So, did Mayor Mike McGinn really "flip flop" yesterday, when, as expected, he vetoed the City Council's tunnel ordinance? Um... I don't think so.

Yes, as the pro-tunnel video above points out, McGinn did say that if elected, "it will be my job to uphold and execute" any tunnel agreement, but... well... there isn't any tunnel agreement, at least not yet. The council's tunnel ordinance is actually part of the process of establishing an agreement, as is the mayor's signature or veto.

Furthermore, it's hard to accuse Mayor McGinn of standing in the way of a tunnel agreement, when the council passed its ordinance by a veto-proof 8-1 margin. If anything, the mayor's long-expected, unsurprising veto is little more than a symbolic gesture... and one completely consistent with the unwavering, anti-tunnel stance McGinn has enunciated since before he declared his candidacy.

What McGinn promised to do was uphold and execute a legally binding tunnel agreement—an agreement that, despite the mayor's resolute opposition, I'm pretty damn sure we'll eventually get—and if he ultimately fails to do that, well then, that would be a "flip flop." But this, not so much.

In fact, of all the harsh words I've seen flung at the mayor, "flip flopper" is probably the least applicable. "Stubborn"...? Sure. "Hard headed," "cantankerous," and "inflexible"...? Yeah, those work. An "obdurate, pigheaded, car-hating hippie..." not totally unsupported by the facts. There's even a case to be made that, as mayor, McGinn has thus far been a bit of "flop."

But for now, I don't see much flip to McGinn's flop.