No middle of the road at debate for Proposition 1 and Initiative 985

Sound Transit's Proposition 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot is either "a very expensive fib" or a spark to recharge "the economic engine of our community."

Similarly, state Initiative 985 is either "a false promise" or "a no-new-taxes, transportation-congestion-relief proposal with common sense, cost-effective solutions."

There simply was no middle ground Thursday as four high-profile speakers at a downtown Seattle CityClub debate agreed on just two things: that the Puget Sound area is in a transportation crisis — and that their debate opponent is doing precisely the wrong thing about it.

In round one, Metropolitan King County Councilmember Dow Constantine touted, and Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman slammed, the $17.9 billion Sound Transit measure — which opponents say would actually cost much more. Proposition 1 would add commuter-train capacity, boost bus service, and build 34 miles of light-rail extensions to Lynnwood, Federal Way and Overlake Transit Center, near Microsoft.

In round two, I-985 promoter Tim Eyman and King County Executive Ron Sims sparred over Eyman's latest measure, which would open HOV lanes to all traffic in off-peak hours, create a state fund to fight traffic congestion and make other changes to state transportation policy.

The Eyman-Sims clash proved livelier, despite opening with a brief hug — a Sims trademark.

"If politicians had one ounce of compassion for the average taxpayer, our initiatives would not be necessary," said Eyman, director of Voters Want More Choices. He said state government has habitually failed to make relieving traffic congestion a priority.

Eyman also blasted the "arrogance and incompetence" of Seattle officials preoccupied with "plastic bags, strippers' distance from their customers and how much they got back on eBay for their self-cleaning toilets."

Sims attacked a centerpiece of Eyman's proposal, which would open HOV lanes to all traffic except during the "peak periods" of 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

"I have to drive all over King County and the one thing that I do know is that no one is going to tell me that congestion ends at 6 o'clock," Sims said. "All I know is that it's really rough after 6 o'clock."

He criticized Eyman for portraying the initiative as a natural outgrowth of a transportation report by state Auditor Brian Sonntag. Sims said Sonntag supports the effective use of the HOV-lane system, but Eyman's plan would devastate it.

"You can't talk about an audit and a commitment to the audit ... and then adopt policies that are totally contrary to what his audit says," Sims said.

Eyman said certain aspects of the initiative, such as calling for quicker response to clear traffic accidents and providing money for cities to synchronize stop lights to improve traffic flow, are taken either from the letter or the spirit of the Sonntag report.

I-985 would create a state "Reduce Traffic Congestion Account" funded in part by 15 percent of the state sales tax on vehicles and revenue from "red-light" surveillance-camera fines.

Sims said that last requirement would make it difficult for cities to operate the cameras, since a good portion of the red-light fines is spent maintaining and operating the cameras themselves.

Sims said he finds the cameras an irritant, but a valuable one, because they force him to drive more carefully. But Eyman said if cities truly regard the cameras as lifesavers, they can find a way to pay for them.

Sound Transit Proposition 1 would add to the first phase of the light-rail line, to open next year, nearly double Sounder commuter-train capacity between Pierce County and Seattle and provide more express-bus service as early as next year.

Constantine, chairman of the County Council's Transportation Committee, called it "an opportunity to continue making up for lost time," noting that decades ago, area residents were shortsighted in turning down steps to create a regional transit infrastructure.

If Proposition 1 passes, Sound Transit would transport 360,000 people a day by 2030 — 300,000 of them by light rail, Constantine said.

Freeman argued that about 300,000 of those people would be taking public transit anyway, for a net gain of only 60,000. He said Sound Transit money would be better spent on more and better bus service.

"Hundreds of buses and hundreds of bus routes can do better than a light-rail line which is very unlikely to go by where you work or where you live," Freeman said.

But Constantine said Freeman was missing a basic point — that all those buses Freeman suggests would vie for space on already crowded roads and highways.

"We cannot put enough buses on our congested roads to deliver anywhere near the kind of capacity we need," Constantine said.

Proposition 1 would be financed by a sales tax in urban Snohomish, King and Pierce counties that would add a nickel per $10 purchase. The typical household, Sound Transit estimates, would pay $125 a year, an amount that would rise with inflation.

Opponents claim the actual cost would be more than $100 billion, basing that on the possibility of large construction and operating-cost overruns.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or seattletimes.com">jbroom@seattletimes.com