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Lilly Marek - page 10

Lilly Marek has 111 articles published.

An Atheist Small Business Bit the Dust Last Weekend

Bart Centre was so sure he wouldn’t be called to heaven today so he started a business to feed the pets of the people who ended up in heaven. Since the Rapture didn’t happen his post-Rapture care for pets left behind probably is not to popular today. He called his business Eternal Earth-Bound Pets USA.

As of May 10 he said he had 250 clients and I would imagine since then would be the busy time.  The cost for his service was $135.00 for the first pet and $20.00 for each additional pet. A rescuer would come to your home within 24 hours and get your pet. It didn’t say but I would imagine you needed to leave your door unlocked because all your friends and neighbors would be in heaven. How about the store that sells the pet food he needs, wouldn’t they be in heaven too? What if at the last minute he was saved and we had to face him up there? I would be pretty ticked off if that happened.

Well I am sure he is entitled to a big bail out of some kind. Just say his business failed and don’t say what kind and I am sure the Federal Government would write him a check for a million or more so he could figure out a new business.

The fools that signed up with him are still better off than the ones who gave all their property and money away. His fees were non refundable and I doubt anyone could find him today anyway.

Seattle Council Members Not Listening

Yesterday, May 17 2011, your Seattle Council Members cancelled a meeting to discuss the possibility of voting on the Alaskan Way Viaduct.  The meeting was scheduled after a judge’s ruling that stated the public could vote on the much debated tunnel. 

There is no doubt in anyones mind the viaduct needs construction.  However, how much we spend on this project is the question.  In such bad financial times should we really be spending billions and billions on all these extra and elaborate things for the tunnel like a community park looking over the water?  Do we really need to bore a tunnel underneath Seattle or should we just flatten the viaduct and connect the roads (saving billions)?  There are so many options available that could save billions yet we have to go the most expensive and elaborate route.

The Seattle Council Members have made up their minds obviously and are pushing forward with all the bells and whistles for the viaduct project.  They don’t want to discuss it and they certainly don’t want the public to vote on it.  The May 17th cancelled meeting demonstrates that they are moving 100% forward no matter what.

If you’re for or against the Seattle viaduct project, one thing must be represented and that is the people.  Seattle Council Members or elected officials with their own egos and agendas must be pushed out the door if they are being shady.  Trying to make deals behind the general public backs (or thinking they know best) is not acceptable.  These officials represent you (the public) and they really need to accept the publics vote.  Shutting out the people out on voting and proposals is clearly a communist move.  A move that is based on what they feel is best (and egos) without getting any feedback from the people who they should be representing. 

Alaskan Way Viaduct
Alaskan Way Viaduct

Seattle’s 6-Figure Salary Club

This is a totally different take on 6 figure salaries that this website has written about because this story in the Times appeared to be highlighting Fire Chief salaries. They stated the Fire Chief was paid slightly more than Mayor Mike McGinn. I am the first to say that public employees salaries are so bloated, out of line, greedy (rest of descriptions are not fit for family reading). BUT, that being said, I want to just stick to the Fireman. I have to defend them completely. If people were paid for the good they do for the community and citizens Fireman would be right at the top. No matter what disaster, whether a little kitchen grease fire or an earthquake they are there. They are also basically on call 24/7 thus a lot of overtime gets racked up. Their job is dangerous but lets not view their salaries on that alone. They are there because they want to be there, they can quit anytime they want. If they cant stand the “heat get out of the kitchen”. That being said they are doing a job that our lives depend on. If ANYONE deserves a high salary it is them and the Policeman. Without them our lives would be in jeopardy.

This was a perfect time for the Times to print their salaries and the perfect time to ask if you would rather pay $160,000 to a Fire Chief, or $600,000 to the Port of Seattle CEO, or $224,000 to the new Superintendant of Schools, $700.000 to the new President of UW. $1.7 million to the UW Football coach etc. Would any of these people be able to help you in any way if you needed help? Would you miss them if everyone quit today because they thought they were working to hard?  They are simply milking the system big time.

I think its time to start thinking what services we can do without and cut the pay of the useless bunch of CEO’s. Managers and Presidents of company’s that are taxpayer supported. It would be fun to see a debate of a Fire Chief and the CEO of the Port of Seattle to see which one performs the most necessary service and rate their pay on that basis.

What is the Difference Between a School Levy and a Family and Education Levy?

