City Hall

Burgess Files for Mayor

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:00:00 -0800

City Council member Tim Burgess, one of several officials who has long been rumored to be considering a run for mayor, made it official this afternoon, filing his first campaign-finance compliance report at 5:00.

Burgess says he's filing in time to comply with city rules, which mandate that candidates must file official papers no more than two weeks after they start raising or spending money on their campaigns; Burgess launched a new web site two weeks ago.

"I would say that it’s leadership and the ability to get things done."—Burgess on the difference between McGinn and him.

In an interview with me earlier this afternoon, Burgess declined to name specific issues he would focus on or specific deficiencies he sees in Mayor Mike McGinn's leadership over the past three-plus years. "I would say that it’s leadership and the ability to get things done, rather than grade or evalauate Mike McGinn. I think I'd rather talk about what I would bring to that office and leave it up to you pundits to decide the differences," Burgess said.

In a statement, however, he focused on his advocacy for the Families and Education Levy; his work on behalf of children sold into sex slavery; and his advocacy for programs like the Nurse Family Partnership, an early-intervention program for low-income moms.

In a sign of just how serious (and prime time) Burgess is, we should note that his campaign manager is Emily Walters, the recent field director for Democrat Jay Inslee's successful campaign for governor, which, at last count, was winning by 94,000 votes. Campaign insiders credit Inslee's win, in part, to its massive GOTV and door-knocking effort (the Inslee camp says "millions of doors") that dwarfed his Republican opponent, Rob McKenna's, field operation.

Burgess also announced several endorsements, including one from firefighters' union leader Kenny Stuart and one from former Seattle housing department director Adrienne Quinn, who left the McGinn administration shortly after his election in 2009.

Council Adopts 2013-2014 City Budget

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:30:00 -0800

The city council has adopted a nearly billion-dollar 2013-2014 city budget with minimal changes from Mayor Mike McGinn's initial proposal—although not, as we noted earlier this month, without much hand-wringing and protest from McGinn over elements of his proposed budget that the council eliminated.

For example, McGinn failed to get the council to fund: A whiz-bang gunshot locator system that, McGinn claimed, could locate gunshots within 4/10 of a second and within a 50-foot radius. The gunshot-locating machines, which would have been equipped with cameras and stationed at 52 locations around the city, would have cost $750,000 in the first year and $200,000 a year thereafter. Council members, citing evidence that the machines have failed in other cities to deter crime or police response times, scrapped the program.

He also failed to get funding in 2013 to study a streetcar on Eastlake, which the council forestalled until 2014, citing the need to improve service on 12 priority bus corridors now. "What that allows us to do is to put funds for 2013 into more rapidly implementable improvements in the 12 priority bus corridors that have been identified in the Transit Master Plan ... so that the buses can be much more reliable," council transportation committee chair Tom Rasmussen said this morning.

At one point, the discussion between the two sides got so tense that the council uninvited McGinn's budget director, Beth Goldberg, from the council table. Goldberg watched the remainder of the council's deliberations from the other side of the dais, from the public seats in council chambers.

The council restored funding for CURB under the stipulation that the city's human services department must figure out specific outcomes for CURB to meet and determine whether the program is meeting them.

McGinn did get funding restored for two proposals the council initially placed on the chopping block: Pay-by-phone parking, which allows drivers to add time to parking meters remotely, by cell phone (the council proposed cutting the program because, although it adds convenience for drivers, it costs the city money), and funding for the youth crime prevention program Communities Uniting Rainier Beach, which council members, including longtime CURB proponent Nick Licata, argued is no longer serving its purpose of deterring crime, and is instead serving people, including adults, who have already been arrested.

Additionally, McGinn got most of what was in his initial budget proposal, including funding for up to 20 new police officers by the end of 2014 (the exact number will depend on how many new officers are recruited and how many existing officers leave); funding to advance the city's Transit Master Plan; money to study high-capacity transit to Ballard; and ongoing funding for the city's pay-by-cell-phone parking program, which the council considered cutting.

