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NASCAR has dispatched a few celebrity drivers to Olympia to wine, dine and convice law makers of the wisdom behind a Kitsap racing oval. The task is daunting--few Washington officials have expressed a lot of interest in the facility, particularly when a part of the deal is bankrolled by the taxpayer, and a recent Elway poll shows that only 16% of the taxpayer is prepared to put up that money. We have to believe that more than 16% of Washington would appreciate a little car racing in the state, but, well, it's probably the same deal as the Sonics: Seattle doesn't hate basketball, it just doesn't want to be taken advantage of by it. NASCAR is NASCAR, though, and those ads you see plastered all over their cars buy a whole lot of access. They hear "no" once and they ask again. Hear it a second time and they send in Richard Petty to trade a little paint with state senators. This is the bill they're trying to get us to agree to.
After Petty and company push away from the table tonight, take the napkins out of their bolos and light up a few stogies with flaming Benjamins they might bring up The Meadows. In 1905 the Northwest's first automobile race was held at The Meadows, a horse track south of unincorporated Georgetown which inspired a host of accompanying businesses in the area. Saloons, brothels; that kind of thing, but businesses. Actually, the track was built with brothel and saloon money in the first place, a fact that Petty might want to glaze over. Before bookies lost the privilege to operate within the track and it went bankrupt in 1909 it also had the honor of hosting the first airplane demonstration in the region courtesy of Charles K. Hamilton and his biplane. Where The Meadows once welcomed the transportation technology of a new age, Boeing Field currently stands.
Oh, and Petty might want to ask about the NASCAR-duct if the whole Kitsap thing doesn't pan out.
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I spent Monday and Tuesday down in Olympia working against the NASCAR bills. (And this is what I did on my vacation for fun.) I testified to the Senate hearing.
It was fun to read this in a room full of NASCAR executives and hired guns.
Here is my Senate testimony:
My name is Jacob Metcalf of Bremerton. I am a proud environmentalist and
progressive populist.
This bill is not only the most obscene piece of pork-filled corporate welfare
for the International Speedway Corporation of Florida, but is a direct assault
on the sovereignty of Kitsap County, our elected officials and our voters.
This bill promotes an unjustified non-contiguous annexation and leapfrog
development that throws away the electoral will of the Kitsap County voters and
sets a horrible precedent that will threaten local control and will have
chilling effects across the state. There is not one legislator from Kitsap that
supports the bill. Never forget that 100 percent of the pro-pork for NASCAR
legislative and county commissioner candidates lost in the Kitsap election of
2006 in all three legislative districts. Don?t be fooled by the ISC?s spin
and myths, this bill is specific to Kitsap County in it mentions specific
highways and roads and the ISC?s vice president has said in the media that
Kitsap is the only location in their sights. Kitsap is a peninsula with
specific transportation problems and a fragile economy. This is plain nuts.
In a statewide Elway poll taken just last weekend 79 percent of Washington
voters opposed public financing for NASCAR while only 16 percent want to throw
away our hard-earned tax money on the ISC?s ponzi scheme. Trickle down voodoo
economic tax giveaways and sweetheart property tax deals for an out-of-state
billionaire corporation will not help the working class of Washington.
The legislation does not include the state of Washington in broadcast and
merchandising profits surrounding a race. They say that we would be an equal
partner. We get the risk, pollution and sprawl and they get to take all the
money back to Florida.
But we have to look beyond the numbers and see the bigger picture. They want the
state to be an accomplice and to disempower and disenfranchise local control.
This bill will create a new larger government entity that is a child of
corporate greed. There is no constitutional obligation for the state to fund
frivolous entertainment and there is no political mandate to follow this
radical path.
The ISC and their allies have engaged in questionable lobbying activity with our
elected officials. They have used campaign contributions, expensive tickets to
races and an army of Astroturf followers and hired gun lawyers. Jack Abramoff
would be proud.
