Initiative I-985: Who Is It Really Helping?

Initiative I-985: Who Is It Really Helping?

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Story Published: Oct 7, 2008 at 5:34 PM PST

By Audrey Asistio

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YAKIMA -- Initiative I-985. Who is it really helping? It depends on who you talk to. Local politicians say it will cost taxpayers more, and only benefits Seattle.
The controversial initiative is brought by the controversial Yakima native, Tim Eyman. I-985 is an initiative aiming to fix traffic problems, but a lot of cities usually don't have traffic congestion, so local politicians think it's a bad idea.

Former Yakima State Senator, Alex Deccio tells Action News, "We have enough traffic problems of our own and I think the money we pay towards those taxes should go to improvements on the East Side of the mountains."

Opponents say the initiative will take away $229 from every family of four outside of the Greater Seattle area, in the next four years.

Yakima Mayor Dave Edler says that's not the only thing it will take away. At a press conference, Edler said he was speaking as a citizen, not the mayor. He believes the initiative will take money from local schools, police, recreation and transportation projects.

"It's definitely not the solution to ask cities that are already strapped for dollars to take money out of their general funds to help to take care of it," says Edler.

Tim Eyman replies, "We don't draft our initiatives to be liked by politicians. We draft our initiatives to be liked by voters."

Tim Eyman believes I-985 will fix traffic problems in every city, without raising taxes. He adds, "985 is about trying to get them to realize that they are always collecting billions from taxpayers and they need to spend that money more effectively, rather than consistently coming back to taxpayers and asking for more money."

Whatever the truth is, this initiative's fate is in voters hands this November.

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