City Planners Present Vulcan-Backed South Lake Union Compromise

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:28:00 -0800

The future Cascade Park, as portrayed by the city's Department of Planning and Development

Just hours before a scheduled public hearing on a planned upzone in South Lake Union, where Paul Allen's Vulcan development company owns about a third of the land, city planners laid out a Vulcan-backed proposal aimed at appeasing opponents of the upzone who say it doesn't include enough affordable housing and other incentives in exchange for the extra height Vulcan is getting.

The upzone (which is controversial for the usual other reasons, including concerns about shadows and view blockage), would allow buildings as tall as 400 feet on the south end of the neighborhood, scaling back to upper limits of 240 feet along the water.

Those heights are much taller than the underlying zoning allows; to get them, Vulcan (or any developer) has to provide "incentives," in the form of payments for affordable housing, child care, forest land purchases, and other local infrastructure like transportation improvements.

Vulcan is proposing to hand over to the city a 37,000-square-foot block of land, known as "Block 59," in exchange for the ability to build taller than the current city zoning code allows; the city would vacate another 17,000 square feet of space on Broad Street to create a full block for development.

The idea is that instead of putting money into an affordable housing fund to be used later, and possibly in a different neighborhood, the South Lake Union land could be turned into as many as 400 units of affordable and moderate-income housing immediately, with—according to the proposed agreement with the city—child care facilities, nonprofit office space, and a community garden.

" There's a significant additional public benefit attached to" the proposal, city planning director Marshall Foster said. "That opportunity was to work with the major land owner here, Vulcan, to identify a site where we could move forward ... to integrate and create affordable and workforce housing in the neighborhood. ... Having a site where the city could work creatively to bring that kind of partnership together was kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity."

In exchange, the city would give Vulcan up to $16 million in incentive zoning credits ($15.15 per gross square foot for an initial height increase already included in an earlier upzone proposal, plus an additiona. $12.90 per gross square foot for the additional height increase that's being proposed now), allowing the company to build taller buildings on land it owns throughout the neighborhood.

City Planning Director Marshall Foster compared the $16 million to a "Starbucks card" that Vulcan could use at any Vulcan-owned site it wants, as long as it doesn't run out of development credits. "They would like to be able to use that prepaid bank on any site they own in the neighborhood," Foster said.

Overall, the city's comprehensive plan calls for as many as 12,000 new housing units, including about 1,765 that are affordable to people making up to 50 percent of King County's median income, and about 1,500 affordable to people making up to 80 percent of the county median, in the area; however, city council member Nick Licata estimated that the proposal would only add about 300 affordable units.

The agreement does not include a specific number of affordable units. Foster says the city expects that about 37 percent of units in the neighborhood, overall, will be affordable to people making up to 80 percent of median, with some of those affordable to those making up to 50 percent. UPDATE: Per commenter request, a table of "affordable" rents by income level, household size, and apartment size in King County is here.

The council is holding a public hearing on the proposed upzone and land swap tonight at 5:30, in council chambers (600 4th Ave.); you can also watch online at the council's web site.

Ex-Council Member Steinbrueck Lobbying Against South Lake Union Rezone

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:24:00 -0800

Former city council member Peter Steinbrueck has taken to Facebook to decry a proposal to dramatically increase allowed building heights in South Lake Union, largely to the benefit of the area's biggest landowner, Vulcan.

The proposal would allow buildings as tall as 400 feet high in some parts of South Lake Union, though buildings closer to the lake itself would have to be shorter, and the tallest buildings would be subject to incentive zoning rules—requirements that developers provide public benefits, such as affordable housing, child care, or transportation improvements, in exchange for additional height and density.

Steinbrueck wrote: "Sustainable Seattleites, CAN'T WE DO BETTER THAN THIS? LET'S ASK THE CITY COUNCIL TO FIX THESE FAILINGS OF CITY PLANNING for growth!"

