Senator Adam Kline And Senator Pam Roach Go Shooting....

Senator Adam Kline, Chair of the Judiciary Committee and Seattle's "Most Liberal" and Senator Pam Roach, former Chair of Senate Judiciary and the state's "Most Stand Up Conservative" square off at the gun range.

Senate Democrat Leadership Will Again Go After Your Right To Protect Yourself. In an effort to ward off the attack NRA's Brian Judy and I hosted Kline at the Black Diamond Gun Club last month. Kline wants to enact the now defunct Congressional gun ban here in WA State.


Washington State Legislative Shooting Champion Pam Roach.

I like Adam Kline. I like him because he is honest and straight forward (character traits that can't be said about all Republicans in the Senate). But, he is wrong in his approach to gun rights. Adam agreed to learn more about firearms and spent a morning last month shooting rifles and pistols.


Pam, Brian Judy, and Adam after shooting a myriad of firearms. I think Adam enjoyed himself. He did not go into the day without some knowledge. This was not the first time he had fired a gun. (I've got some really cool action shots!)

Adam's concern is about "lethality." Well, all guns are potentially lethal. We showed him the cosmetic differences in the bad looking and OK looking guns. They are functionally the same. The parts are interchangeable.

We reminded Adam that even the Democrat led U.S. Congress is not moving to reinstate the federal gun ban over certain firearms that expired a few years ago.

He says he does not want to get rid of all guns...just some. Not surprising...he will propose a ban in the 2010 session. We will square-off. We will be on opposite sides of the issue.

It is not the law abiding citizens who commit the crimes. We have federal ID checks and a five day waiting period in place. If you have a criminal or mental health record you cannot legally possess a gun. There is a five year sentence add on to a prison term if a gun has been used in a crime. (In fact, I think that was my bill.)

Bottom line: Law abiding citizens have the constitutional right to defend themselves, their families, and their property. Keep your firearms away from children and in a place where they can't be stolen.

Reader Doesn't Get It...Government Should NOT Lie.

NEW READER COMMENT TO THIS BLOG... TO SEE THE WHOLE THING GO TO THE COMMENT SECTION "You should know better than to agree with one of the pet geldlings DSHS keeps around to avoid appearances of a matriarchy. Good health is absolutely vital to being a successful parent, especially when you are faced with kids who likely picked up a lot of bad behavior from their screwball parents." My blog was about a biological maternal grandmother and her husband...not foster parents. If we took children from homes where one parent had an illness then we would have to send around buses to pick up the kids! Lilly's grandmother is the target of lies. The GGM on the paternal side had not even had a medical review required before she and her aging husband got Lilly! I was on the phone with Susan Dreyfus and Randy Hart in June. I was in Germany. I asked Susan if a medical review was required for the GGM. She turned to Randy who was sitting beside her to respond to my questions and I heard him answer: "We are working on it." Translated? "No, Sec. Dreyfus. We have recommended that Lilly go to her GGM and GGP without having required a study on these aging people. We only required one from the people from whom we want to steal." (Only his English wouldn't be that proper.) We do not take kids based on the health of the parent or family member. But, Reader, you miss the point. The report was a lie. And now back to the blog:

One of our challenged readers writes this in regard to Lilly's grandmother:

"If she's never had a mammogram how does she know she doesn't have any issues? And what kinda person doesn't get screed {sic} these days ? Maybe thats what DSHS was going with here..pointing out she doesnt get basic health care ?"

Who would write such stuff?

I reported in this blog that Lilly's grandmother was again lied about in the second in home study. The maternal grandparents have been the targets of a campaign of lies and distortions. The first home study accused them of stealing, etc. It was so bad the study was redone! So the second study has a second set of lies! And, all different from the first ones. (They must have gone to the second file drawer for more ideas.)

One lie is that the grandmother has breast cancer. This was not put in the report but was whispered to me by Randy Hart... "You may not know this but Lilly's grandmother has...breast cancer."

"No. I did not know that. How do YOU know this?" I asked.

Hart replied, "I can't tell you. It comes from a collateral source."

I immediately called Lilly's grandmother.

"They told me I had breast cancer in our last meeting," she said. "It was verbal. They have not given me the report even though they say it is done. It was so sick I laughed at them! How do they come up with this stuff? I have never even had a mammogram and I am planning on walking to Olympia from Anacortes in protest of what they are doing. I am in fine health!" said the 46 year-old grandmother.

To our challenged reader: You represent a very dangerous mentality. Government should not lie about its citizens and should be accountable at every step. Your Fascist-style way of thinking has gotten us where we are.

1. Health is not a reason for taking kids. (Even Hart agreed to that.)

2. Grandmother is under the age of U.S. standards for breast screening which is 50. But, if you haven't had one...hold on reader...how can anyone know you have breast cancer?

3. She has very good healthcare...but to prove her health in the face of the lies had to go out and have a battery of tests done at her own expense.

4. Fascists like the guilty statements. No trial. No rebuttal allowed. Make things up as you go.

5. Government is lying. It is such a lie that they don't want to put it in writing...just lie and rumor monger! There is no excuse for this. Susan: Find out who the collateral source is. If it is an employee of yours then you know what you promised. And, if Mr. Hart says things like this without a doctor's report in his hand....What should you do?

And, as to our challenged reader...try using your spell check. This "what kinda person doesn't get screed" is painful enough to read.

CPS Death Investigations To Be Haulted

Looks like the department has been working on legislation to do away with death investigations on minors who have died unexpectedly but of obvious causes. This new policy would apply if there was CPS involvement during the 12 months before death. Car accidents and deaths after long illnesses would be exempt from investigation. Falling off a cliff on a hike...I suppose would qualify.

They want to save money by not investigating deaths that are "clearly accidental." So, what is the definition of "clearly accidental?" There is none. Now we shift to human instinct I guess.

