A Bush-era policy continues to threaten the security of local immigrant communities

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Guest Writer - Editorial

Articles by Guest Writer

In the debate over disability benefits, it’s disabled people who continue to suffer

By Guest Writer | May 1, 2013

In 1936, when the original Social Security Act went into effect, sharecropper and folk musician John Handcox wrote a song about the desperate times Americans faced during the Depression: “There are mean things happening in this land/ Though the rich man boasts and brags/ while the poor man goes in rags/ there are mean things happening in this land.” Franklin Roosevelt’s Social Security legislation sought to soften those mean times. In 1950, Social Security was expanded to include a minimum safety net for the disabled. ...

A foreclosure can lead to the loss of a home, and the erosion of your self-esteem

By Guest Writer | April 17, 2013

Since 2009 almost 10 million homes have been lost to foreclosure, resulting in countless people losing their shelter. Banks, meanwhile, continue to escape criminal prosecution and refuse good-faith negotiations with homeowners. Last spring, a group of people created a local grassroots organization called Standing Against Foreclosure and Eviction (SAFE). ...

The best way for Metro to keep buses on the roads is to tap better funding sources for transit

By Guest Writer | April 3, 2013

Bus cuts are back on the table in King County because the temporary fee that prevented massive cuts a couple of years ago is set to expire in the spring of 2014. If the state legislature does not provide more options for transit agencies to preserve bus service, King County Metro will have to cut 17 percent of service, affecting 70 percent of the county’s bus riders. Planning for the cuts would have to start this fall. This is especially bad news as transit demand and population in the Puget Sound region continue to grow. ...

To build walkable communities in Puget Sound, we must beat a path to Olympia

By Guest Writer | March 6, 2013

Last summer, Sound Transit found itself in a jam. The agency had planned to build a parking lot for a future light rail station outside Northgate Mall. The trouble was, the garage took away money that could have been used for accommodations for pedestrians. After an outcry from neighborhood residents and from nonprofits including Feet First, which works to ensure walkable communities across Washington, Sound Transit’s governing board voted to spend as much as $5 million to improve access for people walking and biking to the light rail station. ...

Councilmember Harrell’s proposal gives job hunters with a criminal history new hope

By Guest Writer | February 27, 2013

Seattle residents believe in safe communities and giving people a fair shake. We know that when people with criminal records get jobs, it reduces crime. And yet some employers refuse to hire anyone with a criminal history — as a blanket rule, with no exceptions. Contrary to some reports, there is no state law that stops employers from asking applicants about convictions unrelated to the job.

Automatically screening out job applicants because of past mistakes is a bad policy for our community. It is time for that to end. ...

Our state legislature can ensure the Affordable Care Act doesn’t stop women from obtaining abortions

By Guest Writer | February 20, 2013

On Jan. 22 we celebrated the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the country. In Washington state, voters chose to legalize abortion even before the Supreme Court case, and we have a long history of supporting safe and legal abortion at the ballot as well as in the legislature. ...

The only way we can end domestic violence is if we all work to stop it

By Guest Writer | February 6, 2013

This is what we know from media reports: On Dec. 1 former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher selected a weapon from his sizable collection of guns and fired nine shots into Kasandra Perkins, the mother of his infant daughter. He then drove to the Chiefs training facility and, in front of the team’s coach and general manager, shot himself in the head. ...

When a test fails the students, it’s time for teachers to boycott the test

By Guest Writer | January 30, 2013

I teach reading improvement at Garfield High School. My colleagues and I, along with a growing number of teachers throughout Seattle Public Schools (SPS), have committed to resisting what we consider a particularly pernicious standardized test: the MAP, or Measure of Academic Progress, which tests math and reading up to three times a year for students in kindergarten through at least the ninth grade. I will not give this test. Neither will my fellow teachers. For us, to do so would be unethical and harmful to our students. ...

Organic foods supplier leaves local workers hungry

By Guest Writer | January 23, 2013

With seven kids under the age of 10, Joe Taufao has a lot of hungry mouths to feed. It’s always been a struggle to put enough food on the table, but especially now, with his wife laid off, and Joe and his coworkers on strike. “Our landlord told us, ‘Pay the rent now or get out,’ ” Joe said. “I told him we were on strike. He didn’t care.” ...