Letters to the editor for Oct. 17, 2019, in The Olympian

Cheryl Selby for Mayor

I support the endorsement of Cheryl Selby for mayor based on the very qualities published in your October 6th column. As a previous business owner in downtown Olympia, she has “hands on experience” in the challenges of moving a business ahead and the need to present to the customers a thriving environment. With the continuing difficulties of the downtown population, she has experienced it in “real time” versus being detached and sitting behind a podium with philosophical ideas/concepts and agendas. Please join me in voting for Cheryl for another term as mayor so she can continue to move this issue ahead from a pragmatic perspective which can lead to accomplishments vs. rhetoric and more studies.

The high costs of $30 car tabs

If you think driving on Interstate 5 in Thurston, Pierce and King counties is “fun” now, just wait until Initiative 976 passes in November.

The ballot measure promises to limit auto license tab fees to $30, eliminate the 0.3 percent tax on vehicle sales, and more. However, if this short-sighted initiative passes, you’ll have sponsor Tim Eyman to thank for ever-worsening traffic congestion, massive cuts in state and local transportation and public safety improvements, and increasing construction costs.

In Thurston County, Olympia’s $1.7 million street overlay program, financed by a $40 car tab add-on, would be wiped out. Intercity Transit would suffer losses upward of $6 million, and Thurston Rural Transit likely would be eliminated.

Thurston County’s share of more than $100 million in transportation grants also would be threatened.

Most of us feel the pinch of rising prices and taxes, so a savings of $20 to $75 a year sounds appealing. But when you consider that the time and effort you already invest in getting around -- by bus, on foot, by ferry, on a bike or in a private vehicle -- would increase exponentially, is that $20 to $75 savings really such a bargain? The damage from hitting one deep pothole would chew up your savings -- and more!

I-976 would seriously affect every form of transportation in Washington state. Only YOU have the power to stop this transportation nightmare. Please, think carefully and vote NO on this irresponsible attempt to gut state and local transportation funding!

This story was originally published October 16, 2019 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Letters to the editor for Oct. 17, 2019, in The Olympian."