By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Its supporters see it as a prudent use of public money. Its opponents see dollar signs they want to erase. Voters in the general election will decide which side prevails in Pierce County's controversial proposal to build a general-services office building in Tacoma for an estimated cost of $230 million. The project already is in doubt after 56 percent of voters countywide who participated in the primary election in August said no to an advisory measure's question of whether the county should go ahead with financing and construction of the multi-story building. The advisory vote was non-binding. The next vote on the issue is in the form of a citizen-sponsored referendum, which could sink the project if the results are the same as in the primary. Approximately 21 percent of the registered voters in the county cast ballots. A higher turnout is expected for the general-election voting, which started after the county auditor mailed ballots last Thursday to the approximately 442,000 voters in the county. Voting will end Nov. 3. The advisory ballot measure was ordered by the County Council in reaction to public opposition the council's controversial decision in February to authorize the office project. County officials have said the project is jeopardized by delays in the start of construction, which was initially scheduled to start late this year. County Executive Pat McCarthy, a leading supporter of the project, won the council's backing with claims that taxpayers would save tens of millions of dollars if the office complex is built and becomes the home of 19 county agencies. She said the savings would come from the consolidation under one roof of departments that now occupy leased space. McCarthy contends the proposed central office building, which would rise on county-owned land now occupied by the former Puget Sound Hospital, would cost less to build than the $300 million the county would spend over the next 25 years in leasing and related costs to landlords. Most opposition to the proposed office building is over the project's cost. A desire to have taxpayers vote yea or nay to big-ticket spending by county government is why a petition drive was launched earlier this year by citizens to put the referendum on the ballot. Project opponents point out that a yes vote on the referendum is to reject the project. The referendum effort was launched by Citizens for Responsible Spending, a group headed by Jerry Gibbs, a Gig Harbor retiree, and Kerry Hooks, a Frederickson community activist. Hooks also is a candidate in the general election for the county's Charter Review Commission.
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