May 3, 2023 • 40 mins
Senator Mark Mullet stops by the show to explain why WA is tapping into the youth athletic fund to renovate minor league baseball stadiums across the state. After the discussion Puck and Jim react to what Mark had said, and we close the show with Ian Furness as he shares what's going on for his show.
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Episode Transcript
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Final out of the radio program Buckingthe go to guy with you here on
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On Thursday, Twin Peaks watch partywith Bucky Jacobson. Go check out
Bucky at Twin Peaks. Coming upof this Thursday, All right, Joining
us right now on the Beacon plumbinga hot line. We just kind of
recap the I Knows version of itin our last segment. Joining us right
now. He is a senator fromIzaqua. Senator Mark Mullett joins us here
on the Beacon plumbing Hotline, leaderof the Senate's Capital Budget also Vice Chair
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of the Senate Ways and Means Community. Senator Mullett, thank you for carving
at the time today. Hey,thanks for having me on. I appreciate
it. Let's where why are weat this point right now? And I
guess we all know the particulars ofthe deal that was a prove back in
nineteen ninety seven, a part ofthe Seahawks three hundred million dollars in public
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bonds to build the statement that wasvoted on by the public. So let's
just start here. Why is theforty two million that was earmarked for this
back in twenty twenty one, whyis it not all being spent on youth
fields and upgrades? Well, Ithink that's the all time story to me.
Was kind of looking for a littlecontroversy. To me, this is
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always always about what's the best wayto use your money in the sense of
timing of money. And to makeit clear, the capital budget that passed
put twenty five million dollars in thespecific program plus another ten and a half
million dollars in our current use athleticfacility program. And the big difference that
happened is we had forty two millionin cash the new program My experience as
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new programs take a long time tokind of get the money out of the
door and get up and running,and it is like a small business owner,
like our own pizza restaurant, icecream store, it makes no sense
to have cash sitting there. TheMajor League Baseball requirement is much more time
sensitive, like that money is goingto get spent right away. So the
basic premise was you use the moneyon the fields that's sitting in cash,
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so you don't have to issue moneyand start paying interest on it for the
fields until as late as possible.But both programs in the end budget got
funded. And when the Sale ofTimes reporter called me, it's kind of
frustrating because he called on the daythe budget was coming out, and I
said, you know, there's twentyfive million dollars in the budget for the
program you're talking about, like it'sgoing to be public. How much of
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the of the twenty five million dollarsis from the forty two million dollars that
was earmarked because they of that money. But I'm saying that you get you
can pay with stuff through cash,or you can pay with stuff through bonds
and bonds you obviously pay interest on, so the programs are still getting funded.
They're just getting funded through the bondproceeds, so that way you're paying
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interest later as opposed to paying interesttoday. Like the money for the improvement
to those public fields for the MajorLeague Baseball requirements, that money's gonna go
out to do a really quick becausethey're gonna start making those improvements like once
this season ends in September or whatever, when the farm leak season ends.
And so I think the Salt Timesis creating I thought their article was creating
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a lot of controversy when at theend of the day, the money's like
you're taking cash out or you're puttingbonds in, and so the end of
the day, the programs are stillgetting funded. And I think that's the
reason I wanted to be in yourshow because I felt like that wasn't clear
from the Seattle Times article, andI just wanted to kind of set the
record straight that it makes a lotmore business sense if you have cash sitting
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somewhere. Just think about as ahomeowner, like you want to charge money
in your credit card, if youhave money sitting in your checking account,
you want to put something in yourcredit card as late as possible. And
to me, this new program,the dollar's going to go out later.
I'd rather pay for those with bondsand use the cash to pay for the
stuff that we know it's going ButSentator Mullet. But back in nineteen ninety
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seven, when which the voters inthis state, in this county approved three
hundred million dollars in bonds the public, it was explicitly stated, the public
was promised that once the stadium debtwas retired, the leftover money would be
deposited into a dedicated fund to buildand maintain youth athletic facilities. That's what
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Paul Allen, the lay Paul Allenwanted, and he put his money where
his mouth was because he put tenmillion dollars own money in there. You
and the Senate went in and amendedthat to fund minor league stadiums that are
indirectly and directly managed by Major LeagueBaseball clubs that are worth billions of dollars.
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So, and what I don't andI'm going to push you on this
one because this doesn't make sense tome. So you're saying that there's a
cash, there's cash, immediately tomake improvements to Tri Cities, because that's
what we're talking about, the bigones here, Tri Cities, Spokane,
Tacoma, and Everett. Well,the Everett project's not going to be done
for years. That's a brand newstate, definite, is okay, the
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one that's furthest out, I think, Remember there's seven other fields. Sure,
but well, let me let mefinish, me, let me interrupt,
let me finish my point. Thatmoney that could be spent on youth
fields, it's not like you cantake You can't take that money that you
would have available to you right now. I could identify three fields in which
my neighborhood is that could get rightaway without money and have those fields turned
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around at a greater pace than Tacoma, a greater pace than Tri Cities,
and certainly a greater pace than Spokenand every So that doesn't really hold that
you're just giving them the money becauseit's a higher priority because Major League Baseball
wants it. Correct. I fundamentallydisagree with that. I'm saying, like,
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you can pay with stuff with cash, or you can pay with stuff
with bonds. At the end ofthe day, you're going to fund the
projects, then why not do thatfor the minor league teams, then just
then pay for the pay for thebonds, then pay for the minor league
up with the bonds. When yousay, like you have a local thing
that wants an improvement, like Ihave six kids, like they all play
sports, Like I don't think anybodywere devoted disappointing youth sports, and I
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am given how many youth sports activitieswe spend our time driving to the end
of the day, is they're gonnaget the exact same money they were gonna
get before. They're just going toget that money through bonds. And when
you say you have a local improvement, like my experiences, when you set
up a brand new grant program likethis, and now you've created different areas
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throughout the state, and you haveto create people who are going to look
at the grant and decide who getsthe money, all that stuff takes a
lot of time. And so thethought process, which ended up being the
final version of the budget, waswe will use the cash for the projects
that we think we're going to goout of the door. As you accurately
pointed out that Everett is the oneproject because they can't keep playing with the
Aqua Fox Play. They basically determinedthat stadium cannot be saved as far as
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the MLB is concerned, and sothey're gonna have to find a new arena.
Hopefully it's close to Angela Wins indowntown Everett there, and that money
I think will have a longer leadtime and going out the door. But
if the city of ever ends upbuying a parcel, like they could buy
that parcel as soon as next year, who knows, right, And so
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that money will be used for thatpurpose, And so I think it will
still end up getting out the doorin a fairly kindly fashion because there is
definitely a much more sense of urgencyto avoid getting kicked out of the firm
system major leagues. And yeah,but that's that's the root of it.
But Center Mulle, that's the rootof the issue here. You are putting
major league franchises above kids because majorLeague Baseball, because Major League Baseball has
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demanded that these improvements to these stadiumsbe finished or in the process of being
finished by twenty twenty five. Isthat correct? Right? That's no,
no, no, yes, CentMullet is Center Mullet. Is it correct
that Major League Baseball wants these facilitiesupgraded by twenty twenty five, yes or
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no? Okay, So you areputting these projects because there are a project
for pet project for you because SenatorMajority Leader and he Billig owns one of
the teams, and so we havejust pushed these guys is to the front
of the line in lieu of themoney that was explicitly I mean, I
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can't be more clear about the languageof that nineteen ninety seven bond. It
couldn't be more clear, Senator Mullet. Explicitly for youth athletic fields, never
mentioned for minor league fields, nevermentioned for professional franchises. But let's be
clear here, Let's be clear whenthat money. When we get to July
first, that's the day when youcan issue bonds from the capital budget that
just passed. We have tens ofmillions of dollars for this program, for
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the one you're talking about, they'regoing to be available for bonds. And
what I'm saying is when they actuallyask us to issue those bonds bay for
those programs, I think it's goingto be later. I think the first
request we get will probably be inthe second half of twenty twenty four is
my guest that could be wrong.I'm not saying I'm always right, but
I'm telling you all about when therequest for the programs, you're gonna say,
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hey, we're ready to go.Now we need the money. And
it's not a question of who's ahigher priority. Everyone is going to get
the money whenever they asked for themoney. So if they came to me
and said, hey, we're readyfor those projects, we're ready on July
first, let's go, they wouldget their money on July first. They're
not going to get delayed. Andso I think there's a lot of controversies
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that's being created here. But Idon't understand where the controversy is coming from.
Because we funded the program. Well, that that would completely contradicted the
folks that I talked to at thegrant program who said to me that that
grant program was ready to go oncethe budget was passed. Do you deny
that? Is that false on theirpart? Well, and their money will
be accessible as of July first,all forty two million dollars of it.
