Comments on: Election 2014: First results for King County Proposition 1

By: Jaques

Jaques — Tue, 06 May 2014 18:08:30 +0000

It is bad enough that I have to get new licence plates every 7 years. Other states don’t do that. Want to keep the same plate number that you have memorized, well there is a fee that too. They are nickel and diming the poor and middle class to death with their fees and taxes. This tax only hurts the working poor who can not afford to live in Seattle and would like to keep thier car.

By: James

James — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 16:10:35 +0000

Angela Bender,

I am late to the party on my comment/response.

I think why bus drivers are paid more in Seattle is the higher cost of living in Seattle. US News & World Report has Seattle second in the country (after Olympia – strangely) in average pay per driver at $50,130. The same site references the median salary for bus drivers across the nation at $36,600.

http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/bus-driver/salary

Now, when I compare cost of living in Seattle to a city close to the US average for cost of living (Richmond, VA) I get the following result:

A salary of $50,000 in Seattle, Washington could decrease to $34,478 in Richmond, Virginia

This is from the website Sperlings best places, that allows a cost of living comparison.

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/seattle-wa/richmond-va/50000

What the Richmond bus driver is being paid in an average cost of living town compares pretty well to the median for all bus drivers in the USA, which also compares well to the average bus driver salary in Seattle.

You are comparing absolute dollars to purchasing power. The other top paying cities for bus drivers are ones you might expect – New York, San Francisco, & Bridgeport, Conn. As you might expect, this correlates with the cost of living in those areas.

By: Angela Bender

Angela Bender — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:31:33 +0000

The whole vote is garbage, it wasn’t a contest. The state spent 2 million dollars to have it out of regular voting season (A WASTE!) and a lot of people didn’t even know what was happening.
Just an FYI to home owners, whom do you think will be paying higher rent when our landlords get the tax hike… yes the renters. I being one myself was totally going to accept that. I am also a vehicle owner and wouldn’t really have minded the extra twenty dollars a year. I spend more than that in coffee I make at home in a month. Its not a he gets off scott free kinda deal. Some people depend on the busses to get into work. The 66 for example covers people at seattle cancer care and anybody that needs to get there from northgate which is were my other half needs to go in the morning. I work in Everett and now because of this I not only have my regular commute, I have to drive into down town to drop him off. I know plenty of people working for the UW that are facing the same issue. Open your eyes people this was just a sham and the two million dollars they spent on this vote could have kept the busses running for that much longer. Also what the heck are we doing paying our bus drivers over 60k a year???????? seriously? That is rediculous. Nowhere else in the country do they get paid that much. Its a crock! especially since half of them dont know what in the heck they are doing. This city is only getting worse. The public trans isn’t for poor people, it’s for people whom work since its not cheap to even ride the fluffing thing. UGHHHH!!!! The whole situation is frustrating.

By: datamuse

datamuse — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:04:49 +0000

We shouldn’t be punished for the lack of planning the city has historically shown.
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The city has advanced many transit plans over the years. They pretty much all got voted down. I’m beginning to think Seattle voters really just don’t like transit.
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Mass transit has been around and been successful in numerous cites for 5-6 decades.
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Considerably longer. The New York City subway has been running for over 100 years.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 14:44:01 +0000

Hi all! I started a Facebook group called Seattle Hitchhikers Unite as a way for folks to connect if they are able to give rides and/or need a ride. Many of the alternative options (Uber, Lyft and Car2Go) either are above folks’ price point or do not extend into all West Seattle neighborhoods. RideShare Online is there but I’ve found it to not be so useful. It is not a place to vent and/or discuss transit options or the failure of Prop 1. It’s meant to be a way to try to help folks who will have more trouble getting to/from work, etc once transit makes cuts.

The general guidelines for the page: Get a ride. Give a ride. Don’t be a murderer.

By: New Driver

New Driver — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 14:27:08 +0000

Where was GIR4WS in this debate? Since they’re so concerned about West Seattle, certainly they have a position and could have rallied more support around this issue, if they actually care about WS, that is.

