Everyone knows politicians play hardball. The problem is, they rarely get hurt in the crossfire.

In King County it’s shaping up to be sheriff’s deputies, prosecutors and others in public safety and criminal justice who stand to be punished because the County Executive, and Democrats and Republicans on the County Council can’t or won’t agree to a plan to avoid layoffs to those county employees.

It doesn’t have to come down to this – and shouldn’t.

King County faces a severe budget shortfall. The gap, about $60 million, hits the county’s general fund. Worse, public safety expenses make up about 70 percent of the fund. Thus cuts, if they come, zero in on criminal justice employees.

County Executive Dow Constantine proposed that the council put a measure on the August primary ballot that would increase the sales tax in King County by .2 percent to avoid any layoffs.

To get this on the ballot as an emergency measure he needed six votes on the council. Only five – fellow Democrats – would go along.

Next, council president Bob Ferguson presented a scheme that would increase the property tax to maintain service levels, but lessen the sting by having voters OK the switch of some funds from other activities to public safety. Still, the plan would add $34 a year to the tax bill of the owner of a $400,000 home.

Republicans then proposed a step beyond Ferguson’s plan, switching more money to public safety and doing it without the need to boost either the sales or property tax.

Since no one would go along with anyone else by the Tuesday, May 25 deadline to get something on the August ballot, the effort shifts to get something on the November ballot.

Unfortunately, Constantine says he can’t wait until November to see what the voters want. He is required by contract to give employees 90 days notice of layoffs. These notices would have to go out in October, before the results of any ballot measure would be known.

That shouldn’t be a problem. School districts often face that issue when a levy doesn’t pass and teachers have to be notified that won’t have a contract in the fall. However, a subsequent levy usually gets voter approval and teachers return to the classroom as normal.

That’s likely to be the scenario with the public safety measure.

The County Council should use the time before it must put an issue on the November ballot to look carefully at its spending and priorities and bring them into line. At or near the top of the list must be public safety.