A recent letter writer suggested the promoters of the so-called healthy kids' property tax levy suffer from a "lack of imagination" in their approach to the dearth of quality childcare facilities in Whatcom County. I concur with that opinion.
Why didn't these Proposition 5 activists consider the fact that the United States provided universal childcare during World War II, instead of thinking so provincially, with an illiberal and narrow viewpoint? During WWII mothers entered the workforce out of necessity because the men were sent off to war. If our country could provide universal childcare over 70 years ago, why did our local Prop 5 proponents design an aspirational ballot initiative that falls so far short?
One of the crown jewels of the Child Service Centers in WWII was set up by an employer, the Kaiser Company, at its shipyards in Portland, Oregon. Designed and scaled to children’s needs, Kaiser offered childcare 24 hours a day (to accommodate night-shift workers), a highly trained staff, a curriculum planned by leading early childhood experts, and even a cooked-food service for weary parents picking up their children after an arduous shift.
It strikes me that Proposition 5 could be described as elitist and, if passed, will result in even more societal division in our county because it relies on property taxes. I read the entire Prop 5 ordinance and I believe it telegraphs assumptions that low-income parents are not capable of providing quality care to their children.
I did extensive searches and I cannot find a single jurisdiction in the United States that has implemented a property tax levy to pay for childcare for children from 0-5 years.
Read the entire ordinance before you cast your vote. It is so vague, full of far-reaching promises that cannot possibly be met. Vote NO for this 10-year tax levy. Our kids deserve a better plan.
Delores Davies, Ferndale