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Well, at this point on Julyfirst, it will be I might think
the exact amount will be twenty threemillion will be accessible twenty three, So
only twenty three of the available fortytwo million dollars that they were promised the
rest would be the rest would beaccessible. Now, are you now a
part of that twenty five part ofthat twenty three million dollars? You not
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in you're not including the ten milliondollars they already received every single year part
of the Recreation and Conversation or conversationgrant. Right, yeah, but hey,
that's a that is part of that, So you are including that.
See that's separate. Be clear here, Well, let's be clear here.
I think, first off, Ithink there's anybody in the legislature that's fought
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harder to fund the Youth Have FacilitiesGrant list than I have for all the
reasons I said before. I havesix kids, they all play sports like
I have been the champion of thatlist. And when you say that list
have to be funded, that isfalse. It does not have to be
funded that list. Every budget writerhas a choice of how far they want
to go to that a list.I'm the one that chooses to go down
all the way to the end everytime we do a capital budget, and
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so that list I choose to fullyfund it from before. It's not a
requirement that would be fully funded.Like everything in the capital budget, people
ask for stuff. Most people don'tget everything they ask for. Youth athletic
facilities has gotten everything they ask forbecause I think it's a priority. And
on top of that, you know, either version of the budget did that,
both the House and the Center version, and I understand the Recreation Conservation
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Office was like, well, yeah, that's our current program. We understand
that's clearly relevant. We just wantto have extra money for an additional program.
And we did both. We fundedthe current program and we created money
for the additional program. So there'stwenty five million for the additional program right
now, plus the ten million ofthe program that we've been doing in varying
amounts over the years. Hey,Mark, I've got kids who you know,
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play baseball too, and I'm abig fan of baseball. I've been
to games at Cheney Stadium and upthere watching the aquasocks. Well, why
but I don't. I don't goto these parts and think, man,
they need upgrades, And I mean, why is this so important? I
think some people, this was myargument and legislature. Some people are like,
oh, major League Baseball's bluffing they'renot going to kick them out.
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I think they're wrong. I thinkthose people are divorced in reality, I
think Major League Baseball one hundred percentkick those teams out of the farm league
system. And in my experience,you know, I grew up in Techwilla,
Like I couldn't afford to go toMario's games. I went to Rainier
games and down to Tacoma because itwas a more affordable way. And I
feel if we lose these teams,we're not getting them back, Like we
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saw what hap we lost the Sonicsis taking us fifteen plus years try to
get the Sonics back. I mean, I think once you lose those farm
league teams, like that's a disruption, whether you're talking about every you're talking
about Tri Cities, Tacoma, Spokane. And I'm not willing to be the
person in charge of the budget thatends up being responsible for those teams going
away. Center Mulla. But whatabout Center Mulla? But what about losing
a generation of kids who are seven, eight, nine, ten that go
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to these parks. They're frankly terrible. Half the time we can't play games
because they're reigned out. Now unffortunatelyfor you probably where your kids played at
Doddfield. They could because it's turf. But a lot of these fields are
not turf. In fact, mostof them are not the slight sprinkle at
all, and a game is canceled. I coach a youth team and we've
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had multiple games canceled, multiple practicecanceled. The weather here is horrendous.
Every every available field should be turfed. Part of this reason about getting this
money, this forty two million dollarsfrom and for these groups, was to
for people to get out in play, especially kids kids of color, to
go out and play sports, tohave a place to actually play baseball,
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softball, in other sports. Ontop of that, I was at a
little league game last night in Ballot. In Ballot, which is a you
know, let's ballots at affluent neighborhood, great neighborhood. We don't have issues
that they have in other parts ofthe city or other parts in the state.
But yet the bathroom is permanently closedtheir Senator mullet. Why because it's
been overrun, it's out of date, it hasn't been updated, it's it's
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just not usable at all. Instead, there are two porter potties that are
now for parents, grandparents, kids, boys, girls, They have to
use go on there, spray paintedgraffiti, drugs, everything on top of
that. So I just again,this is where money could go towards those
facilities to upgrade them, to getthem up to a standard that is appropriate
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for kids. So instead of worryingabout, you know, whether we're gonna
have minor league baseball. We allwant minor league baseball still here, but
we want a generation of kids tohave appropriate fields to play baseball on it
not have holes in them in theoutfield where they're turning ankles and chasing flyballs.
Would you not agree with that?And I'm saying the budget we pass
does both. It It keeps herminor league teams and it provides, like
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I said, twenty three million dollarsavailable for all those things you just talked
about as of July first. AndI'll make you the promise right now that
when we get back in January forwhat we call the supplemental session in the
even years, like if they're gettingthrough that money at a quicker pace than
what we expect and they need accessto more money because it's going out the
door, like you say you can, it's gonna go out the door quicker,
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like I am more than happy tocommit to revisiting to speed up the
resources so they don't have a delay. And I will commit to that because
my experience has been new programs andmoney doesn't go out the door as quick
as what you're describing. And maybein this case it would be the first
new program where I'm wrong, andif I am, we will add to
the twenty three million dollars and we'llspeed it up instead of making them wait.
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But that's a flexibility we would havein January if it's actually going out
the door as quick as what yoursenator. Moment, though, you are
playing fast and loose with the numbershere. That ten million dollars you keep
including in the forty two, andyou keep including in the twenty five that
is available to them, that that'sthat's not actually true. They already get
the ten million dollars. What theywant is the actual forty two million that
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was promised on top of that.So it's forty two plus ten. So
it's it's not we're not giving themtwenty five. They already had ten of
five. We gave them twenty five. We gave them twelve and a half
on July first of this and whendoes the other twelve and a half come
on July first of twenty five?Yes, and so they get them two
years. That's how they get theirtwenty five in two years. They get
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the other ten immediately. And sothat was basically you're at thirty five or
thirty six million was basically committed upfront, and as the program goes if
there ends up being like we're alwayscurious to see when new programs launch,
like how they work, How efficientare they getting the money out the door?
How would you know if they worked? They were ready to launch on
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the budget pass, but you didnever You never gave them the money to
launch their project, So how wouldyou know we did, but we did
give them the money. They're they'rehaving the money to launch the project on
July first, but again you're notgiving them the full money that was earmarked
to them back in nineteen ninety seven. You said something in the paper to
move on that diverting this money wasokay because demands for public construction across the
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state is quote A publicly owned stadiumsthat do get used, These communities use
these stadiums. Minor league stadiums arejust more time sensitive. You do understand,
right? I mean do you thinklike Cheny Stadium and Everett and Try
Cities, that's a publicly that's apublic stadium. Do you think it's publicly
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Yeah? So let me ask yousomething. So can you and me?
You, me, your your son, your daughter, and my son and
daughter? Can we go to ChenyStadium right now, grab our mitts,
grab a bucket of balls and godo BP right now? So no,
no, no, no, it'sjust a simple question. I can't answer
that. Yes, you can't answerbecause Senator Mullett, can you and me
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right now since you think it's apublicly owned park, that's what you said
in the paper. Can you andme go to Cheny Stadium right now and
go play BP? Yes? Orno? We can't. But we can't
because it's I'm going to school FerrisHigh School with the one playing that the
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exact weekend ever, their article iswritten. Okay, exactly how much did
Ferris High School? How much doesFerris High School pay to play there?
I don't know what. I'll tellyou what the feast because Centre Mollet I
have the numbers. I know howmuch they paid, I know how much
the high school teams pay to playin these stadiums. I'll give you an
example. When you play at ChenieStadium, you have to raise money to
actually play at Chenie Stadium. Theyjust don't open up the gates and say
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come on in and play now.It would be nice if they did then,
but they are a business. Theyoperate for profit an income. That's
why it's not a public park.And so teams, each team to play
one game at Chenie Stadium has toraise five thousand dollars both teams. So
to play one baseball game at yourpublicly owned park that you claim is ten
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thousand dollars for the schools, doesthat seem fair? It's the same,
it would be the same issue.Well, then find out what high school
play it like the weekend after thearticle came out, what did Ferriss High
School pay to play that? Well, a similar fee. It's it's it's
not a it's not a public park. It's owned by the Spokane Indians,
it's run by them, it's ownedby the city. I understand that just
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like Tacoma is Senator Mullet. Theyjust don't open up the doors for the
high school teams for free. That'snot how it works. You understand that,
correct? Please say you do yourexample over here. It could be
accurate, But I'm curious. Ijust want to hear those same examples for
the Tri Cities Park, for theEverett Everytt Park. But I'm using,
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but I'm using Cheney Stadium, thatis getting three million dollars of your money
that you claim as a public parkthat anybody can use. And I'm telling
you, I spoke to a coachthis morning that gave me those exact numbers.
So um, it's not a publicpark. It's it's it's just not.
It's not the same as me goingdown to Doddfield or Gilman Park and
Ballard or Soundview Park, where Ican go and take BP. I can't
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go down. We paid for tMobile, we paid for Seahawks Stadium.