If this passes the vulnerable are now at greater risk of dying. Guaranteed no investigation???? Great... just hold the nose of a severely disabled or ill child. There will be no investigations.

The ability to decide which death gets investigated and which does not is truly too much trust to be given to a department that clearly, based on its own track record, does not deserve it.

An evil person could then just send a two year-old to play Handy Manny behind his car and OOPs....an obvious accident.

There are a lot of truly evil people out there. David Da Vilar Fox has been working on this legislation. He knows I am interested in these subjects but he didn't invite me to attend the "community partners" meeting this fall.

He should run a pubic trap line on this instead of trying to run it past us.

Pam Roach And Cities At Odds Over Public Access To Information

"I will fight all efforts to close public information to citizen review. Give unlimited online access and make cost a moot issue." - Pam

Tacoma News Tribune...
Washington cities try to prevent large public records requests in upcoming legislative session

Lakewood has processed almost 78,000 pages in public document requests this year – and those are just the ones filed by a single resident – leading the city to ask state lawmakers for a change in public records law.

… That’s why Lakewood, along with other cities across Washington, are asking the Legislature to find a way to discourage people from making frequent, massive public record requests so they don’t drain local government resources.

The city, through the Association of Washington Cities, has made public disclosure law changes a priority in the 2010 legislative session.

AWC is working on a specific proposal that it plans to introduce in the upcoming session. It hopes lawmakers will change the law so habitual requesters will have to pay more for frequent, time-consuming requests, or at least be forced to specify what they want. Lakewood also wants mediation between local governments and requesters, rather than having to go directly to court.

Pam Roach's view on access:

The law should be applied equally. Access is access. Did it occur to anyone that the frequent users of the system are the watchdogs? Not everyone can do that. And, often the watchdogs are working on behalf of others who do not have the time.

Government needs to be open. It should open files, online, to everyone in a computer format that does not allow the user to change information and that redacts names as allowed by law.

Morning News Tribune Article...Today

I have two grandkids over today and haven't taken the time to even read this....but I will by the end of the day:o)

Readers please comment to the News Tribune and to this blog. "Again in 10"

Child abusers win one in the 9th Circuit

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: December 30th, 2009 12:31 AM (PST)

A new federal court decision is creating ripples in the world of child-abuse protection. They aren’t good ripples.
Ruling earlier this month in an Oregon case, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals imposed tight new restrictions on investigations of suspected child abuse – restrictions that tip the balance of power in favor of the suspected abusers.

The judges held that Oregon’s equivalent of Child Protective Services violated the Fourth Amendment when one of its caseworkers and a deputy sheriff took a girl aside at school and asked whether her father had been fondling her. The ruling’s implication is that they should have obtained a warrant – or the permission of her parents – before doing so.

Washington’s Children’s Administration is scrambling to comply with this brand-new and rather astonishing requirement. Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist says it will “seriously handicap” investigations. He also points out that it will make it tougher not only to quickly identify child abuse, but also to rule it out. A boy who shows up to school with suspicious bruises may have gotten them from his mother’s live-in boyfriend – or a fall from a tree. It’s important to find out, fast, what’s going on.

Probable cause – which must be established to get a warrant –often can’t be determined before talking to a child. Teachers, for example, frequently develop an acute sixth sense about the possibility of abuse, based on subtle changes in a student’s behavior, eye contact, mood and classroom performance. But try persuading a judge that Billy’s sudden quietness and tendency to look at his shoes is evidence that a crime has been committed.

The alternative is asking the possible abuser – or the partner who may be covering for the abuser – for permission to question the child. Great idea.

One absurdity at the heart of the 9th Circuit’s opinion is the notion that investigators are somehow violating the child’s constitutional rights when they talk to him or her at school without such permission. That turns the Fourth Amendment on its head. The guarantee against “unreasonable searches and seizures” is designed to protect suspects and criminal defendants. It’s not designed to prevent abuse victims from talking about their abuse.

In any case, the Fourth Amendment forbids arbitrary searches of the home and other spheres of privacy, such as the interiors of automobiles. Just as abuse victims are not suspects, schools are not spheres of privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a teacher can snatch a purse away from a girl suspected of smoking in a lavatory – an inconceivable decision if a school were the equivalent of a house. The difference, says the 9th Circuit, is that the state has a “special need” to prevent smoking that was “not present” in the Oregon abuse case.

There we have it: The government doesn’t need a warrant to seize the personal effects of a girl suspected of wrongdoing at school; it does need a warrant to ask a girl whether she’s getting molested at home. Great jurisprudence, that. This foolish decision must be reversed, and fast.

Originally published: December 30th, 2009 12:31 AM (PST)

New Camera For Pam Roach...Ansel Adams She Is NOT

I am in phase one of learning to use my new Sony Cyber-shot camera. I really hated having to buy it but none of us here at the house can find the one I was using! I hate it when that happens. I thought I might have left it at Costco when I took out the memory card to make a CD of it. Don't know. The good news is I have all the pictures I had been taking.

This new camera is the size of a Droid phone. It takes movies, panorama shots, and will do 10 frames a second if you want to take the time to edit that!

All this means you will get up to date shots from the session. Sounds like fun to me.

Troxel Case And Grandparent Visitaion Rights

There are several aspects to "grandparents rights" and one of our readers asked about the Troxel Case. In this lull of the holiday I thought I would share this with you. Thanks goes to friend, Cheryl, for locating this information for us.

