Resolution Phase Will Be Challenging

Voters, who always get what they ask for, can look forward to lower taxes plus a dramatic set of changes at Spokane’s City Hall.

With the reduction in vehicle taxes will come a reduction in services. No one yet knows the details.

With a new set of personalities and a new governmental structure at City Hall will come … what? No one yet knows.

But two things are certain: Government will keep governing and the people will keep holding it accountable.

Therefore, The Spokesman-Review congratulates those who won Tuesday’s election. Wishes them generosity in their vision and success in their efforts to build consensus and solve problems. And thanks them for reminding everyone that newspapers do not run the government, and certainly do not control the outcome of elections.

This newspaper continues to support what it always has supported: better jobs. A stronger economy. A friendly environment for business. Progress in services that affect the quality of our lives - education, health care, law enforcement, highways.

Providing these things can be a struggle.

Spokane will witness a struggle as City Hall reorganizes.

Similarly, Washington state has now begun a struggle to cope with the effects of Initiative 695.

Gov. Gary Locke pointed out Wednesday that the statewide transportation improvement projects voters funded a year ago “are canceled.” Period. This means that there simply is no solution in place for the inadequacies that clog roads, kill motorists and limit our economic potential. But that is no surprise. Voters were fully informed about I-695’s consequences by a thorough debate.

Locke pledged to spend more than half of the state’s reserves to preserve some of the state’s ferry system and to help city and county governments adapt to the loss of motor vehicle excise tax money that has paid for police, firefighters, public health and mass transit.

In this regard, Locke is taking an unsettling risk. Most of the state’s reserve was set aside by command of the voters, intended only for use in a recession, to keep state services going without need for a tax increase. A reserve is prudent and should be protected.

At the same time, public safety is a high priority and Locke should be commended for his awareness that the state’s smaller or less prosperous communities - including those east of the Cascades - are most vulnerable to the loss of excise tax revenue.

What Locke and the Legislature face is damage control, not pain prevention. Same goes for the cities and counties, and local transit and health districts - which must write budgets now, before they know what kind of help the Legislature might provide next year.

This won’t be easy. Services will deteriorate. But, the voters have spoken, and their message was resounding.