excellence and contributions. She recognizes the need for corporations to engage both employees and their customers in today's environment and is focusing her experience to help turn the workplace back into an engaged as well as profitable place of business. Siting her studies into business, the psychology and brain science of running a business Linda reveals the empowering information that within a positive environment such as she helps create people's energy increases by 180% by learning to focus on every win, regardless of the magnitude or simplicity. Further their creativity escalates by a full 300%, they make 40% fewer errors, are 32% more productive and bring in 37% higher sales. Join us as Linda shares the path to these levels of success through creating a Mentor/Coaching relationship that focuses on standing in your power, staying alert to how you Show Up, nurturing your Relationships and practicing the secrets to successful conversion of stress into power.   Linda LoRe is the CEO and Co-Founder of InJoy Global. In her 25+ year career as a CEO, she is recognized as a leading authority in developmental brands strategy of our time. Her extensive experience includes building consumer companies from the ground up, revitalizing storied brands, and breathing new life into consumer favorites. She has been a prominent leader in some of the country's most successful corporations, including Avon Products, Procter and Gamble, May Corporation (Macy's), Giorgio Beverly Hills, Oscar de La Renta and Frederick's of Hollywood. She is a highly sought-after coach and mentor for senior executives and consults with senior management in strategic development and crisis management. She is an expert on corporate culture and master seminar facilitator, specializing in executive leadership especially for female leaders in the C-suite.   Using online and mobile game theory, her company, InJoy Global is a social enterprise focusing on the verticals of corporate culture, leadership, and customer success through customized programs and challenges designed to connect employees and individuals to their goals and objectives. Recognizing the need for corporations to engage both employees and their customers in today's environment, LoRe is now focusing her experience to help turn the workplace back into an engaged as well as profitable place of business. Linda is the Current President Elect for the Trusteeship of the International Women's Forum (IWF), Vice Chair of the Exceptional Women Awardees (EWA), Member of C200, Member of Women's Leadership Board (WLB),and Member of Women's Presidents Organization (WPO) She holds a Presidential Key Executive (PKE) Masters Degree of Business Administration with a focus on Strategy and Leadership, from the George L. Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University. LoRe has been the recipient of numerous awards, including The 2018 Woman of Courage Award, the 2012 George Award from Pepperdine University, 2009 Visionary Award for Youth Mentoring, 2003 Woman of Accomplishment for Bnai Zion, the 2002 NAWBO Women's Hall of Fame Award, the 1997 Woman of the Year Award from the Museum of Science and Industry and the 1997 Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Award of Excellence. She is also the recipient of the Spirit of Life award and The Beautiful Apple award. Watch video version HERE   Website: www.injoyglobal.com Preferred contact information: linda@injoyglobal.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindalore/ Instagram: @lindamlore Twitter: @LindamLore Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InjoyGlobal/

Siting down with Tom And Tiff

Noticing a sadness in her face and voice as she edited her weekly video, "This Little Light," Nettie does some pondering and studying about how we choose joy despite circumstances. Siting an excerpt, Attitude Is Everything from the book, "Have Serious Fun," by Jim Burns, Nettie shares ways to notice when we are feeling down and how to seek and choose Joy in our lives. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets review What scares us about the 76ers: Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, Doc Rivers What we like from the Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond Houston Rockets' Jalen Green says they were hunting Carmelo Anthony during their overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics are on a tear, especially Jayson Tatum. Would you be surprised if they came out of the East? Paul George and Kawhi Leonard seen putting up shots. Let the speculation begin!

Do you have a need to find suitable sites for renewable energy projects in your state? Are you interested in learning more about best practices for states that have used landfills, brownfields, mines, and other contaminated lands to site renewable energy? Almost without exception, states with the most renewable project development on contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites have designed and implemented longstanding, state-specific programs targeted at such sites. These states continue to adapt programs to support environmental, land reuse, and economic policy goals in their jurisdictions. Many other states, as well as local communities and utilities, are considering similar programs to expand contaminated site reuse and steer renewable development away from greenfield sites and agricultural lands. EPA's RE-Powering America's Land Initiative ("RE-Powering") is hosting a webinar to help you learn about state-based programs to increase renewable energy projects on landfills, brownfields, mines, and other contaminated lands. In the webinar, you will learn about common types of state programs, program impacts, steps to select and design successful programs, and program implementation tips. The webinar will feature a panel with agency staff from three leading states who will discuss how they have created and managed successful programs and provide tips for success. It will also highlight free RE-Powering resources - a report on how to select and design state programs and a map of relevant programs - where participants can learn much more on the topic. To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/renewableenergyland_012422/

Do you have a need to find suitable sites for renewable energy projects in your state? Are you interested in learning more about best practices for states that have used landfills, brownfields, mines, and other contaminated lands to site renewable energy? Almost without exception, states with the most renewable project development on contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites have designed and implemented longstanding, state-specific programs targeted at such sites. These states continue to adapt programs to support environmental, land reuse, and economic policy goals in their jurisdictions. Many other states, as well as local communities and utilities, are considering similar programs to expand contaminated site reuse and steer renewable development away from greenfield sites and agricultural lands. EPA's RE-Powering America's Land Initiative ("RE-Powering") is hosting a webinar to help you learn about state-based programs to increase renewable energy projects on landfills, brownfields, mines, and other contaminated lands. In the webinar, you will learn about common types of state programs, program impacts, steps to select and design successful programs, and program implementation tips. The webinar will feature a panel with agency staff from three leading states who will discuss how they have created and managed successful programs and provide tips for success. It will also highlight free RE-Powering resources - a report on how to select and design state programs and a map of relevant programs - where participants can learn much more on the topic. To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/renewableenergyland_012422/