A4 Thursday, 09.11.2014 The Daily Herald
Griffith: Inheriting a troubled system From Page A3
the end of the year but changed course after Peterson and a representative of a professional search firm approached her. She said she was “flattered” and “excited at the prospects” of the job. Griffith’s hiring drew praise from a Gig Harbor lawmaker who has been sharply critical of ferry management. “It’s an outstanding selection,” said Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor. “She is an experienced, tough and creative leader.
She certainly starts with my full support.” Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, a co-chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he’s met Griffith when she’s testified to the panel. “It’s nice we have a director for the ferry system,” King said. “I look forward to working with her as we try to move the ferry system forward.” Seaquist did express concern with Peterson’s apparent plan to keep Capt. George Capacci, the interim ferries chief, in the No. 2 role of the agency. Seaquist said the
acting chief and several other top administrators “have to go” if Griffith is to be able to get Washington State Ferries moving in the right direction for the long haul. “This is a big project to transform the culture and the operation of the organization,” he said. “This is not a quick turnaround.” Griffith met Capacci on Wednesday and described him as delightful. When she arrives, she said, “I will look at him as being my right arm.” As far as the long term, she said, it’s too soon to speculate on personnel
changes. Wednesday’s hiring culminates two rounds of search to find a successor to David Moseley, who stepped down in April. The first effort ended in June when Capacci, one of two finalists, withdrew. That left former Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg as the remaining candidate, and Peterson elected to not hire him. Griffith said she is now scheduled to start Oct. 6. Jerry Cornfield: 360352-8623; jcornfield@ heraldnet.com.
Marysville crash victim identified Herald staff MARYSVILLE — A man who died in a one-car crash on Smokey Point Boulevard early Tuesday morning has been identified as Aleksandr Bizyayev, 22, of Arlington. Bizyayev died of blunt force injuries, the
Man released from jail, arrested again Herald staff
Xfinity: Rebranding for success From Page A3
Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips dominate the calendar, and the fortunes of the team can help determine the year’s financial results. “If the Silvertips are successful and our food and beverage companies are successful, then we are successful as well,” Comeau said. But the business is also cyclical, and the arena often takes money earned in good years and puts it into a reserve to cushion it for the bad years. The concert business alone is highly competitive, and while Global Spectrum does some of its own promotion, it’s tiny compared to the two giants of the business, Live Nation, which manages the 27,500seat Gorge venue and 20,000-seat White River amphitheaters, and AEG Live, which manages
17,000-seat KeyArena in Seattle. “Live Nation is going to try and book as many shows as they can into facilities they own,” said Gary Bongiovanni, the editor-in-chief of Pollstar, a magazine and website that covers the live concert industry. According to Pollstar’s data, Live Nation reported more than 33.3 million tickets sold in 2013 and AEG sold 13.7 million. Global Spectrum only reported 220,247 ticket sales last year for all its properties worldwide, Bongiovanni said. Even noting that the numbers are voluntarily reported, Bongiovanni said, “Global Spectrum doesn’t have the same buying power that AEG or Live Nation does.” Comeau said that working with outside promoters is often key to landing names like Lovato, who is coming in
October, or One Republic, which played a sold-out show in June. The arena still labors under $50 million in outstanding debt, and its credit rating was downgraded earlier in the year, which would make it more expensive to issue new bonds or otherwise borrow money. But the city of Everett guarantees $27.4 million of the debt — the rest is guaranteed by revenue — and is currently refinancing it, using its own stronger credit to get better terms, said Debra Bryant, the city’s deputy mayor. When the arena’s bonds mature in 2026, the city becomes the owner of the facility. But even in bad years — in 2011, the financial crisis in Greece caused monthly payments on that debt to more than double to $39,432 per month from $14,646 per month — the
impact of the arena is best felt in the city itself. “It gave people a reason to get off the freeway and see who we were,” said Lanie McMullin, the city’s economic development director and a board member of the Public Facilities District. Given that Everett is a “fringe” city to a major metropolitan area, with all of the high costs of development that come with being close to Seattle, the arena has helped bring more than 700,000 visitors per year to the city. “For that reason, the arena has outperformed,” McMullin said. “I’m surprised it’s performed as well as it has,” she said. “It’s one of the best things we’ve ever done.” Chris Winters: 425374-4165; cwinters@ heraldnet.com. Twitter: @ Chris_At_Herald.
Cornfield: Money drives the politics From Page A3
each given $135,000 to their respective caucuses since spring. Both lawmakers are unopposed in November. Giving back in this manner is an expectation in each of the four caucuses and has reached the point where members feel a sort of peer pressure to give. It’s also an election ritual, which experienced donors understand, offers another way of participating in campaigns. They realize when they give to an incumbent who doesn’t need the money, their dollars could wind up assisting other candidates, and it’s all kosher. Kristiansen’s experience is instructive on how this all works.
Until this year, he had never raised $150,000 for a campaign. He’s already topped $180,000 — a gain he says is no doubt due in part to his “new capacity” as House Minority Leader. Kristiansen’s been assured of re-election since May, when no one filed to run against him. Yet contributions, many unsolicited, flowed into his campaign coffer through the August primary as if he was fighting for his political life. Many donors gave him the maximum $1,900 for the primary and general elections combined. Donations from locals will be kept in his surplus account for future campaigns, he said. Money received from outside the area is what he’s
transferred to the House Republican Organizational Committee to aid GOP candidates in Snohomish County and around the state, he said. So far that’s added up to $135,000. Kristiansen’s experience is typical of members in all four caucuses in the House and Senate. The House Democratic Campaign Committee leads all with $1.1 million in transfers from lawmakers since June. Eight members, including Chopp, gave at least $50,000. Voters probably didn’t anticipate such behavior when they approved Initiative 134 in 1992 to reform the state’s campaign finance system. That measure did permit lawmakers to make
transfers from their surplus accounts to caucus committees. But the newly formed Public Disclosure Commission determined that the initiative limited the amount to the maximum for a contribution to a candidate. In other words, a lawmaker would be allowed to give no more to the caucus than they could someone running for office — which today would be $1,900. The Legislature amended the law in 1995 to scrub the limit, and lawmakers have been active recyclers ever since. Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at www.heraldnet. com. Contact him at 360352-8623; jcornfield@ heraldnet.com and on Twitter at @dospueblos.
AROUND SNOHOMISH COUNTY Edmonds: Help chart school district’s future
The Edmonds School District has come up with a strategic plan, “Each Student Learning, Every Day,” and now wants ideas from residents on how to achieve the plan’s goals. Lara Drew, executive director for student learning, will lead a discussion from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday in the board rooms at 20420 68th Ave. W, Lynnwood. Those who can’t attend are invited to listen to a live audio stream and send questions online, at www.edmonds.wednet. edu/ESDlive. Work groups also are forming around five planning goals, including
preschool-to-third-grade early learning, facilities and enrollment, and more. A kickoff meeting is slated for Sept. 30. For more information, including videos, go to www.edmonds.wednet. edu or call 425-431-7000.
Everett: Schools meeting to assess empty buildings Everett Public Schools is holding a meeting Thursday, Sept. 18, to kick off an extended community discussion involving two empty buildings. The district established policies regarding property use with the assistance of a community group in 2013. Closing, selling or otherwise repurposing the
two empty buildings will go through a similar public process lasting through December. Three support services that used to be handled by offices in the Longfellow Building on Oakes Avenue and 37th Street and the Educational Resource Center on Colby Avenue and 47th Street SE have been consolidated into the district’s administration building. Thursday’s meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Port Gardner Room of the district’s administration building, 3900 Broadway.
Snohomish: Quilter to compete internationally A Snohomish quilter is a semifinalist in the
American Quilter’s Society 2014 competition in Iowa next month. Kathi De Jong’s quilt “Exotica II” was chosen as one of 191 to be displayed at the event. Quilts were entered from 40 states and eight other countries. The top prize winner is set to take home $10,000.
Apply for Design Review Board The city of Snohomish is currently taking applications for its Design Review Board. The applications are available at City Hall and online at ci.snohomish. wa.us. The city clerk is taking applications until 4 p.m. on Sept. 26. City Hall is at 116 Union Ave.
Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office reported. Bizyayev’s car ran into a utility pole shortly after midnight Tuesday in the 14100 block of Smokey Point Boulevard. Marysville police are investigating whether street racing might have led to the crash.
EVERETT — A man released from the Snohomish County Jail Tuesday didn’t savor his freedom for long. He was arrested a few hours later after allegedly stealing a purse from an 89-year-old woman at a Safeway on Broadway and knocking down the woman’s daughter as she tried to catch up with him. The
daughter, 65, was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett with a hip injury. The man, 22, was arrested in the 1500 block of McDougall Avenue after witnesses gave chase. When the suspect tried to hide under a car in an alley, one of the people who followed him held on to the man’s wrist until police could place him in handcuffs.
Bothell teen expected to survive 3-car crash Herald staff
LYNNWOOD — An 18-year-old Bothell woman was rushed to the hospital after a three-car crash near Lynnwood on Wednesday morning. The crash was reported just before 9:30 a.m. on the ramp from southbound Highway 525 to southbound I-5, according to a Washington State Patrol
memo. The Bothell woman was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt when she failed to slow for a metered on-ramp and struck another car. The woman remained at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon. She is expected to survive. No other injuries were reported.
59-year sentence for Seattle murder Associated Press
SEATTLE — A 22-yearold man has been sentenced to 59 years in prison for a gang shooting six years ago that killed a teen in Seattle. D’Angelo Saloy was convicted last month of murder
and attempted murder for the shooting on Halloween night in 2008 near Garfield High School. The drive-by shooting killed 15-year-old Quincy Coleman and wounded a second teen. Police said Saloy and Coleman were members of rival gangs.
Gates Foundation to spend $50M on Ebola By Donna Gordon Blankinship Associated Press
SEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday that it will spend $50 million — on top of $10 million already committed — to support emergency response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, marking the group’s largest donation to a humanitarian effort. “It became clear to us over the last 7 to 10 days that the pace and scope of the epidemic was increasing significantly,” Chris Elias, president of global development for the world’s largest charitable foundation, told The Associated Press. The Seattle-based foundation said the money will go to the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and international organizations involved in fighting transmission of the virus. The money will be used to purchase supplies and to develop vaccines, therapies and better diagnostic tools. The foundation wants to help stop the outbreak as well as accelerate
development of treatments and improve prevention. Elias said they have been talking to the foundation’s partners around the world to assess the best use of its dollars and could not say yet how much would be spent on the emergency response and how much on research and development. “One of our key advantages is flexibility,” he said. Global health and development dominate the work of the foundation, which has given away $30 billion since 1997. The foundation formed by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and his wife reported an endowment worth $40 million, as of March 2014. The foundation was particularly influenced by the request on Friday by U.N. Secretary-General Ban KiMoon for $600 million to fight the Ebola outbreak. Ki-Moon said efforts in the next few weeks would be essential to stopping the virus that has killed more than 2,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Some of the $50 million will support strengthening existing health care systems in the countries affected by the outbreak, the foundation said.