There is so much talk of the financial situations at schools and colleges that a person cannot find out where there tax dollars are going. Silly me, I thought the Family and Education Levy was the same (or nearly the same) as a regular run of the mill School Levy. Mayor McGinn was backing the Family and Education Levy so I decided to ask him. Below is his explanation. If you can figure it out please feel free to list your comments on this website or send in a submission for possible publication.

Thank you for writing me about the Families and Education Levy and Seattle Public Schools administration. I want to clarify that this is a Levy for city managed services that support students, and not a school levy for the Seattle Public Schools. The City uses outcome based budgeting to get results for kids. This means we track how we spend our levy funds, to make sure they are meeting our outcomes, instead of being wasted on salaries.

As you know, I do not have jurisdiction over the school district administration. I appreciate your concern about Seattle Public Schools’ difficult financial situation.

Sincerely,

Mike McGinn
Mayor of Seattle

I think we need clarification on what exactly does city managed services do. How does it help the students? The money from this levy goes to the city not directly to the schools to pay their salaries. It must pay some city employee salaries to disburse these funds. He is trying to distance himself from the school district administration and their bloated salaries and how they skim off the major portion of levy money.

The school administration is run about as poorly as the State Welfare dept.  One small example is the unequal treatment kids get. At Garfield kids THAT WANT to take Spanish classes can’t because the classes are full but they were able to come up with a special Spanish class for Tony Wroten so he can cheat his way to play ball at the UW. His enabler Jim Valiere was fired for giving him and Valentino Coleman a “C” grade on his course he never took. Tony Wroten tweeted “we get a three person Spanish Class, #Niceeeee.” Wroten already showed he was trouble when he started at Garfield and had to hire a lawyer (I imagine taxpayers paid for that too) to prove he was eligible to go there. They are cutting Spanish classes, laying off teachers but can still have a special teacher brought in to help a “liar and a cheat” get into the UW. Wroten lied on his application so he should not be able to go to the UW at all, especially on a scholarship. Do you feel this is a good way to spend your tax dollars?

Where is our new Superintendent when we need her? Maybe she is ticked that she is only paid $224,000 where the old one that got fired was paid $294,000. For sure Levy money comes out of our pockets, not thin air like they want you to believe.

Troy Hutson Handed Out Seattle Welfare Benefit Cards, No Questions Asked.

Troy Hutson  the head of the states food stamp and child support agency quit just before he was fired. He was defending himself as doing a real good job. His boss Susan Dreyfus thought he did a good job. And believe it or not State Rep. Mark Miloscia D Federal Way hated to see him quit. He says Economic Service is the best run agency in the state. He wanted to give the best customer service he could and said these people are poor and wanted them to feel good about themselves and make it as easy as possible. Well what about the taxpayer that is furnishing the money DHSH to hand out? Mr. Troy Hutson had to know those people were not losing their cards. He replaced 27,000 cards($600 a pop) no questions asked. Why not make it even easier, just stand on a corner near a bar or strip joint and say “step right up” get your entertainment money right here. Kind of like a hot dog vendor. I know from being a landlord of a low rent apartment house and living beside one that the people who are getting a welfare check and debit cards are NOT POOR. They are alcoholics or druggies that have no intention of ever going to work. Of course they can’t hold a job. If they had to pee in a bottle everyday to see if they were drinking or on drugs they would all fail. The ones I know are young, able bodied and say they have issues. Their issue is they don’t want to go to work. You do not help an alcoholic by giving him money. You do not help a drug addict or gambler by giving them money. They know every trick in the book to get more help and not have to sober up or find a job. The fact that they might have a child or two does not help that child if they spend the money for booze or sell their card for cash instead of buying food. It sounded like Troy Hutson had a good education but he was brain dead when it came to common sense. He will not have to pay back a cent of the millions he handed out no questions asked. He wanted to give the best customer service, well he really nailed that one.  But it a recent news article published also said he believed in innovation and accountability. Accountability to who?  I think the DHSH should be completely done over. They have so much money and forget that they can’t give a thing away until it has been taken away from a worker and a lot skimmed off to pay their wages. Its like a white collar crime with the taxpayer getting fleeced.  I wonder with the blatant handing out replacement cards if someone was getting a cut. I worked all my life and I live on my social security. If I lost my check, it would take 30 days to get it replaced. I have to eat just like the drunks and dopers but I would have to figure out how to make it. Guess we old people don’t deserve good customer service. Why couldn’t I walk in and get a new check and just say I lost my old one, and not even tell my name? This is so completely stupid its hard to write. Well in another article you will see that now you can get free tuition to a Seattle University with a free lunch and a flunking grade. Well they could certainly take over Troy Hutson’s job. It would not take much education to hand out replacement cards, no questions asked. No one would ever complain that they did not get good customer service that’s for sure. When will the wasting of our tax dollars ever end?