Facts of the Case:
During Tommie Granville and Brad Troxel's relationship, which ended in 1991, they had two daughters. Until Brad's suicide in 1993, Brad's parents Jenifer and Gary Troxel, the paternal grandparents, had regularly seen their granddaughters on weekends. However, after Brad's suicide, Granville informed the Troxels that she wished to reduced their visitation time to one short visit per month. The Troxels filed suit for the right to visit their grandchildren, under section 26.10.160(3) of the Revised Code of Washington, which permits "any person" to petition for visitation rights "at any time" and authorizes state superior courts to grant such rights whenever visitation may serve a child's best interest. Granville did not oppose the petition outright but did oppose the amount of visitation time sought by the Troxels. Subsequently, a Washington Superior Court ordered more visitation than Granville desired. On appeal, the Washington Court of Appeals reversed that decision, holding that non-parents lacked standing to sue under the statute. In affirming, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the statute unconstitutionally interfered with parents' right to rear their children.

Question:
Does the Washington statute, which allows any person to petition for a court-ordered right to see a child over a custodial parent's objection if such visitation is found to be in the child's best interest, unconstitutionally interfere with the fundamental right of parents to rear their children?

Conclusion:
Yes. In a 6-3 decision delivered by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the Court held that the Washington Statute violated the right of parents, under the due process clause of the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children. Justice O'Connor wrote for the Court that "[t]he liberty interest at issue in this case -- the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children -- is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court." Justices John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy dissented.

Officer Down...Deputy Kent Mundell Jr.

Memorial: 1 PM Tuesday, January 5th
Donations: P.O. Box 1489, Eatonville, WA 98328, Columbia Bank or
http://bit.ly/4AH9Zm
I understood through sources that Deputy Kent Mundell Jr. would not make it. For his loved ones the date of death was not going to be Christmas.

Years ago I was asked to deliver a speech on youth suicide at a national convention. I am not an expert, but preparation left me with some understanding of the issue.

An interesting and I think meaningful side story is that the more a teen suicide is publicised through the news...the more suggestive the act itself becomes to others. The result of that is, of course, more teen suicide.

We will and must honor our fallen officers..out of respect but also so we can commune with our heroes and their families. Tears come very easily.

This issue will not go away... but we must do what we can to stop attacks on our officers.

As a State Senator I will offer leadership in closing sentencing loopholes. NO THIRD STRIKER SHOULD BE OUT ON BAIL. And, public safety funding must be protected.

Local jurisdictions will shore up procedures as possible. Backup in domestic calls should be all about protecting the officer doing the talking. Officers gathering before work might do that at headquarters or in limited numbers if in a public venue. Police work is tough work and it is high stress. It takes its toll in stress related illnesses and divorce rates. Bottom line: WE need to give as much backup as possible!

Advice To DSHS From Pam Roach

The cauldron is being stirred. Make some real changes or this will be an ugly session for DSHS. Thankfully, the press is on this again and the public wants action NOW. You do not need to pass a law to fix 85% of the problems. This nightmare is administrative.

Kill Kids...Steal Kids...DSHS Seems Not To Desire A Change

Follow the law and we can save lots of money on the takings side. Use that money to save lives! Taxpayers are funding an industry...taking kids and lying to move them outside the family is damn expensive.

I say by following the law you will be able to move the taking money and shift it to protecting kids from being killed. How hard can that be? And, no jobs lost! Just change job descriptions for existing employees.

To date there have been no visible changes in the system since Susan Dreyfus took over.

SUSAN...Bring in the State Patrol to have them talk to you about accountability and how they achieved it. AT THE SAME TIME SEND OUT THE WORD THAT THE LAW WILL BE FOLLOWED.

IN-HOME STUDIES MUST HAVE VERIFICATIONS.

GRANDPARENTS AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO REBUT BEFORE YOUR DEPARTMENT RUSHES THE ADOPTION.

THERE SHOULD BE NO LYING IN COURT. When an in-home study full of falsehoods is placed on a judge's desk then your department is breaking the law! What directives have been given about this?

GRANDPARENTS NEED STANDING.....

And...No lying to young mothers..."Sign the papers little girl and your three year-old daughter will be adopted by your parents like you all want." Etc. It reminds me of the Big Bad Wolf with extra bad breath.

DO NOT PLACE CHILDREN IN BAD HOMES! Your ads say anyone can be a foster parent. Sorry...that is not the case. If you put half the effort you put into taking children from family members and giving them away...to saving kids from bad placements you will cut the KILL rate and save families.

DO NOT CONTRACT OUT THIS AGENCY OR THERE WILL BE NO CHANCE FOR LEGISLATIVE OR NEWS MEDIA REVIEW. We need open government to have good government.

IF THE PARENTS SAY THEIR CHILDREN ARE BEING MISTREATED IN FOSTER CARE THEN FOR GOD'S SAKE LISTEN TO THAT!

LEAD. TELL RANDY AND OTHERS LIKE HIM TO GET OUT OF THE WAY. They are the defenders of a very troubled agency. They are the same ones who don't report to the public when a sadistic mental case escapes at a fair ground full of kids and innocents.

ROCK A BOAT SUSAN. You cannot fix this without rocking a boat. You will join the list of short-termers if you don't do something fast.

Do these things and there will be less children taken and therefore less in the system risking their lives and their futures.

KOMO 4 Joins KING 5 In Holding DSHS Accountable

Dec. 28....KOMO

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A ground-breaking problem solver investigation is firing up state lawmakers.

Late last month KOMO News reported that the most vulnerable children in Washington state are dying at an alarming rate.

Key lawmakers plan to use the information uncovered to force stronger protections for children under state custody.

"Am I fired up for this? you're darn right!" said Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee.

KOMO News spent more than two years analyzing the death reports of children who had had some contact with the state's children's administration. The investigation uncovered startling and disturbing numbers.

Since 2002, the state ruled 121 children died of abuse or neglect. That's more than one child dying every single month.

Michael Ravenell's son, Kekoa, was one of those children. Ravenell called Child Protective Services several times, concerned his son was being abused.

"Bottom line: the system failed me," said Ravenell. "I wish he was still with us here."

Both state Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, and Armstrong were shocked by what KOMO's investigation revealed.

