41 Replies to "2017 PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS: Who's ahead in the early going"

• Joel August 1, 2017 (8:35 pm)

  a tax increase failing?  is this really happening in Seattle?  hoping that’s a sign of things to come for the November ballot.

  • WSB August 1, 2017 (9:04 pm)

    It’s a countywide tax proposal, so not just Seattle voters.

    • Joel August 1, 2017 (9:15 pm)

      Seattle controls the vote

      • Ktrapp August 1, 2017 (9:26 pm)

        If the number of people voting for mayor of Seattle is any indication, Seattle only represents about 38% of the votes in the county.

  • CAM August 1, 2017 (9:28 pm)

    God forbid that people think of the world outside their doors, right? That $30 a year that I would have had to contribute to this initiative to EDUCATE CHILDREN would have been sorely missed. 

    • Nora August 1, 2017 (10:08 pm)

      I have no problem supporting the arts. I just prefer to give my money directly to the symphony, SAM, or the aquarium directly, rather than letting the county skim 50% of the contribution off the top.

      • CAM August 1, 2017 (10:24 pm)

        This wasn’t to fund the arts. It was to fund education for children, primarily low income children. I also support the arts personally. My personal contributions will not supply students with the same opportunities. This initiative would. 

• KJE August 1, 2017 (9:49 pm)

  Shame to see Prop 1 failing. Yes,  a tax increase.  Per Komo, “The tax would amount to 1 cent for every $10 spent.”  Quite a small amount to help low income children to be exposed to different art programs and help fund arts and science programs in school.

• Jort Sandwich August 1, 2017 (10:37 pm)

  I’m happy to see that Bob “I Will Kill Light Rail to West Seattle” Hasegawa is losing badly. Perhaps light rail will live to see the future in the Junction.

• TJ August 1, 2017 (10:46 pm)

  Awesome to see Prop 1 fail! The county tends to have a little better head on their shoulders and not vote yes for everything that comes up, unlike Seattle. And save it KJE and Cam, all these “small amount” taxes add up, and there have been a lot of them recently, combined with the huge recent tax increases of the state, city, and  ST3. The politicians should have thought of these non essential ideas, like funding arts and sciences in schools for “low income children”, as being not worthy of the ballot with the tax hit we have taken. And again, with so many people saying the schools are underfunded (and many always will say that no matter how much money we throw at them: look at the new state budget & $700 increase in taxes here on average, a lot going to schools), why do we start more taxes for non core school functions when the basics are already underfunded? Here’s to hoping of a new lean world of tax increase failures!

• T. Ek August 1, 2017 (11:48 pm)

  Wow TJ, your post could have been written by Ebenezer Scrooge himself.  

• TJ August 2, 2017 (6:10 am)

  If wanting to hold onto my money, for my family, and not wanting other people to continually think of creative ways to want to spend it, sounds like Ebenezer Scrooge, then so be it. 

  • Jim August 2, 2017 (10:58 am)

    Government employees and bureaucrats are the last ones I trust to make reasonable decisions about how to spend such money (because it has been taken, not earned).

• flimflam August 2, 2017 (6:14 am)

  would someone explain how anyone is being kept away from “the arts”? this prop was a piece of fluff to try and guilt people into a “yes” vote – for the chiiiillldren.

  • Arts August 2, 2017 (7:01 am)

    I don’t know if you’ve looked at ticket prices to the 5th Avenue, the symphony, or even the art museum lately, but these venues are well out of reach for low-income families, and challenging even for moderate-income households.  The aim of the tax was to subsidize tickets for low-income kids who otherwise wouldn’t be able to enjoy the same access to art that their wealthier peers do.  

    • Joel August 2, 2017 (8:09 am)

      And all those mentioned receive huge corporate sponsors…why not use the Boeing and Microsoft money to reduce admissions for those needing it?  This area has one of the most booming economies in the country…with all the sales tax and property taxes the city and county should be operating in the black with a huge surplus.

      Museum of flight is free to everyone on Thursday nights…can’t afford regular admission then go Thursday night.  

      • AF August 2, 2017 (9:52 am)

        This also funded outreach programs.  For example the Pacific Science Center does outreach education all over the county bringing STEM lessons to local libraries and science after school programs to those who would otherwise not have the means to get to the museum themselves or even to have opportunities with these types of programs in their community.  I felt like this was a good way to channel money to a specific good cause.

      • Arts August 2, 2017 (3:08 pm)

        I work for one of those organizations.  You have no idea what you’re talking about.  Those “big corporate donors” discussed in the pamphlet don’t exist.  Literally the first time I ever heard of these gobs of corporate money coming into arts organizations was reading the voter’s pamphlet.  There are corporate sponsors, but the biggest of the corporate donors don’t even give enough to cover a week’s worth of payroll, let alone the other 51 weeks of staffing, or any property or operational expenses.  There is no law compelling corporations to donate, and they generally give just enough to show up on a flyer somewhere for the good PR and that’s it.

        Taxes (from ArtsFund, 4Culture, etc.), individual donations, and ticket sales are what fund the arts organizations.  It’s frustrating enough to think people voted against the measure because they didn’t think the arts were worth the money, but if people were voting against it out of sheer ignorance of how arts organizations are funded, that’s incredibly unfortunate for those who would have benefited.
        Finally, the city’s coffers aren’t relevant to this discussion as this is a county initiative.  

    • KM August 2, 2017 (10:30 am)

      Many are opposed to a sales tax because of it’s bigger impact on those this initiative intended to benefit, the lower and moderate income families. Maybe a different taxing structure would have been successful.

• artsea August 2, 2017 (6:50 am)

  I’ve seen new taxes being approved by the voters every election for the past 30 years and it never produces much in the way of results.  Money isn’t the answer.  Never was and it never will be.  Just start saying no more often.   

