King County Republican Party Website

Chairman’s Blog – 8/1/11

admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:53:17 +0000

And the saga continues . . .

For the last few weeks the KCGOP has been updating you on the Car Tab Fee (aka Congestion Relief Fee) proposed by King County Executive Constantine. You see, he would very much like the King County Council to pass the $20 increase on car registration fees without a public vote. His office is offering all kinds of goodies to Council Members to support the new fee.

Voters need to continue to make their voices heard on this issue. Here is what you can do today:

1) Click on the email link below to send a message

2) Ask every voting member in your household to click on the email link (see #1)

3) FORWARD to your friends asking them to do #1 and #2

If the King County Council can’t help themselves by supporting a new TAX on the people of King County already impacted by a tough economic recession…..they should send the vote to the people on November’s ballot.

The people of King County deserve a voice in the proposed Car Tab Fee. Act today!

Chairman’s Blog – 7/25/11

admin — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:37:16 +0000

CALL TO ACTION

Important vote this Monday to raise the cost of YOUR car registration.

King County Executive Dow Constantine lobbied hard and received an authority to tack on an additional $20 to your car registration fees to pay for the mis-management of Metro Transit’s budget. He has asked the King County Council to use this authority to pass the fee at their meeting this coming Monday, July 25th.

If you live in Seattle, keep in mind that the City of Seattle also hopes to pass a Seattle City car registration fee upwards of $80….that means businesses who own car fleets and residents will be looking at an increase of $100 or more to register automobiles in Seattle!

The King County Councilmembers of the Seattle districts Bob Ferguson, Larry Phillips, Larry Gossett, and Joe McDermott support adding $20 onto the City of Seattle’s new $80 fee.

On the record as opposing the fee are the King County Councilmembers of the eastern and southern districts Reagan Dunn, Jane Hague, Kathy Lambert and Peter Von Reichbauer.

That leaves Julia Patterson sitting (squirming, really) on the fence. Her constituents will be hard hit by the car tab fee, as will businesses in the Kent Valley and Tukwila retail hub. To add fuel to her fire, the King County Executive is playing hardball by threatening to remove bus service to medical facilities to her district’s most vulnerable citizens who depend on public transportation.

It is time to act. Executive Constantine owes it to the citizens of King County and the employees of Metro Transit to come up with a stable and sustainable plan to meet the budget in a good economy and a bad economy…and live in it!

Contact your King County Council Member TODAY, 7/25/2011.

Click on the link below to send a brief message to your representative (please make sure to include your name and address in the email):

Chairman’s Blog – 7/18/11

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:01:09 +0000

It’s a Capital Plan…..

Over the past several years, our Chairman’s Updates have discussed the importance of laying the groundwork for future campaigns and future leaders to build the Republican Party. Hard work and thoughtful planning is paying off. For the first time in many years, Republicans in King County have the wind at our back. In the 2008 elections, Republicans held their ground by losing no incumbent seats for the first time in twelve years. The following 2010 election cycle, Republicans elected six new members to the Legislature from King County, and all of our incumbents were re-elected. Success didn’t occur in a vacuum, it was the result of hard work by many individuals over the years who put their shoulder to the wheel to make it happen.

Across the landscape, the future looks bright. The Republican Party has seen a recent influx of energy and talent in our ranks, which has given new motivation to the rank and file Republicans who held the fort during some of the most difficult electoral years. Our invigorated party has also found a cornerstone of our political philosophy, responsible government resonating with Washington voters. This is very good news for Republicans in King County, and our state.

Now is the time to lay the groundwork for our 2012 statewide and legislative races here in King County, which means organizing grassroots activists in our neighborhoods and Legislative Districts and recruiting strong Republican candidates to represent our philosophy.

To do this, we must raise capital to push our Republican Party agenda forward. Over the next six months, all of us at the KCGOP will be raising the necessary funds to send even more Republicans to Washington DC and Olympia, including a new Governor for the first time in nearly thirty years.

To be successful we will need your support. The King County Republican Party does not receive funds through the RNC or the WSRP. We are a Grassroots Army powered by volunteers and supported by generous contributions from people like you.

Please take this opportunity to make a contribution today to support our Capital Plan to victory in 2012.

Chairman’s Blog – 7/11/11

nelson — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:28:12 +0000

In the 2011 session, the Washington State Legislature passed ESSB 5457 which allows King County government to add a temporary $20 “congestion reduction charge” to car licenses to shore up the budget chasm in Metro Transit’s operational and capital expenses. King County Council can do one of two things with this new authority, either 1) vote the charge into existence with a super majority, or 2) send the measure to a vote of the people.

King County Executive Constantine has asked the King County Council to pass the measure outright. He believes putting the measure on the ballot is a bad, expensive (estimated $1M) option. His argument being that the $20 charge does not need a public vote because it is temporary.

Reality is not good news for the King County Executive, however. It is not clear that a simple majority of the King County Council supports the $20 charge, much less a super-majority needed to pass without a ballot vote, and local polling shows residents of King County do not want the charge. If residents aren’t keen on a $20 charge, they surely won’t be enthusiastic about a$1M bill to put the measure on the ballot.

Without dependable capital to continue operations, Metro Transit has a problem.

Let’s look at the recent history of taxing and charging for Metro Transit. In 2000 and 2006, voters approved sales tax hikes, of .2 and .1% respectively, for Metro Transit with the promise of expanded bus service. So far less than a third of the 1.2M hours promised have been delivered.

You would expect a downturn in the economy and spiking gas prices to increase bus usage, but over the last few years Metro Transit has been losing ridership. The current rate of expenditure is simply not sustainable. It is time to take a serious look at how bus ridership is funded and how the money is being spent in King County….and make hard turn toward a responsibly administered public transit service.

The Metropolitan King County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee will host special meetings on possible reduction of transit service and the proposed “Congestion Reduction Charge”:

Tuesday, July 12 @6pm
King County Council Chambers, 516 Third Avenue, 10th Flr, Seattle, WA

Thursday, July 21 @6pm
Burien City Council Chambers ~ 400 S.W. 152nd Street, Burien, WA

Please attend to testify for responsible government, one that does not increase taxes or fees on the public to meet an unsustainable budget.

Meet Your KCGOP Team

nelson — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:45:15 +0000

We’re proud to introduce our KCGOP team for the 2010-2012 term! Please check out our KCGOP Team page to see the full list.

Register To Vote!

nelson — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:42:00 +0000

To vote in the next election, you must register at least 30 days before Election Day.

Below are the steps you must take to complete the Online Voter Registration process.

Verify your voting eligibility.
Enter your identification information.
Enter your personal information.
Print your voter registration acknowledgment.

Click here to complete the process!

Elected Officials

nelson — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:41:23 +0000

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nelson — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:41:02 +0000

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Find Your Legislative District

nelson — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:39:58 +0000

King County Republican Party Website

Chairman’s Blog – 8/1/11

Chairman’s Blog – 7/25/11

Links

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