I can't just walk into those stadiums. It's not public. It's it's publicly
owned in name, but not inreality. And you know that, you
know that we put I mean itwas a large investment. It's the largest
investment I've seen in my time inthe youth athletic sports field space. And
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and I just I feel we didboth. That's the budget we passed is
we kept us from loosing our minorleague farm teams, and we made the
largest investment we've ever made in ouryouth athletic field. And like I said,
I think we're open to seeing ifthe money goes out of the door
quicker, like we can figure outif they need access to the second round
of funds quicker than July of twentyfive. Like, I think we're open
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to that discussion. Did it happen? Did anyone with your group or Senator
Andy Bigsby, who is the sentA majority leader who co owns the Rockies
or co owns the Indians, whoare the high affiliate of the Rockies,
did any of you guys go toany of these professional teams. Did anyone
go and contact the Angels, theRockies, the Mariners and say, hey,
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we're going to tap into this,but do you think you guys could
help out since they're your affiliates.Was there ever conversation? I mean,
these local groups are putting up waymore than what the state's putting in.
I'm asking, I'm asking the majorleague teams, not not not the affiliates.
I'm asking if it's a Major LeagueBaseball demand that these be up to
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major league standard. I'm asking,did anyone from the state contact the Angels,
the Rockies, and the Mariners tohelp out. My understanding is that
those like the Mariners are making theirown contribution to these improvements as well,
and so I think the contributions aremuch bigger. They're making contributions at Cheney
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Stadium. How much of the threemillion are they're contributing, Well, they're
on top of that. I thinkthe improvements are a lot more than that,
and so they're putting much what's thewhat's the figure? Well, what's
the figure? Can you share it? I mean I would I would think
that you made the budget that yougave three million dollars to you, you
would be aware of how much moneythat Tacoma Rainiers are going to spend,
so you would know the figure.What is it? I don't remember for
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that stadium where it was. Ijust remember in general, I felt like
the state portion seemed to be roughlya third of what was required to actually
keep them in compliance with the newstandards, and so in my mind,
they were absorbing two thirds of thecosts. The state was a partner because
we were trying to send a messagewe don't want these communities to lose these
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teams. You're putting up the majorityof the money, we will partner with
you. And that was the premiseof the budget. I don't know.
I can definitely talk the staff andemail you the exact numbers of what the
amount was. But my recollection ingeneral of the budget, granted, you
know, we're talking about a fouran apt billion dollars budget with a thousand
line items, but on this lineout of my recollection was we were roughly
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at thirtain. Let me, whyis the Ridgefield Sports Complex getting nearly half
a million dollars? This was constructedin twenty nineteen. I've been there,
jim My Partner's been there. I'veseen baseball games there. It's the nicest
in the state. Why Why didthey need another half million dollars? What
what's the improvement to that stadium?Yeah, they were on the list.
I did not create the list.The list was kind of who created the
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list with it? So I thinkyou had four teams that were coming under
the Major League Baseball you know,improve or y're out, and then I
think there was seven other stadiums thatwere included for improvements that were just I
think they were trying to spread throughoutthe stadiums geographically dispersed as equally as possible
throughout the state. It was myunderstanding. Lastly, when the Seahawks and
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Sounders sent you a letter encouraging notto do this, why didn't you take
that to heart? Who the factthat we funded their program? I think
we did take that. You didn't. You didn't fund the program. You
need to stop saying that Center Mullayou didn't because they're not getting the forty
two million dollars that was promised tothem. It's just it's just not it's
just you're not gonna lie on thisradio station, and that's what you're doing.
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But I'm just asking, why didyou not take to heart when the
professional football team and soccer team saidplease don't use this money. Well,
I think we booked thirty six millionhas been booked, like I said,
twenty three now or twenty four,I can't remember the exact numbers, and
the other twelve and a half intwo years, and so I think it's
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a substantial, substantial investment that hasbeen booked. And like I said,
when we get back, if theprogram's successful and the grants are there and
there's more demand than what they haveavailability for. I think all the budget
writers are open to looking at that. Why should I think their input,
why input was taken, but whyshould they be in a wait and see
mode. Well, it's their money, it's not yours, not yours to
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give away. Never was And Isaid, I think the fact that we're
paying for their programs with bonds andwe're using the cash on the public facilities,
I think people are getting really caughtup in that nuance. At the
end of the day, everyone's gettingthe money they need to do their projects,
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and I don't know how much clearerI can be that if they end
up getting through that money quicker thanwe think they will, we're completely open
to saying, hey, we canalways move up the money that we have
scheduled for July of twenty five earlieron. Like I just I think the
challenge you have as a capital budgetwriter is you hate to put money into
a new program that ends up notgoing out the door very quickly when you
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have other programs there are shovel readyand the money is going to go out
right away, Well we will.I mean, I appreciate the conversation I
mean, we're just going to agreeto disagree on this one. I just
think at the end of the day, this was this was a way to
fund something for professional franchises. AndI'll just be honest with you, I
think it's I don't know what astrong of award I can use it other
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than deplorable that a senator who isthe majority leader, you know, his
group, the Colorado Rockies, areset to get nearly six million dollars,
nearly six million dollars of this money, And that's just I just don't know
how you can how you can honestlythink to yourself that this money that was
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earmarked for youth athletic fields when youdrive around this state and you see these
fields that are rundown and just thethe the benches are terrible, there's no
bathroom facilities, and yet we prioritizedthree minor league teams. And I haven't
even gotten to the Walla Walla Suites, which is an entirely different story of
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why we decided to give them halfa million dollars to improve their stadium.
You are aware who owns the WallaWalla Suites. I definitely don't know who.
You don't his name is John Stanton. Do you know who John Stanton
is. Oh, he's the ownerof the Mariners. He is worth one
point one billion dollars. Senator Mullet, do you think he could have flipped
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the bill for five hundred thousand dollarsto improve his stadium that his team plays
in? That you know what?Like I had complain about Howard Schultz was
KEI arena, but I'm why didn'tjust pay to improve it? And he
did it and we lost them?Like, well, we lost the Sonics,
didn't he didn't. He'd improve theirarena. Yeah, but he didn't
spend his own money. You wentback to you wanted state money to do
(28:15):
it, you wanted county money todo it. I'm asking you, do
you think someone who is worth onepoint one billion dollars should be getting a
handout from the state for half amillion to improve his stadium. I definitely
feel that it wasn't a bluff fromthe major leagues, and I think that
they're paying the majority. The teamsare paying the majority of the upgrades.
(28:38):
Yes, the state has partnered withthem, and I think at the end
of the day, this is goingto keep these teams in Washington state.
And so from that end, wedid the money. And I know you're
saying, hey, twenty five millionplus. You know, we did thirty
six million dollars. You're saying thathasn't add up to the forty two.
I'm saying, if the program isn'tbeing successful, we could make sure that
(29:00):
million dollars in grants goes out onthis program. That's really easy. If
the programs are being successful, thenew one that they've created. And I
think at the end of the day, we saved the minor league parts from
losing them. At the same time, we did the program that you obviously
cared deeply about, and I thinkwe got both of them. And I
don't know obviously, I think youwere bringing up any Billy. He didn't
(29:22):
even vote on the combo budget.He wasn't involved. That's because because you
know, it was it was opticsthat he didn't want to vote on it,
because he obviously was compromising the wholething. That that's why he didn't
vote on it. Was just itwas an optics thing. That's why he
knew he had the votes, sohe didn't vote on it. That doesn't
mean there was one of these,but one of these baseball. Things happened
way back and I don't know whatit was. It was like oh seven
(29:45):
the last time, like we hadto basically provide some state support to keep
Thraineers and Tacoma way back when thelast time we did this, And so
when that happened, any Billy wasn'tin the legislature. I mean so he
because the idea is it personally haveany anything in steak with the Raineers.
He is financially as a steak.We just Spokane and got money in that
(30:07):
one. But Spokane got money inthe one fifteen years ago. And so
what are we supposed to now losethe Spokane Indian franchise just because well,
you know what. Here's you knowwhat I would say. You know what
I would say, Senator Mullet.I would say to Senator Billy, you
chose to get into be an ownerof the Rockies affiliate. If you can't
afford upgrades, then get out andsell the team. That's what I That's
what I would say. That's justme. We've got to run. I
(30:30):
appreciate your time, Thank you somuch for carving it out today. Hey,
I'm happy to come on any time. Hey, I appreciate you having
me on. I know you givea chance to tell my tit of the
story. I really appreciate that.Okay, Senator Mark Mullet there from Zaqua,
we'll take a break, we'll comeback with more. We have to
(30:51):
really just like break right away toget to Ian show coming up next.
We just didn't have enough time inthat segment. Really did probably him.
