by Jim Scarantino | Oct 17, 2020 | General
Jefferson County has a suicide rate far above the state average. Port Townsend’s suicide rate is staggering. The Jefferson County Board of Health has spent more time on climate change, nuclear disarmament and wordsmithing a resolution on “systemic racism’ than it has on a real public health crisis that is killing people, young and old.
Clallam County’s Board of Health and the community as a whole have done a lot to address their suicide crisis. It has been front and center in local discussions and programs for years. Clallam’s suicide rate dropped a third from 2018 to 2019.
Jefferson County’s suicide rate has not budged. This year the funerals for two young men who killed themselves, one only 13 years old, were held on the same September weekend. In recent weeks, four young people attempted to kill themselves and required hospitalization to save their lives.
The alarm bells should have been ringing long ago. Jefferson County has a suicide rate of 44 per 100,000 population. The statewide figure is 15.9. Jefferson County’s suicide crisis is far worse than neighboring Clallam County, where the suicide rate per 100,000 population for last year was 27, still bad, but not nearly as bad as our situation.
Jefferson County’s suicide rate has increased 42% since 2011.
In Clallam County, the suicides have been geographically dispersed. In Jefferson County they are concentrated heavily in Port Townsend. Eight of the 14 suicides for 2019 were inside city limits. That gives Port Townsend a suicide rate greater than 82 per 100,000 population, more than six times above the state’s grim metric, and three times worse than the states with the highest suicide rates nationwide.
Better Things to Do
In the past two years, the Jefferson County Board of Health has never had the county’s suicide crisis as an agenda item for any of its meetings. Not once has time been set aside to address the tragic deaths that make Jefferson County, and Port Townsend in particular, a dark place where despair, the nightmare of addiction, mental illness, and loneliness kill people.
Cynics say that local leaders suppress discussion of our social ills and their cost in lives because it would be bad for real estate sales. Word cannot get out that things are worse here than in Clallam County, supposedly the poor, economically depressed, lower-class poster child for addiction and suicide epidemics against which Jefferson County is frequently measured, but not honestly.
The truth is that none of the members of the Board of Health have demonstrated any interest in confronting our suicide crisis. Judging by how they use their time and staff resources, they just don’t seem to care.
But they do care about pet social justice issues.
Much time has been devoted to discussing climate change and whether it should be declared a climate emergency. Several Board members are climate activists. It has been an agenda item at a number of meetings in the last two years and the Public Health Officer has been instructed to use his limited time and resources on the subject–but not the suicide crisis.
Several times the Board of Health has visited the subject of increasing public acceptance of psychedelic drugs.
At their July 2019 meeting they discussed, debated and individually signed onto a resolution calling for the United States to adopt the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
And, of course, hours have been consumed wrangling over the wording of a resolution declaring “systemic racism” to be a public health emergency in Jefferson County, though not one instance of racial discrimination has come before the Board.
After multiple redrafts and hours of debate, the resolution is still devoid of specifics. It fails to cite any measurable adverse health impact on even one individual of the “systemic racism” supposedly plaguing every aspect of our government, schools, and law enforcement agencies.
They actually started work on that resolution in February 2019, as young people were killing themselves or failing in their attempts all around them. They had previously tasked the Public Health Officer to do a literature search–not on preventing suicide–but on “looking at racism and bigotry as public health issues.” Quoting from the minutes of that meeting:
The Board had comments and questions on local actions to address bigotry, promoting community resilience through already established forums (such as the Community Health Improvement Plan), learning from the study of other detrimental conditions where abuse is passed from one generation to the next, exploring training programs offered by the Mandala Center for Change, mitigating risk factors, and moving towards a more compassionate society.
They’ve been on “systemic racism” for eighteen months.
