Kitsap Caucus
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NASCAR Bill Sponsor Arrested
Steven Gardner
UPDATE 2: The (Tacoma) News Tribune published a statement by Simpson, part of which reads:
As a state legislator, I remain strongly in support of erring on the side of protecting potential victims with our laws and their enforcement – even when, in situations like mine, it can result in unwarranted charges. I am confident that once the facts come to light I will be exonerated.
UPDATE: Richard Roesler at the Spokesman-Review has a synopsis of the police report and a link to it. The domestic violence incident comes from an argument over taxes Simpson had with his ex-wife. Not surprisingly, his version differs from hers.
From earlier: Here's the first blast about the arrest of State Rep. Geoff Simpson, who was the primary sponsor in the house to build a NASCAR speedway, which as you may recall would have been right at the gateway to Mason County, or the gateway Kitsap County, depending on which way you're traveling.
WA lawmaker charged with assault
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ A Democratic state representative is charged with assault in an alleged domestic violence incident.
Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, was arrested Sunday after King County sheriff's deputies got a 911 call at around noon.
Sheriff's spokesman Rodney Chinnick says Simpson was booked into the King County jail, but the jail has no record of Simpson being in custody. Chinnick refuses to provide more details.
Covington's prosecutor says Simpson is no longer in custody. He's been charged in King County District Court with fourth-degree assault and interfering with a domestic violence report.
In a statement, Simpson says the charges are unwarranted, and he predicts he will be exonerated.
If he has been charged, then there must be a probable cause statement. The details of that should be forthcoming.
Simpson was the primary sponsor of the NASCAR bill, primarily because bill supporters could not find a single Kitsap legislator to take the lead. Had Jan Angel been in the Legislature, as she hopes to be in 2009, she certainly would have signed on.
Simpson took some heat for being the lead on this. It got him a little piqued, but he didn't back down.
In case you're interested, here was the final blog entry dealing with the Legislature's actions on the NASCAR proposal. It was one of the last speedway posts while this site was "Tracking the Speedway."
Here is the story that followed the e-mail trail.
On March 15 Appleton exchanged e-mails with Simpson in response to Simpson's forwarding of a pro-track editorial written by the News-Tribune's Dan Voelpel. Appleton referenced the annexation issue. "Bremerton is in Kitsap County but the track would be built in an area non-contiguous to Bremerton. (so sorry, Mr. Mayor)."
Simpson responded in part, "Since none of your stated concerns seem to be valid, I'm left with the impression that your opposition is nothing more than nimbyism."
Appleton countered that Murphy did not agree with Simpson and argued against using the "full faith and credit of the state." She asked to "agree to disagree."
Simpson came back with, "I'm stunned that you apparently have not bothered to learn the most basic details of the proposal. Nobody has ever proposed to use the 'full faith and credit' of the state. Mike Murphy, the self-proclaimed greatest Treasurer in the United States, clearly did not understand the proposal either when he testified before the House Finance Committee. The more he spoke, the better NASCAR looked."
April 30, 2008 Legislature, SpeedwayNASCAR Washington
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8 thoughts on "NASCAR Bill Sponsor Arrested"
Jake Metcalf says:
Man. If people thought he faced a hard re-election before the arrest I can only imagine what his opponent's mailers are going to look like.
While I disagreed vocally with Rep. Simpson on this issue I would like to remind all that he is inocent until proven guilty.
That being said he might reconsider running for re-election and might face a Democratic challenger now.
Rich Danison says:
I found my personal interactions with Mr. Simpson to be,… uh…testy? Funny, Geoff uses the NIMBYism claim against people who actually lived where he wanted to place a huge track, which, conveniently, was 50 miles from his backyard.
Mary Colborn says:
I, too, found communication with Mr. Simpson to be difficult. His e-mails replies regarding NASCAR were filled with sarcasm. He flung the NIMBY term at you if you expressed any concerns with the track.
Well if he has to make a quick get away , he knows where to get a fast car .
I found him to be an arrogant buffoon and other things that I could not say in a family newspaper.
He is un-reelectable.
I am going to write to leaders in the Washington State Democratic Party asking for them to recommend that Geoff Simpson not run for re-election.
This Nascar bill is just the beginning of your nightmare. Nascar sent John Condren to Merced County to terrorize the locals and persecute anybody who was against the racetrack project.
It's been a while Jacob. I had to comment on this one. I didn't have the time to go back and pull the exact posting but didn't you praise Geoff Simpson for standing up against passing the Eyman inspired tax bill in special session? What's that up in the sky? Oh yeah it's you going whichever way the wind is blowing.
Take care Jacob
Bronson I believe in more and better democrats. We can do better than geoff Simpson.
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Kitsap Sun reporters blog about politics, government and other wonkisms of import to Kitsap County.