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Making your vote count

Pierce County Auditor, Julie Anderson, is talking to seniors about voting.  Not that seniors have problems voting, seniors vote in droves (at least 79 percent of individuals over 65 in the last election) compared to the rest of the population but there are special considerations for senior voters.  So Anderson is going to places seniors live and gather and giving seniors a chance to see the inner workings of the Pierce County Auditor’s Office.

Anderson’s job as auditor involves animal control, elections, public records and licensing, “I do everything but audit.”  She likes to tell people she’s the only Pierce County official with a horse trailer.  With 507 elected officials in Pierce County and 124 jurisdictions, by far the most scrutinized aspect of her job involves elections.  Every piece of equipment has to be certified and certification takes on average two years.  “With 39 counties in Washington, there would be 39 different types of elections if we didn’t have standardization,” Anderson tells her audiences.  Still, over 170 election laws changed as a result of Washington’s 2004 election for governor.

Every ballot’s signature gets compared to an electronic version of the voter’s signature as the first step to getting counted.  If a voter doesn’t sign the ballot, the elections office sends a letter or calls to “cure” the ballot.  “That’s why,” said Anderson, “its’ important to give a phone number.”  Your voter registration is public information so it isn’t covered by any of the envelopes contained in your voter’s packet but phone numbers and e-mail are not public so they are covered.  Medications, disabilities, disease and age can change signatures so they should be updated as needed.  Signatures can even be an X but the elections office must have on record that that’s your mark.  Computers and trained election staff compare your signature to what’s on file.

When election officials remove your ballot from its outside envelope as the next step, the two holes punched through that envelope help guarantee that nothing remains in that envelope.  All the empty envelopes are grouped and threaded with zip ties to ensure that nothing is left behind.

The inside envelope also contains holes but those holes serve to reduce weight so the cost of postage is less.

Once the ballot has been removed, election workers look for stray marks such as circled or multiple selections.  If stray marks exist, the ballots are set aside and stamped with a unique seven digit number.  A second ballot is pulled that must be the exact blank ballot, (there are 382 precincts and therefore 382 unique types of ballots) and the serial number from the original is written on the new ballot.  Two election workers prepare the new ballot, one reading, the second marking and a second team of two will repeat the process all under observation from political party observers.  The purpose of all those people is to determine voter intent.

Anderson wants everyone who wants to vote to do so.  One way to make that possible is through the use of voting centers.  There are five voting centers open the day prior to Election Day and Election Day.  Voting centers provide voters with assistive devices such as touch screens, audio ballot or other assistance.  “You get to decide how much assistance you want.  You’re in the driver’s seat,” said Anderson.

Anderson said that spouses and family members will sometimes get frustrated that voter information continues to come to someone with a degenerative disease that makes voting difficult or unlikely.  The only way to get off the voter role is by request from the voter or a declaration from a judge that the voter is not competent.  It’s against the law to fill out the ballot for someone else even with a power of attorney.

Carol Murdock rips open a sample voter's ballot.
Left: Carol Murdock and Jessica Ho tear off the secrecy flap on fake voters ballots during a speech by Julie Anderson at Harbor Place at Cottesmore, a retirement facility in Gig Harbor. Anderson's speech is part of a county wide effort to update signatures and talk about proper voting procedures especially as they pertain to seniors.
Bonnie Dickson by — February 22, 2012 in Spotlight

Tacoma Art Museum 10th Northwest BiennialThe 10th Northwest Biennial will be on view through May 20 at the Tacoma Art Museum.  The exhibit features 30 Pacific Northwest artists and encompasses a wide array of art forms including mixed media installations, video and sound works as well as more traditional art forms.  The works endeavor to define what it means to be a part of the cultures and communities of the Pacific Northwest.

Matt McCormick’s Great Northwest features video, ephemeral and color photographs to re-explore a 1958 road trip taken by four Seattle women.  McCormick found their scrapbook at a thrift shop.  The hefty volume meticulously documented their 3,200-mile adventure in a time before the interstate system.  The artist videotaped their trip to contrast the inevitable changes to places and people over time.

