By Lyz Kurnitz-Thurlow In the August primary election, we were asked if Pierce County should proceed with financing and construction of the proposed new county general services building as authorized by the County Council. Forty-four percent of us voted yes. Fifty-six percent of us voted no. This, however, was just an advisory vote. It told the county we're not happy with this, but didn't mean they had to do anything about it. On our November ballots, we get a referendum, submitted by the voters of Pierce County, which says, "Shall Ordinance No. 2015 2s, which approves financing, construction and leasing of a new county general services building, be repealed?" This time, a yes vote means no, don't do it; repeal the ordinance. A no vote, therefore, means, yes, you made a good decision: Go ahead and do it. And. this time, it counts. The yes side (those against it) say that it's too expensive, it's a bad location with limited access to transportation, and is a flawed financing plan which will eliminate jobs. And, they point out that we did vote against it in August. The no side (those saying to the county, "Go ahead and build it") say that the county is leasing a lot of office space, and owns this piece, so it will save money. A lot of money. And, that the count can build this without raising taxes. The yes side says that our county treasurer says that there are better options, and nothing they're doing will save the millions they claim it will. The no side tells us that the landlords, from whom the county rents office space want us to keep paying rent, and hired paid signature gatherers to get this on the ballot. You decide. A basic question is: De we trust our elected representatives to do the job we elected them to do?
Lyz Kurlitz-Thurlow is a vice president of Tacoma-Pierce County League of Women Voters. This article originally appeared in the October edition of the group's newsletter, The Voter.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment