ISLAND COUNTY: Sound Off: Island County’s commitment to equity is unwavering (MELANIE BACON/WNT)

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) wrote a Sound Off column for the Whidbey News-Times discussing equity in Island County government. Bacon’s column appeared in the paper’s Jul. 5, 2023 edition.

They Said It

Imagine this picture: Three people are lined up before a gate to a government-owned apple tree. This apple tree is loaded with fruit, some on branches as low as 7 feet from the ground. One of the taxpayers is 6 feet tall. One is 4 feet tall. And the third is in a wheelchair.

The government wants to provide equal access to these apples to all three taxpayers. What does the government do?

The government could simply open the gate and say: “Go get your apples.” But clearly only the tall person would benefit in this scenario. Or the government could make ladders available to all three people. But then the person unable to climb a ladder, the person in the wheelchair, would miss out on getting any of the apples that their taxes have paid for.

Each of those solutions would be “equal, ”right? The government would be treating each personally equally. But neither solution is fair, because some taxpayers would not be able to access their benefits.