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Russell Investments has finally made their decision regarding the location of their headquarters.  They’re moving to Seattle.  You should see the look of surprise on my face.

But will this be the end of the downtown pipe-dream now that the ‘Financial Services’ pipe-dream is gone for good? Will the next mayor and city council drop the idea of a glorious downtown while it and the rest of the city’s infrastructure fall into decay? Will they finally use the money we give them to fix the potholes that keep showing up?

I doubt it.  There’s no limit to the stupidity of politicians and bureaucrats.  Wasn’t it Einstein who defined insanity as ‘doing the same thing over and over expecting different results’?
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First there were claims that Tall Ships Tacoma was a success, although turnout was lower than expected. Then it came out that the event lost money. Now a report has come out that shows some successes for the event. I think there’s something to learn here for our city, if they’ll pay attention.

Since I don’t have the actual report I’m going to have to go by a TNT blog entry, which generally slant in a particular political direction with regard to local issues. But there are some things that can be gleaned.

And of the roughly 300,000 people attended this year’s event about 48,000 visitors came from more than 50 miles away. On average, they stayed 2.6 days and spent $88.09 per person per day.

That’s good news, right? Well maybe not. That means that 16% of the people who attended presumably were drawn to the event from outside the area. But later in the article information was given about another Tall Ships event, just North of here.
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The Tacoma Club was once more than just ‘An Unparalleled Business & Social Club’. For years it was the place to be if you wanted to do business in Tacoma, especially if your company was business-to-business play.

Tacoma’s business community has a lot of unwritten rules. But if you want to do business here you have to know the rules and live by them. Mostly, these rules tell you which organizations to join and which ones to contribute to. The Tacoma Club was one of those ‘must have’ memberships. But all of that changed.

I wish I could say that the rules have gone away, but they’ve just been ‘rewritten’. It used to be that you had to schmooze the local elite and rub elbows with the good ol’ boys. Now you have to show your green credentials and rub elbows with artists. Same game, different names.
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I guess the anti-war activists who staged a protest on Tacoma’s Ruston Way waterfront didn’t check the news. There was a ceremony scheduled for today in which the U.S. military turned over control of Iraq’s Anbar province to the province’s elected leaders.

If that protest had actually been the tribute they claimed it was, maybe they could have included the fact that the American men and women who died there did not die in vain. They did their part to win that war, and the victory is almost complete.

In the ceremony Monday in the provincial capital of Ramadi, the top American commander in Anbar, Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly, said Al Qaeda has not been entirely defeated in Anbar. But he said, “their end is near.” [Fox News]

This is a tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in Iraq. They did their part and we’re winning the war. Not only are we winning but we’re defeating both Saddam and his Baathists and as a bonus we’re defeating Al Qaeda on the battle front that they chose.
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Operation Back2School. First I’ve heard of it. Happy to hear it’s happening.

Organizers distributed more than 1,500 backpacks to children of service members from across Washington. Cool weather and the threat of rain didn’t drive people away; hundreds waited more than 90 minutes before the event began.

“They were just lining up around the building, around the corner,” said Susan Allen, the volunteer coordinator with Operation Homefront Washington. “People came from Fort Lewis, McChord (Air Force Base), Whidbey Island, Bremerton. I’m really excited about the turnout.”

Operation Homefront Washington started the backpack giveaway last year, but Saturday’s event was about three times larger, Allen said. Lakewood Ford offered use of its building on Pacific Highway SW.

We don’t pay our men and women in the military enough, especially the enlisted. Things like this can make a big difference in the lives of these families.

This one happened in Lakewood, which is no longer Tacoma. I’d like to see both residents of Tacoma as well as city government do more for the military, instead of just helping anti-war protestors.

Typical of liberals, they’re pretending to be something they’re not. Whether they’re pretending to be Republicans or claiming to support the troops, their disingenuous rhetoric knows no limits.

On the Ruston Way waterfront in Tacoma this weekend there are thousands of poster-board grave markers put up by an anti-war group called Veterans for Peace. I stopped by to speak with their representative and heard exactly what I expected. So let me address some of this and see if what they claim actually holds up.

