A few final election thoughts:
It’s very taxing!
We’re running an unscientific Web poll now on who might best save taxpayers money (Irish leprechauns are doing well) and a Van Kovacs commented.
“What’s this fixation about SAVING money?” he asks.
I had to respond.
“Ah, Van, if you look around, I don’t think we have a fixation about saving money. Does $16 trillion in the hole sound like we’re saving money?”
Of course, elections aren’t only about trying to give the taxpayers a break, but if what you pay is important, then you should know what you’re paying.
You’ve heard a lot about how local governments are slashing budgets. But when you cut through all the gunk, simply look at your property tax bill.
Here’s what mine says:
2010 – $2,791
2011 – $3,068
2012 – $3,189
Do you see a pattern there? That’s a 10 percent increase and then on top of that another 4 percent increase.
Did you see that kind of increase in your paycheck?
Now if all of this slashing is going on, where is all of this money going?
Does Mielke want it?
In the Tom Mielke/Joe Tanner race for county commissioner, I earlier gave the slightest of edges to Joe Tanner. Tom, the Republican, should be the clear favorite. He’s the conservative incumbent in a conservative-leaning county.
So what’s going on? Tom appears to be sleepwalking through this race. Joe is completely out-hustling him.
Look, Tom has never been the sweetest kernel on the cob. But we Clark County folks have never looked for an overly perspicacious politician to represent us. We like regular Joes … I mean, regular Toms.
Tom, do you give a topo dietro about this election? You need to show it.
(I also sense a slight, late shift to Marc Boldt in the other commissioner race.)
Park it
I’ve written about this special parks district in Vancouver before, and if voters look at all the information, it will go down to defeat. On the surface, this new parks district comes across as a guaranteed fund for parks, removing it from the whims of the city council. In reality, it is yet another revenue stream for the city that allows it to free up money in the general fund (where there already is more than $8 million for parks) so it can be spent on anything.
Think about it.
My slug costume
Halloween is just over, but I had this dream I had to share.
State Sen. Don Benton (he’s in a tight race to retain his seat) and I were about to attend the same bewitching party, so he called me up to make sure our costumes didn’t clash. We travel in the same circles and hang with the same cool cats, so we’re always chatting.
“I’m going as a slug,” I told Don. “How ’bout you?” Don was silent.
After a long pause, he said something about having to go so he could get to a Senate vote or something and hung up.
Weird.
The dream ended, so I never found out what his costume was. I’m still wondering.
But then I kinda wondered what other politicians dressed up as. Leprechauns?
Lou Brancaccio is The Columbian’s editor. Reach him at 360-735-4505, http://twitter.com/lounews or lou.brancaccio@columbian.com.
