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Focus - June 1999
Inquiry of the Week
This week's "Inquiry of the Week":
[Previous inquiries of the week]
Rights of Reservists Called to Active Duty
The conflict in Kosovo has resulted in many reservists being called to active duty. A lot of employers are uncertain about their obligations to employees who are reservists or members of the National Guard. Employers last focused on this issue in 1991, when thousands of reservists were called to active duty during the Gulf War. More …
Pension Contribution Rate Reductions Effective July 1
Last year, the State Actuary and the Director of the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) recommended rate reductions for both the PERS and LEOFF pension systems, to be effective September 1, 1999. In a bit of a surprise move, the effective date has been moved up to July 1. More …
New Law Prohibits Malicious Use of Laser Devices
A new state law (SHB 2086) makes it a crime to "knowingly and maliciously" point a laser device at law enforcement officers, fire fighters, bus drivers, and certain other public employees while they are performing their official duties. We're aware that a number of cities have been considering adoption of local ordinances on this subject. The new state law appears to address most of the safety concerns that have been raised by police officers and other public employees, so a local ordinance may not be necessary. If, however, you want to prosecute these offenses in municipal court you would have to adopt the state law by reference.
Liquor Control Board Adopts "Alcohol Impact Area" Rules
The Washington State Liquor Control Board recently adopted new rules (effective July 9, 1999) that allow the Board upon request by a local jurisdiction to designate certain areas as "Alcohol Impact Areas" (AIA). An AIA is an area within a city, town or county that is adversely affected by chronic public inebriation or illegal activity associated with alcohol sales or consumption. In specific circumstances the Board may restrict retailers in an AIA from selling certain types of alcohol products or alcohol product containers for off-premises consumption, or the hours of operation for off-premises alcohol sales.
Local jurisdictions must adopt an ordinance that includes documentation to show the community is experiencing a pervasive problem with public intoxication or consumption of alcohol within specified areas and that voluntary efforts to control the problem have failed.
More information is available on the Liquor Control Board Web site.
Hot Off the Press
Take a look at the latest in our series of MRSC Focus publications: "Use
of Hearing Examiners by Cities and Counties in Washington." (
74kb) "Hearing Examiners" discusses the pros and cons of using a hearing examiner,
how to establish a hearing examiner system, and options for smaller counties
and cities.
The More FAQs the Better ...
We've added more questions and answers to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) database to help you find the information you're looking for. The FAQs database contains many of the same questions and answers that have been featured in the "Ask MRSC" section of our print newsletter. Browse by subject to review several related FAQs, or, if you want to zero in on a particular topic, do a key-word search. Read all of them … we'll have a quiz next week.
New MRSC Compilations
Check out our new Right-Of-Way Use Permits and Park Rules and Regulations ordinance compilations.
Court Upholds Tacoma's 6% Utility Tax on Paging Services
The April 16th Court of Appeals decision in Western Telepage, Inc. v. City of Tacoma examined Tacoma's 1995 ordinance and reviewed the statutory definitions of "telephone business" and "network telephone service." The court ruling clarifies how paging services are classified for tax purposes. Examine your current telephone tax code provisions. You should be able to collect your telephone tax from paging companies. Your city or town attorney should review your current code provisions to see if amendments are needed to clarify the issue before you send letters out to the paging companies regarding collection of this tax.
New Shoreline Management Act Regulations Proposed
The Department of Ecology has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of its Shoreline Management Act regulations governing local shoreline master programs. The proposed regulations are designed to make it easier to integrate shoreline and growth management plans, to help make shoreline master programs more effective in managing shoreline and environmental resources, and to implement the shoreline management component of the Governor's Salmon Recovery Strategy addressing Endangered Species Act requirements. The public comment period on the proposed regulations is now open and will close June 21, 1999. The proposed regulations are viewable through the State Register or through the Department of Ecology's Web page.
Web Sightings
This month we feature links to various Washington state, city and county arts related Web sites:
- Washington State Arts Commission -
provides information on grants programs, art in public places, community arts
development (technical assistance), a
directory of Washington arts councils and commissions, and more.
- King County Office
of Cultural Resources - Includes links to King County arts, heritage,
public art and education programs and an "Index
to Programs" page.
- Seattle Arts Commission
- Includes information on SAC's public art, arts organizations, and arts education
programs, plus technical assistance and publications, and a collection of
significant art links.
-
Tacoma Culture and Tourism Division - Includes links to the Tacoma Arts Commission,
an arts and heritage guide, public art, and cultural services grants.
- Vancouver Cultural Plan - "The Cultural plan is the result of input received from more than 600 people during the duration of the planning process, and as such, represents the collective direction of the city's arts, cultural, and heritage communities and key leaders representing other key sectors of the city."
Selected New MRSC Library Materials
Browse through a selected list of new MRSC Library materials (listed by subject). The list includes new library books, videos, articles, government publications, and more.
Get MRSC Web Site Updates by E-mail
You can get a monthly e-mail notifying you of selected updates to MRSC's Web site by subscribing to the mrscweb mailing list (listserv). Simply type: subscribe mrscweb your name in the body of the message, and press "send" (leave the subject line blank). You may have your name removed from the list at any time by following the directions in the welcome message you will receive after subscribing.
Unlike most listservs, mrscweb is not a discussion list to which all subscribers may post messages, but a free subscription to a monthly notice updating you on major changes and additions to the MRSC Web site. If you have questions about this listserv, please contact Terri Sanders, MRSC Information Services Technician, at tsanders@mrsc.org.