(Well, not quite, but here is TIMMY!)
(When I last spoke with Timmy, he still gave me permission to reprint his updates, even with my picture pick of him...)
June 27, 2008
To: Our thousands of supporters throughout the state (cc'd to all media outlets -- reporters, columnists, editorial writers, and others in newspapers, radio, and TV)
From: Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, & Mike Dunmire, ph:
425-493-9127, email: tim@permanent-offense.org, http://www.ReduceCongestion.org
RE: Aberdeen: latest city to back down on hiking car tabs
It's infuriating that our car tabs aren't $30. Voters have twice approved $30 car tabs and politicians promised to keep car tabs at $30.
Nonetheless, no one is paying $30. Christine Gregoire took away our $30 tabs twice: once in 2005 when she imposed weight fees on vehicles and once last year when she gave cities and counties the authority to unilaterally jack up vehicle tabs without a vote of the people. You may remember that I attended Gregoire's bill signing ceremony and appeared in the picture with a frown and gave it a big 'thumbs down.'
Ever since then, we've been banging away at cities and counties to NOT impose higher car tabs -- so far, we've been 100% successful -- not a single city or county has jacked up car tabs using the authority that Gregoire gave them last year.
This week, Aberdeen became the latest city to back down on hiking car tabs.
Here's a few highlights from Thursday's news story about it:
* The notion of boosting car tab fees in the City of Aberdeen appears
to be dead on arrival because "there's not enough political will to do it."
* Several council members were miffed that initiative guru Tim Eyman
had issued a warning that hiking car tab fees would be "like building a castle on quicksand"
* Councilman John Smith, who last week was one of the major proponents
of a new $20 fee on car tabs, said after the meeting, "Frankly, I don't think there's enough political will to do a car tab tax, even if it is the best direct user fee. Politically I think it's a dead horse and I don't think I'm going to beat on it. I tested the waters and I think it's been rejected. "So call off Tim Eyman," Smith had said during an earlier committee hearing. Eyman has spearheaded several anti-tax campaigns, including a measure bringing the cost of car tabs to around $30.
"Dare ya"
After he caught wind of the proposed car tab increase, Eyman wrote a letter to council members and the press, basically daring the city to implement the tax and promising to lobby hard against the measure.
"If your City Council jacks up car tabs, it'll be like building a castle on quicksand - it will not last," Eyman said. "With the 2005 Legislature jacking up car tabs by imposing weight fees on vehicles - in clear violation of their promise to keep tabs at $30; Sound Transit continuing to collect car tab fees the voters repealed in 2002, we're just waiting for cities and counties to jack up car tabs without a vote of the people to provide enough critical mass to do another initiative. It's not a matter of 'if' - just 'when' we do it. Not a single city or county has unilaterally hiked car tabs without a vote of the people using this authority. Everyone understands that it'll just throw gasoline on the fire for another initiative."
Steve Puvogel, an Aberdeen resident, said if the council wanted to move ahead with a car tab increase, it should.
"Personally, I'm not afraid of Tim Eyman," Puvogel said.
"Neither are we," said Councilman Fritts, who added after the meeting that he wasn't sure if he'd support increasing a car tab tax or even a utility tax but wants the discussion, at least, to move forward.
-- END --
Here's a link to the Daily World news story:
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/06/26/local_news/03news.txt
We've got just 7 days left to collect more voter signatures for I-985. We need your help to make it.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, please fill out the form below & send us a donation of $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more (there's no limit on amount that can be given) to our offices in Spokane. You can also contribute online using VISA or MasterCard or PayPal:
http://www.ReduceCongestion.org. However you want to do it, please send in your most generous contribution RIGHT NOW.
Please do everything you can to help. FULL STEAM AHEAD!
Best Regards, Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, & Mike Dunmire, ph:
425-493-9127, email: tim@permanent-offense.org, http://www.ReduceCongestion.org
P.S. Here's a quick summary of this year's initiative:
ReduceCongestion.org I-985 implements the State Auditor's recommendations to reform the Department of Transportation and reduce traffic congestion by using existing public resources more effectively. It opens carpool lanes to everyone during non-peak hours, requires local governments to synchronize traffic lights on heavily-traveled arterials and streets, and increases roadside assistance funding to clear out accidents faster with the implementation overseen by the State Auditor. These policies are funded by taxes and charges we already pay: 15% of vehicle sales taxes, revenue from fines generated from red light traffic cameras, and a percentage that previously went to art on transportation-related public works projects. Finally, I-985 doesn't impose tolls, but it institutes critical taxpayer protections if tolls are created and levied.