The Kitsap economy and job market is expanding and has added thousands of new
jobs in recent years. We need to deal with the threat of urban sprawl with
responsible development. This is not it. I believe we can be responsible
stewards of our economy by supporting common sense economic policy and stay
away from dangerous misadventures such as this bill. I love Kitsap County and
the state of Washington and we deserve better than this
No pork for NASCAR and NASCAR go home!
My comments were picked up by the AP and the other reporters in the room. I gave
them a printed copy.
They included some good quotes from me.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6378407p-5689396c.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003581575_nascar21m0.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_xgr_nascar_track.html
http://www.theolympian.com/292/story/66579.html
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/02/21/area_news/news09.txt
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4569903.html
PS Rep Simpson refused to talk to me when I was down in Olympia. But I did get
to talk to Frank Chopp about it. Man you folks in the 43rd LD are sure lucky to
have him an Jamie. I also told Frank Chop about the NASCAR-duct idea.
I spent Monday and Tuesday down in Olympia working against the NASCAR bills. (And this is what I did on my vacation for fun.) I testified to the Senate hearing.
It was fun to read this in a room full of NASCAR executives and hired guns.
Here is my Senate testimony:
My name is Jacob Metcalf of Bremerton. I am a proud environmentalist and
progressive populist.
This bill is not only the most obscene piece of pork-filled corporate welfare
for the International Speedway Corporation of Florida, but is a direct assault
on the sovereignty of Kitsap County, our elected officials and our voters.
This bill promotes an unjustified non-contiguous annexation and leapfrog
development that throws away the electoral will of the Kitsap County voters and
sets a horrible precedent that will threaten local control and will have
chilling effects across the state. There is not one legislator from Kitsap that
supports the bill. Never forget that 100 percent of the pro-pork for NASCAR
legislative and county commissioner candidates lost in the Kitsap election of
2006 in all three legislative districts. Don?t be fooled by the ISC?s spin
and myths, this bill is specific to Kitsap County in it mentions specific
highways and roads and the ISC?s vice president has said in the media that
Kitsap is the only location in their sights. Kitsap is a peninsula with
specific transportation problems and a fragile economy. This is plain nuts.
In a statewide Elway poll taken just last weekend 79 percent of Washington
voters opposed public financing for NASCAR while only 16 percent want to throw
away our hard-earned tax money on the ISC?s ponzi scheme. Trickle down voodoo
economic tax giveaways and sweetheart property tax deals for an out-of-state
billionaire corporation will not help the working class of Washington.
The legislation does not include the state of Washington in broadcast and
merchandising profits surrounding a race. They say that we would be an equal
partner. We get the risk, pollution and sprawl and they get to take all the
money back to Florida.
But we have to look beyond the numbers and see the bigger picture. They want the
state to be an accomplice and to disempower and disenfranchise local control.
This bill will create a new larger government entity that is a child of
corporate greed. There is no constitutional obligation for the state to fund
frivolous entertainment and there is no political mandate to follow this
radical path.
The ISC and their allies have engaged in questionable lobbying activity with our
elected officials. They have used campaign contributions, expensive tickets to
races and an army of Astroturf followers and hired gun lawyers. Jack Abramoff
would be proud.
The Kitsap economy and job market is expanding and has added thousands of new
jobs in recent years. We need to deal with the threat of urban sprawl with
responsible development. This is not it. I believe we can be responsible
stewards of our economy by supporting common sense economic policy and stay
away from dangerous misadventures such as this bill. I love Kitsap County and
the state of Washington and we deserve better than this
No pork for NASCAR and NASCAR go home!
My comments were picked up by the AP and the other reporters in the room. I gave
them a printed copy.
They included some good quotes from me.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6378407p-5689396c.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003581575_nascar21m0.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_xgr_nascar_track.html
http://www.theolympian.com/292/story/66579.html
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/02/21/area_news/news09.txt
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4569903.html
PS Rep Simpson refused to talk to me when I was down in Olympia. But I did get
to talk to Frank Chopp about it. Man you folks in the 43rd LD are sure lucky to
have him an Jamie. I also told Frank Chop about the NASCAR-duct idea.