An earlier draft of the “systemic racism” resolution contained the observation that Whites kill themselves at higher rates than other groups. Any mention of suicide was struck from the latest version.
by Jim Scarantino | Oct 16, 2020 | General
Only 4.5% of Washington’s emergency room hospitalizations were COVID related for the seven-day period ending October 14. As of October 14, only 18 people statewide with COVID-like symptoms were on ventilators.
You won’t get much detail on the state of the COVID outbreak in nightly television news updates. They only report new cases and deaths and total numbers, and always play up the drama. The old adage applies equally to COVID news as it does to other reporting: “If it bleeds, it leads.”
COVID has been a serious challenge, but never a dire situation for our hospitals, as we reported previously. There has never been an out-of-control COVID hospital crisis, despite what our Governor said as he toured the Army field hospital he ended up giving away. We have always had a surplus of hospital beds, even at the peak of the COVID case load in March, April, and May. The stress on our hospitals is even less now.
In this report we dig into the latest charts and tables from the Washington Department of Health.
The situation continues to get better. 2,169,192 Washingtonians have been tested for COVID as of 10/15/20. Total positive tests numbered 96,185. Deaths counted as a COVID death (and there are reasons to believe the figure is inflated) numbered 2,232, producing a mortality rate of 2.3%. This is much less than half of the death rate earlier this year, meaning that the daily death numbers have dropped so dramatically they are pulling the overall average down.
Six counties still report no deaths. Twenty-three counties report 10 or fewer, and thirty-one counties report fewer than 25 deaths connected or suspected of connection to COVID. As we reported previously, the concentration of COVID deaths continue to be limited geographically.
The distribution of deaths by age has not changed except by 1% during the entire COVID episode. 89% of all deaths continue to be among those older than 60 years, and 51% of all deaths are among those more than 80 years old. No one under twenty years of age has died from COVID. Unlike the flu, COVID is not killing children.
Hispanics have accounted for 40% of all positive tests, versus being 13% of the state’s population. No other ethnic or racial group has been so disproportionately infected. Whites, while comprising 68% of the population, have accounted for 48% of the positive cases. The reasons for these disparities remain largely speculative, but that has not stopped some activists from seizing upon them for political purposes.
By contrast, when it comes to deaths, all racial and ethnic groups closely match their percentage of the population. No group has suffered disproportionate mortality. Hispanics account for 14% of those deaths counted as a COVID-connected death, while their percentage of the population is 13%. Whites’ mortality percentage exactly matches their 68% of the population.
Overall, the survival rate for COVID patients is now nearly 100%, only dropping to 94.6% for those above age 70. That remains the best news of all.
The Economic Hit: Incredible Good News, But…
Jefferson County’s unemployment remains higher than the national average, down markedly from the first months of the Governor’s lock down order. Jefferson County unemployment stands at 8.8%, compared to the state average of 7.8% and the national average of 7.9%. Neighboring Clallam County’s unemployment comes in higher at 9.6%.
In May 2020, Jefferson County’s unemployment rate reached 16%.
A strong stock market, federal stimulus, and aggressive monetary policies have no doubt contributed to the historic snap back from grim economic measurements that were being compared to the Great Depression. The stock market gains in past months have no historic parallel. Small business confidence has returned to pre-COVID highs. We have recently seen the most new jobs ever created in the nation’s history in such a short period of time.
Sadly, the list of permanently closed businesses in Washington continues to grow. Downtown Seattle has seen hundreds of businesses announce permanent closures, a consequence not only of COVID restrictions, but also the Antifa/Black Lives Matter riots, escalating crime, the regulatory environment and problems from an uncontrolled homeless population.
The list of dead businesses elsewhere has also continued to grow. There is no official state count of closed businesses, but a Facebook page, Inslee’s List–The Dead Business Log, collects daily posts about dead businesses in communities across the state. The posts share owners’ sad statements about their decision to close, local newspaper articles on communities losing businesses or eyewitness accounts with photos of the closed businesses.
