Brad Shannon of The Olympian reports Washington initiative promoter Tim Eyman's I-917 has failed a first test by Secretary of State Sam Reed's office to qualify for the fall ballot. Based on a check of petition signature validity from a four percent sample of those submitted by Eyman, the measure would not have enough to come before voters. It's not over yet, though. A full count will occur in coming weeks. Eyman recently alleged Reed's office had undercounted by some 35,000 the number of signatures he submitted, but is so far unable to prove the allegation. If the failure holds, it's a possibly fatal blow to Eyman's career. If the measure does ultimately qualify, I-917 voters would have to decide whether or not it's smart to rule out, in isolation, one of several possible funding sources for a regional transportation plan next year that will require voter approval of specified new road and transit components for either bunch to take effect.
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at July 28, 2006 01:55 PM | Email ThisI heard an interview on the radio where he talked about the ideas being more important than the person representing them. I agree - to a point. I think that he generates annomosity and bad press to every issue he pushes, and quite frankly, I think he is an arrogant ass (not a horse's ass, just an arrogant one). I am really tired of his antics.
I've got a great idea... instead of trying to fix things through initiative, how about we all get out and vote for responsible legistlators. I know everyone here votes already, but we need to really "get out the vote" and fix the root cause of the problem, rather than try the band-aid appoach of endless initiatives.
Posted by: Eric on July 28, 2006 02:14 PMTim seems to love the spotlight. If he'd just go about his business putting the damn things on the ballot, maybe he wouldn't be the poster boy with a target on his head.
Posted by: Steve_dog on July 28, 2006 02:18 PMAs long as he succeeds he will stay in business and continue to draw a salary along with his cohorts from Spokane. Continued failure will probably doom his enterprise. So expect his to work like crazy (like a fox) to promote his "permanent" business.
He will surface next Jan with his newest iteration. Any guesses as to what it will be?
Posted by: Bwana on July 28, 2006 02:45 PMAs long as he succeeds he will stay in business and continue to draw a salary along with his cohorts from Spokane. Continued failure will probably doom his enterprise. So expect his to work like crazy (like a fox) to promote his "permanent" business.
He will surface next Jan with his newest iteration. Any guesses as to what it will be about?
Posted by: Bwana on July 28, 2006 02:48 PMThat would probably be more of a citizens for more important things type initiative.
How about: banning spending money on public schools unless Grahm Hill Elementaty's Montissori program is cancelled.
Posted by: Eric on July 28, 2006 02:57 PMHe's represents us better than our elected officials by holding these corrupt officials feet to the fire.
What we need is an army of Tim's out there, not fewer.
Posted by: john on July 28, 2006 05:14 PM
He's represents us better than our elected officials by holding these corrupt officials feet to the fire.
That's what's so sad. We need to do much better at getting good men and women elected to represent us.
However, you know why that will never happen... we have too many G.I. JOE Republicans in Washington...a lot of bravado and no BALLS!!!
P.S. At first count 31 Demorat's will run unopposed in this years State House races!!!
How dare he make money doing that huh?
I guess all those politicians, state, city and county employees, state-paid law firms, ad agencies and PR flaks should work for free huh?
The only difference between Tim and all of the leeches in the state government is that Tim has never taken a dollar from my pocket that I didn't send to him.
Wrong. The Washington State Voters have saved themselves money, not Eyman. Yes, he has spearheaded the efforts, but he's not the only person who can do this, not by a longshot.
Let's face another fact: Eyman is untrustworthy. He clearly lied about his money all those years ago, and should have stepped down as leader of the movement then. The evidence now seems very convincing that he tried to bamboozle the Sec. of State now, and has proceeded to lie about it. Do I know this for a fact? No, but given his previous lies, it seems more then likely.
I am an imperfect person. There are things that I should probably not do because of flaws in my character. Honesty is key to be truly successful in politics, and if Eyman doesn't have that, he shouldn't be involved for his own sake as well as the sake of the movement he represents. I'm not saying he is a bad person or an evil person or anything like that, just that he is a human with flaws that needs to recognize them and deal with them appropriately. In this case, I think the most appropritate step would be to step down and let someone else take the reigns.
Posted by: Cliff S on July 31, 2006 08:25 AM