ReduceCongestion.org (Reduce Traffic Congestion Initiative) . PO Box 18250 Spokane . WA . 99228 . PH: 425-493-8707 . FAX: 425-493-1027 .
http://www.ReduceCongestion.org . email: jakatak@comcast.net
To: Our thousands of supporters throughout the state (cc'd to all media outlets -- reporters, columnists, editorial writers, and others in newspapers, radio, and TV)
From: Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, & Mike Dunmire, ph:
425-493-9127, email: tim@permanent-offense.org, http://www.ReduceCongestion.org
RE: Aberdeen: latest city to back down on hiking car tabs
It's infuriating that our car tabs aren't $30. Voters have twice approved $30 car tabs and politicians promised to keep car tabs at $30.
Nonetheless, no one is paying $30. Christine Gregoire took away our $30 tabs twice: once in 2005 when she imposed weight fees on vehicles and once last year when she gave cities and counties the authority to unilaterally jack up vehicle tabs without a vote of the people. You may remember that I attended Gregoire's bill signing ceremony and appeared in the picture with a frown and gave it a big 'thumbs down.'
Ever since then, we've been banging away at cities and counties to NOT impose higher car tabs -- so far, we've been 100% successful -- not a single city or county has jacked up car tabs using the authority that Gregoire gave them last year.
This week, Aberdeen became the latest city to back down on hiking car tabs.
Here's a few highlights from Thursday's news story about it:
* The notion of boosting car tab fees in the City of Aberdeen appears
to be dead on arrival because "there's not enough political will to do it."
* Several council members were miffed that initiative guru Tim Eyman
had issued a warning that hiking car tab fees would be "like building a castle on quicksand"
* Councilman John Smith, who last week was one of the major proponents
of a new $20 fee on car tabs, said after the meeting, "Frankly, I don't think there's enough political will to do a car tab tax, even if it is the best direct user fee. Politically I think it's a dead horse and I don't think I'm going to beat on it. I tested the waters and I think it's been rejected. "So call off Tim Eyman," Smith had said during an earlier committee hearing. Eyman has spearheaded several anti-tax campaigns, including a measure bringing the cost of car tabs to around $30.
"Dare ya"
After he caught wind of the proposed car tab increase, Eyman wrote a letter to council members and the press, basically daring the city to implement the tax and promising to lobby hard against the measure.
"If your City Council jacks up car tabs, it'll be like building a castle on quicksand - it will not last," Eyman said. "With the 2005 Legislature jacking up car tabs by imposing weight fees on vehicles - in clear violation of their promise to keep tabs at $30; Sound Transit continuing to collect car tab fees the voters repealed in 2002, we're just waiting for cities and counties to jack up car tabs without a vote of the people to provide enough critical mass to do another initiative. It's not a matter of 'if' - just 'when' we do it. Not a single city or county has unilaterally hiked car tabs without a vote of the people using this authority. Everyone understands that it'll just throw gasoline on the fire for another initiative."
Steve Puvogel, an Aberdeen resident, said if the council wanted to move ahead with a car tab increase, it should.
"Personally, I'm not afraid of Tim Eyman," Puvogel said.
"Neither are we," said Councilman Fritts, who added after the meeting that he wasn't sure if he'd support increasing a car tab tax or even a utility tax but wants the discussion, at least, to move forward.
-- END --
Here's a link to the Daily World news story:
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/06/26/local_news/03news.txt
We've got just 7 days left to collect more voter signatures for I-985. We need your help to make it.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, please fill out the form below & send us a donation of $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more (there's no limit on amount that can be given) to our offices in Spokane. You can also contribute online using VISA or MasterCard or PayPal:
http://www.ReduceCongestion.org. However you want to do it, please send in your most generous contribution RIGHT NOW.
Please do everything you can to help. FULL STEAM AHEAD!
Best Regards, Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, & Mike Dunmire, ph:
425-493-9127, email: tim@permanent-offense.org, http://www.ReduceCongestion.org
P.S. Here's a quick summary of this year's initiative:
ReduceCongestion.org I-985 implements the State Auditor's recommendations to reform the Department of Transportation and reduce traffic congestion by using existing public resources more effectively. It opens carpool lanes to everyone during non-peak hours, requires local governments to synchronize traffic lights on heavily-traveled arterials and streets, and increases roadside assistance funding to clear out accidents faster with the implementation overseen by the State Auditor. These policies are funded by taxes and charges we already pay: 15% of vehicle sales taxes, revenue from fines generated from red light traffic cameras, and a percentage that previously went to art on transportation-related public works projects. Finally, I-985 doesn't impose tolls, but it institutes critical taxpayer protections if tolls are created and levied.
ReduceCongestion.org (Reduce Traffic Congestion Initiative) . PO Box 18250 Spokane . WA . 99228 . PH: 425-493-8707 . FAX: 425-493-1027 .
http://www.ReduceCongestion.org . email: jakatak@comcast.net
