As a Slog reader, you may have seen the online ads on the Stranger web site opposing Proposition 1, the progressive "Letâs Move Seattle" transportation levy. Or perhaps you seen or heard one of their false cable and radio ads threatening homeowners and renters with a 155% tax increase (FALSE).
All of those scare-mongering, deceptive attack ads are almost entirely funded by one person: Seattleâs own Eyman-loving, anti-tax, anti-transit, right wing Republican Aurora Avenue property owner and landlord, Faye Garneau. Garneau has single-handedly contributed $325,755.02 to the âKeep Seattle Affordableâ anti-Proposition 1 campaign, more than 95 percent of the entire funding.
What motivates Garneau?
Aside from her opposition to public transitâthe Letâs Move Seattle levy funds seven new Metro RapidRide+ bus corridors across the cityâGarneau is an anti-tax extremist who doesnât want to pay her fair share on the massive property holdings that have made her rich. Garneau has a long history of opposing transit fundingâgiving a total of $23,000 to anti-transit campaigns in 2011 and 2014 to stop progress on transportationâbut the amount of money sheâs pouring into the anti-Prop 1 campaign is unprecedented.
Sheâs also one of Tim Eymanâs biggest funders. Sheâs given Eyman $55,000 to fund I-1366, his nightmare initiative to impose a devastating cut in funding for schools and other services, unless the legislature passes a constitutional amendment to require a two-thirds vote in the legislature to close tax loopholes or raise any tax. Last year, she gave another $50,000 to Eymanâs failed effort to run a statewide ballot measure against the $15 minimum wage, and contributed $15,000 more to other anti-$15 minimum wage efforts.
And when the PDC issued a damning 224-page investigative report in September detailing how Eyman has been receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in secret kickbacks from a signature-gathering firm, Garneau surely regretted her association with him, right? Wrong. She actually doubled-down to defend Eyman, telling the Seattle Timesâ Danny Westneat, âItâs no big deal! Everybody else is making money off politics. Why not him too?â
If you believe in our shared progressive values in Seattle, and you realize that we need to modernize our transit and transportation systems to keep pace with Seattleâs rapid growth, then I hope youâll stand with Fuse, Transportation Choices Coalition, Washington Conservation Voters, Democratic grassroots organizations around the city, the King County Labor Council, Sierra Club, the Washington Bus, One America Votes, the Stranger, and dozens of other respected progressive organizations in supporting the Letâs Move Seattle levy.
Faye Garneau shouldnât be able to stop a progressive transportation measure like this just because sheâs wealthy and opposed to public transit. This election could be close, and every vote matters. Donât let her buy the election. Remember to fill out your mail in ballot, vote YES on Prop 1, and make sure it is postmarked by Nov. 3.
Aaron Ostrom is the Executive Director of Fuse, the state's largest progressive organization.