I would add that the story does not note any attempt to get comments from the three council members in question, and does not raise the question of who among the council members that did vote might have voted against the measure.

Note also that I do not blame Jacob and Steven for this; this is clearly a failure of the editorial team.

I didn't think it was. But, I know how some Hoquiam folk can get.

I live in Hoquiam and own 3 rentals in addition to our home. And I totally disagree. I think it should be a property tax, not a separate ambulance tax. But, then again, I'm all for progressive taxation. Obviously, we disagree on that.

The people didn't say we can't afford the levy. The majority voted for the levy. Just one vote short of receiving the required 60% super-majority.

Really? Are we reading the same TDW?

I think since the new Publisher came in, the paper turned tabloidal... "slash and bash". I suppose Rush thinks it sells papers and more power to him, but how are those paper sales going? There is reporting and there is FAUX News. I think there are some good stories. But, there is a lot of crap, too; far more than there ever used to be.

I have this vision of a reporter coming into the office with a story... a good story about good government and the Editor (or Publisher) yelling, "Get out of here with this drivel! Get me some dirt. We have papers to sell, you twit!"

Must have been reading a different article than I was.

Not being a journalist, but a consumer of journalism, I found the article to be very good. Maybe it isn't real journalism, but I appreciate articles that point out things that may be of real concern to those that want a better community. Does the blame for levy failure fall on those 3 council members? No, there's a bigger picture. BUT, it is important to note that every vote counts and that it is highly likely that those 3 members would have voted yes, especially since 2 of them had voted to put the measure on the ballot.

From the report.



My point isn't the passage of the levy, it is three city councilpersons who chose to not vote. I think elected officials who can't be bothered voting aren't qualified to serve.

So Steven, what's your address and date of birth? Google wants to know.

Mea Culpa. The major point still stands.



And we don't know if they "couldn't be bothered" or if some other circumstance intervened. And it's nobody's business anyway, especially in the context of this non-story, which clearly creates the impression that the levy failed by two votes because three Hoquiam councilmembers failed to return their ballots.

Hmmm, well I do think elected officials actions directly relating to legislative activities is the people's business and the fact that elected leaders fail to vote on a critical ballot measure they themselves sent to the public is a story regardless of the outcome of that measure. The fact that the measure failed by two votes is incidental in the base determination of whether this is a valid story. I would agree that HOW people vote by secret ballot is nobody's business.