Opportunity for Olympia the right thing to do

As a school teacher, I can’t resist commenting on a recent letter to the editor against Olympia Initiative 1. The letter writer implied that voting Yes on Olympia Initiative 1 would invite lawsuits from far-right groups like the Freedom Foundation, and threaten other city services.

That’s just not true. Look at the City of SeaTac. When voters there approved Proposition 1, a minimum wage hike, big corporations sued all the way to the state Supreme Court. Yes, the city's lawyer sat at the table, but the initiative's backers paid for the legal team that fought and eventually won the case, raising wages and paid sick leave for more than 7,000 hard-working people.

Olympia Initiative 1 establishes a much needed grant program to help our city's students get the community college and job training they need to get good paying jobs. It raises more than $2 million a year from a small tax on the wealthiest 3 percent. It's supported by teacher associations, labor councils, county democrats and many more because it's the right thing to do.

The threat of a lawsuit didn’t scare the voters in SeaTac, nor should it be used to dissuade Olympia’s voters from doing the right thing.

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Opportunity for Olympia the right thing to do."