Recent Stories in Politics

As of June 9, 2010, pending Governor Gregoire's signature, talking or texting on a cell phone while driving will be a primary offense. (A headset is okay, and there are multiple provisions for emergencies.) The House passed a stricter bill than they initially presented, making it align with the Senate version. Now police will be able to write a $124 ticket to anyone not using a headset on that basis alone. The HeraldNet quotes Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, the bill's sponsor, saying:

I've fought for this for 10 years, and sometimes I thought this day would never come. Maybe now people will pay attention to their driving instead of their conversations.

Parents who want to get a jump on helping their teens quit the texting-while-driving habit have an assortment of smart phone apps available to them. All cost less than that $124.

Washington's House of Representatives has responded to a Senate bill making cell phone use a primary offense (that is, you could be ticketed just for that) by reassuring teens that their status as second-class citizens is secure. The Seattle Times summarizes the House bill, saying it:

...makes texting a primary offense, but use of a handheld phone by a driver 18 or over would remain a secondary offense. Teens would be barred from any phone use.

Now, it's true, teens are in general terrible drivers. For one thing, they're sleepy all the time. On NurtureShock, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman write that "young adults are involved in 55% of the 100,000 fall-asleep crashes annually, even though they aren't even close to being half of the driving population."

Rep. Dan Roach

Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt said, "I don't like the government being in all aspects of our business." Just teens' business. That is fine. Now the House and Senate have to come together on either the Senate's "That's it, no one gets to hold the cell phone!" ban or the House's "Meddling teenagers!" version.

It's tough out there for a teen. They're sleep-deprived, and they're broke. As Jon Talton points out, teenage unemployment has risen to a "scary 25 percent." Now they might have to sit in the car and watch mom and dad yap away on the cell phone, knowing if they did the same thing, it'd be one more thing that they could get busted for.

Mayor McGinn

Yesterday, Mayor McGinn sent the City Council his proposal for a $243-million seawall bond measure on a special May ballot. Said McGinn:

We have a responsibility to address basic public safety risks. I have directed SDOT to accelerate replacement of the seawall. I look forward to working with the Council on the financing for this critical work.

To up the ante, the Mayor's office also noted that the accelerated schedule would create a "funding gap of nearly $20 million in 2011 for the Seawall Replacement Project." If work on the seawall is to accelerate in an uninterrupted fashion, the money would need to be scrounged up this year.

Said the Council: "How's never? Will never work for you?"

Richard Conlin

Publicola quotes Council president Richard Conlin as saying:

When you come up with these big projects, you can’t just say one day, "Hey, we’re going to do this," then the next day say, "No, wait, now we’re going to do something else." Our voters have been very willing to vote for things in the past, but we think that’s been the case because we’ve prepared the groundwork first.

I'm sympathetic to Conlin's position, but it should in no way be confused with reality. Should that be case, we might well imagine Conlin having giving his quote from the voter-approved Monorail, perhaps looking out over an expanse where two voter-unapproved stadiums do not sit.

In any event, the earliest the Council could get around to getting something on the ballot is likely November, adds Conlin.

Now I need to leave off writing this post to read Jordan Royer's Crosscut article, "City Council: Does process still outrank product?"

If you're not a working artist in King County, or some sort of moneyed arts patron, you may well have no idea what 4Culture is. But if you make art in or around Seattle, or work on cultural preservation projects, you definitely do, because 4Culture forms a crucial component of the funding process for local artists, cultural centers, and arts organizations, and currently, they're under threat.

Here's how it works--the state levies a 6.5-percent tax on hotel and lodging. Back in the 1970s, when King County was looking for ways to fund building the Kingdome, the state agreed to give the county a 2-percent credit against the tax collected in King County to service the debt. Over the years, the amount collected exceeded that necessary to fund the debt, and so 4Culture came to exist, using part of the money to fund arts and heritage projects in King County, with the rest dedicated to the Kingdome debt and supporting youth sports and tourism advancement.

But here's the catch--in 2012, the program expires when the Kingdome debt gets paid off, so a group called Advocate4Culture has formed to press the legislature to pass bills to continue the funding. Currently, there are bills that have made it out of committee and are waiting for floor votes, so time is of the essence. Here are some important facts:

• The bills have nothing to do with taxes. Whether or not 4Culture continues to receive a credit on taxes collected, the state will continue to levy them; they won't go away. The only change will be that in 2012, a major revenue stream to support culture, arts, heritage, and youth sports in King County will be lost.
• This is not just a King County issue. Many counties in the state have followed suit and receive a credit to support tourism activities and other local priorities.
• This is not just an arts issue. Rep. Frank Chopp, whose bill in the House is the main hope for preserving funding, has tied arts and heritage funding to increased funding for affordable housing, making it a win-win if it's passed.
• 4Culture will not be able to continue funding at the same level if funding isn't extended. Strictly speaking, 4Culture won't go away in 2012; 40 percent of the money they receive has been put into an endowment to support their mission after 2012. But the endowment isn't large enough to continue funding at the same level--nearly $5.2 million in 2008. Also, a lack of long-term funding will prevent them from helping other organizations with capital funding projects--such as the effort that is restoring Washington Hall....
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Jonathan Raban

Raban's Tea Party piece in The New York Review of Books is delightful reading not just for the chutzpah employed in sending an Englishman to a Tea Party, but also because Raban resists the urge to add one wingnut lump or two: his Tea Party survey explores the way all sorts of people with inflamed passions have gathered together, only to discover that the hobbyhorses that brought them don't necessarily like the close quarters.

For Raban, author of Surveillance, a libertarian lean against government intrusion into private life was calling card enough that he could chat sociably with the gamut of Tea Partyers he met: the ones who vacationed in Amalfi and Tuscany, the ones with the second home in Torquay, the red-headed, sixtyish Virginian with two special-needs adopted daughters.

Only one man went public, even in a presumably "friendly" crowd, with overt racism. A table of Tea Partyers was recounting the public's hoodwinking by the Obama campaign.

Obama was an unknown quantity when he was elected. He had no record, no experience; he was an empty suit about whom we knew nothing.

"Well," said the alpha male, producing his ace of trumps, "we knew he was black."

Later, one of Raban's fellow conventioneers would tell him that "being here has made me realize that I am a liberal conservative."

After all the invective heaped on Tea Party heads--and the attention focused on those mugging for TV coverage--it's a relief to have at least one reporter not succumb to the temptation to caricature poorly, but to do it with Rabelaisian naturalism and zest. Diminishment is what creates a Tea Party in the first place.

Something interesting happens in a number of stories about Seattle's downtown safety crisis yesterday. See if you can spot it in this KOMO story, "Downtown street crime scaring away visitors":

A survey by the Downtown Seattle Association found that panhandling is a concern among 66 percent of those polled, while open-air drug sales are a concern to 75 percent. Nearly 40 percent said they simply do not feel safe downtown.

And statistics show their fears are not misplaced. Police records show a 22 percent increase in major crimes in downtown and South Lake Union from 2008 to 2009.

See how concerns about panhandling and open-air drug sales are pretty much the same thing? And note that to KOMO reporter Melody Mendez these "fears are not misplaced": major crimes have gone up. So panhandling (not specified as aggressive) is lumped in there with homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft.

Or, here, in this Seattle Times story on a packed forum on public safety:

Burgess said felony crimes increased 22 percent in 2009 over the previous year from the South Lake Union neighborhood to Pioneer Square, according to Seattle Police Department crime data. Much of that increase is the result of robberies and thefts "in our downtown core," he said.

Burgess, who is championing a new initiative to crack down on aggressive panhandlers...

It happened again! Panhandling keeps sneaking in there, along with major crimes.

It's not that Downtown doesn't have a crime and safety problem. It certainly does. If I were asked if I felt safe late at night in Downtown, I'd say no, and given a chance to specify the area, certainly not. If I'm catching the bus after a show, I don't wait anywhere near Third Avenue....

Showdown! Just got notice that Mayor Mike McGinn sent a letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer "saying that he would welcome the opportunity to discuss plans regarding the 520 bridge replacement project." The Mayor suggests a town campus hall with Ballmer and Microsoft employees in Redmond. See the full text of the letter after the jump.

Steve Ballmer
CEO Microsoft Corporation

Steve,

The current 520 bridge is unsafe and its congestion is a serious regional problem. I believe the thousands of Microsoft employees who spend far too much time away from their families stalled on that bridge deserve better.

The proposed A+ 520 bridge replacement plan will delay replacement given its divisiveness, likelihood for a lawsuit, and failure to address the reality of climate change.

The Coalition for a Sustainable 520, House Speaker Frank Chopp (D-43), Senator Ed Murray (D-43), Representative Jamie Pedersen (D-43), Seattle Councilmembers Nick Licata and Mike O’Brien, the Sierra Club, the Cascade Bicycle Club and I support a 520 bridge replacement that maintains its current auto-capacity and features light rail from the start. We are encouraged by a recent poll showing that 69
percent of those living in affected Seattle neighborhoods and 71 percent of those living in affected Eastside neighborhoods support light rail across the 520 bridge.

Bill Gates demonstrated tremendous leadership in addressing climate change during his speech at the recent TED Conference:
“Until we get near to zero [carbon emissions] the temperature will continue to rise. That’s a big challenge. It’s very different from saying we’re a 12-foot high truck trying to get under a 10-foot bridge and we can sort of just squeeze under. This is something that has to get to zero…

We have to go from rapidly rising, to falling and falling all the way to zero.”

I appreciate your efforts to inform Microsoft employees of this issue and encouraging them to participate in the discussion over how to build the best replacement of the 520 bridge. In that spirit, I would ask that you share my response below with your employees as well. I would also welcome the opportunity to discuss this important project in a town hall with you and fellow Microsoft employees on your campus in Redmond.

Sincerely,
Mayor Mike McGinn

Rep. Deb Wallace

"A bill that would allow the state's largest universities to set their own tuition, within limits, appears all but dead after it failed to move out of a House committee Tuesday," reported the Times today, just after its editorial board admonished state Rep. Deb Wallace that she "shouldn't drag her legislative heels on what would be one of the most significant fiscal-policy measures to come from the Legislature in decades."

Apparently Wallace does not read the Seattle Times op-ed page, or like many, ignores the unreasoned, unsupported perspectives when they appear.

(Lately the Times has shifted from ill-defended opinion to indefensible opinion, as in today's "forget health care reform" piece in which they argue that the election of a Republican in a state that has already instituted health care reform was a vote against health care reform.)

In any event, students at Washington State University, Western Washington University and the University of Washington can breathe a little easier. The Senate bill (SB 6562) would have ceded tuition-setting control to the state universities, with the ludicrous "limits" of a maximum of a one-year fourteen-percent increase, but not more than an average of nine percent per year, over fifteen years. (It's worth noting that the legislature already granted the universities a one-time 14 percent increase last year.)

As I mentioned a little while ago, Washington state higher education rated an "F" in affordability back in 2008. Tuition at the University of Washington has risen about 327 percent over the last twenty years. College presidents like to pitch tuition increases as a "soak the rich" scheme, pointing to increased financial aid packages, but the financial aid is overwhelmingly in the form of student loans, not grants.

The people getting soaked are the middle class parents of students who go to public schools, and the students themselves. (Median household income has not tripled or doubled over the same time period, if you needed to be reminded.) Certainly what has not increased 327 percent in the last twenty years is the entry-level salary for a college graduate. In the midst of the Great Recession, recent graduates will be lucky to find a job at all.

They can save money for student loan payments, of course, by not subscribing to the Seattle Times. [UPDATE: In retrospect, that last line is too harsh. Plenty of good reporting is in the Times, and it would be a shame for people to go without because of a few hundred witless words. People might even pay extra for a subscription that came without the editorial board or Krauthamer.]

Sheriff's detectives arrested Olympia mayor pro tem Joe Hyer yesterday, alleging he engaged in "unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a residence for drug purposes," reports Seattlepi.com. Hyer has previously been a city council member, and was president of the Olympia Downtown Association.

Norm Stamper, author of "Breaking Rank"

I thought I would reach out to you, let you know of my strong support for I-1068, and authorize use of my name (and, no doubt, that of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) if you think it would be helpful to the campaign.

Currently Sensible Washington (2,300+ Facebook fans and counting) is looking for volunteer signature gatherers and donations to the cause. In a masterstroke of strategical positioning, they'll be outside the Bon Jovi concert at Seattle Center tonight, gathering signatures. People who want to help are invited to meet at the Space Needle at 6 p.m.

