Dow Constantine, stop asking us for money

Another day, another levy.

This time, it’s admittedly going to a cause I strongly support. The means of using a levy, however, is what’s giving me problems.

King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed a multi-million dollar levy aimed at helping kids and families treat mental illness, and prevent incarceration, homelessness, and chronic disease.

“Best Starts for Kids is a six-year levy &#8212 $57 million in the first year &#8212 to invest in a proven and promising strategy to get kids off to the best start possible,” Constantine said.

Best Starts for Kids is all about early prevention and support, and it’s aimed at reversing King County’s high rates of homelessness and spending on the criminal-justice system.

The levy proposal would cost about $53 per year for the owner of a home at the countywide median price, $378,000, according to The Seattle Times. It would bring in an average of $65 million per year over six years.

Constantine argued that addressing these issues early will save money over the long run.

“Right now, only a quarter of kids have access to mental health screening, but we would be able to train all teachers, and others in kids’ lives, to make sure that early signs of mental illness are detected so that early interventions can happen,” he said.

A small investment early on can lead to a lifetime of saving because if you keep a kid out of jail (and all too often if you’re a kid who experiences jail, you’ll become an adult who experiences jail), you’ll spend less on them in the long term.

“Three-quarters of the county’s general fund budget goes to the criminal-justice system to pay for bad outcomes, to pay for things that could have been prevented with a little early investment,” Constantine said.

The problem here is they’re not using the money they already have efficiently. They’re asking for more money &#8212 our money &#8212 and they’re going about it in a way that leads to a higher cost of living at a time when they’re complaining about the high cost of living.

You have a laundry list of “wants” from ideologically driven leaders (and in this case, I agree with the ideology) who refuse to efficiently use the money they already have in order to cover things like this.

This levy on homeowners will get passed along to tenants. They always do. It’s why the rent is too damn high for many.

I’m sorry, but at what point do we say, ‘enough?’ Enough of asking us for money. We give the county a ton of money for some great things, and for some wasteful things. At what point can we say, ‘we’re not funding another dime until you show to us you’re capable of spending money efficiently.’

Are you confident they’re being responsible with our money? Think about it for a second. Even if you’re someone who normally doesn’t blink at these things, answer honestly: do you think they’re spending money efficiently? That every dollar is being spent responsibly, fairly and honestly. Unless the answer is yes, I’m saying no more to giving them money.

And some times, being principled like this means saying no to things you otherwise like. I appreciate Constantine on this particular issue. I’m happy to spend money on mental health care. But when you respect my money, you’ll get it.

Don’t tell me you respect my money &#8212 it’s clear that you don’t. We’re all still feeling burned when you lied to us about Metro funding. Proposition 1 didn’t pass, and miraculously the county found the money to pay for buses.

So I’m going to reject this levy and you should too. Let’s see if King County can come up with the money when we say no.