voice of bainbridge

Precinct canvass report: who voted for/against the KRL levy

The precinct canvass report gives a much more detailed view of who supported/or not the library levy. It would be interesting to have the data in visual/google map like format. I some areas there is a strong support for the public library, in others less so: that could lead to increased differences as some communities appear more willing to invest than others. in fact only Bainbridge and Poulsbo (by a small margin) voted in favor of the levy. It is also interesting to look again at the result of the May 2007 ballot where the levy was defeated while the participation was much lower (42,67%) but the percentages similar: 45,55% for the Yes and 54,45% for the No.

It takes one to make a million. The lesson of AAA for KRL

AAA Washington hits the million-member mark: in their Journey magazine Erik Lucas explains how the organization slowly built its membership. That reminds me of the challenge ahead for Kitsap Regional Library: how can KRL turn its almost 200K car holders into voluntarily pledging members? As for now, the KRL Foundation has about 1800 contributing donors (1% of the cardholders) that gave about $120K in 2010. I do not include one legacy (of $120K) and one 25K grant from the Walmart Foundation. The challenge -as I see it- is to get most of the cardmembers (not 1%) to pledge and donate at least $10 per year for a fundraising goal of $2 million. If you are interested by this challenge and helping to make it happen, let me know: I think it is up to us/you, the "average" card-holders to take the initiative and the responsibility to try to make it happen. Thank you in advance.

KUOW investigates hospitals high rollers in Puget Sound area

How much are paid the CEOs of local "not-for profit" hospitals. Here is the link. Here is the list (pdf format)

Self-perpetuating boards

While looking at the compensation of executives in Health Insurance "Not-for-Profit" corporations or Hospitals I have wondered about the governance of those organizations. It looked like the Board of Directors was omnipotent (most of the time). But how were the members of the Board chosen? It seems that in most cases the board members simply chose themselves: this is the system of the self-perpetuating board where all the power is concentrated within board members that are only accountable to themselves.

A few comments about BITV

The Islander publishes an article about the fate of Bainbridge Island TV. A few years ago, I had a few meetings with BITV people about developing a local radio station (as Vashon Island does with Voice of Vashon). They did not want it and went exclusively for TV. I think it was a big strategic mistake as radio would reach much more people for a reduced investment. The present crisis should be an opportunity to revive a local radio project and to operate TV production with volunteers at a much lower cost.

The gap between rich and poor is a baby killer

Another provocative article (this time from Canada) about the consequences of the huge gap increase in wealth between the ultra-rich and the rest of the population. Most interesting the end of it where people in the US choose a more swedish like model but still vote against more equalitarian taxes.