Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin has responded to Mayor Mike McGinn, who promised to veto contracts on the deep-bore tunnel, by issuing a statement this afternoon:

This is one of those times when I wish I were still teaching Municipal Government 101 and that the Mayor would sit in on one of my classes. The Mayor does not seem to understand that the state can and will proceed with this project whether or not the City is a participant, and that these agreements protect the City's interests. After all, they were negotiated by his own Department heads, and the Council and City Attorney added even stronger protections in our work with the State.

The Mayor can exercise his veto, but he should recognize that this opens up the City to legal vulnerability for third party claims (indemnified by the State in the agreements), to having infrastructure replacement that is below Seattle standards, and many other potential problems. And every study of cost overruns on projects has tabbed political obstruction and delay as a major cause—so ironically, the Mayor's tactics can lead to the very scenario that he is pretending to be concerned about.

"The mayor is a moron!" Also: "He's lying about that stuff he's 'pretending' to be concerned about!" Classy.