Let’s Move Seattle is a Necessary and Accountable Installment Towards Our Transportation Future
Republished from Let's Move Seattle
Last Friday Mayor Murray quietly published an op-ed to the Let's Move Seattle campaign page, eloquently responding to many of the measure's critics. If you haven't voted yet, get on it, and if you're still unsure of your vote on Prop 1, here is the Mayor's op-ed reprinted in full.
When I was elected mayor in 2013 I made a commitment to make city government more accountable and reflect our progressive values as a community. Reforming city government is an ongoing task, but we have made real progress over the last two years.
That is why the Let's Move Seattle transportation levy is not a continuation of the expiring transportation levy, but a new, more integrated and accountable approach to funding our transportation needs today and tomorrow. Through a specific list of projects, a nine-year funding plan that details when each project will happen and how it will be paid for, a citizen oversight committee, and strict legal requirements preventing the reallocation of dollars, Move Seattle is the most accountable levy the city has proposed to-date.
To skeptical members of the public who have been hearing the litany of misleading attacks on the levy from opponents and in the media, I say: take a close look at the strong accountability provisions we've inserted into the levy, and more broadly at the work we are doing across City government to get our house in order.
Though my administration inherited troubled projects such as the Seawall and the First Hill Streetcar, we are turning those projects around and learning from past mistakes. The Seattle Department of Transportation renegotiated the contract with the streetcar manufacturer. The manufacturer now owes the City more than a million dollars because of their delays - seven times what the original contract would have required. The department recently launched an on-line capital projects dashboard with up-to-date information on the budget and schedule of major transportation projects, including the Seawall, so the public can easily track these projects.
Through the many reforms we've implemented over the last two years, SDOT is more accountable and transparent than it has ever been.
With specific investments in seven new RapidRide transit corridors, 225 blocks of new sidewalks, critical bridge and road maintenance, and safety improvements at every public school (to name a few), Let's Move Seattle is taking care of what we have and making the investments needed to move us safely and efficiently today and tomorrow. In our fast-growing city, we desperately need to modernize our transportation system after decades of falling behind on transit and transportation.
I know that some Seattleites have concerns about "levy fatigue." I understand that too, but the reality is that we are forced to take all significant funding decisions to the ballot. In fact, Seattle's current property tax rate is lower than Bellevue and Federal Way. The statewide Tim Eyman initiative capping property taxes at only 1 percent per year - below the rate of inflation - means that over time, we fall further behind in our ability to provide the improvements we need to keep our city a great place to live, work, and play.
As a result, we have no choice but to ask Seattle voters to support critical investments in City services. Whether it's parks, libraries, housing or transportation, Seattle voters decide via their ballots whether the proposals match their progressive values. This levy-based governance is not a situation we would choose, but it is the one we must work with because of Eyman's success in imposing restrictions that are not reflective of Seattle voters' values.
Given this reality, if the levy fails, our transportation budget will lose over $40 million annually after the current levy expires at the end of the year. This will devastate our ability to fill potholes, pave our roads, build sidewalks and fix our bridges. Without Let's Move Seattle, congestion and our maintenance backlog will only get worse.
My commitment to you is to deliver services efficiently and reform city government in a way that reflects our values. And as I said last year, we have an opportunity to show that government can be an incubator of change to improve the lives of the people of this City. In a City growing as fast as Seattle standing still is not an option. Let's Move Seattle is a visionary and accountable approach to literally get our city moving again. I ask that you join me in supporting it.