"My fire has just grown as I watched, as I watched your show and your presentation," Armstrong said. "I got emotional the first time I saw it."

Armstrong will push the Legislature in January to break apart the Department of Social and Health Services and make children's administration a separate agency.

Currently DSHS dwarfs all other state agencies with a nearly $20 billion budget and 19,000 employees.

"Everybody that works at DSHS considers their agency to be an agency, within an agency, within an agency," said Armstrong.

Stevens has worked for years to improve the system but says she's never been able to get hard numbers from the state. Those are the startling numbers of child fatalities that KOMO News compiled.

"(I've asked myself) 'Why are they doing this?Is it deliberate?' And I've come to the conclusion, 'oh, amen, it is deliberate.'"

Susan Dreyfus, the new secretary of DSHS, promises both accountability and transparency.

"We have to be accountable," she said. "There is no worse day in this state when a child's not safe in their own home. I mean, it is of urgent importance."

But both Armstrong and Stevens say while they respect Dreyfus' commitment, no one person can handle such a large agency.

"I have reached my limit - my patience - children are dying," Stevens said.

And while both Stevens and Armstrong are Republicans, they're adamant that protecting children isn't partisan. In fact, nearly as many Democrats as Republicans have signed onto Armstrong's bill.

"Somebody's gotta be fighting for these kids," said Armstrong.

But Armstrong is also realistic. January will be just a short legislative session, and the state is facing major budget shortfalls.

So Armstrong plans to use KOMO's investigation to push the issue this session, get other legislators on board and build up steam for 2011.

The state children's administration disputes the problem solvers numbers, saying only 105 children died of abuse or neglect since 2002. The agency claims "any death of a child is tragic" and "they continue to learn from these tragedies."

KOMO News stands by all of the information uncovered during the investigation.

"Victory or Death" The Password For Gen. Washington's Christmas March

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtjfMjjce2Y
Please take a moment to see this. Be inspired. Show it to your children. Cut and paste if needed.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation Needs Correcting

Evergreen Freedom Foundation should not blame legislators for department failures. We have three branches of government. Please bark up the right side of the tree.

Maybe I take it too personal. But, then again, maybe Evergreen Freedom Foundation just got it wrong. The following showed up in an emailed newsletter from the conservative think tank:

"...last Friday, our investigative journalist Scott St. Clair broke the story about how Maurice Clemmons, the Lakewood cop killer, may have walked the streets due to confused record keeping in Washington State. Frustrated parole officers sent us the records and talked with us about how sloppy our corrections system has become. These officers say tragedies like this will happen again because our lawmakers pay too little attention to the corrections system. But they are busy funding other priorities. Last week, Governor Gregoire put essential services on the chopping block with her new budget proposal. Then she said it wasn't her “real” budget and she’d come out with that (and a tax increase package) “sometime in January.”

I take issue with the: "officers say tragedies like this will happen again because our lawmakers pay too little attention to the corrections system." Officers know who determines how business is run.

Hey...EFF...the governor is the head of the executive branch. If administrative changes need to be made the executive branch can make them with the stroke of a wand! I have been trying to get CPS to stop the lies for two years. All it would take is either a mandate from the governor, a mandate from the attorney general....or leaders in the system to decide to follow the law. They chose not to do that.

This carries over to the Dept. of Corrections. But remember...legislators legislate. We are not there to micro manage the departments. Oh...I would love to make changes but if the majority will not move your bill and the gov. won't sign it then the laws stay the same. I am not the gov and the democrat majority in the legislature will not make any waves with a democrat governor.

I have never put in more time on any issue than that of getting CPS to be accountable. So far they answer a few calls and then blow off what you say. I am not out there to be placated, liked, or rewarded. I just want the state to follow the laws. Evergreen Freedom Foundation should not blame legislators for department failures. We have three branches of government. Please bark up the right side of the tree.

"Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness"

I met with high-up leaders on the issue of CPS lies. I was told that those who lied in the department would face consequences.

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY MONITOR....

Stuth Case...0
Lilly's Case...0
Councilmember Mowery's Case...0
Shave Case...50% (the family had the money for a lawyer...I will talk about this case as time allows)

Lilly's case is just one. Multiply it by hundreds and then add the cases where kids are killed because the department does nothing...and what do you have?

Lilly's mother writes: "To the people who think that the state will actually give you two visits per year....If you relinquish your rights you are wrong to believe them. Do not believe them. I saw "lilly" for 2 hours on Mother's Day and was supposed to get to be with her for Christmas. I haven't got to see her... that was supposed to be my 2nd visit of the year! Now they say I had my yearly visit with her on Mother's Day. Well what happened to the Christmas one DSHS? Huh? Tell me that. Do not believe them."(Lilly's mother)

Lilly is probably in Mexico right now with her paternal Great Grandparents. She can leave the state to go to Mexico for two weeks at a time.

This is all so sad to see. This extended family is just torn apart over this. When Lilly asks about her mother and maternal grandmother what is she being told?

I bet with all the hate that has been generated it will be impossible for the GGM to even allow visits with the other side of the family. This is absolutely SICK. I can't stand to know of this. I am losing any hope for the new leadership. Just people do not let things like this happen.

From Lilly's (Real Name Madison) Grandmother

"I am here at my computer today with a broken heart as usual these last eleven months. Today is our Christmas with Madison @ DSHS and all she wants for Christmas is to come home to us and to see her mother. I don't know how I am going to make it thru today.... I have always been able to give my children and grandchildren what they desired for Christmas even if it meant working two jobs.... but today for the first time in my life... I can't give her what she wants....
I just left Anacortes Hospital with my full set of xrays and test results.... 1700.00 worth. This is to totally dispute again what DSHS has lied about. I am now on my way to my mammogram.....first one ever.... At the breast care center in Mount Vernon. 300.00 plus dollars for that. To show them I never have had or don't have now breast cancer. Then 2:00 visit with Madison.........(I have called her Lilly in my accounts. PR)
They know we have no records, no abuse, no neglect, no anything.......How can they continue to lie and we have to continue to pay these outrages bills.....This has to be illegal....."