That's kind of one of those thingsto be cleared out. Maybe an hour
with him. We were not goingto change his mind, and so be
it. But I and it's hardto discuss numbers on the air because I
think it gets confusing for everyone.But I do just want to point out
(31:15):
when I say he's being fast andloose with the numbers. Bottom line,
that group was promised forty two milliondollars right away. They were not given
the forty two million dollars right away. They get the Recreation and Conservation Group
ROC They already get ten million dollarsa year from the state. They already
(31:40):
get that is that is every singleyear they get that. That ten million
dollars that we talked about during thatsegment has nothing to do with the forty
two million. Nothing. What he'sdoing. When I say he's paying,
he's playing fast with the numbers.He's including the ten million dollars that they
already get from the state as partof the twenty five million. Well,
(32:02):
and then the twenty five million doesn'tcome right away either. It's twelve point
five on July first this year andthen twelve point exactly. They're not getting
twenty five million dollars right away.They get it this year. But it's
not really twenty five million of theforty two I hope I'm making sense.
It's really fifteen of it. They'retaking fifteen of that forty two and combining
(32:23):
it with the ten that they alreadyget. They already get that money,
and then the other money is comingin two years. And I would just
say that we ran out of timewith him, and it just was going
to go back and forth. Whywould anybody trust him? He says,
well, I'll just trust us,you know, maybe if it gets faster,
we'll come back around. Well,why why would anyone with that group
(32:44):
or any other group trust these politicians. Let's just call it what it is,
and it is really plain and simple. This legislature, this Senate so
cash fund of forty two million dollarssitting there, and instead of having the
(33:05):
Major League Baseball teams and the affiliatespay for these upgrades, they saw an
opportunity to steal that money away fromthem for the kids and youth athletic fields
and pay for these minor league parks. That's it. That's what they did.
And they're going to worry about laters. We'll find the money elsewhere for
the kids. They chose professional sportsover kids, is what they did.
(33:29):
Yeah, because themailb put a deadlineon it twenty twenty five. They needed
to see the improvements or else you'lllose these teams. And the thing is
is again, yeah, I meanyou love baseball. I love baseball,
but you love kids at baseball morethan like, would we really care that
much if the Raineers somehow left Tacoma. I mean, would that be like
a big blot on our life?I don't think so. But you talk
(33:51):
about it all the time, allthese different fields where kids can't play.
I mean that's much more important.Yeah, all right, that's it for
us, Go ours for a nicecoach, Shall just tell like it is
a lot of lack of discipline,at least in the first half here no
one. Ian. If we leaveright now, we can get the Dallas
(34:14):
for ninety nine dollars to get backfor another ninety nine dollars. Let's do
it. That's worth going down therejust for the food, buddy, I
mean, let's go get some barbecue. I can go see Gavin. Yeah,
body does he talk? I've notput him on. I got what
I got, my buddy, Bret. Do you put him on? Put
them on? Put Yeah, Igot I got Bret severn On. Who
you know? Do you think they'reand Ian and I worked together in Portland
(34:35):
years and years? Yeah. Sodo you think he knows anything about hockey?
No? Yeah, no nothing?Yeah, probably I think he's Gavin
his baskety body remember his wedding atat what was that place? I should
share some things at one time withhim about his wedding, But I'm gonna
wait for a long long time.Oh to share that family member. Yeah
(34:57):
that's right. Oh, come on, I know the guy three that day.
I forgot about that. When doyou tell another buddy that you slept
with his sister? Well, youjust did. Wait for a while,
I think you just did. Ithink you just did. I'll never hear
this where's that that has make Minimumsout in Troutdale? Right? That was
(35:21):
a weird spot, man. Imean it, I'm not saying way good.
I must say it was good.It's just that's a that's a different
world out there, man, Troutdaleis a little different. You think Oregon,
uh weird brewery, good brewery wouldTroutdale. But that's awesome. It's
a great Ever been to that Minimums. It's like it's like a tale.
It's it's a campus, it's it'sa nine hole golf course. Yeah,
(35:45):
wedding venues everywhere. Yeah, thatwas fun. That was a good time.
That was a good time. Soit's a sister huh on his wedding
night apparently? Yeah, how wasit? I remember we were looking for
Puck for a while. Worst Puckmaybe seen Pucket? Hey Isaac, you've
seen Pucket? That was first suckit well, because I think you were
gone already up here, right yeahyeah. So like so like Pocket left
(36:06):
and it's like, hey, we'regonna see Puck this weekend. It's going
to be a Gavin's wedding and tohang out Puck. We all liked Puck.
Yeah, we couldn't find him somebodyappeared to like more than others.
Yeah, that's true. How quicklychanged the uncomfortable subjects? Um before somebody
you know, twists a capital orsometimes damn did you know everybody? Um?
So so Mark Mullett, Um,he's he's my senator, he's both
(36:30):
of yours, right yeah, yeah, you're district. Yeah, embarrassed that
he's my senator, to be honestwith you, so uh yeah, that's
that's a do you do you haveto take the or the do you use
gloves? Or was it just noyour guys facilities out there like Maple Valley,
well they're fantastic now, but it'sall county money. Yeah it was,
and it was. There was abig complex or Ravensdale is spectacular Summit
(36:53):
Park which was part of the newSchool which is a bond that was all
school bond. The summit was aI believe part of the school bond.
The Ravensdale which you've played at yourkids, right, It went It went
from being remember the dirt field ifyou drive by Maplewood golf Course, you
know that dirt field and rent Okay, that was what Ravensdale was all dirt
and just it would flood and mudand you can do anything. Um.
(37:15):
They it was about a five milliondollar project. There's a bond, some
county money, and it was Imean, it was done the right way.
And they actually got a pretty gooddeal on the lights. One of
the guys who was in charge ofjunior football the time owned the lighting company.
Game an incredible deal on that.But it was it was a game
changer for us out there. Wewent from having the worst facilities for football,
(37:37):
baseball, softball, soccer using lacrosse. We went from him the worst
two really good ones and they're paAnd here's the thing this is, I'll
come back to this all the timeon the weekend, packed Monday through Sunday
puck and and here's and that's thething that I think is most important is
sometimes gets lost in this is thatit's not like we're doing this for just
(38:00):
hey, let's have really nice things. It's now, let's have some nice
things that are that are used andused all the time. It was,
it was such a game changer.I was on the football board for five
years. My wife and I Imean tons of labor of love. When
we got that facility. We wentfrom being having our kids stepping in mole
holes at the old middle school,you know, the old Tama Junior High.
(38:22):
Yeah, it was you couldn't practicethere. It was gravel. And
so it's a game changer, butyeah, I mean it was. But
so when I think that someone's takingmoney from kids to not put I don't
know, to not build facilities,it makes me sick. I drive from
the kCi every day every Wednesday whenwe tape our what's crack and show here.
(38:44):
So I come down and I'm look, i grew up Magnian Queen and
I'm very familiar with here. Thosefields in Ballard off off of fifteenth and
out there and Crown Hill, theyhaven't changed. They look exactly when I
played there. Yeah, same gravel, same dirt, same rocks. It's
embarrassing. I just I think anybodythat's a part of that world should you
be embarrassed for themselves? All right? And I think, well, and
(39:06):
you know what, I'm gonna tellyou this right now, just from people
that I've gotten text from today,I well done, Like you did your
homework, great, John, AndI mean that's a great job you When
it's one thing to go and havea hard interview like and be aggressive and
you know you did your homework andlike you can't argue facts. What do
(39:28):
you guys got going on? Great? Co Sell the I'm gonna tell you
well, and I'll tell you becauseI didn't get to hear of your whole
interview because we were taping co Selland all. But I can tell you
this Seahawk fans, he loves theSeahawks draft good. I mean, And
I've done this with him a longtime, never heard him like this,
Like, if you're a Seahawk fan, you may may need a moment,
may need to smoke afterwards. Heloves it. And one of those players,
(39:50):
Mike Morrill, join us, comeone thirty and uh that's it.
Yeah, it's like a little hockeyand talk all right, he ends next
we'll see him. I was alwaysa promise to be better. No sir,
no shoes, no dies. Anybodyliked to smoke some point I was.
I was to lick your face.I was born to rub you,
(40:13):
but you were born to rub mefirst. What do you need my vest
for? We write the song?I a man, You're like all the
round mercy. I don't think that
Final out of the radio program Buckingthe go to guy with you here on
ninety three point three kJ FM headlines, Oh he's Brian Tabie. Buddy's good,
He's in there. They always tellyou it's four twenty head Buddy headlines,
Oh what do we got here?Joel and me at MVP Boston Celtics
(00:25):
six or Game two tonight with thePhiladelphia leading one game tonight? Do we
know he's inbid playing or not heis playing? He missed a game one?
A Marion's back at it tonight ALogan Gilbert against a JP sears a
Game two for the Kracking Thursday,six thirty, Game three Sunday in Seattle
at six thirty, Game four Tuesdayat six thirty, speaking of the game.