  • CAM August 2, 2017 (7:55 am)

    There is ample publicly available research evidence that in the long term (over the course of decades) increased spending on social services by the government in fact does show significant positive results for society as a whole, not to even speak of the benefit to those who directly receive the assistance. It has been in the news regularly. If you are concerned with results than you should be voting to increase spending on social programs, not against it. 

  • Jon Wright August 2, 2017 (8:02 am)

    What metric did you use to conclude that new taxes approved over the past 30 years “never produce much in the way of results”?

• The King August 2, 2017 (7:49 am)

  This has got to freak out the tax and spend lovers. Get used to it. I don’t care what the measure is at this point, I will vote no on everything. 

• ScubaFrog August 2, 2017 (8:30 am)

  The middle class can’t even afford to eat, and Republicans are likely going to let Obamacare fail (meaning many people are going to be experiencing massive economic hardship re healthcare).  I’m not going to vote for any more tax measures until we have universal health coverage, and maybe even a universal wage.  

  Durkan’s going to win for sure, but she’s going to be yet another mistake for Seattle.

  SAD!

  • KBear August 2, 2017 (9:33 am)

    If you are in the middle class, you can afford to eat. If you can’t afford to eat, then you are by definition, NOT MIDDLE CLASS. 

  • CAM August 2, 2017 (2:17 pm)

    I’m all for universal health insurance. How do you propose that it is paid for if you are going to reject all tax increases?

• artsea August 2, 2017 (8:51 am)

  Personal observation of the end results of all these added tax dollars spent on school “improvements” over the years makes me think much of people’s wishful thinking when voting “YES” has been a waste of money.   

  • Jon Wright August 2, 2017 (3:42 pm)

    Would you please share which personal observations in particular led you to determine that “tax dollars spent on school ‘improvements'” have been a waste of money?

• Jort Sandwich August 2, 2017 (9:23 am)

  In order to contribute $100 to this tax, a person would have had to spend $100,000.

  The humanity of it all! 

  In summary, I will posit that the election results validate all of my existing political beliefs and anybody who disagrees is wrong and insulting.

  • Joel August 2, 2017 (9:58 am)

    Ya but I just gave my last 100 to the increased car tabs..and my last hundred before to the increased property taxes and my last hundred before that to the increased sales tax and my next hundred will go to the new homeless tax on the November ballot…..oh and don’t forget the state budget screwing Seattle home owners with even more tax increases…I’ll need 6 Ben Franklins for that one

• RickB August 2, 2017 (9:41 am)

  I really hate to wade into a political discussion online, but nobody has mentioned the regressive nature of the sales tax funding of Prop 1.

  According to this Seattle Times article, “Among the 51 cities, Seattle has the fourth-highest tax burden for households at this income level [$25,000 per year].”

  I voted no because I thought it was a little strange to impose more taxes on low income households to pay for them to benefit from the arts, when they might prefer to hang on to the money to pay for more pressing needs.

  I’m all for helping lower income people access things they might not otherwise be able to afford, but it needs to be done in a more equitable way. Unfortunately without a major overhaul of our system of taxes in this state and city, there’s no good mechanism in place.

  • CAM August 2, 2017 (2:26 pm)

    If an individual in that income bracket spent 100% of their income on items eligible for sales tax they would be taxed an extra $25 per year as a result of this increase. Let’s put real #s on things when we talk about them. That family (or individual) would get access to educational and cultural opportunities that would cost far more than $25 in a year if this tax increase passed. When you can pool your money you get far greater return on your investment. 

  • Kelly August 2, 2017 (7:02 pm)

    Excellent reply RickB. I think you may have changed my mind. I was upset by prop 1 not passing, not as so much after reading your reasoning.  Sometimes a little perspective is all that is needed. Thanks for wading into the online political pool. 

• Kadoo August 2, 2017 (9:55 am)

  Now the Durkan is firmly one of the finalists let’s hope this time she attends mayoral debates/forums in West Seattle. She bypassed the earlier two. 

• Lola August 2, 2017 (9:57 am)

  TJ,  well said.  I am with you.  I have been taxed to death in the 206.  No more until they can manage to do what they say they will do with our tax money.  I am tired of nothing happening like road repair, actually doing something so the homeless are not living under our bridges or on the streets.  Our town is in shambles and nothing gets done. 

  • Jort Sandwich August 2, 2017 (4:04 pm)

    Our town is presently one of the most economically successful cities in the United States of America, and perhaps even the world. 

    Every city has areas where it can improve, but we are far, far away from being in “shambles.” That’s just absurd.

• Joel August 2, 2017 (1:27 pm)

  What they wanted the money for in this tax should be taken care of by the charitible foundations each of these organizations has.

• Boats August 2, 2017 (1:59 pm)

  Ooh im rubbing my pennies in my pocket as we speak! So glad i get to keep them this year!

• TJ August 2, 2017 (2:49 pm)

  Cam, in this tax climate we are living in, these arts are a luxury. Why would the people who this is supposed to help want to tax themselves more to “pool their money”? I just dont understand how in this region that is taking in record tax revenue without added taxes on the booming economy has asked for so many new taxes. And btw, the county is asking us in November to DOUBLE the Veterans, seniors, and vulnerable tax (or whatever catchy name they cal it). Never let a tax expire, or stay at the same rate god forbid. Safe to say that will fail too

• Diane August 2, 2017 (4:00 pm)

  wow; we’re finally going to have a woman mayor after 91 years, and only 1 comment about this historic mayoral race

• flimflam August 2, 2017 (4:36 pm)

  i’m pretty sure most seattlites are passed making a big deal of it – man, woman, who cares? will they do a good job is the bigger issue.

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