These business closures translate to fewer employers, and a redirection of commerce from small businesses to large corporations that were permitted to continue to operate under the the Governor’s orders. Amazon and Costco have seen record sales during past months while small businesses died.
Increased economic concentration may be a legacy of Governor’s Inslee’s actions. The destruction of small businesses could be a lasting structural obstacle to a complete recovery, as small businesses are primary job creators.
We are still far from that complete recovery. 2019 saw historically low unemployment in all demographics, with the lowest unemployment and highest labor participation rates on record for Black and Hispanic Americans, as well as women. The U.S. reached a 50-year low of 3.5% unemployment in September 2019. Washington’s unemployment rate for January 2020 was 3.9%, half of where it now stands.
by Jim Scarantino | Oct 14, 2020 | General
Sue Forde is running to represent the 24th Legislative District in the Washington House of Representatives. Forde (R) is challenging the incumbent Michael Chapman (D). We recently reported how Chapman’s campaign is funded almost entirely, more than 95%, by lobbyists and PACs from outside his district.
The 24th Legislative District covers Jefferson, Clallam and most of Grays Harbor Counties. Forde sat down with Steve Marble, former supervisor for the Clallam Conservation District, and currently a tugboat captain and Vice President of the North Olympic Farm Bureau, to answer questions for the Port Townsend Free Press.
Why are you running for State Representative?
Forde: I’m running because we need a change and balance in Olympia, to less overreaching government, fewer taxes, and common sense representation of the 24th District where we live, raise our families, and work — instead of the Seattle and I-5 corridor. Our current legislators, based on their voting records, and with a 70% increase in the budget since Governor Inslee took office, are advocates of taxing more, spending more and regulating more. This does not serve the people of our rural district well. I offer a different choice, toward taxing less, spending less, and streamlining government — representing the people of OUR district, not Seattle and the I-5 corridor.
What is the difference between you and your opponent?
Forde: For more than two decades, my opponent has worked in government positions, first as county commissioner and now as a state representative. Many folks I’ve spoken with say he’s lost touch with the common people. One example is his recent mailer claim of being “second to none” in “supporting small business”. Factually, he scored an “F” with the Washington Small Business Association (NFIB), and an “F” with the Association of Washington Business, based on his voting record. He also voted for a tax increase on small service businesses.
By contrast, I have worked in the private sector throughout my teenage and adult life and have a lot of “life” experience. I’ve taught at community college and at a private accredited high school; raised Saanan goats, played in a rock and roll band, and started up, owned, operated and sold several small successful businesses, including an escrow company, and a print shop. For the past 20 years, I’ve owned and operated a successful website design business. I understand what it’s like to meet payroll, hire employees and comply with the myriad of state-required regulations. Small business is the backbone of our nation and state, employing more than 80% of the workers. We need to help them recover from the shutdown for COVID.
I’ve also worked for large title insurance companies as an employee, a certified senior escrow officer, and as a branch manager. I understand young workers’ struggles to bring home sufficient pay to cover rent and food. As many of you have done, I worked hard to achieve the American dream, possible in our beloved country because of our constitutional, republican form of government protecting our freedom to strive for higher living standards, other success, and happiness. We are losing our freedom to improve our lives. It’s alarming to me to see how far adrift we have gone, away from these God-given freedoms toward a top-down, big government-dictated society.
My opponent has a different worldview. He promotes big government control over our lives. His record shows that he believes in increasing taxation, spending taxpayers’ money for all manner of government projects, and regulating our businesses and lives excessively, at a continuing loss of personal freedom. An example is the passage of the state-mandated comprehensive sex ed bill starting in kindergarten, as young as age five. Under this bill, passed party-line by Democrats, parents, local school boards and teachers would not have control over their children’s education. This bill needs to be repealed (Referendum 90 is on the ballot to do just that), and replaced with one where parents and local school boards will choose the program (Initiative 1109 is one such effort, with signatures being gathered now).
