Saturday, May 3, 2008

Well, I'm Sorry If I Hurt or Embarrassed...

Tacoma.I don't think the movers and shakers spend enough time on Neighborhoods...
and small business...
all the small businesses and the new ones that would infill .....would so kick Russell's butt.....and replace them ...and all their money .....So go ahead and go.....or not.

Tacoma will Not live or die because of Russell. And the condos.
Wake Up !! Great things got done in Tacoma for years.....
Steph Farber is Right ! Enough with the stupid consultants and the outsiders.......
WE already know what we want........Didn't we (Tacomans/Tacowomens) create an Art Oasis..........growing and building from Sheer Force of Will ????? Didn't we get Union Station saved, and the Pantages....and UWT ? Tacoma Dome....The transportation hub in this district....makes perfect sense. Working together with the Tribes....and getting issues settled...........
"That's what saved Tacoma"
Yes we did !!!!
So many people truly love this town......with its warts.
and its sugar.
yes Russell contributed money to those causes, but it would have been done with or without them because the people wanted it..........

And I'll say this again......I am a trickster.....I say almost everything with a wink and a smile.....
I do appreciate Love Tacoma...we're MySpace Friends.....duh!
So kick me. Ignore me. Cuss me out. Hate me. Whatever.
From a blog post and from my criticism......

comes a fabulous conversation........ and I am really impressed that folks publicly and privately came to her defense.
I have so many stories of folks who do not feel included....
and this insane amount of money and attention that goes to developers, the rich and Russell......it is just hated by the people I talk to.
The working class of Tacoma......don't give a flying flip about Russell.
they hire only from a small select pool.....and there is so much more to Tacoma than that.
The working class could care less about expensive condos. They want the potholes fixed....they want good schools....They want Affordable Homes....You know something a person or family that makes 50 grand and Under could buy Today !
They want nice neighborhoods. They want to start businesses.
And Russell's money hasn't kept the streets free of holes. Russell's money hasn't made Tacoma schools better.......obviously......
It is the people who give a good .......damn about life here that did these things.
Enough already.

City fathers and mothers....Invest in the People. Invest in infrastructure.
Help people buy homes at a sensible price. House the homeless. Feed the hungry.
I know Tacoma is smart. Click .......brought the world to me.......
Low utility rates....because of smart management......
Tacoma doesn't need to be the fastest bunny on the Block.....
we need smartness, we need faith in each other, and respect for steadiness, respect for home-grown talent.

Build a strong working class and that's anyone who works for a living.......
It makes far more sense to have 3000 jobs that pay 20 bucks an hour or more,
than 1000 jobs that pay 50 bucks an hour. Rising tides lift ALL BOATS instead of just a few as documented here by Steve Winn . But even the wealthy are nervous.....

If Tacoma is gonna spend, what, 140 million on Russell .......why not spend that much on creating great middle income jobs...and lots of them......financial services is too often a code word for taking fair wages away from the worker and rigging the system for the benefit of the wealthy.
Restaurant work is not a livable wage base.


"Who gets the shortest end of the stick? Coffee shop hosts and cafeteria counter attendants, according to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts.
Eighty-seven percent of restaurant-host and counter-attendant jobs were categorized as "bad," meaning they paid less than the median wage in 1979, adjusted for inflation, and had neither employer-sponsored health insurance nor a retirement plan. That translates to a wage today of $16.50 an hour or $34,320 per year for a full-time, full-year worker, according to the report."

Rising rents and home prices put people in financial danger. It was and is a stupid idea to use your home as an ATM.
That is not sustainable in a community. C'mon you number-crunchers....

I suggest following the leadership of Van Jones.......
Why can't Tacoma become the Green Center of the Northwest.....let's create green jobs...let's show the world that we build Green.....We recycle....We cut emissions....We have industries that are embracing New Green Ways of doing business.
Do we or do we not live in The Evergreen State?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think you were out of line in the least. Russell is a hot topic in Tacoma and knowing their basic statistic impact (# of employees and dollars brought into the city) is something that I would expect her to know since they are thinking of leaving. Doing a radio interview requires preparation, it's not just wandering into a studio and sitting down. You find out what your discussion topics will be ahead of time so you are prepared. If Roxanne wasn't prepared, that's her own fault. Good for you for calling a Spade a Spade.

Donovan said...

Nice rant. Nice to hear a different point of view on Russell. Thanks

propriatress said...

I just think I was raw, and inelegant in my criticism...I'm a better writer...and I failed myself. Rox is a good person doing an extremely hard job......but I will say.....if anyone is in a Public job, they will get Flamed! And scrutinized. It's just part of the territory.....And.....
I do think the "People In Power" in T Town...think/thought they could just flip this Russell give-away right by us....Like We'll All Just Die without them...to that notion.....I just say: Bullshit.
We do the heavy lifting around here. Not the wealthy. Their shrimp don't appear by magic on their plate at Sea Grill. Just saying.