Mike for Spokane 2019, Issues & Priorities
Mike for Spokane, 2019 Background
MFS August 2015 Update
The independent police report involving a sheriff car/bicycle fatality in the valley was released. Private investigators are calling b.s. and it appears taxpayers can expect to pay a large settlement.
The above also calls into question the ability and intent of the local press. Glaring inconsistencies in a basic law enforcement matter is of no consequence, but the County Sheriff standing on a symbol of American Liberty in the imagination of militant liberals is front page news?
Front line Constitutionalists are the elected representatives. They are sworn to defend the very rights which are being mocked by purveyors of fiction. Spokane’s major press outlets routinely malign good people and have refused to even report on Tea Party events that were some of the largest political events in Spokane history.
Mike for Spokane contracted with a firm owned and run by a couple of liberals. They were given $300 and a few quotes from the founding fathers and asked to interview people at a Spokane Tea Party event. They produced this video documentation of Spokane area people and their opinions about the “Threats We Face.”
Eight Years of Mike for Spokane
Mike for Spokane goals & objectives:
Citizen Oversight
The Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee has been revealed to be little more than a scam. There continues to be no independent citizen oversight of local law enforcement. Mike for Spokane provides a proposal for a quick and inexpensive solution to ongoing problems with the Ombudsman Committee.
Hoopfest Weekend & @YoungTRaaw is heading to Florida!
Hoopfest weekend is upon us and it is going to be hot. A quarter of a million people are expected in downtown this weekend. Stay hydrated and watch for signs of heat stroke.
Mike for Spokane sends a thank you to Tyler Harvey, for showing us how it’s done! @YoungTRaaw is headed to Florida!
#GoEags! #GoMagic!
Independent Police oversight issues continue in Spokane.
New Sanctuary City Initiative headed for the ballot.
Mandatory Sick leave & $15.00 hour minimum wage debate.
Sheriff’s Town Hall meeting on Monday at Central Valley 6:30 to 9:00. If you go:
1 – Printed tickets from eventbrite registration are a MUST – no ticket – no entrance.
2 – Questions for the Sheriff MUST be submitted on 3×5 cards, will be reviewed (combine frequently asked together) and read to the Sheriff.
Have a great Hoopfest weekend, stay hydrated and Have fun. ~ Mike
Mike For Spokane Update: Grand Hotel and City Council Objections Over Environmental Clean-Up Bill
Mike for Spokane looks at recent objections voiced by Spokane City Council members over public funds being used to pay for environmental remediation at the site of the New Grand Hotel in Downtown Spokane.
Part Two:
Police Oversight Irregularities
The findings from an independent investigation conducted by the law firm Winston Cashatt was released to the public last last week. This investigation looked into the conduct of individual members of Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee and found numerous irregularities that led to Spokane’s Mayor and City Council President to call for the resignation of three committee members. The City Council held a special meeting on Thursday last week and voted to remove the Chairman of the ombudsman committee and accepted the resignation of another committee member. A third committee member was out of town and council voted to give this member a week to respond to allegations of impropriety.
The findings of the Winston Cashatt investigation seem to indicate that Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee has been mostly a sham and Spokane still does not have any real citizen oversight. The committee appeared to be more interested in a highly politicized agenda and was hostile towards local law enforcement.
The process and transparency of police oversight has been a problem in Spokane for well over a decade and the events of last week reveal that our community still has serious problems in this area.
In this Mike For Spokane update, we review elements of the investigative report, problems with accessing official records and what our elected representatives can do to resolve these problems now and to restore confidence in the highly important process of police oversight.
The findings of the Spokane Ombudsman Committee investigation can be found here: https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/news/2015/06/17/whistleblower-report-finds-commissioner-misconduct/report-to-the-city-of-spokane-whistleblower-committee-update.pdf
“Caught in the Act” North Indian Trails
Spokane’s North Indian Trails Neighborhood (Audio takes six or seven seconds to kick in)
Northwest Grass Roots
Meet and learn about the NW Grassroots; A local organization where Spokane area citizens work to keep an eye on the many dealings of government at the federal, state and local levels.
Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse
Every elected representative should be taking Civil forfeiture serious, particularly in Washington State which received an F- in a recent review of abuses relating to unwarranted use of police power.
“Ayala was never charged with a crime in relation to the cash; nonetheless, a Montana judge ruled last fall that he could not receive his money back. Ayala’s cash is just part of the $172,000 in drug forfeiture funds the Montana Highway Patrol has spent since 2013.”
“The practice of asset forfeiture is common throughout the United States. Critics call it “policing for profit.” The Washington Post reports that police have seized at least $2.5 billion since 2001 from “people who were not charged with a crime and without a warrant being issued. Police reasoned that the money was crime-related.”
Story: http://www.westernjournalism.com/cop-took-16k-from-man-on-his-way-to-buy-tractor-parts-after-seeing-this-in-his-car/
How are civil forfeiture laws in your state? Find out: http://reason.com/blog/2015/06/09/this-map-details-whether-asset-forfeitur
Water & Garbage in Spokane
Reducing Property Crime
Finding, Tracking & Reducing Property Crime in Spokane, Washington.
Taking the ‘Sting’ Out of State Surveillance
“As Congress continues to debate the future of the National Security Agency’s telephone metadata collection program, Washington state has banned the warrant-less use of similar technology that allows law enforcement to track cell phones.” Story: http://watchdog.org/221322/cell-phone-surveillance-states/
Spokane Asks Mike
Dear Spokane,
Please consider my response to questions asked by concerned citizens and area organizations:
1. With the new increases in water rates, garbage and sewage rates and a new $20.00 increase in license tabs, what will you do, as our strong Mayor, to curb the ever increasing costs of basic public services?
Answer: I intend to bring the cost of basic city services back in line with open market prices through more competitive public & private bidding & contracting practices; improve the reliability and usability of city accounting information upon which public decisions and resulting cost impacts are based; create and expand Spokane City employee incentives for increasing value for Spokane tax and rate dollars.
2. As strong mayor, which actions will you take to make sure the city will remain accountable for its financial decisions?
Answer: I will demand understandable accounting standards with relevant performance metrics; adopt free and near free digital information platforms to improve the speed, clarity, usability and distribution of municipal information. I will make myself regularly available for on-camera discussions with citizens and rate payers about any appearances of malfeasance or self-dealing by government institutions or their proxies.
3. To many, it seems that our government is more concerned with its own interests at the expense of the publics’ interests. As strong mayor, how will you represent the interests of the public?
Answer: By restoring the role of government to its proper place in the citizens’ lives and making politically self-serving actions far less easy.
Some powers afforded local governments are actually reserved for individual citizens under our Constitutional Republic.
Many government agencies and employees need to be reminded of the primary objective of our government and many of our elected representatives need to remember what they promised their fellow citizens the day they assumed governmental power. The conditions I ascribe are fundamental to economic power and free people.
4. What will be your strategy as strong mayor to reduce behind closed-door governing and include more citizen input?
Answer: I don’t expect to require many closed-door meetings and will be highly inclined to video record any closed-door meeting that staff or city legal counsel might demand.
5. You’re not accepting campaign contributions per se but you are raising money for charities. How are you going to win this campaign without this financial benefit?