Getting a Free School Lunch Qualifies you for a Free Scholarship to a Seattle College

I wrote this letter/email to our Seattle Mayor McGinn in response to a recent program created by Washington State that guarantees a free scholarship to any students getting free lunches (or reduced lunch programs).  It’s called the “College Bound Scholarship Program”.  Here is the program summary from Seattle Mayor McGinn’s office here.

Dear Mayor McGinn:

I was so surprised to get this notice about guaranteed tuition to any student on the federal free and reduced lunch program. WOW. This sure beats the toy in the Cracker Jack Box or the Happy Meal at McDonald’s.  It is so STUPID (you know it and you know we people know it) it is hard to know where to start. Up until you sent this notice I have been reading about how our LOCAL kids who have a 4.0 grade average, valedictorian of their class are denied entry to the University. Hundreds of kids were turned down because the University pays their management all 6 figure salaries. Just out of whack completely the waste in upper management but they wont listen at all. They cant afford local students because they can sell the spots to foreign students who will pay 3 times more. NOW, with your hair brained scheme of offering free tuition with a free lunch should really be challenged. You know nothing is free. You have to take it from a worker to give it to someone who does not want to work. I am sure there are some families that need help but any one I know on the free dole sure does not deserve it. You do not have POOR people. You have alcoholics, dopers and people who have never worked and never intend to work that know how to work the system. If the people who are getting welfare checks had to show up every day and pee in a bottle and pass the drug and booze test to get help it would cut the welfare rolls by 90%. Why do you think taxpayers should contribute money for these people. Low paid workers know they cant sent their kids to college. I could not send mine to college. I was a single mother working at Boeing. (For the record, I was married when I had them, all had the same father, but he died of cancer). We were poor. I would write a check for food and hoped that check did not clear before my Boeing check did. I was the youngest of 12 children during the depression. but want to add here that I did get a scholarship to go to any college in Montana. I got it because I had a 4.0 grade average and was the valedictorian of my class in 1941, Victor, Montana. We didn’t get free school lunches, and you could not be poorer than we were. No electricity, running water, but I did not get into any trouble. What you are offering is that if people can somehow stay on welfare, til their kids are old enough to go to college they can go free. 2.0 is actually flunking. What is a college going to do with those kids? Maybe put them to work handing out free welfare debit cards, no questions asked like they do at DHSH. These kids can get a felony plea bargained down because they will have free lawyers. Hope this is the thing that tips the ice burg. Shame on you for thinking this is right. It encourages people to stay on welfare and it does not even require the kids to get a 4.0 grade. I know you don’t read a thing I send, and I will get a copy of a website page from some staff member but needed to write it down and have a paper trail.

Lilly – Seattle

Free Tuition At Seattle Colleges
Free Tuition At Seattle Colleges

University of Washington Leadership Failure

College Books Photo

A new President is about to be named at the University of Washington and his name is Michael Young.  He was a busy guy today with press conferences and visiting the University of Washington.  Today was his first time ever at the University.  He took questions from the student leadership and the general feedback was that he is “down to earth guy and honest.”   The previous President was scheduled to make a little over $900,000 per year.  When asked today about his salary, he said he would be willing to take less.  Michael Young was very excited to be working at the University of Washington (I’m sure he was – I would be to if I was making 75K a month!).

You can read our previous article about the University of Washington and Seattle’s Schools bad revenue but it all comes back to a failure in leadership.  Money that could be used for the students is being used and abused by upper management.  Teachers are the first ones to get the cut in the pay and we continue to hear about schools wanting more and more money in taxes and funding.  Should we keep increasing the taxes and approving school bonds that are just being wasted by upper management?  Michael Young isn’t special. We could have had a qualified University of Washington President for less than $250,000.  The rest of the money could have been used on students in need, low income, or scholarships.  This is just another example of a failure in leadership and the people in charge don’t have a clue.  Unfortunately, seeing it again at the University of Washington is sad.