(00:47):
On Thursday, Twin Peaks watch partywith Bucky Jacobson. Go check out
Bucky at Twin Peaks. Coming upof this Thursday, All right, Joining
us right now on the Beacon plumbinga hot line. We just kind of
recap the I Knows version of itin our last segment. Joining us right
now. He is a senator fromIzaqua. Senator Mark Mullett joins us here
on the Beacon plumbing Hotline, leaderof the Senate's Capital Budget also Vice Chair
(01:10):
of the Senate Ways and Means Community. Senator Mullett, thank you for carving
at the time today. Hey,thanks for having me on. I appreciate
it. Let's where why are weat this point right now? And I
guess we all know the particulars ofthe deal that was a prove back in
nineteen ninety seven, a part ofthe Seahawks three hundred million dollars in public
(01:32):
bonds to build the statement that wasvoted on by the public. So let's
just start here. Why is theforty two million that was earmarked for this
back in twenty twenty one, whyis it not all being spent on youth
fields and upgrades? Well, Ithink that's the all time story to me.
Was kind of looking for a littlecontroversy. To me, this is
(01:55):
always always about what's the best wayto use your money in the sense of
timing of money. And to makeit clear, the capital budget that passed
put twenty five million dollars in thespecific program plus another ten and a half
million dollars in our current use athleticfacility program. And the big difference that
happened is we had forty two millionin cash the new program My experience as
(02:19):
new programs take a long time tokind of get the money out of the
door and get up and running,and it is like a small business owner,
like our own pizza restaurant, icecream store, it makes no sense
to have cash sitting there. TheMajor League Baseball requirement is much more time
sensitive, like that money is goingto get spent right away. So the
basic premise was you use the moneyon the fields that's sitting in cash,
(02:42):
so you don't have to issue moneyand start paying interest on it for the
fields until as late as possible.But both programs in the end budget got
funded. And when the Sale ofTimes reporter called me, it's kind of
frustrating because he called on the daythe budget was coming out, and I
said, you know, there's twentyfive million dollars in the budget for the
program you're talking about, like it'sgoing to be public. How much of
(03:04):
the of the twenty five million dollarsis from the forty two million dollars that
was earmarked because they of that money. But I'm saying that you get you
can pay with stuff through cash,or you can pay with stuff through bonds
and bonds you obviously pay interest on, so the programs are still getting funded.
They're just getting funded through the bondproceeds, so that way you're paying
(03:25):
interest later as opposed to paying interesttoday. Like the money for the improvement
to those public fields for the MajorLeague Baseball requirements, that money's gonna go
out to do a really quick becausethey're gonna start making those improvements like once
this season ends in September or whatever, when the farm leak season ends.
And so I think the Salt Timesis creating I thought their article was creating
(03:49):
a lot of controversy when at theend of the day, the money's like
you're taking cash out or you're puttingbonds in, and so the end of
the day, the programs are stillgetting funded. And I think that's the
reason I wanted to be in yourshow because I felt like that wasn't clear
from the Seattle Times article, andI just wanted to kind of set the
record straight that it makes a lotmore business sense if you have cash sitting
(04:12):
somewhere. Just think about as ahomeowner, like you want to charge money
in your credit card, if youhave money sitting in your checking account,
you want to put something in yourcredit card as late as possible. And
to me, this new program,the dollar's going to go out later.
I'd rather pay for those with bondsand use the cash to pay for the
stuff that we know it's going ButSentator Mullet. But back in nineteen ninety
(04:32):
seven, when which the voters inthis state, in this county approved three
hundred million dollars in bonds the public, it was explicitly stated, the public
was promised that once the stadium debtwas retired, the leftover money would be
deposited into a dedicated fund to buildand maintain youth athletic facilities. That's what
(04:55):
Paul Allen, the lay Paul Allenwanted, and he put his money where
his mouth was because he put tenmillion dollars own money in there. You
and the Senate went in and amendedthat to fund minor league stadiums that are
indirectly and directly managed by Major LeagueBaseball clubs that are worth billions of dollars.
(05:16):
So, and what I don't andI'm going to push you on this
one because this doesn't make sense tome. So you're saying that there's a
cash, there's cash, immediately tomake improvements to Tri Cities, because that's
what we're talking about, the bigones here, Tri Cities, Spokane,
Tacoma, and Everett. Well,the Everett project's not going to be done
for years. That's a brand newstate, definite, is okay, the
(05:40):
one that's furthest out, I think, Remember there's seven other fields. Sure,
but well, let me let mefinish, me, let me interrupt,
let me finish my point. Thatmoney that could be spent on youth
fields, it's not like you cantake You can't take that money that you
would have available to you right now. I could identify three fields in which
my neighborhood is that could get rightaway without money and have those fields turned
(06:04):
around at a greater pace than Tacoma, a greater pace than Tri Cities,
and certainly a greater pace than Spokenand every So that doesn't really hold that
you're just giving them the money becauseit's a higher priority because Major League Baseball
wants it. Correct. I fundamentallydisagree with that. I'm saying, like,
(06:27):
you can pay with stuff with cash, or you can pay with stuff
with bonds. At the end ofthe day, you're going to fund the
projects, then why not do thatfor the minor league teams, then just
then pay for the pay for thebonds, then pay for the minor league
up with the bonds. When yousay, like you have a local thing
that wants an improvement, like Ihave six kids, like they all play
sports, Like I don't think anybodywere devoted disappointing youth sports, and I
(06:50):
am given how many youth sports activitieswe spend our time driving to the end
of the day, is they're gonnaget the exact same money they were gonna
get before. They're just going toget that money through bonds. And when
you say you have a local improvement, like my experiences, when you set
up a brand new grant program likethis, and now you've created different areas
(07:11):
throughout the state, and you haveto create people who are going to look
at the grant and decide who getsthe money, all that stuff takes a
lot of time. And so thethought process, which ended up being the
final version of the budget, waswe will use the cash for the projects
that we think we're going to goout of the door. As you accurately
pointed out that Everett is the oneproject because they can't keep playing with the
Aqua Fox Play. They basically determinedthat stadium cannot be saved as far as
(07:35):
the MLB is concerned, and sothey're gonna have to find a new arena.
Hopefully it's close to Angela Wins indowntown Everett there, and that money
I think will have a longer leadtime and going out the door. But
if the city of ever ends upbuying a parcel, like they could buy
that parcel as soon as next year, who knows, right, And so
(07:56):
that money will be used for thatpurpose, And so I think it will
still end up getting out the doorin a fairly kindly fashion because there is
definitely a much more sense of urgencyto avoid getting kicked out of the firm
system major leagues. And yeah,but that's that's the root of it.
But Center Mulle, that's the rootof the issue here. You are putting
major league franchises above kids because majorLeague Baseball, because Major League Baseball has
(08:22):
demanded that these improvements to these stadiumsbe finished or in the process of being
finished by twenty twenty five. Isthat correct? Right? That's no,
no, no, yes, CentMullet is Center Mullet. Is it correct
that Major League Baseball wants these facilitiesupgraded by twenty twenty five, yes or
(08:45):
no? Okay, So you areputting these projects because there are a project
for pet project for you because SenatorMajority Leader and he Billig owns one of
the teams, and so we havejust pushed these guys is to the front
of the line in lieu of themoney that was explicitly I mean, I
(09:07):
can't be more clear about the languageof that nineteen ninety seven bond. It
couldn't be more clear, Senator Mullet. Explicitly for youth athletic fields, never
mentioned for minor league fields, nevermentioned for professional franchises. But let's be
clear here, Let's be clear whenthat money. When we get to July
first, that's the day when youcan issue bonds from the capital budget that
just passed. We have tens ofmillions of dollars for this program, for
(09:31):
the one you're talking about, they'regoing to be available for bonds. And
what I'm saying is when they actuallyask us to issue those bonds bay for
those programs, I think it's goingto be later. I think the first
request we get will probably be inthe second half of twenty twenty four is
my guest that could be wrong.I'm not saying I'm always right, but
I'm telling you all about when therequest for the programs, you're gonna say,
(09:52):
hey, we're ready to go.Now we need the money. And
it's not a question of who's ahigher priority. Everyone is going to get
the money whenever they asked for themoney. So if they came to me
and said, hey, we're readyfor those projects, we're ready on July
first, let's go, they wouldget their money on July first. They're
not going to get delayed. Andso I think there's a lot of controversies
(10:13):
that's being created here. But Idon't understand where the controversy is coming from.
Because we funded the program. Well, that that would completely contradicted the
folks that I talked to at thegrant program who said to me that that
grant program was ready to go oncethe budget was passed. Do you deny
that? Is that false on theirpart? Well, and their money will
be accessible as of July first,all forty two million dollars of it.