I believe that smaller government is best, and that government should encourage the free enterprise system to work the way it’s intended. Competition brings better service and products, while reducing the cost to the consumer. State government can be streamlined for better efficiency and lower costs.
What effect do you think defunding the police in Seattle will have on us here in our District?
Forde: There are multiple adverse effects to defunding our police. Regarding what’s happening in Seattle, we see not only people and businesses suffering from riots and destruction as police are required to withdraw, but an exodus from that city out to our rural areas where housing availability is entirely inadequate.
Many folks with whom I’ve spoken are also concerned about the increasing number of transients on our streets, and the potential crime increase in defunding the police. We should be safe in our homes and communities. Crimes should be prosecuted, and people have the right to bear arms for self-protection. My opponent has voted to impair Second Amendment rights with 13 different bills (as well as establishing a “Sanctuary State” – SB 5497), and our guaranteed rights under our State Constitution, Article 1, Section 24: “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired…”
We need to stand united to solve this problem – standing for our front-line protectors – our local police forces – and addressing the growing homeless situation.
With the COVID-19 shutdown, especially of small businesses, what are your thoughts about recovery?
Forde: Like a dictator, our governor has issued arbitrary, illogical, and unfair orders. He has picked winners and losers. He allowed big box stores to remain open and shut down small businesses. Government construction projects went full-steam ahead while private construction businesses were forced to close. Pot shops could open, while church congregations were not allowed to meet.
Additionally, our governor has refused to call a special legislative session so another branch of government could rightfully assist with a fair, constitutional solution and reduce destructive consequences to our economy, people, and our freedom.
I fault the Democrat majority in the legislature as well. For months, Republicans have been calling for a special session, but Democrats won’t join for the required two-thirds vote to convene. So, our representatives’ (and our) voices continue to go unheard at the legislative level.
Once allowed to reopen, there will be – and already have been – businesses closed forever. I’ve spoken with many of these small businesses’ owners who have poured their heart and soul into saving, planning, organizing, hiring employees, working to become successful, and providing their communities with goods and services.
For recovery, small businesses will require support. There are a variety of ways to do so – especially with tax reductions and/or forgiveness. Relaxing or eliminating costly and time-consuming regulations will allow business owners to focus on jobs and growth. Deregulation would enable entrepreneurs and their employees to concentrate on rebuilding business or starting new ones.
What are your main issues that you’d like to address?
Forde: (1) Getting our economy rolling again, bringing new businesses and good-paying jobs into our communities, and getting our children back into school.
(2) No more new taxes or tax increases, and reduction of property taxes, which will help lower the cost of living in your home, whether you own or rent. I will vote “no” on a state income tax, a pay-per-mile tax, higher gas taxes and more payroll taxes, all of which Democrats are talking about introducing in the next legislative session. Ten BILLION in NEW taxes were passed in 2019. In 2020, with a Two BILLION SURPLUS, Democrats chose to spend the “extra” money, instead of returning it to the people. My opponent voted for these.
(2) Safety and Security for our families, which includes supporting our first line of defense against crime, our police officers and our Second Amendment rights.
(3) Protection of our individual, constitutional rights, including faith, family, life, and freedom. This would include local control by parents and teachers.
(4) Education. I propose school choice, where the money follows the child for the best education, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. This would include public school, private and Christian schools, vocational /technical schools, and homeschooling.
(5) Transparency and accountability in state government. When “title only” bills are used to write full bills without any public input, and passed sometimes in the dead of night, that’s not right. Our Constitution calls for a 10-day period in which there can be review and comment about proposed bills. This tactic circumvents it, and flies in the face of the people’s right to know. I will work to change that toward open and transparent, accountable government.
I will work hard to serve the people of the 24th District. I have not taken funding from special interests in Seattle; the huge majority of donations to my campaign are from small businesses and individuals within our District – the people I will be representing. My opponent, in contrast, has received the strong majority of his funding from the I-5 corridor, special interest and out of state, with a very small percentage coming from businesses and individuals within our District. Do you think he will be representing you, or them?
