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Details of a Washington State Auditor's report document a "rogue contracting operation" inside Seattle Public Schools responsible for $1.8 million in unneeded expenses to the city's cash-strapped education system. The full auditor's report is below.
The Seattle Times reports that the report is part of a criminal investigation and could be the end of the road for the embattled superintendent, Maria Goodloe-Johnson:
At the center is Silas Potter Jr., who managed the district's small-business program, which started as a way to help companies learn how to bid for district construction projects, but grew into an operation that spent up to $1 million a year, offered dozens of classes, and signed partnership agreements with other government agencies such as the city of Bellevue, the Port of Seattle and Tacoma Public Schools.
The release of the documents — the most comprehensive look yet at the allegations — comes as prosecutors conduct a secret criminal investigation of the financial dealings and the School Board considers whether to force out Goodloe-Johnson, sources familiar with the matter have told The Seattle Times.
Goodloe-Johnson, who joined the district in 2007, has not been implicated in any wrongdoing. Still, board members are weighing whether she should be held responsible for a breakdown in internal oversight
The $1.8 million in questionable spending would represent less than 1% of SPS's overall budget but the news comes at a time when the system is already facing severe financial constraints and making cuts to services.
The Times reports that the School Board will meet Tuesday in "executive session" to review the audit.
An online petition circulating among Seattle online parents' groups is calling for the ouster of Goodloe-Johnson. It offers 29 statements supporting a vote of No Confidence in the superintendent including item CC:
Whereas teachers are so concerned about the Superintendent's poor leadership, low ethical standards and management record that they passed overwhelmingly a resolution of NO CONFIDENCE in her,
Here is the complete report from the State Auditor:
Americans for the Arts released its second annual National Arts Index scores this week. The National Arts Index is an annual measure of the health and vitality of arts in the U.S. The findings demonstrate that the arts follow the nation’s business cycle, with the Index score for 2009 at 97.7, down 3.6 percentage points from 101.3 in 2008. The 2009 Index score is the lowest Index score in the 12 years measured by the Index.
The economy has presented a number of challenges for the arts, but the Index does hit some high notes. Americans are seeking more personal engagement in the arts and volunteerism is growing. The number of Americans who participated in an artistic activity increased 5 percent between 2005 and 2009, while volunteerism also jumped 11.6 percent. And the number of artists in the workforce has also increased 17 percent from 1996 to 2009 (1.9 to 2.2 million).
For more information and to download the report, go here.
WASHINGTON -- Three congressional Democrats from Washington state said Wednesday they won't back President Obama's tax deal with Republicans as it now stands.
One, Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle, went as far as to say he would reject the compromise agreement even if it meant letting tax cuts expire not just for the wealthy, but for everyone else as well.
The objections by McDermott and Reps. Jay Inslee of Bainbridge Island and Adam Smith of Tacoma highlight a divide that's roiling Congress two days
In the third and final installment of our election 2010 analysis today: check out the major divisions in the Seattle area on privatizing booze sales.
Initiative 1100 went down statewide (as did a competing privatization proposal). It lost in all but four counties: Kitsap, Mason, Island and Douglas.
Drilling down deeper into the newly released precinct-level data for King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, you can see support for I-1100 was strongest on the Eastside - it won in places like Bellevue, Sammamish
WASHINGTON -- Sacrificial lambs or bureaucrats with bloated salaries?
President Obama on Monday proposed nixing future pay raises for more than 2 million federal civilian employees, including an estimated 45,000 workers in Washington state. But it'll be up to Congress to bless the two-year pay freeze. Yet lawmakers, particularly Democrats, aren't exactly rushing to embrace Obama's gesture of austerity.
Spokesmen for Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell both demurred on whether their bosses would
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray relied on strong support in Seattle and other cities to beat Republican challenger Dino Rossi.
As you can see from the newly available precinct breakdown of returns in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties (courtesy of Seattle Times computer whiz Justin Mayo), Murray dominated the more urban areas - especially Seattle.
Of Seattle's 960 voting precincts, Rossi carried just one - Broadmoor, we're looking at you.
But it wasn't only Seattle. Murray also beat Rossi handily in Eastside
Fearing congestion more than recession, the Washington State Department of Transportation and suburban elected officials continue working on plans to widen Interstate 405 and Highway 167 -- with help from tolls.
The plan relies on income from future "HOT-3" lanes, meaning high-occupancy or toll. A car with at least three people aboard could enter carpool lanes for free, while others would pay a toll that rises in busy traffic and falls in light traffic, similar to the experimental HOT-2 lanes on
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna took the stage at the GOP's party in Bellevue and gave a victory speech that could be read as an indication that McKenna, a presumed candidate for governor, is already looking to 2012.
He said he saw a big course correction underway across the country, and in Washington. "We are headed in the direction of a chance of control in the state Senate in Washington state," he said. "And we are picking up seats in the House of Representatives."
At the federal level,
Tim Eyman's Initiative 1053 won by a resounding two-to-one margin, with voters adamant about a super-majority requirement in the Legislature for any new taxes. The initiative won in nearly every county, including liberal King County.