(10:37):
Well, at this point on Julyfirst, it will be I might think
the exact amount will be twenty threemillion will be accessible twenty three, So
only twenty three of the available fortytwo million dollars that they were promised the
rest would be the rest would beaccessible. Now, are you now a
part of that twenty five part ofthat twenty three million dollars? You not
(10:58):
in you're not including the ten milliondollars they already received every single year part
of the Recreation and Conversation or conversationgrant. Right, yeah, but hey,
that's a that is part of that, So you are including that.
See that's separate. Be clear here, Well, let's be clear here.
I think, first off, Ithink there's anybody in the legislature that's fought
(11:24):
harder to fund the Youth Have FacilitiesGrant list than I have for all the
reasons I said before. I havesix kids, they all play sports like
I have been the champion of thatlist. And when you say that list
have to be funded, that isfalse. It does not have to be
funded that list. Every budget writerhas a choice of how far they want
to go to that a list.I'm the one that chooses to go down
all the way to the end everytime we do a capital budget, and
(11:45):
so that list I choose to fullyfund it from before. It's not a
requirement that would be fully funded.Like everything in the capital budget, people
ask for stuff. Most people don'tget everything they ask for. Youth athletic
facilities has gotten everything they ask forbecause I think it's a priority. And
on top of that, you know, either version of the budget did that,
both the House and the Center version, and I understand the Recreation Conservation
(12:09):
Office was like, well, yeah, that's our current program. We understand
that's clearly relevant. We just wantto have extra money for an additional program.
And we did both. We fundedthe current program and we created money
for the additional program. So there'stwenty five million for the additional program right
now, plus the ten million ofthe program that we've been doing in varying
amounts over the years. Hey,Mark, I've got kids who you know,
(12:33):
play baseball too, and I'm abig fan of baseball. I've been
to games at Cheney Stadium and upthere watching the aquasocks. Well, why
but I don't. I don't goto these parts and think, man,
they need upgrades, And I mean, why is this so important? I
think some people, this was myargument and legislature. Some people are like,
oh, major League Baseball's bluffing they'renot going to kick them out.
(12:56):
I think they're wrong. I thinkthose people are divorced in reality, I
think Major League Baseball one hundred percentkick those teams out of the farm league
system. And in my experience,you know, I grew up in Techwilla,
Like I couldn't afford to go toMario's games. I went to Rainier
games and down to Tacoma because itwas a more affordable way. And I
feel if we lose these teams,we're not getting them back, Like we
(13:18):
saw what hap we lost the Sonicsis taking us fifteen plus years try to
get the Sonics back. I mean, I think once you lose those farm
league teams, like that's a disruption, whether you're talking about every you're talking
about Tri Cities, Tacoma, Spokane. And I'm not willing to be the
person in charge of the budget thatends up being responsible for those teams going
away. Center Mulla. But whatabout Center Mulla? But what about losing
a generation of kids who are seven, eight, nine, ten that go
(13:41):
to these parks. They're frankly terrible. Half the time we can't play games
because they're reigned out. Now unffortunatelyfor you probably where your kids played at
Doddfield. They could because it's turf. But a lot of these fields are
not turf. In fact, mostof them are not the slight sprinkle at
all, and a game is canceled. I coach a youth team and we've
(14:03):
had multiple games canceled, multiple practicecanceled. The weather here is horrendous.
Every every available field should be turfed. Part of this reason about getting this
money, this forty two million dollarsfrom and for these groups, was to
for people to get out in play, especially kids kids of color, to
go out and play sports, tohave a place to actually play baseball,
(14:26):
softball, in other sports. Ontop of that, I was at a
little league game last night in Ballot. In Ballot, which is a you
know, let's ballots at affluent neighborhood, great neighborhood. We don't have issues
that they have in other parts ofthe city or other parts in the state.
But yet the bathroom is permanently closedtheir Senator mullet. Why because it's
been overrun, it's out of date, it hasn't been updated, it's it's
(14:50):
just not usable at all. Instead, there are two porter potties that are
now for parents, grandparents, kids, boys, girls, They have to
use go on there, spray paintedgraffiti, drugs, everything on top of
that. So I just again,this is where money could go towards those
facilities to upgrade them, to getthem up to a standard that is appropriate
(15:13):
for kids. So instead of worryingabout, you know, whether we're gonna
have minor league baseball. We allwant minor league baseball still here, but
we want a generation of kids tohave appropriate fields to play baseball on it
not have holes in them in theoutfield where they're turning ankles and chasing flyballs.
Would you not agree with that?And I'm saying the budget we pass
does both. It It keeps herminor league teams and it provides, like
(15:39):
I said, twenty three million dollarsavailable for all those things you just talked
about as of July first. AndI'll make you the promise right now that
when we get back in January forwhat we call the supplemental session in the
even years, like if they're gettingthrough that money at a quicker pace than
what we expect and they need accessto more money because it's going out the
door, like you say you can, it's gonna go out the door quicker,
(16:00):
like I am more than happy tocommit to revisiting to speed up the
resources so they don't have a delay. And I will commit to that because
my experience has been new programs andmoney doesn't go out the door as quick
as what you're describing. And maybein this case it would be the first
new program where I'm wrong, andif I am, we will add to
the twenty three million dollars and we'llspeed it up instead of making them wait.
(16:23):
But that's a flexibility we would havein January if it's actually going out
the door as quick as what yoursenator. Moment, though, you are
playing fast and loose with the numbershere. That ten million dollars you keep
including in the forty two, andyou keep including in the twenty five that
is available to them, that that'sthat's not actually true. They already get
the ten million dollars. What theywant is the actual forty two million that
(16:47):
was promised on top of that.So it's forty two plus ten. So
it's it's not we're not giving themtwenty five. They already had ten of
five. We gave them twenty five. We gave them twelve and a half
on July first of this and whendoes the other twelve and a half come
on July first of twenty five?Yes, and so they get them two
years. That's how they get theirtwenty five in two years. They get
(17:08):
the other ten immediately. And sothat was basically you're at thirty five or
thirty six million was basically committed upfront, and as the program goes if
there ends up being like we're alwayscurious to see when new programs launch,
like how they work, How efficientare they getting the money out the door?
How would you know if they worked? They were ready to launch on
(17:30):
the budget pass, but you didnever You never gave them the money to
launch their project, So how wouldyou know we did, but we did
give them the money. They're they'rehaving the money to launch the project on
July first, but again you're notgiving them the full money that was earmarked
to them back in nineteen ninety seven. You said something in the paper to
move on that diverting this money wasokay because demands for public construction across the
(17:52):
state is quote A publicly owned stadiumsthat do get used, These communities use
these stadiums. Minor league stadiums arejust more time sensitive. You do understand,
right? I mean do you thinklike Cheny Stadium and Everett and Try
Cities, that's a publicly that's apublic stadium. Do you think it's publicly
(18:15):
Yeah? So let me ask yousomething. So can you and me?
You, me, your your son, your daughter, and my son and
daughter? Can we go to ChenyStadium right now, grab our mitts,
grab a bucket of balls and godo BP right now? So no,
no, no, no, it'sjust a simple question. I can't answer
that. Yes, you can't answerbecause Senator Mullett, can you and me
(18:38):
right now since you think it's apublicly owned park, that's what you said
in the paper. Can you andme go to Cheny Stadium right now and
go play BP? Yes? Orno? We can't. But we can't
because it's I'm going to school FerrisHigh School with the one playing that the
(19:00):
exact weekend ever, their article iswritten. Okay, exactly how much did
Ferris High School? How much doesFerris High School pay to play there?
I don't know what. I'll tellyou what the feast because Centre Mollet I
have the numbers. I know howmuch they paid, I know how much
the high school teams pay to playin these stadiums. I'll give you an
example. When you play at ChenieStadium, you have to raise money to
actually play at Chenie Stadium. Theyjust don't open up the gates and say
(19:22):
come on in and play now.It would be nice if they did then,
but they are a business. Theyoperate for profit an income. That's
why it's not a public park.And so teams, each team to play
one game at Chenie Stadium has toraise five thousand dollars both teams. So
to play one baseball game at yourpublicly owned park that you claim is ten
(19:45):
thousand dollars for the schools, doesthat seem fair? It's the same,
it would be the same issue.Well, then find out what high school
play it like the weekend after thearticle came out, what did Ferriss High
School pay to play that? Well, a similar fee. It's it's it's
not a it's not a public park. It's owned by the Spokane Indians,
it's run by them, it's ownedby the city. I understand that just
(20:08):
like Tacoma is Senator Mullet. Theyjust don't open up the doors for the
high school teams for free. That'snot how it works. You understand that,
correct? Please say you do yourexample over here. It could be
accurate, But I'm curious. Ijust want to hear those same examples for
the Tri Cities Park, for theEverett Everytt Park. But I'm using,
(20:29):
but I'm using Cheney Stadium, thatis getting three million dollars of your money
that you claim as a public parkthat anybody can use. And I'm telling
you, I spoke to a coachthis morning that gave me those exact numbers.