A joyful "Gum Wall" courtesy of SunBreak Flickr pool member lwestcoat

Governor Gregoire has come up with a few ways to raise an easy $605 million: sin taxes. The Olympian says she'd put "new levies on toxic materials that include refined oil, and on bottled-water, carbonated beverages, cigarettes, candy, and gum."

I suppose the tax on toxics like oil qualifies as a sin tax. (We're getting very moral about the environment these days.) In any event, it brings in the most money, about $215 million, mostly from Washington refineries. Putting a sales tax on candy and gum, the Seattle Times says, brings in just $28 million.

You'd think $600 million added up to real money, but the state has a $2.8 billion deficit forecast for 2010 and 2011. Gov. Gregoire is hoping to talk the federal government out of over $400 million, but that still leaves quite a shortfall.

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."--William Butler Yeats

The rusting husk of Gasworks Park, a fitting metaphor for our elected government. Photo by our Flickr pool contributor feekner.

Late last month, I wrote about Oregon's special vote for Measures 66 and 67, two bills passed by the legislature and signed by the governor that were sent to the voters as a referendum, which raised taxes to help close a budget shortfall. One raised the minimum corporate tax for the first time since 1931, while the other was a modest increase in the income tax for high-earners (Oregon has an income tax but no sales tax). Both measures passed with substantial margins, with roughly 54 percent in favor to 46 percent opposed.

The vote was closely watched nationally because Oregon, like Washington, is a state known for its anti-tax fervor. Oregon had its own Tim Eyman, has caps on property tax increases, and has repeatedly rejected new tax increases. But faced with dramatic cuts to crucial services, Oregon voters banded together with their elected representatives and passed two very simple measures that kept the state working.

Our fearless leaders in Olympia, on the other hand, have done virtually nothing. While Gregoire has stated she wants to "buy back" some of the slash-and-burn budget cuts she originally proposed (as a matter of state law, which requires her to present a balanced budget--from the beginning, she made clear she did not support that budget), her alternate budget still relies extensively on cuts, with a large portion of new revenue expected from federal stimulus money. The House has introduced a bill (HB 3176) that would generate $210 million in new tax revenues by mostly closing loopholes, but that's a pittance compared to the overall $2.6 billion shortfall over the biennium....

I was just reading Jon Talton's post about McGinn's learning curve: "Unfortunately, the cry for help seems to be coming from new Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn." In the list of related articles, this shows up at the top:

Chris Bushnell (photo via Facebook)

Not only did Publicola break a big story this week, they broke a political appointment: Chris Bushnell resigned yesterday from his position as a senior advisor to Mayor McGinn, a job he held for just over a week. And all the drama happened unbeknownst to Seattle Times readers, which never got around to reporting on the brouhaha until it was over.

Bushnell (aka Chris Haugen) was the previous week responsible for a possible conflict of interest regarding the seawall that led Mayor McGinn to scrap all four existing bids for seawall design and start over. (Bushnell's wife Megan, a marine biologist, works for a consulting firm that was associated with a bid on the seawall project.)

This week, Publicola reported the news that Bushnell had been misrepresenting himself as the holder of a doctorate in economics, both on business cards and on King County materials. (Bushnell's charmed political life as a convicted felon includes working for two years as a King County economist before he got his bachelor's degree in economics. In theory, that is--his University of Washington records are sealed and Bushnell faxed the Times only proof of enrollment.)

While Bushnell's reputation was in bad repair to begin with, it's McGinn who's fast lost face with the public. McGinn's office initially tried to defend Bushnell by noting that he'd never lied to them about having a Ph.D, and, inexplicably, adding that they'd never requested a resume from Bushnell before offering him a six-figure salary....

The Secretary of State has just given the moniker I-1068 to the Sensible Washington initiative to legalize adult cultivation, transport, possession, and use of marijuana. Here's the pdf of the initiative's language. Now the group is waiting on approval from the Attorney General's office.

"They have five business days to give us a neutral and impartial ballot title, ballot question and ballot summary," says the Sensible Washington Facebook page. "If things go smoothly, we could be circulating [petitions] next weekend or sometime the week after."

The group is still negotiating with banks over credit card processing for donations. Wells Fargo has refused to work with them, and PayPal, the obvious choice, has a history of freezing the accounts of drug reform groups who use their service. For now, supporters have no choice but to wrap their green in a paper envelope, lick it to seal, and fire it off via snail mail.

