It is important to remember that none of this would have been necessary had Olympia not cowardly reimposed I-747 after Tim Eyman’s fiscally irresponsible tax-limiting initiative had been ruled unconstitutional:
Over the objections of some advocates, the Seattle City Council on Monday unanimously approved forwarding to the August ballot the creation of a Seattle Parks District to provide a new and permanent source of funding for the city’s parks and recreation programs.
Seriously. How is it that our local daily continues to cover this story without covering the context?
Also, you know how some of the establishment folk continue to roll their eyes at Kshama Sawant for being some sort of ridiculous one-and-done accidental council member, inflexibly incapable of pragmatic compromise?
City Councilmember Kshama Sawant said she agreed that additional property taxes placed a burden on middle-income residents when the “superwealthy and big business” should be paying a larger share.
But she said the city had limited taxing authority and that low-income residents and those on fixed-incomes are some of the heaviest users of parks and community centers.
“Sometimes, these are the only services they have access to. It’s important that we’re doing this as a council.”
That’s crazy talk! Amiright?
“Seriously. How is it that our local daily continues to cover this story without covering the context?”
You really have to ask?
Yeah. You’re right. It’s crazy talk. Because the problem isn’t with the creation of a Parks District. It’s with how that district is set up.
Independent taxing authority, with appointed leadership not accountable to the public. For years, the Parks & Rec. Dept. – which owns a lot of valuable land – has been trying to generate income by selling or leasing that land to private interests. (Remember the GasWorks/One Reel controversy?) Now, those folks will be able do all of that it wants to, and raise as much tax money as it likes.
Look at who’s been advocating this. It’s the same real estate interests that run (and ruin) our city already. This is a setup for all the corruption of the Port of Seattle, without the accountability. Sawant’s correct in her statement – and who doesn’t love parks? But she, and we, are being played.
When that massive new condo development with killer views of Puget Sound goes in at Discovery Park, don’t blame Tim Eyman.
@2 The parks district commission is composed of the elected city council. They are one and the same. How is this unaccountable?
You are either misinformed, or misinforming.
@3 And how likely is the election of a city council member going to hinge on their oversight of the Parks District, an entirely separate job? For that matter, how much time or energy will they actually have to oversee the actions of staff? There’s enough layers there to, in pragmatic terms, insulate the Parks District from any effective public accountability. I stand by my earlier comment.