Is the Nebraska experiment ending and seeds of secession being planted in the state Department of Corrections?
That buzz began Friday when Corrections Secretary Harold Clarke announced he hired Eldon Vail for a newly created position of chief deputy secretary.
Vail is well-recognized and widely respected in the department, where he worked for 31 years before retiring in May 2006 as deputy secretary of prisons.
Vail’s name will appear on the management flow chart below Clarke’s and above those of the department’s three deputy secretaries.
That’s enough to ignite speculation and anticipation of Clarke’s future.
Gov. Chris Gregoire made Clarke one of her first cabinet appointees when she hired him from the Cornhusker state in 2005.
Publicly, she’s repeatedly praised him and defended his running of the department. Privately, she’s been increasingly far less joyous in his performance.
There have been occasions like the early release of convicted criminals from jails in Snohomish and King counties that became a public relations debacle.
There have been matters like the disputes between the city of Monroe and the department on unpaid bills that become frustrating irritations.
There have been headaches like the expressions of lost confidence from lawmakers and the department rank-and-file that become political.
Clarke enjoys Gregoire’s backing. For how long is a question ripe for contemplation.
The future may become clearer soon.
Vail begins work Monday.
* * *
Congestion is the incurable canker sore afflicting the Puget Sound.
Its pain increases more and spreads faster every year, according to a $1.7 million audit released this week on the state Department of Transportation’s effort to ease the suffering.
This report criticizes some past medications from lawmakers and suggests other ones worth digesting in the future.
Tucked away in the 226 pages is a plug for a multibillion-dollar treatment under immediate consideration by voters in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.
It’s Proposition 1, a remedy designed in the laboratories of Sound Transit and the Regional Transportation Investment District.
It boosts the local sales tax and increases car tab fees. Money raised will pay for a bundle of new roads and extension of light-rail service throughout the three counties.
Swallowing this pill, auditors said, will lead to less severe suffering in two decades.
Auditors calculated gridlock now causes 258,000 hours of delay each day for drivers and it will reach 667,000 hours in 2028. But if projects in Proposition 1 are built, it will mean 155,000 fewer hours of delay.
Voters will start deciding this week.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield’s column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be heard at 8 a.m. Monday on the Morning Show on KSER 90.7 FM. He can be reached at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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