So um, it's not a publicpark. It's it's it's just not.
It's not the same as me goingdown to Doddfield or Gilman Park and
Ballard or Soundview Park, where Ican go and take BP. I can't
(20:52):
go down. We paid for tMobile, we paid for Seahawks Stadium.
I can't just walk into those stadiums. It's not public. It's it's publicly
owned in name, but not inreality. And you know that, you
know that we put I mean itwas a large investment. It's the largest
investment I've seen in my time inthe youth athletic sports field space. And
(21:15):
and I just I feel we didboth. That's the budget we passed is
we kept us from loosing our minorleague farm teams, and we made the
largest investment we've ever made in ouryouth athletic field. And like I said,
I think we're open to seeing ifthe money goes out of the door
quicker, like we can figure outif they need access to the second round
of funds quicker than July of twentyfive. Like, I think we're open
(21:37):
to that discussion. Did it happen? Did anyone with your group or Senator
Andy Bigsby, who is the sentA majority leader who co owns the Rockies
or co owns the Indians, whoare the high affiliate of the Rockies,
did any of you guys go toany of these professional teams. Did anyone
go and contact the Angels, theRockies, the Mariners and say, hey,
(22:02):
we're going to tap into this,but do you think you guys could
help out since they're your affiliates.Was there ever conversation? I mean,
these local groups are putting up waymore than what the state's putting in.
I'm asking, I'm asking the majorleague teams, not not not the affiliates.
I'm asking if it's a Major LeagueBaseball demand that these be up to
(22:22):
major league standard. I'm asking,did anyone from the state contact the Angels,
the Rockies, and the Mariners tohelp out. My understanding is that
those like the Mariners are making theirown contribution to these improvements as well,
and so I think the contributions aremuch bigger. They're making contributions at Cheney
(22:42):
Stadium. How much of the threemillion are they're contributing, Well, they're
on top of that. I thinkthe improvements are a lot more than that,
and so they're putting much what's thewhat's the figure? Well, what's
the figure? Can you share it? I mean I would I would think
that you made the budget that yougave three million dollars to you, you
would be aware of how much moneythat Tacoma Rainiers are going to spend,
so you would know the figure.What is it? I don't remember for
(23:04):
that stadium where it was. Ijust remember in general, I felt like
the state portion seemed to be roughlya third of what was required to actually
keep them in compliance with the newstandards, and so in my mind,
they were absorbing two thirds of thecosts. The state was a partner because
we were trying to send a messagewe don't want these communities to lose these
(23:26):
teams. You're putting up the majorityof the money, we will partner with
you. And that was the premiseof the budget. I don't know.
I can definitely talk the staff andemail you the exact numbers of what the
amount was. But my recollection ingeneral of the budget, granted, you
know, we're talking about a fouran apt billion dollars budget with a thousand
line items, but on this lineout of my recollection was we were roughly
(23:48):
at thirtain. Let me, whyis the Ridgefield Sports Complex getting nearly half
a million dollars? This was constructedin twenty nineteen. I've been there,
jim My Partner's been there. I'veseen baseball games there. It's the nicest
in the state. Why Why didthey need another half million dollars? What
what's the improvement to that stadium?Yeah, they were on the list.
I did not create the list.The list was kind of who created the
(24:11):
list with it? So I thinkyou had four teams that were coming under
the Major League Baseball you know,improve or y're out, and then I
think there was seven other stadiums thatwere included for improvements that were just I
think they were trying to spread throughoutthe stadiums geographically dispersed as equally as possible
throughout the state. It was myunderstanding. Lastly, when the Seahawks and
(24:34):
Sounders sent you a letter encouraging notto do this, why didn't you take
that to heart? Who the factthat we funded their program? I think
we did take that. You didn't. You didn't fund the program. You
need to stop saying that Center Mullayou didn't because they're not getting the forty
two million dollars that was promised tothem. It's just it's just not it's
just you're not gonna lie on thisradio station, and that's what you're doing.
(24:56):
But I'm just asking, why didyou not take to heart when the
professional football team and soccer team saidplease don't use this money. Well,
I think we booked thirty six millionhas been booked, like I said,
twenty three now or twenty four,I can't remember the exact numbers, and
the other twelve and a half intwo years, and so I think it's
(25:18):
a substantial, substantial investment that hasbeen booked. And like I said,
when we get back, if theprogram's successful and the grants are there and
there's more demand than what they haveavailability for. I think all the budget
writers are open to looking at that. Why should I think their input,
why input was taken, but whyshould they be in a wait and see
mode. Well, it's their money, it's not yours, not yours to
(25:42):
give away. Never was And Isaid, I think the fact that we're
paying for their programs with bonds andwe're using the cash on the public facilities,
I think people are getting really caughtup in that nuance. At the
end of the day, everyone's gettingthe money they need to do their projects,
(26:02):
and I don't know how much clearerI can be that if they end
up getting through that money quicker thanwe think they will, we're completely open
to saying, hey, we canalways move up the money that we have
scheduled for July of twenty five earlieron. Like I just I think the
challenge you have as a capital budgetwriter is you hate to put money into
a new program that ends up notgoing out the door very quickly when you
(26:22):
have other programs there are shovel readyand the money is going to go out
right away, Well we will.I mean, I appreciate the conversation I
mean, we're just going to agreeto disagree on this one. I just
think at the end of the day, this was this was a way to
fund something for professional franchises. AndI'll just be honest with you, I
think it's I don't know what astrong of award I can use it other
(26:44):
than deplorable that a senator who isthe majority leader, you know, his
group, the Colorado Rockies, areset to get nearly six million dollars,
nearly six million dollars of this money, And that's just I just don't know
how you can how you can honestlythink to yourself that this money that was
(27:07):
earmarked for youth athletic fields when youdrive around this state and you see these
fields that are rundown and just thethe the benches are terrible, there's no
bathroom facilities, and yet we prioritizedthree minor league teams. And I haven't
even gotten to the Walla Walla Suites, which is an entirely different story of
(27:30):
why we decided to give them halfa million dollars to improve their stadium.
You are aware who owns the WallaWalla Suites. I definitely don't know who.
You don't his name is John Stanton. Do you know who John Stanton
is. Oh, he's the ownerof the Mariners. He is worth one
point one billion dollars. Senator Mullet, do you think he could have flipped
(27:53):
the bill for five hundred thousand dollarsto improve his stadium that his team plays
in? That you know what?Like I had complain about Howard Schultz was
KEI arena, but I'm why didn'tjust pay to improve it? And he
did it and we lost them?Like, well, we lost the Sonics,
didn't he didn't. He'd improve theirarena. Yeah, but he didn't
spend his own money. You wentback to you wanted state money to do
(28:15):
it, you wanted county money todo it. I'm asking you, do
you think someone who is worth onepoint one billion dollars should be getting a
handout from the state for half amillion to improve his stadium. I definitely
feel that it wasn't a bluff fromthe major leagues, and I think that
they're paying the majority. The teamsare paying the majority of the upgrades.
(28:38):
Yes, the state has partnered withthem, and I think at the end
of the day, this is goingto keep these teams in Washington state.
And so from that end, wedid the money. And I know you're
saying, hey, twenty five millionplus. You know, we did thirty
six million dollars. You're saying thathasn't add up to the forty two.
I'm saying, if the program isn'tbeing successful, we could make sure that
(29:00):
million dollars in grants goes out onthis program. That's really easy. If
the programs are being successful, thenew one that they've created. And I
think at the end of the day, we saved the minor league parts from
losing them. At the same time, we did the program that you obviously
cared deeply about, and I thinkwe got both of them. And I
don't know obviously, I think youwere bringing up any Billy. He didn't
(29:22):
even vote on the combo budget.He wasn't involved. That's because because you
know, it was it was opticsthat he didn't want to vote on it,
because he obviously was compromising the wholething. That that's why he didn't
vote on it. Was just itwas an optics thing. That's why he
knew he had the votes, sohe didn't vote on it. That doesn't
mean there was one of these,but one of these baseball. Things happened
way back and I don't know whatit was. It was like oh seven
(29:45):
the last time, like we hadto basically provide some state support to keep
Thraineers and Tacoma way back when thelast time we did this, And so
when that happened, any Billy wasn'tin the legislature. I mean so he
because the idea is it personally haveany anything in steak with the Raineers.
