Scaredy Cats
Despite losing in Seattle, Tim Eyman's property tax cap initiative (I-747) is evidently A-okay with the Seattle City Council. In closed-door sessions, the council decided NOT to throw the city's weight behind a pending lawsuit against the onerous initiative, an initiative that's predicted to gut $8 million out of the city's budget. Council members felt like they didn't have enough political cover--i.e., other cities suing. What a bunch of chickens.
Road Rage
We're happy to report that the First Annual Victor Steinbrueck Memorial Event--a panel discussion on transportation--broke down into chaos last week. No disrespect to Victor Steinbrueck, but it's about time the transportation debate got real.
The Tuesday, January 22 evening event, billed as a panel discussion on transportation choices moderated by KUOW host Steve Scher, was part of lecture series at the UW's College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
According to some astonished landscape architecture and urban-planning students in attendance, Scher pretty much lost control of the discussion as warring factions of public-transportation advocates exchanged fire.
This is a good sign. For too long now, nicey-nice Seattle has used the happy "transportation choices" sound bite as a tidy ribbon to package our transportation disagreements.
Forget transportation choices! "Choices" is just a euphemism for "unwieldy, unmanageable, and needlessly expensive." Seattle needs one choice; a comprehensive, agile system that takes me from my neighborhood to my destination. Whether it's monorail or light rail (monorail is cheaper and faster, by the way), one system will do.
If we continue on this path of trying to please everybody, we're going to end up with no system at all. Let the war begin--and may the best system prevail.
The Process Works
Despite some interference from Mayor Nickels and three dissenting council members upset about "process," City Council President Peter Steinbrueck lined up five votes to earmark $800,000 toward a hygiene center for the homeless. "When you have the five votes you don't wait," said Steinbrueck after the Monday, January 28 vote. Steinbrueck is absolutely right. The nay votes (Richard Conlin, Judy Nicastro, and Richard McIver) make little sense when they complain that Steinbrueck was "hijacking" the money and circumventing the budget process. After all, isn't the budgeting "process" all about getting the votes? Steinbrueck had a five-vote majority. What more is there to the process?
