Print MISC contributor Michael Thomas thinks this week’s defeat of the proposed Seattle “latte tax” was a bad thing:

Apparently our fair city’s reputation as a socially progressive, education oriented community of leaders isn’t worth a thin dime.This most egalitarian of taxes was defeated through a massively well funded “no” campaign under the premise that it would hurt small business.

Feh.

If you are an independent, this would mean one thin dime in a pot per shot. Take it to the bank and make your drop along with your deposit. No accounting hassle whatsoever.

More likely this effort was financed by the major coffee corporations who would have to hire one more person (!) to manage the accounting on this tax from hundreds of retail stores throughout the city. Tens of thousands of dollars involved here monthly. These folks spent tens of thousands to defeat funding of infant, toddler and pre-school programs for kids of families who are financially strapped. Baristas, for example.

Who would benefit had this passed?

Early childhood education programs not covered by the Families and Education Levy. These programs help young parents be better parents through workshops and classes designed to help them develop better parenting skills. Child services that help working families who are stretched to make rent, food, utilities, and other bills. Families where both parents must work to meet the above commitments while straining to pay child care expenses equal to rent (!).

The folks who would be affected by this proposal? Including the above folks who buy their espresso over-the-counter, and a lot of other working people, these voters were:

• Mostly professional. Probably able to afford an espresso drink a day, sometimes two.
• Likely driving a vehicle worth over $30,000, and who probably voted for $30 motor vehicle tabs (saving themselves hundreds per year at the expense of roadways, ferries, schools and other publicly funded issues).
• Probably voted for $1 billion in baseball and football stadium bonds in the last 6 years.
• Would see their daily espresso drink go from $2.70 to $2.80, an annual increase of $36 on one shot per day.
• Apparently haven’t a clue that buying a grinder and an espresso machine will save them nearly 1000 of their precious dollars per year.

I wonder if my “progressive” Seattle neighbors will (as they allude) throw their full support behind the Families and Education Levy renewal next year and insist that the levy be expanded to cover the Early Childhood programs left in the cold, or if they’ll use the same logic to defeat the continuation of that property bond.

I wonder if my Seattle neighbors who criticize our self anointed Dissembler-in-Chief for his “Leave No Child Behind” doubletalk can look honestly look at themselves in the mirror after voting ‘no’ on this measure.

I’ve been going to Zoka for several years. We’ve been buying their beans for about a year now. I was very disappointed to see Zoka leading this tax-revolt. I’m sorry, folks, but I’ll never ever take my child to Zoka again, which means that I won’t be going there either.

So, go ahead and celebrate if you will. In my opinion, this is a dark day for Seattle, a city whose whose promise and values are apparently not worth a dime.