Michelle Darnell on the Issues

Create Jobs, Relief for Small Businesses, and Increase Affordable Housing

Small businesses in our state are struggling under the burden of taxes and regulation that the biggest corporations find ways to escape or enjoy exemptions from. Small businesses employ 52% of the work force.  Strong and healthy small businesses are key to family wages jobs in our state. Small businesses keep jobs here. Small businesses care about their community. They are your neighbors and your friends.

This is why we need to:

•     Eliminate the complicated and regressive B&O tax, which is a tax on gross income before a business ever makes a profit.  This would inspire more startups and investment, increasing revenues from the sales tax on goods and services.
•     Reduce regulations and licensing standards down to what makes sense. Regulation is certainly necessary but it should not require a permit to install a window or braid hair.
•     Reform zoning regulation to decrease the cost of construction and property taxes.

A wealthier society is a healthier, happier, and greener society and healthy businesses are critical to wealthier communities.

Will work to Reduce the cost of building affordable housing by repealing unnecessary and burdensome taxation and regulation.

A significant cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing.  This is due in large part because regulations and taxation has made building units smaller than a certain square footage less than profitable. Reduce the regulatory burden and builders will do what builders do: build!  As volume goes up, rents goes down.

Michelle Darnell

End Foreclosure Fraud; Repeal the Deed of Trust Act

Decrease homelessness and End non-judicial foreclosure in our state!

Homelessness is an increasing problem in our state and county. In the last two years we have seen a 40% collective increase in homelessness in King County within the last two years, yet we have over 5k foreclosures at the moment and 0ver 2000 empty bank owned homes in the county.

This is a problem that affects us all as we search our hearts and minds for solutions.  No one wants to see veterans, children and the elderly on our street. No one wants to see their neighbors disappear one by one. No one enjoys living with the uncertainty of the housing market as it is manipulated by the banks.  The “too big to fail” banks are pillaging our communities and it is time for that to STOP.

Families around this state are being evicted from their homes needlessly; they are migrating to urban areas to look for homes and jobs. This is driving up rents. When the existing tenants can’t afford the new rents or first, last and a deposit, they are either on the street or on a couch.

We can see the signs on every corner.  We have 50,000 homeless kids in our state, yet empty homes dot the state like bodies on a battlefield. What is the response?  To build tent cities and provide mobile health services. Both are admirable attempt to band-aide a situation but do nothing to address the cause.

The smart response is to identify the cause of the homeless crisis and work to eliminate one of the root causes. Foreclosure is a quick path to homelessness.   This is why I have worked nearly 8 years to fight the foreclosure epidemic. I saw this homelessness crisis coming as I toured empty homes several years ago and listen to the tragic stories day in and day out.

We have had over 640,000 families in this state evicted from their homes, about 80% of them, unnecessarily, because they should have been offered a modification.  That is what the bailed out banks were supposed to do in return for taxpayer money. But instead, the banks used the program to lure people into default and then they foreclosed upon them. They are still doing to.

We have a WA Foreclosure Fairness Act mediation program and spent $4 million last year to save 800 homes out of over 4000 referrals. That is a failure. Why is it failing? Because the banks just go through the motions and there is no way to stop them.

We can see the There is a mountain of case law and evidence indicating the banks have been up to no good they are breaking laws with impunity. This is a root cause of homelessness in our communities.

This is why I will work to end non-judicial foreclosure in our state by repealing the Deed of Trust Act.

Washington State is home to non-judicial foreclosure. This means that a home may be repossessed and sold at auction by a third party “judicial substitute” called a trustee.  This trustee is actually hired by the bank but is supposed to have a duty of good faith to the borrower and be unbiased like a judge.  That doesn’t even make sense does it?  Homeowners never get their day in court and it is easier to repossess a home than a car in this state! You don’t even have to prove ownership of the loan or how much is owed!

Washington’s non-judicial Deed of Trust system is unjust and unconstitutional, as homeowners face three additional barriers to due process:

(1) If a homeowner has cause to defend their property via a lawsuit, and the majority do, they MUST pay a bond equivalent to their mortgage payment each month to the court for the duration of the lawsuit.

(2)The homeowner is the plaintiff bringing the action so the burden of proof is on them.

3) IF they lose, they must pay the bank's attorney fees too, so filing a lawsuit is a very risky proposition.

When elected I will work to end non-judicial foreclosure in our state. I will stand up against the banking lobby and defend homeowners against the abuses they have been feeling for years. I will work to restore justice and liberty in our state. I will work to repeal the Deed of Trust act.

Michelle Darnell (right) with Libertarian Presidential Candidate 2012/2016 Gary Johnson

Reform Education

Our education system is a monopolistic mess. Despite spending $14k per student, per year and the efforts of our passionate, hardworking teachers, our children are uninspired and one out four doesn’t graduate. That is unacceptable.

The strategy has been to throw more money at a broken system rather than to innovate and improve the system.  This is because we have an education monopoly. Government and special interests have a stranglehold on our education system. This is harming students, teachers and our communities.

We need to increase freedom of choice and opportunity in our schools system and put the power back in the hands of local communities and parents.

We need to bring common sense and ingenuity back into the classroom:

• We need to bring back charter schools, under the management of a locally elected school board.
• We need to eliminate common core in our state.
• We need to bring innovation into the classroom through programs like STEM ( Science engineering and math) and increased technical education starting sophomore year.
• We need to decrease licensing requirements and allow professionals to teach in the classroom, offering their practical experience.
• We need to make sure great teachers are compensated and rewarded and pay is based on performance not just time served. Increased competition would increase demand for great teachers and increased demand means increased compensation.

We live in one of the most innovative and vibrant states in the nation. Washington should lead this nation in education reform and excellence. But to do that, we have to take some chances and it can be scary. Choice and competition inspire excellence. While education certainly must be funded, that is not addressing the real problem. Let’s take a chance for our kids.
​
When elected, I will work to revolutionize education in our state. I will work for teachers, students and families.

Michelle Darnell

Get Washington moving again!

Traffic is a gnarly mess, especially here in the 48th. In an effort to be “greener”, we are building bike lanes and bus routes to get people out of their cars, but how “green” is to have cars spewing emissions in to the air because they are stuck in traffic? Traffic congestion hinders economic growth which means fewer jobs and lower wages. Traffic means less time with family and less time to enjoy this state that we love.

People want to be with their families and doing productive activities. They don’t want to be stuck in traffic. We need to increase capacity and increase transportation options. We need to allow free enterprise to respond to the problem. Technology and ingenuity beats government solutions.

This is why we need to:

• Decentralize the transportation system. Private industry can respond with greater agility to our transportation needs. Decrease regulation and licensing requirements to what makes sense. Let local communities and private entrepreneurs solve the problems. For example, it would be great to see passenger ferries crossing Lake Washington so people could bike or Uber on either side.
  
  Peer to peer transportation options using smartphone technology would increase access to convenient affordable on-demand transportation, increase productivity, efficiency and convenience. This is good for people, the economy and the environment.
  
  
• Eliminate double taxation. Tolls on top of the gas tax amounts to double taxation. This policy is gouging the people who are the least capable of adjusting to it, the poor and the working poor.
  
  
• Increase the number of lanes, where necessary. This sort of goes without saying. Some say this will increase emissions but that is not true as increase flow will decrease time on the road and therefore emissions.

I will resist effort of special interests to strangle our transportation system. When elected, I will be the voice for innovative solutions, more lanes, and cleaner air.
​
Let’s get moving again!