When times are tough, take the initiative

Faced with mounting fiscal constraints, Washington state tax-and-spend proponents can bellyache, or get to work.

Computer programmer David G. Goldstein of Seattle recently chose door No. 1, filing a well-publicized initiative to the people on whether tax-limit champion Tim Eyman is "a horse's ass."

More constructive are tough, Age of Eyman efforts to secure new funding for important public facilities and services, plus a new attempt by legislators to enhance trust in government (no snickering, please).

The King County Library System is seeking voters' support Tuesday, for the second time since Eyman's Initiative 747 in 2001 limited annual property-tax hikes to 1 percent, unless voters approve more.

A year ago, King County voters outside Seattle did just that, lifting the lid to maintain planned 2003 library operating expenses. Thus, no shortened library hours, or weeklong library closures, as in Seattle.

Tuesday, the same fiscally moderate suburban King County electorate will decide on Proposition 1, a property tax hike for a $158 million construction-bond measure, paid back over 20 years. Proposition 1 would upgrade, expand, replace and build new libraries for a stellar system that appreciative patrons are stretching to capacity. The cost to the owners of a $300,000 home: another $24 a year.

With a $2.4 billion state budget deficit, Washington public-recreation backers are working the angles, too. To ease painful cuts, House Bill 1139 and Senate Bill 5111 would set a $35 annual parking fee at state parks and other recreation facilities.

Ensuring the long-term fiscal health of our crumbling state parks system is a separate matter.

In 2000, a powerful, grass-roots coalition in California won voter approval of a $2.1 billion general-obligation bond measure for state and local parks, open space and coastal protection. The governor and Legislature fully backed placing Proposition 12 on the ballot there. A similar measure could be funded in this state from a dedicated sliver of increased sales or property taxes flowing to Olympia in better times.

But anticipating revenues isn't always the same as securing them. Witness the now-stalled, voter-approved initiatives to raise teacher salaries and reduce class size. They relied on no tax hike, instead targeting lottery proceeds and state property-tax revenues in excess of the state's spending limit. That hasn't panned out.

The school measures could be delayed a few years, or perhaps even lead to a thorny new vote pinpointing other revenue sources. More broadly, Gov. Gary Locke and public-schools boosters are eyeing an education trust fund, perhaps from sin-tax hikes. Campaign slogan: "Drink up, for the kids!"

But such gimmicks add to voter doubts about government's ability to control costs, be efficient and demonstrate accountability. However, if House Bill 1053 becomes law, a new governor-appointed board of audit experts would help set performance standards and reporting practices, then deploy contractors — or even better, the no-nonsense state Auditor Brian Sonntag — to evaluate state agencies.

This would trump wink-and-nod performance audits done mainly for political cover, or scattershot probes by an audit committee of legislators.

Most of my friends are Democrats (they like my cooking). Myself, I take tax limits, spending measures and candidates one at a time. As a kid in Chicago, I licked envelopes for Democrat Eugene McCarthy's 1968 White House bid and remember the electricity when 10,000 supporters welcomed him at Midway Airport.

I voted for Republican John McCain in the 2000 Washington primary and once for Locke as Washington governor, when his far-right GOP opponent Ellen Craswell touted God as a preferred policy adviser.

Yet, Seattleite Goldstein grates as badly as Craswell did. Suggesting Eyman is a "horse's ass," he infers that so is anyone who has ever voted for an Eyman initiative — including moderates of all stripes across the state. Gee, this must be our "One Washington," to borrow a phrase from the state Democratic Party.

Goldstein claims his nasty act, lapped up like warm cocoa by some media, highlights an initiative process he sees as flawed. Yet, businesses regularly win backroom tax breaks in Olympia with no initiatives, or public scrutiny, at all. That many of the current favors were dispensed in the fat mid-to-late '90s only means they're unjustified now.

Our tight times demand a lot of initiative: better information on current programs and spending; less knee-jerk Chicken Little shtick from business against tax-break rollbacks; plus more volunteerism, self-help and public-private consortiums. Everyone has to give blood.

Finally, our freedom to choose partial barriers against tax hikes doesn't prevent other votes where we can choose to pay more taxes. Oh, if only 90 percent of getting funding was just showing up. Don't let the hard work scare you away, Mr. Goldstein.

Seattle writer Matt Rosenberg is a regular contributor to The Times' editorial pages. E-mail him at oudist@nwlink.com.