SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Nanny-alert: Are Seattle government employees really that helpless?

Mar 4, 2013, 10:39 PM | Updated: Mar 5, 2013, 7:06 am

Celery won’t be this fresh for city employees – they’re offering it in the vendin...

Celery won't be this fresh for city employees - they're offering it in the vending machines. (AP Photo/File)

(AP Photo/File)

Dori writes…

Do you ever have an event at work where the planner orders a bunch of pizzas for the staff?

They order a few pepperoni pizzas, a couple all-meat, a couple cheese, and one veggie pizza.

Toward the end of the event, you decide you want just one more slice – so you start flipping through the pizza boxes. They’re all empty – except for the veggie pizza – there’s plenty of that left. You know why?

BECAUSE VEGGIE PIZZA IS AWFUL!

I thought about that as I heard about the Seattle City Council vote Monday to require that at least 50 percent of all food sold in vending machines be “healthy” offerings.

So they will start selling baby carrots and celery sticks out of city vending machines. Mmmmm.

My favorite part of this story is the quote from Councilman Richard Conlin, “This is one way we can support healthy and productive city employees”.

Really? Seattle government workers are so helpless and lack so much control of their own lives they need the City Council to force their food choices? City of Seattle workers are incapable of bringing healthy snacks from home if that’s what they desire?

This is yet another pathetic example of a nanny-state run amok.

What’s the over/under on how long it will be until the city council tells us they need to raise taxes to make up for falling vending machine revenues?

Seattle News Archives & Features

Authorities issued a Level 3, Go Now, evacuation advisory for a new wildfire called the Goat Fire i...

Tom Brock

EVACUATE NOW: Goat Fire spikes to Level 3 in Upper Cle Elum Valley

Authorities are ordering evacuations for a new fire, called the Goat Fire, in the Cle Elum Valley of the Cascade Mountains.

7 days ago

hit-and-run mukilteo father of 7...

KIRO 7 News Staff

Suspect in Mukilteo hit-and-run that killed father of 7 turns himself in

The man accused of hitting and killing a motorcyclist before leaving the scene has turned himself in, according to Washington State Patrol (WSP).

15 days ago

The Three Queens Fire near Snoqualmie Pass and Kachess Lake increased to more than 800 acres this w...

Tom Brock

Racing the Flames: Fast-growing wildfire forces evacuations near Snoqualmie Pass & Kachess Lake

A lightning-caused wildfire six miles west of Snoqualmie Pass is growing and threatening cabins at the north end of Kachess Lake.

22 days ago

The tiny eyes of about 20 cats are focused on a Tacoma police officer as he snaps a shot of them on...

Tom Brock

How 30+ cats survived on an abandoned Tacoma boat

Officers say they responded after receiving reports from people who spotted a lot of cats on a sailboat anchored just off Owen Beach, on the northern tip of Point Defiance Park

22 days ago

Associated Press

Man charged with arson in Spokane, Washington, told police he planned wildfire for weeks

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A Spokane County detective who interviewed the man accused of starting one of the city’s wildfires said the man confessed, described his planning process and explained how he created a device to ignite the blaze. Detective Michael Drapeau said in a court filing Wednesday that Aaron Farinacci told him that he […]

24 days ago

SWAT standoff Kent (1)...

KIRO Newsradio staff

VIDEO: SWAT standoff in Kent after assault suspect barricades in home

There is a SWAT standoff happening at a home in Kent.

25 days ago

Nanny-alert: Are Seattle government employees really that helpless?