The first home study (used to steal a little girl) was so flawed that the department did another one. Months have passed. The department proceeds with haste to adopt out Lilly to her Great-Grandma even as they work on the new home study.

The second home study has none of the negative things contained in the first one. (At least that is the impression. No paper copy has made its way to the grandparents.) But new things are brought up.

The department now says Lilly's grandmother has breast cancer. It is a mystery how they came by this "information." They will not say how! Neither will they produce a record. So....Lilly's grandmother, in a desperate attempt to fight the lies writes this...I recieved it today...AFTER I left messages for high level administrators.

Stealing kids is a dirty business, I guess. Just lie and then move forward. There is not much sicker in government than the stealing of children. Only one thing...killing them. We do that in WA state at a rate of one a month in state care. Am I the only legislator that cares about this???? In politics we call it a "free ride." They have no opposition.

Morning News Tribune Gets It...Open Government Is Needed

As a member of the "Sunshine Committee" I have stressed the need, indeed, the mandate by the people to open the doors of government. There can be no accountability without it. Kim...point your efforts right at CPS.

Sunshine Committee still waiting to be heard
Posted By Kim Bradford
Tacoma News Tribune, December 17th

The Sunshine Committee could be on its way out. Perhaps lawmakers would consider a parting gift of finally heeding the committee’s advice?

The Sunshine Committee, aka the Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee, was among the 95 boards and commissions Gov. Chris Gregoire targeted for elimination earlier this month.

This isn’t the committee’s first death threat, nor would it be the last should the committee survive the legislative session. Some lawmakers complain that the committee hasn’t done enough to justify its existence.

But the Sunshine Committee is only as worthless as the Legislature makes it.

Some of the same legislators who would do away with the committee also refuse to sign onto bills that would see its recommendations given the force of law. {Right On Kim!)Worse yet is the lawmaker who sits on the committee yet in at least one instance worked to thwart its legislative agenda.

Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, sponsored a bill earlier this year that purported to implement the Sunshine Committee’s nonunanimous recommendations. Upon closer inspection, open government advocates found that what it actually proposed to do was take a bad court ruling and make it state law.

That ruling introduced an attorney-client privilege into the open records act, making a slew of records exempt from public disclosure even when there is no controversy. The Sunshine Committee voted 7-3 last year to ask the Legislature to clarify the law and preserve public disclosure; that recommendation still awaits the Legislature’s approval.

So does the committee’s more recent recommendation to get rid of the so-called “legislative privilege” that lawmakers use to get around open records requirements.

This privilege has been cobbled together from a sloppy definition of “legislative records” and an untested 2006 Snohomish County court case. Lawmakers, as well as the public agencies that communicate with them, use it to avoid disclosure of e-mails, letters and memos written on state equipment by state employees.

Earlier this year, the Department of Revenue balked at giving up records relating to tax proposals it had analyzed for lawmakers. The reason? Legislative privilege. Lawmakers eventually relented, but maintained that they did so only out of the goodness of their hearts.

The Sunshine Committee, which includes attorneys who advise local governments, takes a dim view of state lawmakers getting special treatment.

“Every other legislative body in the state of Washington is fully subject to the public records act,” the committee wrote in its recommendation. “There is no principled reason why the state Legislature should be exempt.”

That message remains true whether the messenger lives or dies.

My Little Girls In Germany

What beautiful little girls. I love you. Germany is so far away...especially at Christmas

Pro-Active Vision For Rainier School

I am tired of the state and county coming after Rainier School! It seems like every year we fight off closure. We need to organize and fight with our own plan and goals.

"The most basic function of state government is insuring the care for the disabled...those who cannot care for themselves." PR

Thank you to KOMO which covered our meeting and to all the local elected officials, chamber leaders, union members and parents who met to make a plan. In 75 minutes we constructed a list of priorities and an action plan for keeping and improving Rainier School for the developmentally disabled. Our Vision:

1. Respite/Adult Day Care...parents currently caring for their DD child are getting older and the child will out live the parent...and, the family needs a rest once in awhile!

2. Continuing education over the age of 21.... the DD need constant stimulus to keep their learned abilities.

3. Public Outreach, Awareness, and Review of the Northern Virginia Training Center model. More understanding of the workers and their duties, partnerships with community organizations, tell the stories of the families. Open dental facilities to qualified DSHS welfare recipients

4. Utilize all property. Needed structures have been closed (therapy pool, bowling alley)and should be reopened. We need to have medical care, dental care, behavioral and therapeutic services. We need to revive the sheltered workshop with staff support which would allow transition to community employment.

5. Research facility for Autism. Reopen the study and internships with the University of WA and Green River CC.

Honduras Stands As A Beacon For Freedom In CA

Honduras Weekly, Dec. 16th 2009

"The Micheletti government's decision to withdraw from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) should come as no surprise to anyone in Honduras. Given the mix of fear and animosity that exists among many Hondurans toward President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, it was only a matter of time before either the interim government or the administration of President-elect Porfirio Lobo would proceed to cut ties with the alliance that has been aggressively promoted by Mr. Chávez and has become a symbol for revolutionary appeal and abhorrence.


ALBA, which on Sunday celebrated its fifth anniversary in Havana, Cuba, was formally established by presidents Chávez and Fidel Castro of Cuba on December 14, 2004...."

Pam Roach Calls Meeting To Save Rainier School For The Developmentally Disabled

Washington State's Rainier School for the developmentally disabled is on the chopping block in Gov. Gregoire's 2010 budget.

KOMO News, The Morning News Tribune and others will be covering the meeting set for today at 3 PM at the Buckley Senior Center.