My comments were picked up by the AP and the other reporters in the room. I gave
them a printed copy.
They included some good quotes from me.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6378407p-5689396c.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003581575_nascar21m0.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_xgr_nascar_track.html
http://www.theolympian.com/292/story/66579.html
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/02/21/area_news/news09.txt
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4569903.html
PS Rep Simpson refused to talk to me when I was down in Olympia. But I did get
to talk to Frank Chopp about it. Man you folks in the 43rd LD are sure lucky to
have him an Jamie. I also told Frank Chop about the NASCAR-duct idea.
how did dale Earnhardt do last sunday
Great work, Jake. I'll email my reps right now.
Seth tell your reps to vote NO on HB 2062 in the House and SB 6040 in the Senate.
Then email Frank Chopp's office and say that the only way that you would support the Option 9 (Plan 9 from Outer Space) option for the viaduct is if it had a layer for NASCAR. (Just joking. If I learned one thing down in Olympia is that Frank Chopp does not mess around. The dude is HARDCORE!)
I've never supported public money for professional sports facilities -- not Safeco field (and I actually like baseball), not Qwest, not even Key Arena (even though that's the only facility I have used regularly -- for concerts; I've never seen a Sonics game). But you know, if it included legal brothels and maybe a needle exchange and methadone clinic, I'd be all for putting a NASCAR track over in Kitsap county. Might spread the junkies around a bit, rather than concentrating them all in King county. Of course, the rural drug of abuse is meth, so I guess that wouldn't help the locals much.
More seriously: good work, Jake. I don't know what made you care so much but I'm glad that you do. I just fear they'll shift their focus and try to stick it in Snohomish again or wherever they can find the least opposition (and the most rentable public officials)
Joe, I think the current #1 fall-back plan for NASCAR is Lewis County. It's mentioned here and in this AP piece.
Dan the ISC is not interested in Lewis County despite the offer of free land. They still have it in for Kitsap.
Well Joe I care because it is my town and I worked hard in the election of officials that they want to dis-empower. Besides Kitsap is been fighting a major meth lab epidemic. Bremerton is more a crystal meth and PBR kind of town.
hey the MP3 of my testimony is online!
http://www.tvw.org/search/siteSearch.cfm?CFID=7306664&CFTOKEN=89336779
I think there should be a mashup remix contest of it.
Jacob, your comments are really starting to bother me on a personal level.
Meth addiction is serious and should NOT be joked about. You obviously have not had meth effect people you care about otherwise you would not make such statements.
I'm offended at you and your circle of friends, including Commissioners Brown and Endresen, Speaker Chopp, and Rep. Larry Seaquist and the stereotypes for NASCAR fans.
NASCAR fans don't all some from trailer parks. They don't all drink heavily at races and they certainly are not all addicted to Crystal Meth. You are a disgrace to the Democratic Party and I hope very sincerely that you change your attitude towards people and learn to tolerate people who aren't like you.
And I'm posting your little comment about Bremerton on the Kitsap Sun blog. I think that your neighbors would be interested to read your opinions.
Too bad you never had the courage to say it to their faces.
Bremerton does have a major meth problem. When I lived in Mannette there was not a week that went by that I didn't see a rotten-mouthed meth tweaker looking to bust into a car.
I am anti-meth. I think it is a horrible drug that has devastated our community and it needs to be delt with as a major threat. I don’t have a problem with being called to tough on meth.
The problem isn't that you are "to (sic) tough on meth." The problem is that you are casting dispersions about NASCAR fans again.
That a track in Bremerton would give us a better distribution of meth users, isn't that the gist of what was said?
I think that the real problem is that you are too judgmental and prejudiced to be considered a civic leader.
"That a track in Bremerton would give us a better distribution of meth users, isn't that the gist of what was said?"
No that is not what I said but I still think that it is not a fit for Kitsap. We deserve better and NASCAR does not share our values.