Everett, Wash.
Published: Saturday, October 11, 2008

Mass transit, global warming divide 21st District candidates

By Bill Sheets
Herald Writer

 Disagreements over the cause of global warming and how best to improve mass transit underscore the differences between the candidates in a Nov. 4 election contest in the 21st Legislative District.

Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Mukilteo, and her challenger, Republican Brian Travis of Mukilteo, sit at polar opposites on those issues.

Travis doesn't believe global warming is caused by human activity and opposes any funding for "green" initiatives.

In 2003, the Legislature approved tax incentives for the manufacture and sale of biodiesel and ethanol.

"We shouldn't be pouring money into the phantom of global warming when we have problems that are confronting us today, financial and otherwise," Travis said.

Roberts disagrees. She said transportation contributes greatly to the pollution that some say causes global warming.

"That's why I'm so much a strong supporter of any alternatives," Roberts said.

Roberts, 60, ran a small business importing folk art from China and Southeast Asia before she was elected to the Legislature in 2004. She's seeking her third term.

Travis, 33, is marketing representative for New Concepts in Marketing, which markets food and household sundry products.

The candidates' differences on the environment are reflected in their approaches to transportation. Roberts supports Sound Transit's $17.8 billion measure on November's ballot to expand light rail and bus service in the region.

If approved, the package is expected to result in a new half-cent sales tax increase per dollar spent, or 5 cents on a $10 purchase.

"It's one of those things where some people object to the cost, but I think it's a pay it now or pay much more later," Roberts said.

Travis, while he says he's for improving transit, doesn't believe the ballot measure is the way to do it.

"I believe it's a wasteful use of money, it doesn't yield very much for its amount," he said. "It's a raw deal for Snohomish County."

The plan would increase bus service in Snohomish County by 30 percent, but light rail would not be extended to Lynnwood until 2023.

A better way, Travis said, is simply "massive amounts of buses." They are more flexible than rail and gas savings from fewer drivers on the road would reduce pollution, he said.

"Buying gasoline for buses is a good value since you can carry so many people on buses at one time," he said.

This could be financed with existing revenue streams, he said.

To cut the state budget, Travis said he would take money from programs such as arts funding, diversity programs and slowing down the completion of work on some state parks, along with cutting alternative fuel initiatives.

"It's the little things that mean a lot in government, they all add up," he said.

To address the state's projected budget deficit, Roberts said the state should start from scratch with the budget to see what can go and what should stay.

She opposes cutting education, as does Travis. Roberts also would fight to save programs under the Children's Administration, including recent improvements to the foster care system, "because it covers a number of things that are really so crucial to children and we've put a pretty high priority on kids," she said.

Roberts is vice chairwoman of the House Human Services committee and Early Learning and Children's Services committee, and serves on the Higher Education and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health & Human Services.

She's also an advocate of increasing use of alternatives to incarcerating nonviolent criminals, such as drug courts.



Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA