let bellevue have it. sounds like a win-win.

No do overs.

Should have thought about that first.

Bellevue here we come!

Build it in Bellevue

"Build it here. We can make it work."

No. No, we can't. May I remind you about Key Arena and the Kingdome?

Let Bellevue fuck themselves over with it.

It's going to pass, all the naysayers notwithstanding.

"We can make it work" in the sense that Seattle has been owned and operated by a corrupt establishment since day 1. Rich people have always come to Seattle's local pols and cooked up sweetheart deals to make themselves even richer. Yet, somehow, Seattle has always made these boondoggles "work".

Because we had no choice once they were a done deal. We got left holding the bag for the Kingdome and Key Arena, and we "made it work". We are poorer for it, of course. We got our pockets picked.

But we dusted ourselves off and carried on! Hooray!

So yeah, lets get fucked again by this Hansen guy and then have a big group hug when we somehow muddle through. High fives!

Wah wah wah. Thanks to the Stranger for going against the majority of their Slog commenters and voicing support, and to Goldy, Dominic & others for thoroughly vetting the issue. Bring em back!

Jesus. What has Keck promised you idiots? Is this just to spite the Times? Or is this another attempt at being deficient king makers over there or something?

This endorment makes no sense.

Goldy you're a duplicitous hack at best. But I thought at least you, knowing enough about the history of this town, would see beyond the horses shit about this arena. I thought you had some principles. But clearly not.

Gifting billionaires with tax payer dollars at time when the state and city are cutting vital services for poor people, left and right, is supremely irresponsible and immoral.

You've been playing falsely coy on this issue, testing the wind, for weeks. Until you finally got cover from the requisite number of the deluded idiots at the Stranger.

Now, why, you're all for this massive subsidy for billionaires! Yippee! Oh (serious face, ahem) with "caveats."

Gotta cover your ass! Right?

A yup. As long as the "workers" are fed a couple of measly crumbs that can be reversed the second the arena is finished... you can sleep at night.

Workers who won't be able to afford the insane NBA ticket prices at the arena that will be displacing their higher paying jobs for shit jobs.

in case you didn't know: Tax payers ARE workers. So they get fucked twice.

The gaping wounds in your arguments for this stupid arena are hemorrhaging.

Any time you hear the words "public-private partnership" you should get a tight grip on your wallet. The ONLY reason for any private company to enter into one is because they expect the government to assume the downside risk for them, while they take all the upside profit.

@7,

Nope.

To the doubters, all I can say is read the MOU and read the county analysis. This is not KeyArena, and it is not the Kingdome. I know that rhetoric is powerful, but it's not relevant to this particular deal (except perhaps to contrast how good this deal is by comparison.)

"Seaport stakeholders were promised the Lander Street Overpass when Safeco and CenturyLink fields were built"

So building an overpass now wouldn't be "taxpayer dollars being spent to mitigate arena traffic" - it would be taxpayer dollars being spent to mitigate Safeco and CenturyLink stadium traffic long after the fact.

Either way - it's taxpayer dollars going into public infrastructure to prop up privately-held sports franchises.

The owners of the Mariners and Seahawks should've been on the hook for area infrastructure improvements that were necessary because of the impact of their businesses on the area; the fact that they weren't shouldn't let Hansen et al off the hook.

"We" shouldn't have to make it work - "they" should.

@12
"To the doubters, all I can say is read the MOU and read the county analysis."

That's right, Goldy. Skip over addressing the specific points that have been brought up.
Keep insisting that free money will appear without any risk.
Anyone who doubts the existence of such free money just hasn't done the correct reading.

"This is not KeyArena, and it is not the Kingdome."

Okay.

"Seaport stakeholders were promised the Lander Street Overpass when Safeco and CenturyLink fields were built, ..."

And there are the other two stadiums.

So, problems with 100% of the previous deals for the stadiums.
But this time will be different!

Free money for everyone with no risk!

@ Goldy - it's definitely been interesting looking at the financing deals for the Kingdome, the short-sighted Key upgrade, Century Link & Safeco... makes the Sonics Arena deal look even better.

@13,

The thing is, if they weren't asking for a public handout, *we should* be on the hook for it. That's a huge part of what government does, providing infrastructure so private business can grow and thrive. But, since they're demanding a $200 million bond, fuck 'em. The money for traffic mitigation needs to come from the arena somehow, at a minimum from the taxes and fees the city would be getting if they weren't slated solely for bond repayment.

@13 -- the overpasses will benefit truck traffic to and from the Port facilities more than just about anyone. It'll also help trains in the area, as grade separation allows for higher speeds. Most of the train traffic is Port related.

So essentially the Port is trying to shirk their responsibility off on somebody else. If it's such a priority, why the hell hasn't the Port paid to build it themselves over the last 20 years?

News flash: "industry" is Not Coming Back to the SODO area - ever - and the city would be vastly better off if the entire area was redeveloped as residential / commercial / high-tech business-park.

I think it's amazing that something so reasonable that the majority of the public is in favor of, as well as media outlets as diverse as The Stranger and every sports radio station in town, is still met with opposition from certain politicians and The Seattle Times (which seems determined to will itself out of consequence).

Goldy - can you or anyone else spell out what, if anything is *specifically* wrong with Key Arena? I mean, anyone except Chris Hansen & the commish David Stern, who I will refrain from calling a little Napoleon hypocrite lying sack o' shit with a short memory.

I assume you've seen the video of Stern praising Key Arena, after its near-total rebuild in '95. So what gives? Do you really feel we need to genuflect to this two-faced worm with an outsized ego & a power complex that's clearly out of control? Who screwed our city big time - and bit himself in the ass when he abandoned one of the nation's largest markets just to teach us a lesson.

If Key Arena was a beautiful, intimate facility in 1995, with great sight lines, why was it all of a sudden a pariah, a non-starter when the OKC dung flingers came calling? Is it because David Stern can make any irrational proclamation he feels like, just because of the power bestowed upon him (that has clearly gone to his head)? Why should we be considering doing business with the NBA under these conditions?

@16: I'm not familiar with this. Is it written in city/state/county/federal law that government is legally required to provide this kind of infrastructure specifically to benefit private industry? If not, then your comments hold some weight. If so, then frankly "We're supposed to pay for it but I don't like that they want other money so let's ignore our legal and civic responsibility" is some pretty specious logic, to be generous.

@17: I actually doubt it'll allow for faster rail speeds -- there are too many tight curves and turnouts in that area for trains to travel quickly. It *will* improve safety, though.

@21,

Is it written in city/state/county/federal law that government is legally required to provide this kind of infrastructure specifically to benefit private industry?

Not that I'm aware of, but it's a pretty widely embraced concept, politically speaking. What government isn't supposed to do is pick winners and losers in the private sector by giving subsidies to some private businesses and not others. The government does it all the time, of course, but there's been more and more pushback against it from both sides of the political spectrum. The best most sports franchises can expect going forward is getting infrastructure paid for, if they're building in an actual city that isn't desperate for the jobs and tax revenue the sports franchise is supposed to bring in (but actually doesn't).

@17,

The Port currently runs in the red and relies on taxpayer money to stay solvent. If the Port is on the hook for traffic mitigation, you and I will be paying for it. Do you want to pay more taxes?