Elected officials, local chambers, Friends of Rainier, employees...will help set a long-term vision for the school. We need a vision statement and pro-active approach to keeping our school open.

KOMO was out at the farm house and I did an interview. They will interview friend Bob Gee and his Rainier resident daughter, Angela, also.

As the session draws closer I will bring up my involvement in many areas.

Ya Gotta Love Honduras!

Comment on the previous blog:

Remember several months ago when the United States allowed a Brazilian aircraft carrying Marxist Mel Zalaya to land at our airport outside of Tegucigalpa? The Brazilians met the plane with a car and smuggled the law breaking deposed ex-president of Honduras to the capital and into the Brazilian embassy.

Now he is not going to be allowed to leave!!! :o) Yeah. I think that is pretty funny!

Honduras Update

This is from a WA State couple that have a hospital out on the northern shore, very rural, Honduras. They have some real adventures to tell. I enjoyed lunch with them one afternoon and we were fast friends. In their words:

"The Honduran electoral process has been completed. On November 29, Hondurans flooded to the polls in an outpouring of democratic pride and national honor. We’ve not heard about any agitation, violence, disruption, or unfair voting practices. The international community monitored the process (5 missionaries from Loma de Luz were official observers). The voting was orderly, and there was no suggestion of fraud. The winner of the Presidential race has been declared to be Porfirio (Pepe) Lobo, but the real winner was the country itself. It matters less who will be President than the fact that Hondurans chose their President honestly and fairly.
However, intrigue with Former President Zelaya persists. He variably declares that he’s seeking political asylum in another country (Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela), that he’s leaving the Brazilian Embassy, or that he’s demanding to be reinstated to office. The current President Micheletti recently stated that the only way Zelaya is leaving the Brazilian Embassy is if an alien spaceship comes to get him. So, short of a flying saucer landing…."

Zookeeper Says Kids Snatched By CPS

THIS FROM A READER:

"I would like to know why CPS is getting away with stealing children.

My great niece, and 2 great nephews were taken by CPS last Friday. They have already taken 3 children from my family and adopted them out. From what I understand they get Federal money for each child they adopt out! If this is the case then are our children nothing more than Quota's? I would like to know what their "reasonable efforts" were to locate family first as required by Federal Law.

I have no problems and would take these children. I went to school for "early childhood development," majored in anthropology, was Ivan the Gorilla's keeper in Tacoma, and hand raised 2 baby gorillas at Woodland park Zoo. Not to mention I did an excellent job raising my own son. The last time I tried to get one of my great nieces out of foster care I was falsely accused of using meth one time in the hall outside of court after I was awarded custody. (Sound familiar folks? PR) She goes on to say....I did a UA and they told me it was too clean so they had to consider it dirty! Also, the foster father was stalking me and I caught him in my yard!

The child was adopted out! I have diabetes insipidus which is water diabetes, not sugar so my body is in a state of constant flushing. Where are my rights? My disease alone does not allow me to take anything that causes me to dehydrate so drugs and alcohol are out of the question. I would like to know where I can get legal help. This has to stop. They have torn my family apart long enough. Pam Roach, will you help me?"

Dear Zookeeper: Arrange a visit with each of your three legislators. Write down the information for them and tell them what happened in your visit. Have them call the CPS Ombudsman and have them call into the very bowels of the bureaucracy. Take your most notable friend with you (like the director of the zoo, for example).

WA State Closing Down CPS...It Has Already Started

There is legislation that is ready to pass but the rumor is that the state has not waited for the governor's signature. (Or, the governor has not waited for the legislation.)

It is a very bad idea to transfer CPS services over to a nonprofit agency because there will be no openness or accountability.

Right now a legislator can have a waiver signed by the complaining parties and then that legislator can make inquiries into the system. The citizen waives the right to privacy for the legislator. In making inquiries one learns how the process works. It allows the problems to surface and in that way new laws are proposed! It has been my experience that the current department takes no suggestions. Not one that I can see...yet. Nothing has changed. This move makes it worse.

If you don't know what is happening you do not know how to fix the problems.

I have been asking for transparency in government for years. And, CPS is the very agency that could benefit the most from openness. I said months ago that we need the public involved in solving the problems.

In a step that will bury, absolutely bury, the "how we handle" children in this state, CPS will be dissolved under the new regime and turned over to a nonprofit (Catholic Community Services, perhaps...was there an open bid process for this contract?)

This is definitely an area that should not be privatized. Will the way in which this transfer occurs guarantee openness? Will there be any legislative oversight? Will the press learn of the child deaths? Will the press learn of anything? Will legislators and the interested public know what is going on and will there be an ombudsman for an entity that is not a part of government?

Rumor has it that the governor has not waited for the legislation and is in the process of dismantling CPS in Yakima.

I will check it out in the morning. The legislation was being talked up last session. It is supported by the Senate Human Services and Corrections Chair and, I believe, the ranking member. Colleagues...DO NOT drive this agency underground and use the budget as the reason. It would only indicate to me that there will be more of the same and potentially worse. (Maybe I will get a call from CCS and get an explanation of how this will be better.)

Good Movie..."Julie And Julia"

Generally, I do not like chick flicks. They are OK if you can get me in front of one but they are not my first choice.

I was interested in this one because Meryl Streep is the best actress out there. Her performance is worth weathering the movie...but this one was really cute, informative, and entertaining even for Jim. He was smiling during the whole thing. I don't know...he does so much of our cooking maybe he identified!

Thank You Denise

Early today I received a call from Asst. Sec. Denise Revels Robinson. She is doing the right thing by asking questions of her employees about Lilly and the fiasco of this situation. The only way that change will occur is to have the leadership change direction. Accountability in government rests first with the people...but it is brought about by leadership from the top.

State Employees...

I had lunch with the Federation of State Employees Union this week. The are not happy with CPS. More later as I will be meeting with good employees who, like us, want a better job done.

