After having served 16 years on the operating board of Twin Transit, my attention was immediately attracted to a recent article in The Chronicle concerning the diminishing support scheduled for bus transportation in East Lewis County.
Bus service, at least in Centralia, had two false starts. Years ago, the Centralia mayor had more authority than exists under the current council-manager form of government. Don Naismith held that position, and he was a believer in public transportation. He arranged for the purchase of a couple of old buses, but economics were against him. Expenses exceeded income. He tried again, later, with the same results.
Most transit systems in force at that time in rural areas of the state were countywide operations, but Lewis County had one problem. As you know, the county is long and narrow, with most of the population centered in the middle.
It was felt that the only way to get a favorable vote to create a transit district was to limit the coverage (and taxing area) to the city limits of Centralia and Chehalis, and also that strip of county land that existed between the two. An operating board was established, consisting of one representative from each area.
Time has moved on since then: City limits have expanded and there’s no longer any county land between the cities, but a county commissioner still serves on the board, and in the few board meetings I’ve attended in recent years, the county representative has been the dominant member.
Forwarding to the present, the system that operates separately in the eastern part of the county — Lewis Mountain Highway Transit. It is supported by grant money, and that money is scheduled to be diminished. If voters choose to expand Twin Transit to a countywide operation — where tax support is much smaller — it could possibly mean reduced service in the original boundaries.
An argument is made that people who live outside of that area pay the supporting tax whenever they purchase something in Centralia or Chehalis but they receive no benefit from those taxes. So? On the other hand, anytime we buy something in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Longview or Kelso we’re supporting THEIR transit system without being able to use it. I don’t hear any complaints about that.
As I see it from my seat of wisdom high in the heavens, I agree with Twin Transit General Manager Rob LaFontaine that the only way things will be equalized is through a vote to include the entire county in the service area, even though rural service costs more to provide than urban service.
As I recall, the tax rate being paid in the current district is at the lowest level of transit systems in the state. State law allows that portion of the sales tax which goes to transit systems to not exceed 0.3 of 1 percent. Twin Transit’s rate is 0.2 of a percent. Raising it another 1/10th through a countywide vote could, I believe, help maintain limited rural coverage, provided that no grandiose projects are attempted unless outside funding is offered for them.
We’ll see what happens.
In my usual change of subject matter, I was pleased (surprised, probably, but pleased) at drivers’ reactions to last Saturdays failure of all the traffic signals on Harrison Avenue. Every driver I saw operated in a simple, courteous manner. I saw no one try to force his or her way through intersections. Drivers waved others through them, and I didn’t hear a single horn honk. Congratulations, Centralians, and everyone else who, by being civil and not even mentioning politics, brought a smile to this old duffer’s face!
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Bill Moeller is a former entertainer, mayor, bookstore owner, city council member, paratrooper and pilot living in Centralia. He can be reached at bookmaven321@comcast.net.
