County Council members disagree over events surrounding vote for ferry-district tax

Amid a public argument between two of its members and a hot race for county executive, Metropolitan King County Council members either ducked for cover last week or gave their own versions of how a controversial tax was passed.

Four council members say that back in 2007, advocates of a ferry-district tax pressured their reluctant council colleagues to support the tax by tying it to an unrelated flood-control tax.

Reagan Dunn, Julia Patterson and Larry Phillips back up Kathy Lambert's claim that members were told to vote for the ferry tax if they wanted a tax to reinforce levees on the Green, Snoqualmie, Cedar and other rivers.

Lambert and Phillips said the foremost proponent of passenger-only ferries, Dow Constantine, linked the two votes and made sure the ferry tax was voted on first. Patterson declined to say who told her the two measures were linked.

The ferry-district cost became a significant issue in the county-executive campaign after three candidates — state Rep. Ross Hunter, former TV news anchor Susan Hutchison and state Sen. Fred Jarrett — said some of the ferry tax could be put to better use operating Metro buses.

Constantine, who like Phillips is also running for executive, said there wouldn't have been any reason to tie the taxes together because the ferry tax already had enough support. "I don't think there was any vote-trading," he said.

Constantine said discussion before the votes centered on the amount of property tax for the newly created ferry and flood-control districts — not whether they should be enacted in the first place.

On ferries, he said, "the discussion was about what did the rate need to be to accommodate potential future service if it was proved viable to Councilmember Patterson's district and Councilmember Phillips' district and Councilmember [Jane] Hague's district. ...

"I just find this all very interesting because all these people who supported the ferry district then — now that we're in the context of a political campaign and legislators are taking potshots at it, they're running like crazy from their previous support."

Patterson, speaking reluctantly about the votes, said it was apparent there was "an agreement" to link the two issues and she wasn't involved in the agreement. She said she entered discussions on future ferry routes only after it became clear the ferry tax would pass even without her support.

"When I saw the handwriting was on the wall, the ferry district was going to move forward without my vote, I got in there and negotiated for two demonstration routes in my district. I got them, one in Des Moines and one in Renton," Patterson said.

"That ferry-district vote was the worst vote of my entire political career," Patterson said. "We were put into a situation to take that vote without adequate information about ridership and without adequate information about costs. ... It was not a good vote, and we need to fix it" by moving some ferry-tax authority to Metro bus service.

The County Council created the ferry district in 2007 to take over a previously state-run Vashon Island-to-downtown-Seattle passenger ferry, continue the West Seattle-to-downtown water taxi and possibly start additional routes. Constantine's district includes Vashon and West Seattle.

In November 2007 the council approved a ferry-district tax of $22 a year on a $400,000 home and a flood-control tax of $40 a year on a $400,000 home.

Both taxes passed on 8-1 votes, with only Dunn voting against the ferry tax and only Hague voting against the flood tax.

Debate over the ferry tax took a more personal turn last week when Lambert said Constantine told her in a private meeting that if she didn't vote for the ferry tax, the proposed flood tax wouldn't come up for a vote.

Constantine said he didn't tell her that, and he said he supported the flood district all along. He denied having such a conversation with Lambert and said she was trying to "reinvent history for short-term political benefit."

Lambert stood by her comments, saying, "I gain nothing from telling what happened in that conversation. Why would I say it, other than the fact that it's the truth?"

Dunn, who voted for the flood tax but not the ferry tax, said, "The understanding that I had was that it was, 'Support the ferry district or the flood district goes away.' And to me that approach to governing was unacceptable, and I made that clear and I voted my conscience."

Phillips said his arm didn't need to be twisted to support either tax because he backed both "as long as demonstration projects were part of the ferry district." The resolution authorizing the ferry tax identified Magnolia, Shilshole and North Bay — all in Phillips' district — for possible future ferry service.

Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, who voted for both taxes, said he "was disappointed with the tack that some took surrounding the funding for what I thought was a necessity, not a want" — that is, the flood-district tax. He declined to say if the flood tax was held hostage to the ferry tax.

"I think we've got to lower the temperature in the County Council chambers," von Reichbauer said. "... We're all going to have to come together to work on a budget for 2010, and we can't afford to be divided."

Councilmembers Bob Ferguson and Hague declined to comment, and Larry Gossett did not return phone messages.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com