He is financially as a steak.We just Spokane and got money in that
(30:07):
one. But Spokane got money inthe one fifteen years ago. And so
what are we supposed to now losethe Spokane Indian franchise just because well,
you know what. Here's you knowwhat I would say. You know what
I would say, Senator Mullet.I would say to Senator Billy, you
chose to get into be an ownerof the Rockies affiliate. If you can't
afford upgrades, then get out andsell the team. That's what I That's
what I would say. That's justme. We've got to run. I
(30:30):
appreciate your time, Thank you somuch for carving it out today. Hey,
I'm happy to come on any time. Hey, I appreciate you having
me on. I know you givea chance to tell my tit of the
story. I really appreciate that.Okay, Senator Mark Mullet there from Zaqua,
we'll take a break, we'll comeback with more. We have to
(30:51):
really just like break right away toget to Ian show coming up next.
We just didn't have enough time inthat segment. Really did probably him.
That's kind of one of those thingsto be cleared out. Maybe an hour
with him. We were not goingto change his mind, and so be
it. But I and it's hardto discuss numbers on the air because I
think it gets confusing for everyone.But I do just want to point out
(31:15):
when I say he's being fast andloose with the numbers. Bottom line,
that group was promised forty two milliondollars right away. They were not given
the forty two million dollars right away. They get the Recreation and Conservation Group
ROC They already get ten million dollarsa year from the state. They already
(31:40):
get that is that is every singleyear they get that. That ten million
dollars that we talked about during thatsegment has nothing to do with the forty
two million. Nothing. What he'sdoing. When I say he's paying,
he's playing fast with the numbers.He's including the ten million dollars that they
already get from the state as partof the twenty five million. Well,
(32:02):
and then the twenty five million doesn'tcome right away either. It's twelve point
five on July first this year andthen twelve point exactly. They're not getting
twenty five million dollars right away.They get it this year. But it's
not really twenty five million of theforty two I hope I'm making sense.
It's really fifteen of it. They'retaking fifteen of that forty two and combining
(32:23):
it with the ten that they alreadyget. They already get that money,
and then the other money is comingin two years. And I would just
say that we ran out of timewith him, and it just was going
to go back and forth. Whywould anybody trust him? He says,
well, I'll just trust us,you know, maybe if it gets faster,
we'll come back around. Well,why why would anyone with that group
(32:44):
or any other group trust these politicians. Let's just call it what it is,
and it is really plain and simple. This legislature, this Senate so
cash fund of forty two million dollarssitting there, and instead of having the
(33:05):
Major League Baseball teams and the affiliatespay for these upgrades, they saw an
opportunity to steal that money away fromthem for the kids and youth athletic fields
and pay for these minor league parks. That's it. That's what they did.
And they're going to worry about laters. We'll find the money elsewhere for
the kids. They chose professional sportsover kids, is what they did.
(33:29):
Yeah, because themailb put a deadlineon it twenty twenty five. They needed
to see the improvements or else you'lllose these teams. And the thing is
is again, yeah, I meanyou love baseball. I love baseball,
but you love kids at baseball morethan like, would we really care that
much if the Raineers somehow left Tacoma. I mean, would that be like
a big blot on our life?I don't think so. But you talk
(33:51):
about it all the time, allthese different fields where kids can't play.
I mean that's much more important.Yeah, all right, that's it for
us, Go ours for a nicecoach, Shall just tell like it is
a lot of lack of discipline,at least in the first half here no
one. Ian. If we leaveright now, we can get the Dallas
(34:14):
for ninety nine dollars to get backfor another ninety nine dollars. Let's do
it. That's worth going down therejust for the food, buddy, I
mean, let's go get some barbecue. I can go see Gavin. Yeah,
body does he talk? I've notput him on. I got what
I got, my buddy, Bret. Do you put him on? Put
them on? Put Yeah, Igot I got Bret severn On. Who
you know? Do you think they'reand Ian and I worked together in Portland
(34:35):
years and years? Yeah. Sodo you think he knows anything about hockey?
No? Yeah, no nothing?Yeah, probably I think he's Gavin
his baskety body remember his wedding atat what was that place? I should
share some things at one time withhim about his wedding, But I'm gonna
wait for a long long time.Oh to share that family member. Yeah
(34:57):
that's right. Oh, come on, I know the guy three that day.
I forgot about that. When doyou tell another buddy that you slept
with his sister? Well, youjust did. Wait for a while,
I think you just did. Ithink you just did. I'll never hear
this where's that that has make Minimumsout in Troutdale? Right? That was
(35:21):
a weird spot, man. Imean it, I'm not saying way good.
I must say it was good.It's just that's a that's a different
world out there, man, Troutdaleis a little different. You think Oregon,
uh weird brewery, good brewery wouldTroutdale. But that's awesome. It's
a great Ever been to that Minimums. It's like it's like a tale.
It's it's a campus, it's it'sa nine hole golf course. Yeah,
(35:45):
wedding venues everywhere. Yeah, thatwas fun. That was a good time.
That was a good time. Soit's a sister huh on his wedding
night apparently? Yeah, how wasit? I remember we were looking for
Puck for a while. Worst Puckmaybe seen Pucket? Hey Isaac, you've
seen Pucket? That was first suckit well, because I think you were
gone already up here, right yeahyeah. So like so like Pocket left
(36:06):
and it's like, hey, we'regonna see Puck this weekend. It's going
to be a Gavin's wedding and tohang out Puck. We all liked Puck.
Yeah, we couldn't find him somebodyappeared to like more than others.
Yeah, that's true. How quicklychanged the uncomfortable subjects? Um before somebody
you know, twists a capital orsometimes damn did you know everybody? Um?
So so Mark Mullett, Um,he's he's my senator, he's both
(36:30):
of yours, right yeah, yeah, you're district. Yeah, embarrassed that
he's my senator, to be honestwith you, so uh yeah, that's
that's a do you do you haveto take the or the do you use
gloves? Or was it just noyour guys facilities out there like Maple Valley,
well they're fantastic now, but it'sall county money. Yeah it was,
and it was. There was abig complex or Ravensdale is spectacular Summit
(36:53):
Park which was part of the newSchool which is a bond that was all
school bond. The summit was aI believe part of the school bond.
The Ravensdale which you've played at yourkids, right, It went It went
from being remember the dirt field ifyou drive by Maplewood golf Course, you
know that dirt field and rent Okay, that was what Ravensdale was all dirt
and just it would flood and mudand you can do anything. Um.
(37:15):
They it was about a five milliondollar project. There's a bond, some
county money, and it was Imean, it was done the right way.
And they actually got a pretty gooddeal on the lights. One of
the guys who was in charge ofjunior football the time owned the lighting company.
Game an incredible deal on that.But it was it was a game
changer for us out there. Wewent from having the worst facilities for football,
(37:37):
baseball, softball, soccer using lacrosse. We went from him the worst
two really good ones and they're paAnd here's the thing this is, I'll
come back to this all the timeon the weekend, packed Monday through Sunday
puck and and here's and that's thething that I think is most important is
sometimes gets lost in this is thatit's not like we're doing this for just
(38:00):
hey, let's have really nice things. It's now, let's have some nice
things that are that are used andused all the time. It was,
it was such a game changer.I was on the football board for five
years. My wife and I Imean tons of labor of love. When
we got that facility. We wentfrom being having our kids stepping in mole
holes at the old middle school,you know, the old Tama Junior High.
(38:22):
Yeah, it was you couldn't practicethere. It was gravel. And
so it's a game changer, butyeah, I mean it was. But
so when I think that someone's takingmoney from kids to not put I don't
know, to not build facilities,it makes me sick. I drive from
the kCi every day every Wednesday whenwe tape our what's crack and show here.
(38:44):
So I come down and I'm look, i grew up Magnian Queen and
I'm very familiar with here. Thosefields in Ballard off off of fifteenth and
out there and Crown Hill, theyhaven't changed. They look exactly when I
played there. Yeah, same gravel, same dirt, same rocks. It's
embarrassing. I just I think anybodythat's a part of that world should you
be embarrassed for themselves? All right? And I think, well, and
(39:06):
you know what, I'm gonna tellyou this right now, just from people
that I've gotten text from today,I well done, Like you did your
homework, great, John, AndI mean that's a great job you When
it's one thing to go and havea hard interview like and be aggressive and
you know you did your homework andlike you can't argue facts. What do
(39:28):
you guys got going on? Great? Co Sell the I'm gonna tell you
well, and I'll tell you becauseI didn't get to hear of your whole
interview because we were taping co Selland all. But I can tell you
this Seahawk fans, he loves theSeahawks draft good. I mean, And
I've done this with him a longtime, never heard him like this,
Like, if you're a Seahawk fan, you may may need a moment,
may need to smoke afterwards. Heloves it. And one of those players,
(39:50):
Mike Morrill, join us, comeone thirty and uh that's it.
Yeah, it's like a little hockeyand talk all right, he ends next
we'll see him. I was alwaysa promise to be better. No sir,
no shoes, no dies. Anybodyliked to smoke some point I was.
I was to lick your face.I was born to rub you,
(40:13):
but you were born to rub mefirst. What do you need my vest
for? We write the song?I a man, You're like all the
round mercy. I don't think that
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