There was no shortage of magical thinking coming from members of the Metro Council last week.
Just a few weeks ago, Metro officials concluded that the regional planning agency couldn’t realistically pull together a ballot measure for funding homeless services for the November 2020 election. Too many basic questions were left to be answered, including how would the revenue be collected, what would it buy, who would it go to and how would Metro ensure that voters were getting what they were promised.
But all of a sudden, hammering out some of those questions before going to voters is no longer a concern. In fact, the Metro Council is now considering putting a $250 million tax for homeless services on the May ballot – not November – as The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Molly Harbarger reported. That leaves officials only a few weeks to develop, formulate and approve a measure to refer to voters. And rather than nail down the specifics beforehand, Metro is figuring it can flesh out part of the plan after the election with the help of the coalition of advocates that has been pressuring them for the measure. As Councilor Bob Stacey surmised in a work session last week as he listed off some of the unknowns, “we have to ask the voters to trust us to do a good job of stewardship after they act.”
Scrambling together a ballot measure seeking hundreds of millions of dollars a year is a risky move for Metro, which has no expertise in providing homeless services and whose main focus has been on a massive transportation package. It’s also an unfair ask of voters who want to support measures that combat homelessness but deserve to see a concrete plan with clear goals and accountability for how more money will solve the problem. Despite an intensive effort to answer some of those questions in the coming weeks, Metro councilors should resist the urge to slap this on the May ballot and aim instead for November as originally envisioned.
To be sure, it’s not hard to see why some would argue for May. There are few issues that concern residents across the region as much as homelessness does. The urgency is undeniable – particularly for addressing chronic homelessness, as this measure aims to by funding mental health, substance abuse and other services. So the prospect of a solution will doubtlessly find a receptive audience. The income tax Metro is considering would only hit higher-earning Oregonians, ensuring that a “yes” vote won’t personally affect most people. And the May ballot faces far less competition for taxpayers’ wallets than the November ballot, which is expected to include requests for school construction bonds, library bonds, universal preschool and Metro’s own big-ticket transportation package.
Still, Metro needs to recognize that the biggest threat isn’t voter rejection but rather implementation failure. And there are a million ways this could go wrong without sufficient preparation. Metro, a regional planning government that focuses on transportation, land use, parks and recycling services, would be relying on nonprofits and government agencies to carry out the social services that Metro would be accountable for. It’s unclear who would collect the tax, which would be levied on individuals making $125,000 or more or couples making $250,000 or more annually. It’s also unclear when the tax would go in effect or how soon any new revenue could be collected, raising the question: Will it even matter, from a revenue perspective, whether it goes to voters in May or November?
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Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, John Maher and Amy Wang.
Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles.
Metro, which is putting together a massive transportation measure, doesn’t currently have the staff and capacity to fully develop the program, officials acknowledged. And even figuring out how to fairly divvy the revenue among the three counties in Metro’s jurisdiction could prove tricky. The massive list of unknowns to be researched, from how to coordinate with organizations to establishing an oversight mechanism, prompted Metro President Lynn Peterson to quip “We just won’t sleep.”
Waiting until November carries its own risks – largely in the form of competing ballot measures. But the breeziness with which some councilors are treating this race to the May ballot reflects a lack of respect for the detailed plan, communication and outreach they owe the public.
Metro councilors may well decide to push through, ignore the unknowns and vote to place this on the May ballot. They may make the case that the need alone justifies the “trust us” approach and that the details aren’t vital for voters. But that, unfortunately, may be the most magical part of their thinking.
- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
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February 09, 2020 at 10:00PM
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