The Political Desk: A Taste of Kent

And here we start getting deeper into the weeds once we reach the borders of Kent, my home town. The big newspapers to the north think the world ends at the southern edge of Georgetown, and we are left with candidate statements and what forums the Kent Reporter covers. I would almost recommend grabbing some dice.

But that would be wrong, because the mayor and the council are facing some pretty dire challenges in the next few years. They did OK with the dangers of the Green  River flooding, but their budget is going to come under some strain soon. And part of it is my fault.

And by my fault, I mean my neighborhood up near Panther Lake. Almost a decade ago, we were unincorporated King County, but the county pressured the localities to adopt these ungoverned municipal islands, and offered Kent a tidy sum to annex us. This is the political equivalent of hanging a pork chop around our necks to get the dog to play with us, but it has in general been a good thing, and I am positively disposed to the local organization as a result. However, we're getting to the end of the ten year agreement, and that money is going to disappear from the budget. So they have to deal with that.

Furthermore, there's been a change on how state sales tax is collected, which reduces the share that communities with warehouses and factories get. And the valley floor is thick with warehouses and light industry. So the budget will take another hit, which means fewer services or higher taxes. And since they are grown-ups, they are talking about it now as opposed to after the election.

Now, by the same token, they've had great success with instituting a B&O tax, to the point that they are bringing in twice of what they anticipated? Good news? Not quite. When they sold that tax in, it was with the idea that it would be used to repair the local road systems (warehouse means a lot of trucks which means a lot of wear and tear). So while the money is there, there's some question about whether we can/should/be allowed to tap it. Business interests, which weren't too happy with it in the first place, say no now that they have it.

And then there's the idea of selling of city property. Last year, the city sold the land of Pine Tree Park to a developer. Problem was, the park was part of another annexation packet, and part of the agreement to annex was that if the city sold the park, they would have to provide land of equivalent value. That and the fact that the sale was a bit of a surprise to people in the neighborhood left the city to break the deal, at a cost of $800,000+.

And then there was the fate of the par3 golf course. Here the deal goes through (so far), but the developer is getting a major tax break to come play ball. As a result the larger golf club is still in the red.

All of the above sends me more in the direction of newcomers as opposed to old hands in facing the various challenges to the city. Elizabeth Albertson is running for mayor, and while a former council member, hasn't been part of the shenanigans of the past five years. So let's go for her.

Looking at the council itself, I'm going with Satwinder Kaur (who is packing a buncha endorsements plus has experience with previous budgets) for position 2,. And Tye Whitfield (who is also heavily endorsed, but also had the most earnest robo-call I ever received) for position 4.

But to be honest, check out your own research on this one.

More later,