King County Budget Cuts to Hit Heath and Social Services Hard

The Seattle PI reports Health programs take a bitter hit.

While I realize we are facing a potential budget shortfall due to the down turn in the economy, human services funding is exactly the wrong area to make cuts. When times are tough the people who rely on services like food programs, in-home care for the elderly or disabled and county funded charities need help even more. Not only is it altruistic to aid these vulnerable people; on a purely financial basis it is cheaper to keep them comfortable in their own homes instead of ending up in demoralizing group homes or even on the street where more expensive emergency programs will have to take care of them.

If you agree with me please contact Ron Sims, the King County Executive and the King County Council and tell them you want them to preserve the Health and Social Services funding.



Update: My letter to the editor published in the Seattle PI. Look towards the bottom.

Check Your Voter Registration Before Election Day and Other Helpful Tips

The King County Absentee Ballots are being mailed starting on 10/17/08. If you don't get yours within a week or so you might want to check and make sure you are really registered and you have an active registration. ATTENTION: If you aren't currently registered to vote in Washington you CAN still register until 10/20/08. You just have to do it in person at the King County Elections Office in Renton.

Remember you have to have your ballot POSTMARKED by election day, 11/4/08, to have it counted. You also have the option of dropping it off at a ballot collection site; in King County you can go here to find the drop off locations.

If you want to check on your voter registration status you can go to King County Elections Voter Lookup and enter your name and birth date or address and not only will it tell you if you are registered it will give you an online voter's guide with all of the races that will be on your ballot. Alternately (and this is what I prefer) you can go to the Washington State Secretary of State - Personalized Voter Information site and enter your name and birth date. This site will not only give you your registration status but will also give you your voter history for the last 3 years and a much nicer personalized voter guide. Either way, be sure you check one of these sites out before election day whether you are voting absentee or at the polls.

For those of you who are voting at the polls in King County you might want to check out the ID requirements and make sure you know where your polling place is located. You can find your polling place by using the KC Voter Lookup tool I linked to above.

No matter who you are voting please go out and vote; it's the only way our democracy will work the way it was designed. Let's see if we can beat the 83% turnout that the Secretary of State is predicting.