Susie Lee’s portraits of residents of a long-term care facility in Seattle seem so real they breathe.  It takes a moment to realize that the images are in fact beautifully lighted video images of individuals, providing the subject with respect and dignity as we peek unobtrusively into the inevitability of death.

The works in this exhibit were meant to be heard and interacted with.  No photographic image stuck in a book can prepare the viewer adequately for watching Jin-me Yoon prostrate on a skateboard-type structure as she pulls herself slowly and painfully through the busy streets and back alleys of Seoul, South Korea.  As people stare through and around her busily pretending that something bizarre had not just occurred, it’s difficult to remain unaffected by the thought that so many others are ignored in much the same way.

Definitely check out the exhibit.  It’s free on Third Thursday or if you have a Tacoma Public Library card get a pass from the library and take someone with you.

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Bonnie Dickson by — February 7, 2012 in Spotlight

Smitty, wearing an EmSeeQ device is "found" by Pierce County Sheriff's Department personnel.
Grant "Smitty" Smith who portrayed an Alzheimer's patient in a recent practice chats with Shanna Hudson and Tommie Nicodemus of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department after being "found".

Grant “Smitty” Smith walked away from his group Jan. 12 while they shopped at the Tacoma Mall.  Smitty, a 74-year old, balding, adult, white male was described as having Alzheimer’s Disease and missing from the group for possibly as long as 30 minutes.  The outside temperatures hovered in the mid-30s.  Luckily for Smitty, being lost was an exercise to demonstrate a new piece of equipment that might mean the difference between life and death for individuals with Alzheimer’s, Autism, brain injury or other cognitive difficulties.

While a 911 operator took the call and passed the information on to Pierce County Search and Rescue and Sheriff’s department personnel, an EmSeeQ, a watch-sized tracking device Smitty wore on his wrist was activated and three cell towers in Tacoma triangulated Smitty’s location.  With a 30-minute head start, Smitty took a bus from the transit center at the Tacoma Mall and headed towards Tacoma Community College (TCC).  Tommie Nicodemus with Pierce County Search and Rescue and Shanna Hudson with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department were surprised to find that the individual they thought would be on foot was moving rapidly towards Fircrest.  Smitty meanwhile had gotten cold and hungry and walked into a McDonald’s.  After buying a Big Mac, Smitty was off towards the transit center at TCC.  By then Nicodemus and Hudson were able to deduce where he was headed and contacted Pierce Transit to hold their buses for two minutes until they arrived.  Approximately 30 minutes after the initial phone call was made, Smitty, a volunteer with Search and Rescue was “safe”.

In a world filled with the threat of exposure, drowning, or accidents, the ability to quickly recover an individual may be the difference between a scare and a horror.  Sgt Trent Stephens, a supervisor with Pierce County Sheriff’s Department who has been involved with Search and Rescue for 10 years and an advocate for EmFinders for years said that some of the most vulnerable people cannot help themselves.  Concern for those individuals has led to a collaborative effort between several local agencies in Pierce County to support a system called EmFinders.  Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor defined Search and Rescue as involving “uncertainty and danger.”  EmFinders reduces that uncertainty and danger, he added.

EmFinders utilizes cellular technology rather than GPS.  The benefit of cellular over GPS is that GPS does not work inside buildings or heavily wooded areas as it needs a clear line of sight said Harry Smeenk, EmFinders vice president.  EmSeeQ is basically a cell phone, which, when activated calls 911 and then gives longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates to within 50 feet to 911 operators utilizing all available cell towers regardless of their vendor.  Those operators are then able to tell police and fire department personnel local street locations.  EmFinders has successfully rescued 98 individuals with an average time of 17 minutes.  To protect individual’s privacy, EmSeeQ is not activated until an emergency is reported.