Chris Bushnell (photo via Facebook)

Publicola broke a big story last night, which hinges on Chris Bushnell's imaginary Ph.D. Bushnell, previously a pollster for Mike McGinn during his mayoral campaign "misrepresented his educational background on business cards and during presentations made as a King County employee," asserts Publicola's Erica Barnett. (See this Seattle Weekly story on a Sims/Bushnell dust-up, where Bushnell "holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Washington.")

McGinn's office claims not to be disturbed by Bushnell's misrepresentation because "Bushnell did not claim to have a Ph.D when discussing his appointment with McGinn," and "Bushnell did not provide a resume as part of his hiring process," adds Barnett. Note to McGinn's office: This is not reassuring.

Somewhat feebly, to my ears, Bushnell admitted that the misrepresentative business card's existence was "possible" because at one point he was working toward a Ph.D in economics....

The Coalition for a Sustainable 520--with representatives of the Sierra Club and Cascade Bicycle Club, House Speaker Frank Chopp, Sen. Ed Murray, Rep. Jamie Pedersen, Councilmembers Mike O’Brien and Nick Licata, Mayor Mike McGinn--met this morning [Seattle Channel video] on a populist impulse that is not immediately clear, given that they told Publicola there's little hope of their gathering being heeded in Olympia.

Their primary request is that two of the six lanes be reserved for transit, preferably light rail. In the A+ design for 520's replacement, two lanes are reserved as HOV. Montlake doesn't want more cars, and in fact the group has a poll (who doesn't, though, really?) showing 69 percent of Seattle supports light rail on 520. (Seattle Transit Blog has a roundup of who wants what.)

They already have evidence of pushback, though, in a response from Gov. Chris Gregoire, says the Seattlepi.com. Her letter back to the City Council [pdf], who meekly asked for time to make design adjustments, brooks no hesitation:

Changing the configuration now would require a new environmental process. The office of the Attorney General tells us that revisiting these decisions from several years ago would set the project back at least 18 to 24 months. Our commitment to ensuring public safety does not allow that kind of delay....

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Mike McGinn

Christopher Bushnell, an advisor to McGinn, disclosed that his wife Megan Bushnell is a marine biologist for a consulting firm that was part of a larger group seeking work last fall on the seawall project. Bushnell’s wife was not part of the team seeking the contract and would not perform work on the seawall.

The new RFQ will emphasize "speed and public involvement," the announcement says. So, rather handily, two birds with one stone. I'm not sure the first bird was entirely visible, but if the Mayor says he saw it, then I'm sure it was there.

Go on. Guess how many are on cellphones.

SB 6345--the Senate bill that would make (non-handsfree) cell phone use while driving a $124 ticket and a primary offense--was placed on second reading by the Rules Committee yesterday. (I have no idea what that means, outside of a sense of progress. There's no lyric about "second reading by Rules Committee" in Schoolhouse Rock's "How a Bill Becomes a Law.") With eleven senators sponsoring, it may have enough momentum to pass.

Its House counterpart, HB 2365, had a public hearing by the House transportation committee on the 18th, with no doings reported since then.

But the Highway Loss Data Institute--an insurer-funded nonprofit organization--has just released a study showing that anti-cell phone laws have had no effect on the number of collisions. As KING TV reports, the study compares "insurance claims for crash damage in four jurisdictions before and after bans were enacted in California, New York, Connecticut, and Washington, DC."...

Sunset on the Portland to Seattle trip

President Obama's plug for high speed rail in the State of the Union address was followed by AP reporting, tonight, that Washington state is one of the thirteen major corridors in line to see faster service: in our case, from Seattle to Portland.

Sen. Patty Murray says we will receive $590 million, and extra Amtrak trains. Seattlepi.com say the improvements on the Seattle to Portland line will allow Amtrak trains to pass BNSF freight trains, the slowpokes that often cause delays currently. The ultimate goal is a top speed of 110 mph.

Part of the ammunition Mayor Mike McGinn brought to his City Council briefing on the seawall replacement [video] were the results of a poll he had conducted on the public's willingness to fund it. Of the 1,001 people who were asked this question:

This May, voters will decide a property tax measure to fund replacement and seismic improvements to the downtown seawall, built by city engineers in 1934. The measure authorizes property taxes of up to two hundred forty one million over thirty years, at approximately twelve cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation.