One thing Steinbrueck didn't mention on his Facebook page, however, is that he's being paid to lobby against the upzone.Above a computer-generated image showing huge towers on bulky bases looming over South Lake Union Park, Steinbrueck continues:

"Welcome to the future of Lake Union Park! If you are concerned about the heavy shadowing of sunlight from September through June, of the Park, scale, loss of public territorial views of the Lake, Space Needle and from neighborhoods extending from Capitol Hill, Cascade, SLU to East Queen Anne, then COME TO CITY COUNCIL"S PUBLIC HEARING, WEDNESDAY, 5:30pm and say a loud "NO" to 240 foot TALL BULKY TOWERS on the shores of Lake Union!"

One thing Steinbrueck didn't mention on his Facebook page, however, is that he is a lobbyist for the Mirabella Retirement Community, a 12-story retirement community that has long opposed taller buildings in South Lake Union on the grounds that they would block sunlight and views.

According to the city's lobbying disclosure reports, Steinbrueck charges the Mirabella $160 an hour for his services, although he says he's been working for them "partly pro bono" because "I'm really worked up" about the South Lake Union proposal.

"It’s a rezone on steroids as far as I’m concerned," Steinbrueck says.

Steinbrueck says the rezone would allow "bread boxes"—towers perched on large boxes that take up huge stretches of entire blocks. "These are quite a bit larget than the Vancouver model. They’re bulkier and in the wrong place. There are multiple negative impacts as a result of planning, or lack of it, that is driven more by property interests and development goals than a form of growth that respects the established neighborhood, respects the existing residents, and respect the neighborhood's wider territorial views."

Steinbrueck says the public hasn't gotten a chance to look at the details of the proposal, aspects of which have just been released; the city is holding a public hearing on the proposal tomorrow at 5:30 pm at City Hall.

And he argues that the incentives the rezone would guarantee are lacking. "The housing incentives are weaker than downtown’s, and they’re sorely inadequate at meeting the comprehensive plan's goals around diversity of housing," he says.

Proponents of the upzone, responding to Steinbrueck on his Facebook page, argued that his 3-D models inaccurately represent the level of density that the rezone would allow, and include shadows where no shadows would be. Vulcan's Dan McGrady, for example, wrote, "How were these [images] created? They don't look at all like [what] the code would allow."

Steinbrueck says, "I would challenge anyone to disprove that" the images accurately represent the development that could happen under the proposed zoning rules.

Over the years, Steinbrueck has been both a champion and opponent of various height and density proposals. He pushed for the CAP initiative, which limited building heights, in 1989, but voted to repeal the same initiative 17 years later. He fought for density in Northgate, but argued against a proposal to build new transit-oriented development at Sound Transit's University District light rail station, arguing instead for a public plaza.

Steinbrueck, who just got back from speaking at a conference on sustainable cities in New Orleans, has long been known as an urbanist, but his client list may be pushing him in a different direction.

The Latest on the Streetcar

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:28:00 -0800

City council member Mike O'Brien's effort to get funding restored in 2013 to study a proposed streetcar on Eastlake looks dead; city hall sources say O'Brien, who won the support of council member Richard Conlin for his proposal to amend the budget to include $1 million, lacks the necessary third vote.

O'Brien said today that he hopes to reach a compromise with council transportation chair Tom Rasmussen to potentially start funding the Eastlake study at the end of 2013, rather than starting the study in 2014, as the council majority has proposed. That would require new money from a source such as the city's real estate excise tax.

O'Brien said he hopes to reach a compromise with transportation chair Tom Rasmussen to potentially start funding the Eastlake study at the end of 2013.

The council has proposed delaying McGinn's proposal to spend $2 million on Eastlake streetcar planning in 2013 for one year and spreading it out between 2014 and 2015, redirecting $1 million to help improve bus service on "priority corridors" citywide.

O'Brien's proposal would have restored $1 million of that funding in 2013 by pulling it from the priority corridors funding, leaving $1 million in funding for bus service improvements on those corridors and spending the remaining $1 million in 2014.

In other streetcar news, the council seemed today to be moving toward spending an additional $1.85 million planning the so-called "downtown connector" streetcar between South Lake Union and Pioneer Square.