Project LOCATE is a program of PAVE that began this month.  PAVE, a nonprofit organization that supports families with loved ones with disabilities will sell the device and provide training to parents, professionals and community members to increase support for the device.  Paula McCullough, a parent advocate and PAVE volunteer championed the need for EmFinder in Pierce County to locate loved ones prone to wandering.  McCullough said that autistic children like her son Tanner are especially prone to bolting and hopes other families follow suit with acquiring one of the devices.  “Taking Tanner out in public is scary to say the least,” she said.   “We probably hear of our elderly wandering more often than our disabled children.  I’m really excited to see it used in that arena as well,” she said.  “Older individuals have the additional problem with being frail,” she added.

Through funding provided by Pierce County Community Connections, scholarships for some devices are available.  ARC of Washington also presented PAVE with a check for $500 for additional scholarships.  To be eligible for a scholarship, individuals must be a Pierce County resident, be currently eligible for services from the Division of Developmental Disabilities and can prove financial need.

Private citizens can contact PAVE but Paul Calta, a supervisor with Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) recommended that the aging population that already has a case manager should talk to their case manager about the possibility of it being treated by the Community Options Program Entry System (COPES) like that program already treats special beds or Lifeline.  Family caregivers (unpaid caregivers) that aren’t part of the COPES program can still check out the website at www.projectlocate.org for information on the price of the device and EmFinders Service Plan.

If you would like to make a donation to the program, you can do so by phone at (253) 565-2266 or contact them at PAVE, Attn: Project LOCATE, 6316 South 12thSt, Tacoma, WA 98465.

Bonnie Dickson by — January 12, 2012 in Spotlight
Reader Theater hits it big at Lighthouse Activity Center

Delores A. Forester pops out to surprise Mary Korthof in a presentation featuring a mouse and a bear.

Julie Collins, a volunteer at Lighthouse Activity Center in Tacoma, is very excited about the new reader theater program she started at the center.

Collins, a retired nurse from Western State Hospital, said she had run the program at Western State as well, and the patients loved it. She was nearly moved to tears when a patient who was participating in Reader theater enjoyed it so much he said, “I finally did something right.”

Seeing the positive results, Collins approached Michelle Williams, Lighthouse Activity Center Supervisor, with the idea of implementing the program there.

“It is an outlet for creative expression,” explained Williams, “a safe place for people to do that.”

Seniors who participate in the program at Lighthouse are extremely enthusiastic about reading the plays and getting into the act. Clamoring for lead parts, they perform on a regular basis and have a large following of folks acting as the audience, an important part of the production.

Reader Theater is described as a dramatic presentation of written work in script form. Collins uses children’s stories and turns them into scripts, improvising to keep things inexpensive.

No memorization is required and costumes are not necessary, although the folks at Lighthouse like to bring items from home to enhance their performances.

Collins said they started out with four or five interested participants, and now there are 15 or 20. “This is the third time we’ve done it,” she said. “They are energetic and gung ho.”

Reader Theater is used throughout grade schools to help students improve their reading skills, but at Lighthouse it gives adults a chance to act out, become more involved and release their inner child.

The focus is on reading the text with expressive voices and gestures. The actors at Lighthouse have that part down pat, using voice inflection and humor.

At a recent performance, Delores Forester played the part of a doctor and came equipped with a hat, a meat thermometer as a prop and band aids, which were actually gum, that she passed out to audience members.

“I was in drama in high school,” said Forester. “I like the human interaction. I’m sort of a drama queen.”

The play the group read was “The Boy who was Followed Home,” adapted from a story written by Margaret Mahy.   Collins called the adaptation “The Man who was Followed Home.” The readers were anxious to perform as they trooped in holding props and stood in a child’s rubber swimming pool.

Loretta Okonek said she liked meeting new people and making new friends, and Hazel Nute said the play was “new and different.  A lot of fun.”
After the play, amid applause from the audience members, Collins said, “The production crew exceeded my expectations and provided all the props.”

Collins enjoys the interaction as well and added, “We just laugh at our own silliness.”

More Information: Being a ham is perfectly acceptable but if you don’t want to act, you can also be involved in staging, rehearsal and the performance.  Reader’s Theater meets on Tuesdays from 12:45 to 2 p.m.  Everyone is welcome.  No acting experience necessary.  Call Michele for more information 591-5080.

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Joan Cronk by — November 23, 2011 in Spotlight