I’m asking for the support and vote of each voter who believes, as I do, that we need a positive change in Olympia, with a voice through a real “citizen” representative.
by Jim Scarantino | Oct 11, 2020 | General
A plea from librarians not to overreact to COVID is now included with Jefferson County library books. It seems some nervous bibliophiles are going to extreme measures to sanitize library books. Like Jay Inslee’s lockdown, their cure could be doing more damage than it is preventing.
With each book comes a slip of paper that reads, “There have been many reports of library patrons cleaning items with bleach or sanitizer, and even microwaving their checked out items in an effort to sanitize them. Please do not do any of this!”
Do these people wear masks and gloves while they’re reading library books? Do they “sanitize” each page before they sit down to read? Are they on edge because of the plot in that mystery in their hands, or because they are worried that they’ll be on a ventilator before they find out who done it?
The librarians’ plea continues: “Library materials have metal in the security tags that are located inside. Printing ink also has metal oxides that could burn and heat overall is extremely detrimental to paper’s lifespan. Bleach, alcohol-based sanitizers, and other cleaning agents are also very bad for paper.”
Yes, heat is very bad for books. Paper burns at Fahrenheit 451 (in the the Adult Fiction Section at F Bradbur).
Chill, librarians advise. Don’t cook the books! “The common solution is time in isolation. Don’t worry about cleaning or sanitizing library materials. The Washington State Library follows guidelines from U.S. Center for Disease Control and material-specific guidelines recommended by the American Library Association and Library of Congress to safeguard our collection materials before they are given to other customers. We are currently holding materials for seven full days before allowing new use.”
There’s science to back that up. Actually, our library holds books for twice as long as necessary to eliminate any risk of COVID transmission from library materials. I could not find any credible report of anyone contracting COVID from a library book.
So put down the alcohol and chlorine wipes and pick up that cup of chamomile tea or that glass of wine and enjoy a worry-free evening with the written word.
Library workers are not exactly wearing full hazmat bunny suits to hand out books, but there is a bit of the “put the book down and step away” routine at the Hadlock library. It’s all for the best, I suppose. Maybe the drama has zero impact on transmission of COVID. It probably doesn’t make a difference. But keeping up the dance deprives Jay Inslee of an excuse to shut down our libraries again.
A closing word from the CDC. Well, not exactly, but I’m sure the CDC would not disagree: If you feel you’ve been exposed to COVID, just like you shouldn’t nuke a library book, don’t stick in your head in the microwave, either.
by Jim Scarantino | Oct 7, 2020 | General
Something was off. The email exchange, the tit-for-tat, was not what I would have expected from a man reported to have managed almost a quarter of a billion dollar budget and been a high level executive with a large staff. That’s what had been reported about John Mauro. But it’s not true.
Who is John Mauro? I began to wonder.
He is the city manager of Port Townsend, just about a year into the job. He came here from Auckland, New Zealand, one of the most desirable cities in the world, in one of the most desired countries in the world. New Zealand is a magical, beautiful, safe place. It has free health care and one of the world’s top educational systems. It is progressive and philosophically green. This is the place where billionaires have built their refuges for when the world falls apart.
Mauro left there to come back to the United States. For years, Americans have been applying to emigrate to New Zealand “at an astounding rate.” You could call Mauro’s journey reverse migration.
And he left an incredibly sweet job as Chief Sustainability Officer for the Auckland City Council, a job that enabled him to travel the globe and hang out with environmental activists. He arranged and attended conferences. He gave interviews and wrote climate action plans and plans for planting trees and adding bike paths and eliminating cars from Auckland streets. As described in a program for a presentation he gave in Australia, as CSO “John and his team provide thought leadership, drive strategic direction and champion change.”
