County Auditor bows to special interests

Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman has given in to special interest pleadings and will once again publish the Thurston County Voter’s Guide.

Earlier this year, Wyman had announced that she was ceasing publication and mailing of the Voter’s Guide in an effort to save money.  She estimated that she could save as much as $50,000 if she didn’t publish the guide.

But special interest groups asked her to reconsider, and last week Wyman announced that bowing to the pressure she was going to put out a Voter’s Guide afterall.

The pressure came from special interest groups.  The East Olympia Fire Department has a tax increase measure on the ballot, and supporters were concerned that without the Voter’s Guide, they wouldn’t be able to make their case before the voters.

While that government agency is the only one mentioned, other special interests groups such as libraries, transit agencies and school district felt that by not publishing a Voter’s Guide this year, Wyman was setting precedence that would carry over to times when these government agencies also had tax increases on the ballot.

Wyman’s bow to special interests, even if they are government agencies, was the wrong thing for our county auditor to do.   She should have stuck by her original decision and saved the voters money.  Not only in the publication of the Voter’s Guide, but also in future tax increases demanded by these special interests.