Snohomish County cracks down on Tim Eyman’s use of ‘B.S.’ in voter’s pamphlet

“Politicians always say the need for higher taxes is indisputable; we call B.S. on that.”

That’s what conservative initiative-pusher Tim Eyman wanted to write in the Snohomish County voter’s pamphlet. But Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel deemed Eyman’s use of the term “B.S.” too vulgar for the pamphlet and she wants to prevent him from using it.

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“I’m just visualizing this woman with her pinky in the air holding a cup of tea with her nose looking down upon me going ‘Mr. Eyman, can use nicer words in order to make his point?” Eyman told 770 KTTH’s Jason Rantz.

The whole kerfuffle is over Proposition 1 on the November ballot, which would raise the sales tax only in the city of Mukilteo by one tenth of one percent.

Eyman was tasked with writing the “con” side for the voter’s pamphlet. He explained, at first, the auditor’s office told him it was profanity, but later they walked it back and said it was just inappropriate.

“I did call the ACLU and, ironically, they made a similar argument that I did,” Eyman said. “‘We at the ACLU think that it’s B.S. that you can’t say B.S.”

Weikel did tell The Everett Herald she’s consulting county attorneys to determine if this is actually something she can do. Eyman calls this a micromanagement of free speech.

“These people are not snowflakes,” Eyman said. “They ought to be able to withstand the concept of ‘we call B.S. on that’ and not be repulsed by it, but if they are then they’ll vote in favor of the tax increase. There’s perfect accountability in the process.”

What will Eyman do if they actually strike his argument from the voter’s pamphlet? He’s not sure yet, but he says all options are on the table.

“One of the prices we pay for living in a free society is the ability of people to express themselves, and we may not sometimes like it, it may be a little more cluttered than we’re comfortable with, but that is by definition what it’s like to live in a free society,” Eyman said.

A sales tax increase in Mukilteo isn’t Eyman’s main focus this election cycle, though. He’s also collecting signatures to get an initiative on the ballot to cap car tab fees at $30.

 

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