If the election were today, would you vote yes to approve, or no to reject this excess levy?

70 percent said yes, 19 percent said no, and eleven percent were undecided. The margin of error is plus/minus three percent. That 70 percent is important because the property measure that McGinn is proposing requires a 60 percent approval rating. At $0.12 per $1,000 of property value, it would raise $241 million.

McGinn argued to the Council that the response to "What's the hurry?" is not just public safety, but is related to the depleted city coffers as well. In a letter, McGinn wrote:

Until further funding is secured, financial constraints will limit design and permit work. In 2010, $8.3 million was appropriated for design and permit work. While it is difficult to estimate the precise cash flow impact of accelerating the seawall project, SDOT estimates that an additional $3 million will be needed to cover the additional design and environmental review for 2010....

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Visiting family in Portland over the weekend, I got to witness firsthand the difference between how Oregon and Washington are handling their budget crises in the midst of a recession. On Tuesday, Jan. 26, Oregon voters look set to approve ballot Measures 66 and 67, reasonable tax increases on wealthy individuals and businesses, to help fund their budget shortfall and support crucial public services.

Measure 66 raises the state income tax (Oregon has an income tax but no sales tax) 1.8 percent on individuals making over $125,000, and households making over $250,000. The measure also lowers taxes on the unemployed by exempting the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits. Measure 67 raises the minimum business tax for the first time since 1931, from $10 to $150, and adds a 1.3 percent tax on corporate profits over $250,000. The measures are public referendums on bills passed by the legislature last year, and pollsters show both passing....

Some people have internet stardom thrust upon them, and such was the case of Elizabeth Becton, the newly ex-executive assistant to Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Fightin' 7th). Politico reports Becton has left the office (along with chief of staff Mike DeCesare). Her infamous "Don't call me Liz" email thread, the Keith Olbermann reenactment of which was #1 in the list of the most outrageous political videos of 2009, was actually just a highlight from a storied email-invective past, according to Wonkette. She'll always have her Facebook fan page, of course. And we'll always have the eye-singing memories.

The House Public Safety Committee voted down the bill to legalize marijuana in Washington state, 6-2, and also voted down a bill to decriminalize marijuana, 5-3, says the Seattlepi.com.

HB1177 would have reclassified possession of forty grams or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a class 2 civil infraction. According to the Capitol Record, committee chair Christopher Hurst (D-Enumclaw) argued that if you were out on a boat and crossed the state line, "you could be convicted of a federal drug crime." People who are arrested for using marijuana would face "a lifetime of despair," he said, in arguing to maintain that exact predicament in-state.

Rep. Roger Goodman noted that federal agents do not typically arrest people who smoke marijuana.

Legalization, HB 2401, as expected, failed to win much support at all. Though once again, Christ Hurst offered some trenchant analysis. Per the Capitol Record: "One of my observations is that should fundamentally should the federal government be in the business of regulating marijuana?" Many people would, of course, classify that as a question rather than an observation.

His nemesis, Roger Goodman, countered that the state should regulate marijuana, not "fantasize" that keeping it illegal has kept usage down....

In a Crosscut story on Mayor McGinn's surprise seawall announcement last week, former mayor Charles Royer said, "I believe him when he says it is a security and safety issue, because that is what the engineers were telling me in 1985." A 2003 civil engineering paper backs Royer up, saying that the need for a new seawall has been known "for twenty years."

But since the Nisqually earthquake in 2001, seawall repair was moved from the back burner, if not exactly to the front burner. In the November 8, 1934, Engineering News Record, which looked into construction of the first seawall, several challenges were detailed: "the high cost entailed by the physical problems of soft bottom, and a 16-ft tide range, with the attendant marine-borer menace to timber construction." These naturally resurfaced with the prospect of repair.

But then as now, you can't engineer politics. So nine years later, when the Mayor suggests moving seawall construction up by two years, you can read this response on City Council member's Tim Burgess's blog: "Elliott Bay Seawall: Questions to Ponder." What you will learn is that nine years after city leadership was confronted with a significant chance of catastrophic failure of the seawall:

• We don't know what it will cost or look like,
• don't know who will pay for it,
• and don't have a construction process mapped out....
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