The council had planned to allocate that money, which the mayor had proposed including in an undedicated $2.5 million transit "reserve fund," to pay for planning the Broadway streetcar; however, the announcement of two federal grants totaling $1.75 million for Broadway freed that money up for other uses, such as the downtown connector line.

We have a call out to McGinn's office to get their take on the new proposal, which, again, still does not include the Eastlake funding the mayor's office has said is critical.

City Study: Coal Trains Would Slow Traffic

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:52:00 -0800

A $25,000 study commissioned by Mayor Mike McGinn's department of transportation concluded that running as many as 18 mile-long coal trains through along the Seattle waterfront would result in significant additional delays for drivers, emergency responders, and other road users at railroad crossings from SoDo to Belltown.

The amount of delay the study, which McGinn presented with council member Mike O'Brien and consultant John Perlic of Parametrix this afternoon, predicted varies based on how fast the trains are going, but, assuming an average train speed of 20 mph and a train length of 1.6 miles, trains would delay traffic at gate crossings from Belltown to SoDo, on average, a little more than an hour and a half (96 minutes) a day.

The study, by Parametrix—the same firm San Francisco hedge-fund Chris Hansen hired to conduct his own study predicting traffic levels around his proposed arena in SoDo—assumed that trains would pass through Seattle at evenly spaced intervals throughout the day, including morning and evening rush hours, a factor that drove up the average length of the predicted delay. (Longer queues at gate crossings mean longer delays, and, in some cases, could force drivers to sit through more than one train crossing).

Asked why Parametrix decided to assume trains would be passing through Seattle in the middle of rush hour, consultant John Perlic said, "We believe that when the coal trains are loaded, they're going to be loaded and exit that facility [in Wyoming] on a regular type of schedule."

Perlic said Parametrix did not contact Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, which owns the railroad right-of-way, to find out more about the coal trains' likely schedule. "We did not reach out to them," Perlic said. "We had limited time to do the study and we felt like we had enough information to base our assumptions on."

I asked McGinn and O'Brien whether their own ideological and environmental opposition to coal trains played a role in the study's outcome. After all, Parametrix's most recent Seattle study, which focused on the arena that both O'Brien and McGinn support, concluded that the new arena would have virtually no impact on traffic or safety around the arena because people would simply carpool (the study assumed an average of three people per car) or use light rail and walk to the game.

Why would drivers not be able to adjust their behavior similarly to deal with the new trains? And why so much concern for drivers' ability to move through the center city quickly from two men who are dedicated advocates of transit, not driving?

McGinn responded: "This is not ideology. We have a transportation system in which we move freight as well as transit and cars, and we are always looking to optimize that system ... to support all modes" of transportation.

O'Brien echoed, "This isn't some pledge about ideology—this is about being a leader towards a sustainable transportation system. ... This [coal train proposal] doesn't make any sense in the long term or the short term."

The study also looked at current safety conditions from drivers, pedestrians, and bicycle riders at the existing train crossings, but didn't project how many additional collisions or "improper crosssings" (trying to drive around a lowering gate, for example) would be likely with coal trains. However, McGinn said, "I think it’s fair to assume that there will be more frustration from people trying to cross and take advantage of openings" before a train arrived.

Council Member O'Brien Will Try to Restore Funding for Eastlake Transit

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:11:00 -0700

City Council member Mike O'Brien, a frequent ally of Mayor Mike McGinn, hopes to restore some funding for planning a streetcar on Eastlake in next year's city budget.

The council has proposed delaying McGinn proposed $2 million 2013 spend on Eastlake streetcar planning for one year and spreading it out between 2014 and 2015, redirecting $1 million to help improve bus service on "priority corridors" citywide.

O'Brien's proposal would restore $1 million in 2013 by pulling it from the priority corridors funding, leaving $1 million in funding for bus service improvements on those corridors. (That doesn't sound like a lot of money, but the city typically uses its own funding to leverage additional funds from the state and county.) The city would spend the remaining $1 million in 2014.