About the University of Washington

The University of Washington (UW), established in 1861, holds the distinction of being one of the oldest and most esteemed institutions on the West Coast of the United States. Nestled in the city of Seattle, Washington, UW not only stands out for its rigorous academic programs but also for its innovative research, drawing students and scholars from around the globe. Encompassing three campuses – Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell – the university presents a dynamic learning environment, intertwining beautiful landscapes with state-of-the-art facilities. Offering a plethora of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs across various disciplines, the UW sustains a robust educational ecosystem that cultivates intellectual prowess and research aptitude.

UW’s formidable reputation in research has been underscored by its contributions to various fields, including medicine, science, engineering, and the humanities. The university is renowned for its research in space exploration, environmental science, public health, and myriad other domains. Furthermore, UW consistently ranks among the top recipients of federal research funding, reflecting its pivotal role in advancing knowledge and innovation. With a strong commitment to sustainability, diversity, and societal impact, the University of Washington continues to shape future leaders, foster innovation, and contribute significantly to the global body of knowledge and research.

Update about Michael Young

Michael Young

Michael Young served as the President of the University of Washington (UW) from 2011 to 2015. Before his tenure at UW, Young had an extensive career in academia and administrative roles at other notable institutions. He served as the President of the University of Utah and had roles at other universities before taking the leadership position in Washington. Michael Young was earning an annual salary of $854,000, following a 6-percent raise implemented in October. After 3 years at UW, Young took a position as the president of Texas A&M University.

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Emergency Managers or Dictators

Benton Harbor, Michigan has been taken over by the state. An Emergency Manager has been assigned all the duties. Benton Harbor/s elected commissioners have lost all of their power. They do not have the authority at this point in time to order a pot hole fixed. The new Emergency Manager, named Joseph Harris can set aside all union contracts with the city and call it budget repair.

Does this look like Dictatorship? If a state can take over a city, can Washington D.C. take over our states? Can they say we are in a financial crisis, and appoint an emergency manager, that takes away all the power from our elected officials, break all the unions and even replace the police force with Homeland Security. Obama has mentioned a time or two that he wants to have more Homeland Security force larger than the Military. This has to be really looked into. Could we wake up some morning having been taken over by the government homeland security and our police department gone? Does this scare you?

There is no mistake our cities and states and Federal Govt. have to stop their spending. But is this the way to do it? Hundreds of rowdy non-union protesters filled the State Capitol, and a day later the Senate voted to grant broad new powers to emergency managers who oversee financially struggling cities and schools, including the authority to void union contracts and remove elected officials.

This website is for independent thinkers and it is time for all of you to put on your thinking cap. I know the cities are wasting money, I know there is fraud, but would we better off under a one man dictatorship. I don’t think so. Better really keep up on this story while you are still allowed to read stories like this.

Did You Know Houses in Georgetown are Assessed at $1,000? Zillow Didn’t.

I want to invite you to take a nice walk thru Georgetown. Look at the houses on Corson and Carlton. I am not sure about Flora and Ellis. Notice all the houses are different. There are some beauties. Some are small and plain. Everyone is assessed at $1,000 ( one thousand dollars). Zillow prices varies but are between $200,000 and $350,000), Fire insurance appraisers set the price close to the Zillow price.
The assessor that did this was Scott Noble. After he got himself into some serious trouble and arrested, we had four assessors in 5 months. Appeals were nightmares and totally useless. The Department of Assessments actually wiped out single family homes. They call all of our homes tear downs. They want us to build 8 unit condos. I appealed but the only defense you can present is evidence the assessor has erred in doing the appraisal. My argument was you would have to be drunk or crazy to say every house along at these two streets are only worth a thousand dollars. They said I had to bring proof of sales around me. No house beside me, behind me, in front of me had been sold. Every house in this entire neighborhood had been declared identical and worthless. I lost my appeal.  The reason was “It is the assessors job to tax on the highest and best use”.  Single family dwellings are not the best use. The best use is tear our house down and put up an 8 unit condo. The state of course owns vacant land, pays no tax and doesn’t build condo’s on theirs. I also argued that you cant buy a Tuff Shed for $1,000. Just a total time waster to appeal. The value of the land went from $60,000 to $320,000. In other words we are being taxed right out of our $1,000 home.

