As the sun sets on the money-grubbing melee we call our election process, we, the voters, have done our best, and hopefully sent our best representatives to right what many feel is the foundering ship of state.
Almost every county recorded higher than 50-percent turnout for an off-year election, and some counties were as high as 66 percent - an impressive number for any election, attesting perhaps to more than a few controversial issues that faced the voters.
We took on the insurance indus- try with its billions in profits, some of which was spent trying to defeat Referendum 67, and the citizens who took the time to vote resoundingly rejected the industry arguments, showing once again that citizen involvement can override the narrow interests of large corporations. We do still own this country if we take the time to make a difference.
Voters rejected Proposition 1, the regional transit grab-bag of projects that promised to put us in hock for decades with little detail on how the money would be spent. We need separate and specific plans for the 520 Bridge, Sound Transit expansion, the Alaska Way Viaduct and various highway projects, with finite price tags and schedules for each.
Initiative 960, Eyman's latest run at minimalist government by hand-cuffing our elected representatives, which I advised against in this column, will almost certainly be challenged in court, as have past boondoggles mounted by this man. It remains to be seen if this one can pass the test of constitutional convention. We need to reverse the Reagan-led perception that government is evil. It's not, and without it and the services provided, we'd find ourselves in a real fix.
SJR 8212 to use inmate labor on state contracts is another I railed against, but it passed with a large majority. Look for labor to challenge this one, and rightly so. I'll never understand how the working class can be persuaded to vote for issues that will, in the long run, reduce their ability to earn a better living.
HJR 4215 to invest higher education funds in the stock market passed against my will. Let's hope they don't buy any junk bonds with the money, or we'll all be facing higher taxes to make up the losses.
HJR 4204 to vote school levies by a simple majority went down to de- feat. I opposed this, not because I'm against schools but because the levy elections are often held at odd times. If the school levies are on the ballot for a normal November election when a larger turnout can be ex-pected, then a simple majority is OK.
We are going to set up a "rainy day" account in Olympia, fund Medic One on a regular basis - yeah, like anyone would vote against this service - and we approved most of the bureaucratic amendments to various charters and a preamble to the state constitution, a burning issue to be sure.
I couldn't find a body count for how the Democrats and Republicans did in terms of partisan offices in this election. However, my impression was that the Dems continue to hold and gain strength in the state, thanks in large part to the progressive tendencies of King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.
With this election under our belts, we move on to the holidays, lots of turkey, spending on Christmas gifts and then the New Year hangover, literally and figuratively, from the emotional letdown of the month-long celebrations.
The bad news: we begin to think about taxes, and that long stretch from Jan. 2 to the end of May with little to celebrate (i.e., not getting a paid holiday). The good news: the presidential primaries will be going strong with the Republicans kicking it off in Iowa on Jan. 3. That assumes no one moves their primary back to around Christmas.
With all the (yawn) excitement those will generate, we won't even notice those long gray winter days leading up to Memorial Day.
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