Our Voice: Pasco flier no reason to deny support

Pasco residents may be a bit irked by a mailer that got personal with their voting records, but we suggest they set any lingering frustration aside and vote in favor of the school levy.

It is desperately needed.

Without its approval, Pasco students will end up losing many programs and activities that are paid for only by the local community — not the state.

That’s the message the Pasco Citizens for Better Schools want to convey. Unfortunately, the controversial postcard they used to get that message across may have ended up clouding the issues they were hoping to highlight.

The mailer sent to Pasco residents provided important school levy information on one side. The other side, however, included specifics about the voting records of people in the household and of named and unnamed neighbors.

That’s a new tactic, and it didn’t go over well with a number of people.

Apparently the approach is part of a voter turnout research project. The citizens’ group has declined to explain further about the mailer before the Feb. 13 election.

The postcards do not say how people voted, only if they cast a ballot in the past five elections — going back to the August 2016 primary.

That information is public record but some voters were still shocked to realize that anyone can access it that easily.

In this space, we often lament low voter turnout in elections, but we offer general criticisms.

When people see the number of times they neglected to vote in past elections printed in a flier in their mailbox, it can come across as shaming.

Pasco School Superintendent Michelle Whitney said she first learned of the mailer when the district started getting calls from voters about it.

School districts can provide general information about school levies, but they cannot promote them.

Regardless of this unorthodox campaign strategy by a group of citizens, approval of the levy is important if athletics, art and music are to continue in the Pasco School District. Those local levy dollars also pay for school nurses, curriculum materials, advanced classes and special education.

This year the levy request is significantly lower than in past years thanks to the state legislative fix forced by the McCleary lawsuit. It is called a levy swap, and trades local levy money for state money. This is the state’s way of trying to meet its constitutional duty to amply fund K-12 education.

In Pasco, the current levy rate is $3.95 per thousand of assessed valuation, but that is going to drop.

Beginning in 2019, the amount school districts can collect from taxpayers will be capped at $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, and that is the levy amount Pasco school officials are requesting.

In Richland and Kennewick, voters are also being asked to approve a technology levy in addition to the Educational Programs and Operations school levy.

Whitney said the Pasco district has been contributing for many years to its technology program, and there isn’t a current need to ask voters for additional money for technology upgrades.

We think that’s an indication Pasco school officials are trying to be responsible to citizens.

Despite the negative reaction to the citizen group’s mailer, voters should support the Pasco school levy and get their ballots in before next Tuesday’s deadline.

Students deserve the community’s support.

This story was originally published February 5, 2018 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Pasco flier no reason to deny support."