This presents another boondoggle. Fire Insurance appraisers actually come and go thru the houses. They talk you into taking replacement value. This means if my house burns down they will replace it, not give me money or replace the house on a lot I can afford to pay taxes on. I would never build a new little house on a $320,000 lot here in Georgetown. So Fire Insurance is actually worthless. I am not sure the city would issue a permit to build a single family dwelling. If you go down to try to talk to them you are more or less shown the way back out of the building and told to file certain forms. From then on you are lost in Electronic Dead Ends. Something is very wrong here but none of us residents can find a way to fix it. It appears the appraiser took on the role of a Land Use Change without having to hold a hearing.

Today in the mail I get a letter from King County Sound Insulation Program. They want to come and insulate my house free to block out the noise of airplanes. If the state is broke, why would they spend thousands to insulate my THOUSAND DOLLAR HOUSE that I have lived in for 65 years and the appraiser wants me to tear down? Not real urgent. Wait until the state is not in debt.

I also got a notice from WSDOT that they will be repaving my street soon. My goodness if the state is broke why would you repave a street that doesn’t even need it. Please do not send the men in little white coats. This stupid stuff is true. State is not broke, they just cant figure out how to spend all the money.

Washington State, King County, and City of Seattle has Hijacked the Gravy Train

Let’s call the load of taxpayer’s money the Gravy Train.  It’s a little train that COULD. There is billions on the train. More than enough to pay good wages to fireman, policemen, teachers, nurses, and countless other essential help that a state, county or city needs.  Remember when the train loads of gold went along thru the country and Highwaymen, Robbers, all sorts of crooks would rob the train unless they were stopped by The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Hoppy and Lucky and maybe the Riflemen. We don’t have those guys anymore. It should be the governor, executives, elected representatives, mayors, helping to protect our gravy train but THEY DO NOTHING. At every stop the robbers/embezzlers/liar’s take bundles of tax payer rmoney for pet projects we never hear of. They take many trips here and there, the administrators; get paid obscene, astronomical, unwarranted salaries. Then they come back and want more taxes and the people who are elected to carry out our wishes dream up another tax and we have to load the train again.

The first to get laid off are teachers, policeman and help for the poorest of the poor. They want our sympathy. Those days are gone. Look at the waste.  They are just a few examples. They just have to have more money for roads. The Washington State Department of Transportation screwed away 377 million without one thing to show for it, studying the 520 bridge. The Seattle City Council had 700 meetings, 76 options, about the tunnel. They spent big bucks buying up land and trying to tie it up so it will have to get built, no matter what.  The Seattle Port Chief Tay Yoshitani is paid $366,825. The new Superintendent of Schools (Susan Enfield) is paid $225,000. Those are just at the top. Think how many layers and layers of administrative costs we pay for and get absolutely nothing. The Governor is paid $167,891 and should be the highest paid person in the state. The gravy train is powered by our taxes. If every property owner, (I mean everyone) refused to pay their property tax until they fired all this deadweight at the top and made  salaries comparable to teachers, police, firemen etc the train would stop. There would be so much money left over they could hire a tutor for any child that was having trouble. They could hire more police to stop crime but they for some reason hand out our money to these administrators. When someone is caught robbing/embezzling they get a golden handshake. No one has to pay a dime back to us.

They want to double the school levy. Double the property tax we pay. Our tax is based on someone who is living on Fantasy Island. I have a little 90 year old house that I paid $10,500 for years ago and the property tax on it is $3,850 a year. Because the dreamer in the Assessor’s office says an 8 unit condo should be there. So I pay tax on his dream, as well as his wages. He says they have to tax on the highest and best use.  In my neighborhood, however, the state owns 14 acres of land. They rent the back portion to a college for $3 or $4 a year. The rest is lawn. Its best and highest use according to the assessor must be for dogs and geese to poop in. It would hold a lot of condo’s.  The officials are untouchable. You cannot get a suggestion to them. They have lied to us so much they think what they say is true. They have hired so many “thugs” a/k/a staff to insulate themselves from us. If we try to contact them an aide sends us a form letter with cuts and pastes from their website. They end it by saying “if you have any questions please let them know.” Well hell – they never heard or answered the first one.

Lets shut off the fuel to this gravy train as soon as possible. King 5 investigators are doing a great job, an bloggers like the Emerald City Journal is trying to get word out on the Web. We have to stop the wasted fuel (tax money) and get rid of all of the officials (at the ballot box that are hijacking and robbing the train.  You never solve money problems by throwing more money at it. Every year they want more and more money and go deeper in debt.

      
 
 

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