The Kent City Council needs a class on Civics 101.
When the property owners near 256th got together, following the council’s rules, and submitted the required number of signatures (for the umpteenth time) to stop the Local Improvement District (LID) assessment, the council didn’t like it and decided that the rules don’t apply because they want to assess these few property owners with the burden of paying for that street’s improvement.
The council set up the rules for property owners to collect the petition signatures needed within a short amount of time – and then, when the required signatures were obtained, the council pulled a fast one. They decided that they didn’t like the result so they pulled the rug out from under the property owners. This kind of governance is reminiscent of George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
The council knows that everyone in Kent uses 256th but they want to punish the property owners right next to this street with the full cost of street repairs there.
The council has a ready solution at their disposal: raise the business and occupation (B&O) tax and close the exemptions and loopholes for big businesses like Boeing.
This ploy of forming another LID for the same street improvement is an attempt by the council to wear down the petitioners. The property owners will have to sign yet another petition to protest this LID assessment.
It’s now perfectly clear that the council would do just about anything to avoid making businesses that do the damage to our streets and roads pay to repair those streets and roads.
Just how beholden is the council to Kent businesses? How many protest petitions are required for the council to do the right and honorable thing?
If the council was truly functioning as a moral entity, it would stop this ridiculous idea of imposing LID assessments in spite of the fact that property owners played by the rules of petitioning and gathered the signatures; nevertheless, the council members ignored these property owners and refused to consider additional B&O funds for this project. The Kent City Council plays by its own set of rules and are deaf to dissent.
– Sandra Gill
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