Lilly In Limbo...Randy Hart Rewrites History But Not The CPS Handbook

The Willard family has been trying for months to have their granddaughter returned to them. After lies by the department there was a second home study ordered. The results were phoned in to the grandparents today.

No one has a copy of the study yet. CPS wants you to suffer without the study in hand. I maintain they called just to feel the pain in some one's heart. I mean...if they had just mailed the study they could not have heard the cry in response. Why else would you have someone wait 8 months and then not just mail it to them. What was the rush except to be the bearer of bad news!

Three sins were recounted according to the messenger:

1. The grandparents rent and do not own a home,

2. The grandparents have had financial problems (bankruptcy a few years ago).

3. The grandmother reportedly is in poor health (unknown source). She is rumored to have breast cancer.

For the sake of consistency I mentioned to Randy Hart (apparently he still works there) that we don't take kids for reasons of renting...or financial condition...or over rumors.

"This is not our best work," said Hart to me.

"Then you should correct your errors and get it right," I said. (Good gosh...a child is in the balance here. Hart is the consummate ass cover for the department.)

Hart said that the department was making changes and the Stuth Case was a good example of that. O.K. so I went after him for that stupid statement and reminded him that the department argued for placement with the drunken foster adopt woman, in the court room, just 18 hours after the 4 year-old was removed on an emergency basis from the same foster woman from which they removed the child. All this proving that Mr. Hart is a revisionist when it comes to history. NO ONE CAN DEAL WITH SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT WANT TO MAKE CHANGES SUSAN. GET RID OF THE RIFF-RAFF. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW TRUTH WITH A GUY LIKE HART WASTING MY TIME AND YOURS.

So...then Hart proceeds to tell me the real reasons that Lilly will not be going back with the good grandparents that raised her from birth. All rumors....

Tune in tomorrow for the grandmother's defense. See again the differences in the way people are treated. See why maybe the hope was false. After all, if you can not correct your errors...but only justify them...you are dishonest to the people and should be replaced. We demand a higher standard and we demand a standard that is already set in law.

I suggested to Mr. Hart that the report had better state the facts of all the community service awards received by Mrs. Willard, the grandmother. He was pretty silent. I am guessing he has read the study though he claims he did not. And, he knows that he has to go back and put that stuff in there. It wasn't in the first home study either. I complained about it and posted pictures of the trophies on this blog. I am guessing they will use this blog to find the stuff....How funny is that?

TSA Workers Abuse Senator's Two- Year-Old Grandson

Have these people no common sense? No...really not at all.

My 2 1/2 year old grandson was happily walking with his parents and three sisters to go on an airplane ride to their new home and job. (Yes, they left us. We will really miss the great times and enjoy the memories.)

Davis's Nemo backpack was hoisted onto the conveyor belt and he walked through the metal detector with no problem.

But, in the Nemo backpack was a Fisher Price talking car that I had given him as he left my house. The screener didn't know what it was. So, a group of them searched the Nemo pack and found the little racer. There was no problem with the toy.

"Whose pack is this?" barked the bright one.

"It is my son's," said my son.

Davis is 2 1/2 mind you. And, he doesn't like strangers. It took a couple of days to warm up to his grandparents when they moved here. The offending article...which was removed from the pack had been acknowledged to be a toy.

Yet they decided that Davis needed to be patted down. Mind you...he had just gone through the metal detector without any problems.

So this big, strange man approached the toddler and began to pat him down. Davis was screaming! At this point the guy calls over his supervisor and asks if he has to continue the pat down.

"Yes. You do," said the thick sculled supervisor and the bright one goes at the kid again. Davis was absolutely hysterical. The parents were aghast. Say anything and they kick you off a plane!

Was there any rationale or justification here? NO.

The boy went through the detector fine...but they decided to physically put their hands all over him (he was not standing still but trying to escape). Do that any place else and they could be arrested!

At NO time should a stranger be allowed to frisk a child. If a kid does not pass the check point then the parent can remove a belt or pocket item until the child clears the portal. But this show of government power was unwarranted, harmful, and unrestrained.

Remember...there can be no parental complaints allowed... if you want on the plane that is. They sure as hell would have gotten one if I had been there.

Obama...what would you think if your daughters were physically touched up and down and between the legs by strangers? I am guessing you wouldn't like it!

Tell your screeners to get their hands off our kids!!! No buzzer? No brutes! ...sounds a little perverted to me!

Pam Roach To Attend Today's Memorial Service...

(At service with governor, state officials and standing by General Lowenberg)

It is going to be a very difficult day for so many people as we hear of bravery, feel love and loss, and try to figure out the future for relatives, law enforcement and laws.

I will mourn our loss of four officers with millions of Americans.... If you can not attend, the service will be televised. God bless us all as we face our challenges and particularly those who have lost those in service to our country both here and abroad. God Bless us.

Good Stuff Coming And A Reader Reminder Of What Is Being Suffered

This comment came in today and so typifies the feelings of many that i brought it up front. I had a very good meeting with Denise and AAG on Friday. This subject did come up. More on the meeting tonight. I did feel that it went very well. Denise seems very committed to keeping families together when possible.

"I could not agree more that Bremerton is one of the worst offices. I just hope they conform to the new mandates from above. Parents are coerced into relinquishing with tid bit promises of pictures all of the time.
Once a child is adopted it is the adoptive parents decision. I have a daughter that was adopted to strangers and has been cut off from all her siblings and family. What kind of people do that to a child? Not only has my daughter been placed in a place with people of questionable character but, they have also inflicted irreparable abuse on all of her siblings in the process of their keeping these kids apart.
My daughters non family adoption was a product of the Bremerton office also. They seem to pick real winners over here. I believe that it was based in part on the GALs recommendations. GALs and CASAs need to be help personally accountable for their poor recommendations that ultimately harm children beyond the ones they represent in court. May just happen too. Keep your eye on the news for the next couple of years. We are nowhere near done in our mission to stop this destruction of children and families."

