Questions finally being asked about ST3 – so the attack dogs come out

State Senator Reuven Carlyle is a proud liberal. He’s also a thoughtful one, and his tendency to share his thinking online can make him a target when he takes on liberal orthodoxy.

The fallout continues from an article Carlyle penned two weeks ago, in which he questioned Sound Transit using the property tax to help fund its massive $54 billion dollar initiative. He also expressed concerns about the impact on state public education funding, since the property tax is the primary funding source for schools.

Carlyle’s reward for raising such valid issues was nice praise from the Seattle Times nice praise from the Seattle Times – and “as thanks for sharing his fiscal concerns, the Seattle Democrat was savaged publicly and privately by peers, neighbors and ST3 supporters.”

As the Times noted, “the Puget Sound region briefly enjoyed a rare and remarkable performance last week: policymakers debating the $54 billion financing plan for Sound Transit 3.

Too bad it took almost until November’s election — and was quickly snuffed out by the powerful Sound Transit establishment.”

Light rail zealots have their work cut out for them this fall, as they try to persuade voters to pass the largest tax increase in state history. And, as the Times points out “There is precedent for getting a better deal.  Recall that voters in 2007 rejected a jumbo tax package for Sound Transit 2 and road. That did not send our trains to Atlanta nor doom the region.

The 2007 vote pushed officials to produce a more focused plan — $17.9 billion for 15 years of transit construction — which voters approved the following year.”

We’ll see if history repeats itself this November.