March 28, 2024
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Splash Editorial: An informed voter checks the 'FACTS!'
1/28/2015 5:10:40 PM

Online only: A version of this editorial appeared in the printed edition of the February issue of The Current; it was adapted online for readers of The Splash.

The yellow mailer showed up in late January, timed to land in the mailbox along with the ballots for the Feb. 10 special election. This particular piece of mail urged voters to oppose Central Valley School District's bond and levy measures. From the strategically bolded words and headlines, it purported to be full of "NEW" information and "FACTS!"

It served as the latest installment in our society's sad heritage of last-minute campaign scare tactics and misinformation. It's like trying to get the final word in an argument - with your first word.

Where were these "FACTS!" the past several months at the dozens of sparsely attended information sessions, meeting presentations and public forums where the ballot measures have been presented and discussed? Proponents of local school issues, and the school districts themselves, have worked tirelessly to provide information and messaging and build a case for why these measures are absolutely critical not just for future generations, but to our current economy.

Mr. and Mrs. Central Valley Voter: Please don't be swayed by a last-minute cry of "wolf." The yellow flyer you may have received does not contain reliable facts intended to contribute to an informed debate. Please note, this is not to say you shouldn't independently weigh the merits of the various school district ballot requests. It's merely to say that using this yellow flyer as a tool for doing so would be a misguided approach.

For one thing, the flyer continually uses the term "new" when referring to CV's bond and levy - even putting it in quotes as if to admit the semantics behind its usage. Every school measure on the local ballot is a replacement measure in the sense that the tax rates are not going up one iota. Districts must place terms on their levies, so voters can consider them again every three years or so and districts can made adjustments if and when necessary. As for Central Valley's construction bond, district leaders have emphasized repeatedly that they heard from citizens that they didn't want "new" taxes - and so this particular bond merely replaces one that is retiring off the books. Tax rates won't be going up. By voting yes, voters will merely be maintaining current tax rates - with the added bonus in the bond's case of being able to make long-overdue improvements to CVSD facilities and capacity.

The flyer lists several "FACTS!" that seem to undermine the very definition of the word. Since when is "you will have to decide what areas of your budget you want to cut" a "FACT!" when a family's taxes won't be changing? How is this a "job-wrecking tax" when our local economy was built on the backs of great schools, yet many of their playgrounds are starting to look like a sales lot for manufactured homes (in this case, portable classrooms being installed at $300,000 a piece)? Who wants a job in a community where we are sending our kids to schools that haven't been updated in more than three decades? If our tax dollars "ALREADY fund 100 percent of all basic education for our children," as the flyer states, wouldn't we be hurting ourselves by taking $269 million of that funding away? These are replacement taxes, remember? Voting "no" will actually take funding away from the schools. If our math is correct, that would leave us funding somewhere less than "100 percent of all basic education for our children."

No, this flyer doesn't contribute to the debate. In fact, it leaves out the fact that a passage of CV's bond will actually trigger $58 million in state construction matching funds, money that would otherwise be invested in some other Washington community's infrastructure and economy. In that sense, an affirmative vote is not only about keeping taxes the same, but saying "yes" to a massive outside investment of state money.

Here at The Splash, we believe that each voter is responsible to cast an informed vote. We all have different perspectives, and we respect those who vote "no" after carefully considering the request our school districts have placed before us.

What we don't have patience for are last-second perspectives that attempt to mislead as opposed to contribute to an honest discussion of the proposals. We are guided by the great wisdom of William Penn: "In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory or an unjust interest, and endeavor to gain, rather than to expose, thy antagonist."

The aforementioned mailer would not make William Penn very proud, but we have already focused too many words on this latest exercise in black-on-yellow truth-twisting. This is about being properly informed.

From our perspective, Central Valley's bond and levy have gained our support as responsible continuations of much-needed funds. Quite frankly, the construction bond strikes us as urgently necessary given the massive growth in the district since the last bond was passed way back in a different century (1998).

But let's be clear: We aren't asking you to take our word for it. We hope you will give these ballot items the sincere and honest attention they deserve. Be informed. Weigh the need, and measure it against the request. Just make sure the sources of the information you base your ultimate decision on contain facts, not "FACTS!"

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