Today Pam Roach To Meet With Denise Revels Robinson

A great deal of progress has been made within the last few months in my efforts to bring accountability to Child Protective Services. It is 12:59 A.M and I have to go to Olympia again in the morning. But, I want to do a recap of where we are very soon.

No time right now. But, in another 12 hours I will be meeting with DCFS Sec. Denise Revels Robinson. She has been very busy going all over the state and meeting her area leaders and the public. We were introduced at a Families United meeting in November. Remember that I am hopeful that she will strive for higher relative placements as has been her history. WA is at only 30% and her office in WI had 70% without relative placement incident.

I will be conveying observations and suggestions. I have plenty of "real life" examples. I will encourage the elimination of hearsay evidence at trial, standing for grandparents in court, a presumption of placement with relatives, etc.

On Thursday I had a short meeting with Hunter Goodman of the AG's office. We talked about the unchallenged hearsay evidence that was admitted in several of the cases I have followed. He seemed interested this time. I think after the chain of KING TV stories and the KOMO expose that attention is coming to the CPS issues...and there are many. Momentum is beginning to build.

Honduras Has Settled Down To Mend...Recover...

A note from friend Bill, American Expat, living in Tegu., HN

"Those of you paying close attention to Honduras know that officially, just a few minutes ago, the National Congress voted NO to the restitution of Former President Mel Zelaya as President of Honduras.

Honduras has been, at least Diplomatically, through Hell since June 28, after the Supreme Court ruled Zelaya's actions Unconstitutional, and Congress approved his removal from office almost unanimously. Honduras was considered a pariah, a failed nation, by nearly the whole world.

Now, we've had elections, deemed free and fair by all international observers. We have had Congress vote on Zelaya's restitution, as required by the San Jose accord. Many countries have indicated they'll again honor our sovereign rights, the Chavista ALBA block not withstanding.

Is it over? Is everything normal? No. Honduras remains divided to a degree. Zelaya worked very hard to create disunity, and divide the population while he was President. He is still holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, trying to instill class hatred, and promote insurrection. But money to pay protesters has diminished, so protests have pretty well dried up.

The problems that gave Zelaya fuel for class division remain. Poverty remains a big problem. No government program will eliminate it. We desperately need a climate to attract investment, domestic and foreign to create new jobs and create real wealth. Reduced crime. An accommodating business environment. Less corruption at all levels. Empowerment of the people. Better labor-management relations.

Honduras has missed some opportunities since we moved here 15 years ago. The XXI'st Century Socialism promoted by Hugo Chavez was definitely a move in the wrong direction.

We have a shot at it. Way over half of a solid, low abstention electorate chose Pepe Lobo to be President of Honduras. He has a good shot to make some real progress. Freedom loving investors all over the world have a lot of good reason to put their faith in Honduras.

We have prevailed against mighty heavy odds. And we've all learned how well the Socialist inclined block is coordinated, all over the world!

Viva Honduras!"

Yes, Bill. Viva Honduras!

Christmas In Germany

German Christmas Market in Trier...Candles, advent wreaths, gingerbread, nutcrackers, sugared pretzels, wooden ornaments, and holiday crafts. And, so much fun!

Wow guys! I bought a pyramid but it is not this big. Light the candles and the heat moves the fan at the top. Very cool. The individual hand carved nativity scenes rotate as the heat rises. Christmas in Germany is about Christ.

A.L.S.B. Coming Soon...One More chance To Review Oral Arguments

In this case an Hispanic father with drug issues was told he could reunite with his daughter if he went to drug classes and visited his daughter as outlined. He moved to California. He successfully attended rehab there. His mother drove him from CA to Yakima, WA for all of the scheduled meeting with his daughter thus meeting the criteria laid out by the court for reunification. The state terminated and adopted out to a foster-adopt...anyway.
http://bit.ly/6ooUrc
Washington State Supreme Court held on June 24, 2008 2:30pm
Oral Arguments: In re the Dependency of A.L.S.B. (Did the court unconstitutionally terminate a father's parental rights without finding him unfit?)

Please click here to watch video or paste this url into your browser address bar: http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?EvId=2008060032D

Hondurans Stood Up To The U.S. And Won

The greatest threat to freedom in Honduras was the United States and the attack on the Honduran Constitution that it led as it supported Manuel Zalaya. Thank goodness for the leadership of Roberto Micheletti, the acting president appointed by their Congress and the national Supreme Court. He is a hero to Hondurans. It would be an honor to meet him someday.

Dearest Pam: The election process was at peace. Thank God.
Many people went to cast their vote.
The "expectators" from other countries were pleased.
It was a true democratic process in which the system proved good and protected.
Those who lost do not mind as much,
because everyone is just caring for Honduras.
Now let us see what happens to Zelaya tomorrow in Congress session.
Let us also hope that the U.S. will not pressure us to put Zelaya back for a couple of months, since Valenzuela, U.S. representative for Latin America ..., said that elections are just one step but there are other parts to be solved of the Accord. (We all hope that Zelaya does not seek asylum in Nicaragua: it is too close for comfort. He should be far, far, far away from Honduras, as he can still do more damage the closer he is).
Thank you for all your support and care for our country.
Let me know when you are in Honduras.
I, as I told you months ago, live in La Ceiba.
Blessings,
Marie

Maria...I will see you in La Cieba. PR

Reader Protects Human Life And Now Needs Help

If the sender of this message will blog comment a phone number I will privately try to help. PR

"I want to give up my child. she is 7 and half months old and i no longer want to look after her. i have other children. When i was pregnant her father begged me to abort, i refused thinking i could do it alone, its been the biggest mistake of my life, if i had just aborted i would not know be going through the anguish of giving her up."