Dori: Vote no on King County Parks levy shell game

On the ballot coming up, the King County Parks Department is asking for a massive increase in its levy.

Voters around here tend to not even think about it when approving a levy increase. “If it’s for the parks or the schools or the libraries, then we’ve got to vote yes.”

The last King County Parks levy was $396 million. The current levy is more than double that — $810 million. Where is the money going to go?

The King County Parks Department says that people in rural parts of the county don’t have as much access to the parks, so “park equity” is needed. That means they’re going to take this money and acquire more open space in rural parts of the county for new parks.

RELATED: Child pricked by dirty needle in park

Do you think those open spaces will be filled with frolicking children and picnicking young lovers and dogs running free in an off-leash park?

Or, are they going to be like every King County park today?

KIRO 7’s Amy Clancy and Casey McNerthney had a story the other day about the current state of almost every county park. Many of the parks are home to tent encampments, and nearly every one of these encampments has syringes lying about.

What is the solution? According to the county, it’s to expand the parks to more rural areas. You know what’s going to happen — they’re going to be filled with heroin encampments. Is that worth jacking up our property taxes?

King County collects more tax dollars per capita adjusted for inflation than it ever has in its history. They should spend the very first dollars that come in on law enforcement, on the jails, on infrastructure, on schools, and yes, on the parks. If there is money left over, you can think about the politically correct commissions that you normally spend money on instead of spending it on something that is important, like our parks, first.

It’s all a shell game. They know that the voters around here will fall for the scam. It’s not about parks and open spaces for families. They want money and control and new six-figure jobs that they can give to their cronies. That’s all that this is about.

If you can’t keep existing parks clean and free of needles that children could step on, then you don’t have any business acquiring new space for parks.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @http://www.twitter.com/dorimonson