Here’s what the Peninsula Daily News reported about the job Mauro left to come here. The report came out after Mauro had completed his interviews with city officials and panels of people who headed up services and organizations in Port Townsend. He had just finished a community meet-and-greet. The article, by managing editor Brian McLean, was dated June 21, 2019, with the headline, “Port Townsend City Council Picks Sustainability Officer as City Manager”:
That is a huge budget, almost seven times Port Townsend’s annual expenditures.
Mauro’s Twitter feed, thousands of tweets in a few years, shows him in constant motion, traveling far and wide. That Twitter feed also showed him taking a jab at Phil Goff, the Mayor of Auckland.
That’s January 16, 2020. He had been City Manager of Port Townsend for over 3 months and here he is poking an elected official, his former boss in another country. And what’s with that hashtag “#showmethebudget@AklCouncil”? Why does he care enough to have his challenge come to the attention of Auckland’s Mayor and City Council? Wasn’t all that behind him?
He’d made his decision to leave Auckland early in 2019, or earlier, and interviewed in Port Townsend and all the way across the North American continent in Windham, Maine, where he told the local paper he was homesick for the place where he’d grown up. He was offered a job as Windham’s city manager a couple days after being offered a job here. “It’s hard to take Maine out of me,” Mauro told a Windham town hall meeting. “It’s a great time to come home.”
He hadn’t been living at “home” for a very long time. In 2013 he’d followed his wife to Auckland from his job as a bicycle activist in Seattle. She’d been offered a “tenure track faculty position,” he said when announcing his resignation from Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club in July 2012. “We’re going to give it a go in a country we both love.”
Before that he’d spent under two years as a climate change analyst for Seattle, and before that about 3 years with small non-profits in the Greater Seattle area, including the Pilchuk Audubon Society.
Before that he worked in the Himalayas as a guide and instructor, preceded by a brief stint as an instructor in environmental studies at Middlebury College in Vermont (his alma mater) and 14 months with shamans, medicine men, and tribal chiefs in Ghana, Bhutan, Sikkim, Australia and Bolivia. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1999 with a degree in environmental studies/conservation biology.
Now he’s in charge of Port Townsend’s public safety, streets and sewers, utilities, union and business relations, payroll and everything that goes on in City Hall.
There was controversy about how much he demanded, and how much the City Council agreed to pay him. He got what he wanted: $156,000 starting salary, a $20,000 relocation allowance, an amount equal to 13% of his salary contributed toward his retirement, an annual vehicle allowance of $5,400 a year, a life insurance policy, and 120 days of vacation and sick leave starting his first day of the job.
He was sworn in on November 4, 2019. Three months later he’s jabbing the Mayor of Auckland and going on about “show me the budget, Auckland Council.” Something’s off.
He didn’t come to Port Townsend because he was homesick. This wasn’t his home. Maybe he came here to be the activist he couldn’t be in Auckland. Maybe it’s to build those cycle lanes and the “resiliency” he couldn’t get on the other side of the planet.
An interview he gave between resigning his post in Auckland and starting up here suggests he may not have left that primo job in New Zealand on happy terms. The threat of climate change to Auckland, “would scare the p–s out of you,” he said in a September 12, 2019 interview with a New Zealand media site. The Auckland City Council and community “needed courage and ambition to make better progress, but there was a trend towards ‘show-ponying.'” (Defined as “a person who appears to perform well, but has no real ability.”)
Mauro criticized Auckland for not accepting his ambitious plans to build a fleet of electric buses and not adding “cycleways” as fast as he wanted. “We go half way, we build some great projects and then we start hearing from people how crazy and radical we are….”
That explains Mauro taking a shot at the Mayor and City Council of Auckland from City Hall in Port Townsend. He’s still upset about the rejection of his ideas. He’s still stinging from being called “radical and crazy.” He’s going to show them by building more cycle lanes and resiliency in little Port Townsend than Auckland was willing to do when he was Chief Sustainability Officer reporting to Auckland’s CEO, supervising a staff of 20 people and having a budget of $211 million.
