Editor,
Washingtonians have been inundated with political ads that are either misleading or outright false over the past several months. One such ad from Adrian Cortes for state Congress says he “passed a ban on local income taxes.” The truth of the matter is that the resolution
(#21-07) that was passed unanimously by all seven council members on July 19, 2021, is not binding. It is merely a political statement that the City Council as a whole agrees not to bring the issue of income taxes before the voters. By law, no income tax can be imposed without a vote of the citizens. This over inflation of accomplishments relies on the assumption that most voters won’t know the difference, but it speaks to the larger issue of character.
On character, Mr. Cortes has a reliability problem. Since the beginning of 2024, Cortes has missed multiple city council meetings altogether or has minimally participated in discussions via Zoom and has only shown up in person 42% of the time. His in-person attendance record is abysmal when compared with the other six council members. In addition, he has missed four of eight C-Tran Board of Directors meetings. If he can’t show up for the meetings, how can we expect him to show up for his constituents?
Join me in voting for Brad Benton for state Senate. He believes in lower taxes, no light rail and no tolling on the Interstate 5 bridge, supporting law enforcement and protecting parental rights in education, among many other things that are important to the people of the 18th Legislative District.
Shauna Walters
Vancouver
