It was good to read in the July 6 Herald that there are still those who believe in the grass-roots initiative process as practiced in this state for many years. I am burned out on the “initiative factory” approach to state government as promoted by Tim Eyman and his band of initiative followers. He is proof that you can buy your way to success. It’s even possible to make a lot of money along the way, as shown clearly in the recent Eyman disclosure.
I read with interest the proposals for teacher bonuses, credit card interest, union membership and others. I could easily glean from this story that the proponents of these measures believe in what they are proposing and, most likely, worked very hard to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, more work was needed so as to better inform the citizens of this state of the merits of the proposals. This is as it should be. The governing process is not designed to be easy. I don’t believe that it is designed to be personally profitable. To the proponents of the failed initiatives, I say thank you for your work, even if it ended in failure.
You gave me a glimmer of pride, again, in a failing governing system: the initiative process. To Mr. Eyman, who chooses to milk this very important process for personal gain and pleasure, I have only disgust. If there is a need for proof of motive for him, it is clearly documented in the news stories of some months ago. He planned to quietly and dishonestly deposit many thousands of campaign dollars, telling no one, certainly not his followers. More than money, though, I am appalled at his personal motives as stated in The Herald article dated July 3. After offering his offensive Permanent Offense factory as a “punching bag” for “pompous polititians, pious political practitioners and prima donna press people for years to come,” he states that “…it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
I would say that Mr. Eyman has some serious anger needing attention. I wish that he would do so in a less public arena. At the very least, I wish that the people of this state could see Mr. Eyman for the attention-hungry figure that he has become. If he was truly interested in helping the good people of Washington, he would run for political office and do the hard consensus work that is required for the responsible taxing changes that are desperately needed in this state, even though it’s not “fun.”
Chipping away at the current mediocre tax process and the state’s ability to generate needed income for the good of the order will ultimately drag the state further down hill. Mr. Eyman’s money-making “factory” is truly permanently offensive. In the future, I will vote against any initiative that provides a paycheck for anyone. I am looking for true grassroots initiatives, the old fashioned kind.
Everett
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