Except that last part’s not true.
$211 million would build an awful lot of bike lanes. That’s a pile of money but I couldn’t find that item anywhere in Auckland’s budgets. You’d think there’d be at least a mention of the Chief Sustainability Officer with that kind of money to spend on green projects. Except there isn’t.
I wrote the Mayor of Auckland for help. I also wrote Jim Stabback, CEO of the Auckland City Council. The Mayor referred my inquiry to the Auckland CEO, because Mauro’s old position was in Stabback’s chain of command, and I received a written response from his Chief of Strategy. Mauro did not report to the CEO of Auckland City Council. He was a mid-level bureaucrat in the planning department under a General Manager. He did not have a staff of 20 people. He was not in charge of building anything. Here are some photos of his “team” that I found on Mauro’s prolific Twitter feed:
His team was small enough that they could all go hiking together.
The City of Port Townsend employs more than 100 people.
As for that $211 million budget, it was more like $630,000US. It was approximately $1 million in New Zealand dollars, but at the rate of exchange at the time Mauro left, it was about $630,000 US.
That is less than 2% of the $35 million city budget Mauro now oversees as city manager.
Did anyone check with the Auckland Mayor and CEO before hiring Mr. Mauro?
Here is the written statement on behalf of the Auckland Council CEO received late on October 2. “Jim” is the Auckland Council CEO, Jim Stabback:
by Jim Scarantino | Oct 5, 2020 | General
Over 95% of Michael Chapman’s campaign funds come from lobbyists and PACs representing groups and business from outside his district, according to his latest filings with the Public Disclosure Commission. Of his $103,000 campaign war chest for reelection to the House of Representatives for the the 24th Legislative District, only $2,703 comes from individuals who live in his district. Not a penny of Chapman’s campaign funds came from Brinnon, Quilcene, Port Ludlow, Forks, McCleary, Elma, or Hoquiam. Only 5 individuals from Port Townsend have contributed to his re-election.
Of his top 45 donors, only one, the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, is in his district.
Over 23% of his funds came from out of state.
PDC breakdown of Chapman contributions. The blue represents business contributions. Individual contributions are shown in green.
61% of Chapman’s money came from Political Action Committees, 28% from businesses and 6.6% from unions.
Chevron, Microsoft, Enterprise, Weyerhaeuser, Boeing, Amazon, and BSNF Railways (Warren Buffett) gave the legal limit, as did PACs for alcohol interests, auto dealers, and casinos.
Seattle accounts for the largest number of donors and highest amount of donations to Chapman’s campaign, with Olympia coming next.
Chevron alone gave more money to Chapman than he has received combined from individuals in Port Angeles ($503), Sequim ($700) and Port Townsend ($700), the three largest communities on the north end of the Olympic Peninsula. Only two people in Aberdeen and Ocean Shores have given him anything.
As of his last filing, Chapman has spent only $6,000 on his re-election.
Sue Forde
Chapman’s opponent, Sue Forde, has raised just under half of Chapman’s total. According to her most recent PDC filings, of her $46,000, about $30,000 has come from individuals, $14,500 from Republican party groups, ($10,500 from the state organization and the balance from LD 24 GOP county and local groups) and $1,100 from businesses. She has reported expenditures of just under $12,000.
PDC breakdown of Forde contributions. Green for individuals, purple for PACs.
All her funds came from within the district except for six contributions totaling about $2,700, the reverse of Chapman’s campaign which has raised only $2,700 from within the district. Forde has only one donation from Seattle.
[Correction: As originally posted, the article stated that 97% of Rep. Chapman’s funds came from lobbyists and PACs outside his district. The precise figure is 95.44%. I had missed the address on one corporate donor and caught the error when I checked my figures again after publication.]