"Unless Kinko's prints up extra ballots for King County all night long, I think we've got it," Eyman told the Times' Lynda Mapes at the GOP election party in Bellevue.
He credited an electorate fed up with sending money to Olympia. He said he found voters this year "
First lady Michelle Obama headlines a fundraiser in Bellevue for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray this morning, capping a string of top-line Democrats flying in for Washington's senior senator. Vice Presidential spouse Jill Biden will also be at the Hyatt Regency for the event.
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former president Bill Clinton have all visited the Puget Sound area recently for Murray, who is in a tight race with Republican Dino Rossi.
It is a closed event, with no other local
This item has been updated.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has sent letters to around 90 top employers and a few business associations in Washington urging companies worried about taxes to head on over to his state.
"As the State of Washington considers a multibillion-dollar tax increase for citizens and businesses ... I invite you to consider your future in America's new land of opportunity: the State of Texas," Perry wrote.
"If Washington doesn't want your business, Texas does. Texas has no personal income
Here's a look at the week ahead in things to do including Saturday's 4th annual Hillside Harvest features pumpkin beer, cider, and food from Skillet @ the Bottleneck.
Thursday, October 21st
- Get ready for some intense deadpan with Steven Wright @ the Moore
- Count on equal moments brilliance and trainwreck care of Cat Power @ 5th Ave Theatre
- At City Arts Fest, ascendant Ballardians, the Head and the Heart join the Weepies @ the Crocodile; Phosphorescent is @ Chop Suey
- Pat Graney's career-spanning retrospective Faith Triptych opens @ On the Boards
- James Zogby discusses polling in the Arab world @ UW Kane Hall
- Another night of sexo y violencia, Mexican wrestling and burlesque, care of Lucha VaVoom @ the Showbox
- Double Yoko avant-gardedly entertains the patrons along with Ashia Grzesik @ the Can Can
- Robin Held talks onstage with Implied Violence director Ryan Mitchell @ the Frye Art Museum
- The After Midnight film noir series brings you the aptly named Between Midnight and Dawn (1950) @ SAM
- A good old-fashioned solid four-band lineup with Blitzen Trapper, Fruit Bats, Seabear, and Wye Oak @ the Showbox
- Soliloquys, an evening of performances from major American texts, by performer/director duos featuring everyone from Donald Byrd to Gus van Sant, goes down @ Town Hall
- Cafe Nordo's new culinary adventure Sauced (actually, that's "sauced" as in "drunk") continues @ Theo Chocolate
- Nick out of work for a long lunch and have a fireside chat with photographer Chase Jarvis about his Seattle 100 exhibition and book @ Seattle 100 studio or online
- Dum Dum Girls warm up the stage for the Vaselines @ Neumo's
- Some sort of craziness as local performers and theatrical luminaries play musical roulette @ Century Ballroom
- The complete Metropolis, now with newly discovered footage and live score care of the Alloy Orchestra @ SIFF Cinema
- For "Caminos del Inka: A Musical Journey Through the Inca Trail," the Seattle Symphony is led by Peruvian-born conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and you get to see photos from the region @ Benaroya Hall
Saturday, October 23rd
- Before Rainn Wilson and friends joke and sing to benefit the Mona Foundation @ the Paramount, the actor gives an afternoon talk about the importance service @ the Paramount (free, reservations required via LizY@STGpresents.org) and makes an appearance at a Kiehl's opening (?) @ Bellevue Square
- Cutesy-pie duo She & Him @ 5th Ave Theatre and not-so-cutesy Big Boi @ Showbox SoDo
- Foals bring moody angular rock from Oxford to City Arts Fest; arrive early to catch Pica Beats @ Neumo's
- It cost a ton of money to build a pipe organ in there, but if you attend "An Organ Celebration" (Gabrieli, Bach, Handel, Poulenc, and more) you will count the minutes well spent @ Benaroya Hall
Sunday, October 24th
- Just some good-old rock and roll with Deer Tick @ Neumo's
- Fancypants British folk rock with Mumford and Sons and the equally limey alt-country openers Mt Desolation @ the Moore
- Closing night of the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival @ Pacific Place
Monday, October 25th
- Danger! High Voltage! (yes, still) with Electric Six and The Constellations @ Neumo's
- Get your buzz bands here: Born Ruffians @ Chop Suey or Henry Clay People @ the Croc
- "This is gonna take some crackerjack timing, Wang." Big Trouble in Little China tickles your ribs @ the Grand Illusion
- Trader Joe's Silent Movie Mondays winds up its crime spree series with 1915's Regeneration, about a boy gone bad who falls for a social worker @ the Paramount
- Roosevelt High School Jazz shows you why they win all those awards @ the Triple Door
Tuesday, October 26th
- Take your pick of fun or scary Halloween fare: Beetlejuice, Poltergeist, or "post-apocalyptic Irish indie" One Hundred Mornings @ Central Cinema
- Expect some lovely dueting with Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan @ Neumo's
- Remy Cointreau's Speakeasy series visits Paris via films (René Clair’s Sous les toits de Paris and Jacques Becker's Casque d'Or) with musical accompaniment from Vunt Foom @ the Triple Door