An attempt was made to silence Lincoln, but the assignation attempt was foiled this time. For years, a discussion has been brewing about increasing transparency in government employee contract negotiations in Washington. Until recently, the unions have maintained their stranglehold on the process, forcing the meetings to be held in secret, hidden from the public's prying eyes. A county commissioner once asked one of the unions he was to negotiate with what they thought about making employee contract negotiations public. Union's response : "The union will not agree to public negotiations...we  have a contract with the County, not with the public... the public is not a party to the contract." Hannah Franks Facing the promise of litigation and an aggressive, defensive letter from the union outlining the “chilling effect and domination it would have on the members,” the county backed off. Over the next couple of years,’ enough signatures wer...

By Matthew Hayward 11-9-2016 The initiative process was intended to provide an outlet for citizens to take direct action in the legislative process when elected officials fail to enact the will of the people. Unfortunately, it appears the process has been hijacked by wealthy special interest groups after they failed to lobby our elected officials into passing protectionist laws on their behalf. Citizens United has brought about a hyper-awareness of political expenditure in politics. Two Initiatives, I-735 , and I-1464 were on the ballot in Washington State this election, both designed to address big money in politics. There was also a presidential campaign that was largely based on “ Getting Big Money Out of Politics and Restoring Democracy,” Bernie Sanders. Ironically I-735 was funded with over $500,000 , largely from out of state donors intending to influence Washington’s elections. 4 of the top 10 donors were from out of state. This initiative has an additional ...