This holiday has been no exception. On Tuesday, a group of activists released the results of a poll by Stuart Elway showing, in the hyperbolic words of cosponsor John Fox, that "Seattle residents overwhelmingly oppose funding" mayor Greg Nickels' plan for Mercer Street, which would convert the road into a two-way, six-lane boulevard. The numbers (a whopping 55 percent opposed) sound pretty convincing, until you read the question, which reads in part: "City studies indicate that [the proposed] changes will not reduce traffic congestion or improve travel times between Seattle Center and Interstate 5, and may increase the number of congested intersections." The survey is a classic "push poll," with questions geared to generate a particular response--which is something even Fox acknowledges.
Fox was also part of a group of neighborhood activists who last week announced a Wednesday-evening confab aimed at finding "a good strong candidate to run against our current mayor." Activists hate Nickels because they feel he's run roughshod over their neighborhoods' autonomy, ignoring the needs of the poor and homeless while pushing laws (like upzones for biotech in South Lake Union) that benefit wealthy people and corporations.
Okay. That's the sound bite. The reality, of course, is a bit more complex, complicated further by the fact that when neighborhood activists have tried to rally against the mayor, they've failed to whip up enough anti-Nickels fervor to produce a viable candidate. One contender, former neighborhoods department head Jim Diers (who's been viewed as a possible Nickels opponent ever since the mayor fired him in 2001), has refused to commit to running; whether Wednesday's meeting will be a productive brainstorm session or a campaign rally for Diers is still very much in question.
Also cagey about her political future is Port Commissioner Paige Miller, who is now, as council gossip would have it, contemplating a run against city council member Richard Conlin. Conlin is widely seen as the most vulnerable council incumbent up for reelection next year, due in large part to his vocal support of the anti-monorail initiative, which Miller opposed. Council president Jan Drago, the council's most vocal monorail supporter, just happens to be a close friend of Miller's.
Every year, the council sends its lobbyist to Olympia armed with a legislative wish list. On this year's agenda: A law requiring Paul Allen to disclose the financial status of the Seahawks--something state legislation already requires, but which Allen has so far refused to do.
The legislation that gave the Seahawks the lease to the publicly funded stadium says clearly that the team must "publicly disclose, on an annual basis, an audited profit and loss financial statement." But that hasn't been good enough for Allen, who said in a memo to legislators that he would never have bought the team if he had known about the requirement. The story was first reported in the Tacoma News Tribune.
The legislative change would give teeth to the disclosure requirement. In Licata's words, "it doesn't require him to do anything other than reveal his financial status." Compared to the $300 million taxpayers spent on the stadium, "it's really a pin prick of a request."