On a side note, it appears that developers have taken note of GIR4WS actions against alley vacations and non-union low-wage jobs. A developer downtown has, in response, curbed plans for at least 1 development: http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2014/04/hedreens-mega-hotel-in-downtown-seattle-not-quite.html?page=all

By: I. Ponder

I. Ponder — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 06:44:36 +0000

West Seattle is awash in management efficiency experts. Reminds me of all the constitution scholars who told me they didn’t like Obamacare because it was unconstitutional. Enjoy your traffic gridlock and no whining about it please.

By: flimflam

flimflam — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 03:26:32 +0000

jeff, don’t forget rapid ride…same bus stop locations…more curb bulbs! shiny EEElectronic boards to tell you how late your bus may be! renaming routes that formerly had such boring names as the 15, etc.

By: No Free Rides

No Free Rides — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 03:18:20 +0000

I’m glad this got defeated. I will vote no to Metro until they get their books in order.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 02:21:21 +0000

We shouldn’t be punished for the lack of planning the city has historically shown. Mass transit has been around and been successful in numerous cites for 5-6 decades. In knowing this they went with a bus tunnel in 1990?? Finally get light rail in 2009??? If Prop 1 passed they would piss it away on an obsolete band aid solution anyway.

By: Francisco

Francisco — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 01:45:19 +0000

I think its really cruel to paint those that voted no, as inhumane jackals who are incapable of feeling empathy for others. I think the yes people wanted to make this a referendum on the elderly and other segments of the population that are dependent on Metro, when really it seems to be a referendum on how Metro does business and operates in general. Frequently holding the public hostage by constantly throwing out reductions in service, and asking for sales tax hikes and parading out every elderly, infirm person in the region as the poster child for who will suffer, is simply not acceptable.

I too hate traffic on the WSEA bridge, and in the region in general but I think there are some creative ways to fix it. I personally would love to see some sort of incentive made or a shift to leverage technology more to let workers telecommute if possible. Sure it’s not an option for every profession I get it, but think about what flex hours or telecommuting would do for traffic and reliance on public transit as a daily requirement.

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 00:42:49 +0000

Thank you Bradley; exactly “Good news! The last thing Washington State, King County, and Seattle needs are more regressive taxes like this. It’s ridiculous to make a billionaire in Hunt’s Point to pay the same $60 for his new $100,000 Tesla S sedan as the struggling single mother in White Center for her 25 year-old Toyota Corolla.”

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 00:12:19 +0000

2 years ago (2012) the state voted yes to legalizing marijuana. Other than the need to decriminalize it, a major factor in it’s legalization was the fact of being able to tax it. In fact I believe one of the estimates was around $200 million in additional tax dollars. Couldn’t these deficits be resolved if the bureaucrats get off their butts and get this done? 1/4 of the population of Washington State lives in the Seattle/Tacoma metro area, so it could be understood that 1/4 of the tax revenue if not more would be allocated to this region. A potential $50+ million dollars extra a year to tax what they already said they would, or continue to raise property and auto tax to pay for basic city infrastructure. I don’t understand the state governments way of thinking.

By: 935

935 — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 23:08:35 +0000

For the love of everything holy…can we please stop using the word “fair”?? one of the most disgusting 4 letter words.
Who, pray tell, decides what’s “fair”? Is it fair for me to pay for something I do not use? If so, I would like all the “fair” minded people to start a bank account for me. I promise to use the funds only for altruistic motives…

By: wsguy

wsguy — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 23:05:19 +0000

ROM for Metro diesel costs

2000 approx $14.8 million
2013 approx $34.8 million

2013 Sales Tax Revenue over expected amount $30+ million
2014 expected to be higher

So yes voters cannot read these comments and understand how a rational person might have a different opinion and perspective and respect that?

2 sales tax increases a car tab tax and a property tax increase in the last dozen years. People saying yes to 80% of funding requests is a pretty damn good record of stepping up.