“This isn’t an anti-war protest, it’s a tribute” - Let’s look at the definition of tribute in the American Heritage Dictionary (I’ve selected the relevant entries):

1. A gift, payment, declaration, or other acknowledgment of gratitude, respect, or admiration
2. Evidence attesting to some praiseworthy quality or characteristic

As I looked over these costume grave markers I didn’t see anything that showed any gratitude, respect or admiration. All I saw was an acknowledgment that they died in the war in Iraq. Most had name, rank, hometown, how and where they died. I saw nothing of their accomplishments although I was told that Gold Star recipients were acknowledge, though it wasn’t evident exactly how they were.
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Once again a Tacoma merchant is burned by the pipe dreams of local liberals. Tall Ships Tacoma finished their events with a loss of half a million dollars. That’s right. The “International Financial Services District” isn’t the only pipe dream still catching the fancy of local liberal cheerleaders. Tourism is still front and center in the minds people who should know better.

AngelouEconomics, the consultants hired to evaluate downtown Tacoma’s economic development options were very clear in their presentation about tourism. It’s not a primary industry for Tacoma to focus on. Tourism is a secondary industry that will grow as the primary industries in their recommendations grow. Yet, the cart is still before the horse.

Another money losing event. Another expensive tourist attraction (museums, museums, museums). When will local leaders wake up and change course into something productive?
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A recent article in the News Tribune described the events leading up to the non-event protests in the Port of Tacoma as Stryker Brigade vehicles are off-loaded from ships. The army refused to pay for added security at the ports where military vehicles and supplies are being loaded and off-loaded. That left the city of Tacoma with a bill of about $661,000 for the March 2007 protests. Let me put it another way. That left us, the taxpayers, holding a bill for the added police presence needed for the army and the port to conduct business.

The army can’t be blamed for the protest. They’re a necessary part of the security and sovereignty of our nation. The police can’t be blamed, they’re doing their best to keep the peace. The protestors are certainly to blame, since they’re the ones causing the problems. But I think that there’s some blame that needs to be handed to the city, particularly the City Council and the Municipal Court Judges. The City Council for not pressuring the city attorney’s office to press charges and build better cases against protestors who violate the law. And the judges for their miscarriage of justice in handing out rulings that are less than a slap on the wrist and in most cases a complete dismissal of charges.

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A record 377,616 people showed up at McChord AFB this weekend to take in the sights illustrating the power of the U.S. military. Compare that to the number that showed up to protest the Iraq war at various times around the area.

I would have to say that the voices of anti-war loudmouths was officially drown out by the sheer numbers of people who support our men and women in the armed forces. It reminds me that the biggest protest I’ve seen was the support-the-troops rally outside Ft. Lewis that stretched for more than 8 miles of overpasses (as that 2003?). And that was actually a counter-protests. The protesters showed up and according to eye-witnesses didn’t even get off of the bus.

I wasn’t able to make the show because of other responsibilities. I heard it was great.

McChord AFB Air Show 2008 - fencecheck.com

Air Show Millitary Expo 2008 McChord AFB USA - YouTube.com

McChord AFB Air Show 2008 - Web site

Tacoma has been implementing policies that are touted as eco-friendly for a while now. Some of them have come around to bite them, mostly in the form of higher costs or lost revenues (for the city and for businesses in the city). Another consequence of their il-conceived policies has reared it’s ugly head.

One of the major problems with these new policies is that they’re trying to force a supposedly ‘new way of thinking’ into existing environments. In this case they are encouraging multi-story mixed-use buildings (residential combined with commercial, such as retail) by giving tax breaks to developers. And without thought of the consequences the city has allowed these buildings with large reflective exterior surfaces to be built next to existing houses.

The consequence: sunlight is concentrated on existing houses causing the interior to heat up.

Some might think this is an acceptable consequence to protect the planet from its evil nemesis ‘urban sprawl’, but if you’re sitting in a solar roaster that was once a comfortable rambler, it ain’t so cool.
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