AS THEY BOARD the bus, recent Metro riders are being greeted by an alarming poster among the usual vocational training signs, Planned Parenthood ads, job recruitment notices, and poetry.

A new placard from King County Metro announces a series of seven public meetings, where Metro will explain some of the tough budget choices it will face should I-695, the car tab initiative, pass in November. Metro says they want to receive feedback about the public's budget priorities in case I-695 passes and forces them to make cuts. But the fact that these notices and meetings are happening during the election -- when it's uncertain whether I-695 will even become law -- raises questions about the legitimacy of the campaign. Is this a government-orchestrated scare tactic? Is a public agency weighing in to sway voters during an election?

Metro says they've spent $30,000 on the effort. They estimate that 2,000 posters have gone up -- one for every bus, including handicap-access buses. In bold black letters, the posters declare: "Public workshops -- Potential service impacts from I-695. Metro needs your help addressing potential impacts of Initiative 695...which...could...lead to transit service cuts, capital program reductions, and fare increases... . "

Most of the money, however, has gone to mass mailings about the workshops. Metro has done a targeted mailing to Metro's list of concerned citizens, plus three more mailings to White Center, Snoqualmie Valley, and Soos Creek between Kent and Renton. At the meetings, citizens fill out questionnaires about their personal budget priorities. One questionnaire begins, "If voters approve Initiative 695 in November, the King County Department of Transportation's Road Services Division could lose about $80 million over the next six years." Another questionnaire offers up this warning: "If passed, this initiative could reduce revenue to King County Metro by about $100 million per year."

It's likely that citizens who will attend gloomy, mock budget-cut meetings will leave with a dismal outlook on I-695, and the tough choices it portends. There are many people -- particularly in the suburbs of Puget Sound and in outlying, less prosperous areas of the state -- who find this kind of liberal paternalism a bitter pill.

Tim Eyman, the author of I-695, claims the forums are an illegal use of public money."They're having Halloween early. They're trying to scare people." No objections, however, have been heard by James Tyler, a clerk at King County Elections, who says his office was not even aware the meetings were taking place. Eyman says he won't pursue the issue because filing a complaint would be "like pissing in the wind -- a complete waste of time and energy." He adds that Pierce and Snohomish County transit agencies are holding upward of 20 such forums each, because his pro-car initiative is expected to do better outside King County. As one of the original backers of I-200, the anti-affirmative action initiative -- Eyman says he has seen this kind of government activism before.

John Carlson, the conservative commentator who ended up leading the I-200 campaign, agrees. "It's a given," he says, "when you are running a ballot initiative like I-200 or I-695, that you are facing two campaigns: the official one, and the unofficial one, from government." Carlson says such attempts at "public education" by government agencies were numerous during the I-200 campaign back in 1997. "Agencies at every level were holding forums, doing mailings, [and] sending out e-mails" to fight I-200.

Seattleites will remember a similar government assault during the two-year baseball stadium brouhaha. Mariners pennants hung from light poles, and speeches by public officials were peppered with paeans to baseball.

However, Metro spokesman Dan Williams says his agency is not on the offensive. "This is in no way a political campaign directed at I-695," he says. "We are required by law to conduct a public inquiry process when we make changes in service. We have no choice. We stand to lose $25 million. We have to consult the public. If we didn't, we'd be screwed."

Williams says Metro honored the same process when they planned to increase service. He acknowledges, however, that Metro surveyed the public about the increase after it had the green light for more service, while the current survey is being conducted prior to any real cut. (The King County Budget is due on November 30.)

Sure, I-695 is a sucky idea [Chariots of Fire, Alex Steffen, Sept 30]. But that's no excuse to spend $30,000 and use government as a campaign war room. Moreover (and ironically), the region's county governments may be doing themselves a disservice by reinforcing the world view of people who distrust government. Come Election Day, these people may strike back.