| Legislators on both side of the aisle continue to blame I-695 and the fact that it basically negated Referendum 49, for the ferry funding mess. And they are right. It sure doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. The question is, what are they going to do about it?
Representative Phil Rockefeller (D-Bainbridge Island) recently sponsored legislation to divorce the ferry system from the inefficient and bloated Dept. of Transportation — which may or may not be a good idea, it’s hard to say. But at least it was an idea. Unfortunately, the powers in Olympia aren’t going to let such a proposal see the light of day. And that’s part of the problem in Olympia. There’s not much room for good ideas or “new” thinking.
Senator Bob Oke (R-Port Orchard) continues to pound away at figuring out how to get the public-private partnership boondoggle to build the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge around state law — in spite of the fact that when he was up for re-election, he made the statement that if his constituents didn’t think the public-private arrangement was a good idea, he would stop pursuing it.
House Co-Speaker Frank Chopp’s (D-Seattle) proposal to fund the bridge makes much more sense. Oke should sign on to that effort and forget trying to skirt the law.
These are just a couple of examples of what’s wrong in Olympia. I-695 took a mere two percent of the budget, yet it has been become the scapegoat for all the state’s budget woes. So much so that our governor and legislators saw fit to override the will of the voters, gut I-601 and add $900 million in new spending — rather than cut two percent.
It’s true that the MVET was the majority of the ferry money. However, none of the proposals currently under consideration are the answer. If the state is going to impose an 80 percent farebox return on the ferries, how about doing that on all public transportation? Imagine the uproar if Metro in Seattle had to recoup 80 percent of its operating cost from the farebox — or Kitsap Transit?
It’s stupidity to make it more expensive to ride the passenger-only boats than to walk on the car ferries. The passenger-only boats move cars off the road, reducing air pollution and easing the gridlock that’s a result of DOT’s politically correct mismanagement and the questionable leadership of legislative transportation queens, Rep. Ruth Fisher (D-Tacoma) and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D-Camano Island). Fisher by the way, swore she would resign if I-695 passed. Is she planning on fulfilling that promise?
Kitsap’s economy is directly tied to the fate of the ferries and we’re counting on our legislators to solve this problem. The leadership in Olympia has demonstrated it doesn’t give a damn about Kitsap.
Our legislative delegation has to unite across party lines and play political hardball in what is the bottom of the 9th for Kitsap. If they don’t — or won’t, Kitsap will lose. | 