What, another ballot in the mail? Such is the price of Democracy.
And speaking of price, there are only two items this half-year ballot locally, and both of them involve funding. This time, the voters pamphlet came in the same envelope as the ballot itself. And going through the arguments, I'd have to say the arguments AGAINST these measures gave me the best reasons to vote FOR them.
The easy one is approving a bond issue for Kent Schools - Proposition No. 1 General Obligation Bonds. It authorizes half a billion-with-a-b worth of bonds paid off over 21 years. We sell the bonds now, get the money for improvements, and pay them off over time to the bond-holders. The school district increases the property tax rate to pay for this, but in this case, total property taxes would go down, not just because of old bonds being paid off, but because property values have gone up over the years.
The arguments for and against are here. The arguments for are pretty much along the lines of "this is a good thing", and provides a long list of needed physical improvements. And yeah, the school behind our house still is using the "temporary classrooms" that were there 20+ years ago when we moved in. But the argument against are off-the-wall AM talk-radio nuts. No, seriously. Go read them. I'll wait. I can't properly do them justice. Government, as you know, is a left-wing scam, and this is a socialist power grab that will bankrupt you. Educating kids? That's just a pet project. Maintenance on older schools? That's dictating how your kids should be educated. Putting it to a vote? That's just intimidation.
Seriously, folks? I mean there are some good reservations here - it is half a billion dollars from a 21 year bond issue. And I am not seeing anything about hiring or maintaining teachers - it is mostly about the physical plant. But this bilious bloviating is right out of the crazy-conservative playbook. They opposition statement could make a sane, reasoned argument. It didn't.
Needless to say, I recommend voting YES on Proposition No.1 General Obligation Bond.
But that's just the hyper-local matter. On the King County level, we have another, DIFFERENT Proposition No.1 Crisis Care Centers Levy. This one increases our property taxes for nine years county-wide to fund behavioral health services. The Seattle Times and the Stranger are both boosting this, and they never agree on anything, and the Times has been running articles on the current state of affairs and why we could use this. Right now, available beds for mental health are lower than they were 20 years ago, and there is a 41 day wait for one. That's not particularly good, and puts a strain on everything else, in policing, hospitals, and other services. So yeah, I'm good with this.
The opposing view is not as flaming as for the one for the Kent School District, but still misrepresents what is going on, and declares that once the government gets the money, they will go spend it somewhere else (no word on whether mental health is a good or bad thing, or if we are taking the right approach to it). The argument they put forward, that the government can hot-swap funding at will, is an interesting one. Pity they don't give any examples that the county government has done this in the past.
So, yeah, I recommend voting APPROVED on Proposition No. 1 Crisis Care Centers Levy (though to be honest, I don't know why one is a YES/NO vote and the other is APPROVED/REJECTED).
And as a side note, one of the sage heads submitting the statement in opposition is Tim Eyeman, noted initiative launcher and apparent office chair thief. One of his few victories has been to tag onto the ballots useless and misleading push-polls that let people vent about taxes. The measures have no teeth, but can be used to bludgeon anyone trying to raise funds. Finally, the State Legislature is getting rid of this swollen appendix of a measure. Here's a way-too-detailed article on the situation. After this is signed off on by the Governor, you will still be able to find out about tax increases- there will be web sites and QR codes and referenced in the Voter's Guide - but you will no longer have to put up with meaningless chaff on the ballot. And that's a good thing.
And that's it for the off-off-off election cycle. It is due next Tuesday, and all you need to do is drop it off at the many ballot drop boxes or put it in the mail. You don't even need a stamp. But don't worry, primaries are right around the corner.
More later,
