Well, Pierce County is mailing out ballots for the April 28 Special Election starting April 10, which means if you are reading this on Wednesday and doing the math, you have a very short window to locate a pen, find a flat surface, and participate in the kind of thing people used to do without being reminded fourteen times — and I will be the fourteenth reminder, because that is apparently what it takes now. I have voted in every single election held in this county since I was old enough to do so, and I did it without a single text message alert, which is not a complaint, it is context. Your ballot should arrive by April 14. You return it by April 28 at 8 p.m. I should not have to say this but here I am, saying it.
And while we are talking about things that matter for the people who actually live here — a federal appeals court ruled this week that Pierce County gets to keep roughly $4.9 million a year in housing assistance funding, which had been under threat, and I want to be clear that I think about housing every single time I drive past a street where I used to see a family I recognized and now I do not recognize anyone at all. That money goes toward keeping people in stable housing — people who were previously without housing — and I remember when that kind of program did not exist and what the alternative looked like, which was not better, whatever anyone tells you. Now I know some folks have thoughts about where that money comes from and how it gets used, and I am not here to tell you what to think, I am here to tell you that the ruling happened and the funding is protected and you should know about it when you fill out that ballot. These things connect. They always connect. I said something similar last month when we were talking about that moratorium vote and nobody disagreed with me to my face, which I appreciated.
I do want to pause here — and I realize this is only loosely related but it has been bothering me since February — there is a situation happening with the parking near the Farmer's Market area that I am not going to fully get into today because I used my parking tangent in March, but I will say that the people who designed the current arrangement have clearly never tried to carry a canvas bag full of squash to a car that is parked approximately where the old Sears used to be. I remember when you could pull right up. I remember it vividly. I am not saying everything was better then. I am saying that was better then.
Anyway. The ballot. April 14, you get it. April 28, you return it. Drop boxes are available across Pierce County if you do not trust the mail, which, after a certain incident I will not relitigate here, is a reasonable position to hold. The point is that decisions get made whether or not the people who actually live here show up, and I have spent enough Wednesday mornings writing this column to know that showing up — even just by filling out a form at your kitchen table — is the thing that makes the difference between a place that reflects you and a place that simply happens to you. I feel very strongly about this and I have since before most of the new subdivisions were built, which is saying something.
That's all for this week. You know where to find me.