Who wrote the letter? Whose idea was it? I applaud Mayor McGinn for not signing it if he's not comfortable with it.

I like that they invited him knowing full well he'd take it as another opportunity to tell them to fuck off as loud as he can, starting with this bit of PR. Using "loyalty oath" here strikes me as something that would make Lee Atwater smile if he weren't so dead.

A better question is why is this meeting closed to the public. Hello, doesn't this conflict with the sunshine law?

Cities near subduction zones should not build tunnels. Whoever came up with the idea should be committed to an asylum.

I like McGinn. He pisses people off.

The state legislature has already refused to "invest the resources" needed to ensure the tunnel is completed. Getting the various public officials to sign this is a political move that does nothing to pay for cost overuns if/when they occur.

Gregoire promises aren't worth the paper they're printed on. She "promised" to tear the viaduct by 2012. It's going to be there (Earth permitting) till 2016. She "promised" a dollop of new revenue for Metro as part of the original tunnel deal. We're still waiting.

Where's the Public Vote of Seattle Voters who have to pay for this?

Cause if there is one, it won't pass.

Ever.

@7 - and she promised she wouldn't change the design of the 520 bridge or the western approach to it - and after we pushed back - HARD - she caved.

The 1:00 p.m. meeting last Thursday at Union Station began late and went for well over an hour with the public and media reporters in the room. Governor Gregoire and Councilman Rasmussen were eyeball-to-eyeball with Mayor McGinn on the potential for cost overruns in tunnel construction and who would pay for them. The Mayor stood his ground calmly on behalf of Seattle taxpayers and did us proud. It was an interesting, even exciting meeting, well documented by the Times, P-I and other media in the stories indexed by Google at http://tinyurl.com/2bf6pq3.

The Governor declared that the cost overrun assignment made by the Legislature was merely an expression of intent. Seems to me it's time for Seattle City Council to pass a counter-expression of intent that benefits City residents.

Will, listen, WSDOT presented final SR520 plans with huge impact and lacked transit connectivity, yet was able to revise immediately. This is the equivalent of a new or used car salesman being forced to upgrade to a better model and lower the price. And it's a serious breach of the agency's responsibility to serve the public.

The key clause in the Letter of Agreement appears to be: "This committee will facilitate discussion and information sharing related to cost, financing, schedule, contracts, project delivery, and risk management. The committee will address issues proactively that may affect delivery of the program, such as securing funding and permits."

In other words, the committee is not commissioned to discuss or share information related to engineering and environmental impact, nor informing the public on those regards, as if they aren't important, as if the only important matters are cost and delivery.

Basicly, Seattle City Council is incompetent, corrupt or some percentage of both regarding the AWV replacement and related surface street re-arrangement projects. The basic engineering of the DBT, Alsakan Way and Mercer West is plainly atrocious, and the public is intentionally left uniformed. This Letter of Commitment is evidence of criminal wrongdoing. WSDOT and SDOT Directors who've overseen this project should face an independent investigation that would lead to criminal charges. And it's in the good people of Seattle's best interests to take the matter to this level. The DBT is a crime.