Opponents of Pierce County's partnership ordinance fail

Opponents of Pierce County's partnership ordinance fail

Bigots lack required signatures for ballot measure to repeal law by Josh Freides - Courtesy of Equal Rights Washington On Wednesday, April 23, a small group of ultra-conservative activists seeking to repeal Pierce County's Domestic Partnership Ordinance failed to turn in the 25,361 valid signatures necessary to qualify the measure for the November 2008 ballot. In December of 2007, the Pierce County Council passed Ordinance 2007-108, extending benefits to county employees' domestic partners and eligible children. While the ordinance covers both Gay and straight employees, these benefits are particularly important to Gay and Lesbian county workers who cannot secure basic rights for their partners through civil marriage. If successful, the signature gathering effort would have led to a ballot initiative aimed at preventing the families of Gay county employees from being eligible for such basic benefits as health insurance. "This is yet another sign that the citizens of Pierce County believe all families should be treated equally - that equal work should be compensated by equal pay and benefits, no matter who you are," said John McCluskey, longtime Tacoma civil rights advocate. "The people of Pierce County are fair-minded and will not be conned by the scare tactics and false information spread by the radical right." The Pierce County Council did the right thing by passing the Pierce County Domestic Partnership Ordinance, thereby ensuring that all employees will receive the same pay and benefits for doing the same work. The voters have validated that decision overwhelmingly by refusing to sign petitions to overturn the measure. The Pierce County Domestic Partnership Ordinance is very much in keeping with trends in Washington State supporting working families. At least 17 other county and city governments in Washington have adopted similar measures, including King County, Thurston County, and the city of Tacoma, which recently granted similar benefits to city employees through contract negotiations. Same-sex couples presently can register as domestic partners with Washington State, and on March 12 Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law the Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill, which provides registered domestic partners in Washington an additional 170 legal protections at the state level. Registered domestic partners in Washington State are now eligible to receive nearly 200 of the 1400 legal rights and responsibilities of marriage. As healthcare costs soar, family healthcare benefits have become an increasingly large portion of employee compensation packages. "This is simply the right thing to do - to treat all county employees equally," said John Ladenburg, County Executive. "Not only is it the fair thing to do, it also makes good business sense. Employees can perform their jobs better knowing that their families are secure." As testament to the fact that domestic partner benefits are a smart business move, over 600 Washington businesses, including more than half of Fortune 500 companies, have extended these critical health and other financial benefits to employees in domestic partnerships, including Amazon, Costco, Boeing, Starbucks, Weyerhaeuser, and many others. The failure of the effort to overturn domestic partnership benefits proves that Pierce County voters are dedicated to ensuring that all families have the ability to be financially secure with access to affordable health care, pensions, and death benefits.

The Raconteurs give fans intimate thrill at Neumos

The Raconteurs give fans intimate thrill at Neumos By Jessica Price - SGN A & E Writer The Raconteurs April 21 Neumos Without much fanfare or advance warning, The Raconteurs played a very big deal and low-key show at Neumos last week. The evening served as a bit of a warm-up gig and followed the similarly under-publicized release of the foursome's second release, Consolers of The Lonely. But if you're Jack White, you don't need a whole lot of flattery to sell tickets or CDs. You just have to show up, and the hordes of rock and roll worshippers will appear. This was certainly the case at Neumos last week. Paired with fellow singer-guitarist Brendan Benson, bassist Jack Lawrence, and drummer Patrick Keeler, the sum of these parts equates to a band of top-notch brothers. Seeing them live adds a whole new depth to their impressive two albums' worth of material. During scorchers like "Salute Your Solution" White is content to stand back and allow the rest of the band to get the spotlight they deserve. Benson and White traded off vocal duties and tore things up with very little effort. "Five on the Five" and "Hold Up" were searing throwdowns. The set was heavy on new material, and equally heavy on the expensive, shiny guitars. From up in the rafters where I was perched, I could drool over White's amazing collection of pedals (oddly, all a shiny bronze color) and a lot of fancy gear such as a guitar with a removable microphone and a built-in theremin. No, I'm not kidding. Having not flooded the press with advance copies of the record (which was actually rush-released within a month of its completion), the set list was a little hard to put together but I can tell you that the fresh material is definitely kicked up a notch from the first CD. It's like the four were in a pressure cooker and the end result is a more cohesive, focused sound than the debut. It's blisteringly good stuff and not quite as split personality as the older record, which seemed to switch between heavy rock (clearly Jack White's influence) and more Beatles-esque harmonics (Brendan Benson). "Rich Kid Blues", a 60's cover, got me thinking about the irony of the lyrics considering White's gradual and well-deserved catapult into bonafide rock god status, especially with his recent Rolling Stone cover flanked by good friends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. There's no doubt White is a true genius, and the packed house at Neumos seemed to share an awareness of being in the presence of greatness, however humble and played-down the star might choose to be. He's amazingly talented, there's no denying it. The four plugged away at song after song from Consolers, before settling into familiar tracks from Broken Boy Soldiers. "Intimate Secretary" and "Steady As She Goes" threw the crowd into a frenzy. "Blue Veins" showcased White's total ease with the blues, and all in all, the entire set and brief encore were a non-stop assault of brilliance. I felt very lucky to be there, as did the 600+ others in attendance. Although I'm sure that tiny club dates such as this will be few and far between for The Raconteurs, the set will translate to arena and outdoor festivals perfectly this summer. The Raconteurs are not just a side project; they're a perfectly balanced, amazing rock and roll band that will blow you away.