Don’t fall for hype – nothing fair about it

While the elections in November will provide us with a lot of issues to consider, voters should to pay close attention to one important item in particular – I-933, the so-called “property fairness” initiative. We have all seen the self-promoting titles that special interest groups give themselves, but the “property fairness” title is one for the ages. You have to look past their feel-good ballot title to the actual language of 933 to see that it would make our laws anything but fair. Everyone is for fairness, but how fair is it for a property owner to demand that the taxpayers pay him off for simply obeying the rules that protect everyone’s property? How fair is it that a property owner gets excused from the rules without any notice given to his neighbors? How fair is it that our traffic congestion will get worse, our taxes increased and our green, open spaces will disappear because of irresponsible development? I-933 is a real-estate speculator’s dream and a taxpayer’s nightmare. Don’t fall for the hype of its backers about fairness. I-933 is actually unfair to the rest of us – vote no on 933.

Jeff Forry

Lynnwood