Despite confusion as to whether or not “YES 911” was a rallying cry for the war in Iraq, the proposal — which actually calls for support of CenCom’s ballot measure to create an emergency services sales tax for Kitsap County — makes good sense.

The one-tenth of one percent sales tax (or one penny for every $10 spent in Kitsap County) removes what has been an unfair burden on property owners and spreads the expense of 911 services throughout the population both resident and transient.

Opponents of the plan, who have been few and far between, might claim that even though Proposition 1 would cut the final three years of the 2001 tax levy (which will sunset in 2006), it will create an additional burden on everyone. One that will not sunset but rather will continue indefinitely as a sales tax.

This is true.

But unless the county agrees to continue to support CenCom and the services it provides, residents here can expect cutbacks, layoffs and eventually severe problems with our 911 system.

It’s easy to vote no on this one if you’re sitting at home, watching television and relaxing from a tough work week.

But accidents do happen and there are a lot of “ifs” and uncertainties in life. And when they do happen, wouldn’t it be nice to know that law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical technicians could reach you and your loved ones if an unthinkable incident occurred.

They do every day here, actually. CenCom tackles an average of 630 calls each day. Which gives us all about 230,000 individual reasons to vote for this proposition.

Think about it.