"My hope is to get the process started in 2013 to do something that commits us to studying that corridor," O'Brien says. "For those that want to see it happen eventually, the sooner we get started, the better. And it means once we get to 2014 we won’t get to delay it another year, or at least it's unlikely."

Council member Richard Conlin, who has signed on to O'Brien's proposal, says, "Personally, I think a streetcar on Eastlake makes a lot of sense."

O'Brien doesn't have a third vote yet for his amendment (budget amendments, or green sheets, require three council votes.) "If there isn't a third vote, then it's dead on arrival," Conlin says.

However, both council members say they'd ultimately be fine with Rasmussen's proposal. "At the end of the day, we're talking about $5, $6, $7 million in transit money, and $3.5 million in bike infrastructure improvements, and another $5 million in pothole repairs that no one's even talking about," O'Brien says. We have some good money for transit and we're arguing about things that, frankly, I like them all."

My take on the Eastlake proposal (I argue—with the Seattle Transit Blog's Ben Schiendelman—that at-grade streetcar on Eastlake, which costs much more and performs little better than bus-rapid transit, might be a lower priority than other transit improvements in the city right now) is here.

Wednesday Jolt: Council Removes Mayor's Budget Director from Budget Discussions

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:32:00 -0700

Afternoon Jolt

Today's loser: City budget director Beth Goldberg, who has been uninvited from sitting at the council budget committee table for the remainder of the council's budget deliberations, which wrap up just before Thanksgiving.

As we've reported, Goldberg has been involved in several testy discussions with new council budget chairman Tim Burgess, who is considering a run against Goldberg's boss, Mayor Mike McGinn, next year.

"She was informed last week that as we move into the final phase of the budget process that her part was over." – City Council budget chair Tim Burgess.

Most recently, Burgess derided Goldberg's claim that the city council had rejected funding for a new crime analyst position at the police department as "factually not true," during a discussion in which Burgess, a former SPD cop, also questioned the value of the mayor's proposal to install whiz-bang, camera-equipped gunshot locators in 52 locations around the city.

Burgess says the decision to remove Goldberg from the official council discussion table was made before the recent public disputes between the council and the budget office, but acknowledges that Goldberg was just told about the decision last week.

"She was informed, I believe, last week that as we move into our final phase [of the budget process] that her part was over," Burgess says.

"I don't think it was a big deal at all," Burgess says. "Every budget chair does it differently." However, Burgess acknowledged there was no precedent he could remember for this arrangement.

Goldberg, who has not returned a call for comment, watched the budget deliberations from the council chambers, along with the rest of the public.

Today's second loser: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee.

As Seattle Times reporter Brian Rosenthal reported today, Inslee's proposal to save money by shifting state employees to a preventive health care plan similar to the one adopted in King County likely wouldn't save as much money as predicted.

Inslee has said the plan, which would lower costs through wellness programs, greater use of generics, and other preventive strategies, would save between $300 million and $455 million a year; however, it turns out that King County has only saved a third of what Inslee has been claiming.

That puts Inslee's plan to fund education in jeopardy. He might have to consider the levy swap, a plan he has rejected that would substitute state education taxes for local taxes, increasing Olympia's commitment by as much as $1 billion a year.

That's also bad news for the county, which has touted its "Healthy Incentives" program as a major cost-saving measure.

If the new numbers are right, and the county's numbers are off by two-thirds, the county will have to stop making grandiose claims about the success of the program.

Budget Office Warns City Could Lose $2.5 Million Next Year on MOHAI Deal

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:58:00 -0700

Mayor Mike McGinn's budget director, Beth Goldberg, followed up on a letter warning city council members that they could lose $6 million on a land deal with the Museum of History and Industry last week with another letter to council budget chair Tim Burgess, saying the city could stand to lose $2.5 million next year alone, depending on the council's interpretation of a law setting up the payment arrangement.

Some background: Back in 2010, MOHAI, which sits on land owned by the city, agreed to sell its land and building to the state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to make way for the new 520 bridge. At the time, WSDOT bought MOHAI's building for about $40 million, $20 million more than MOHAI had expected, agreed to buy the land at some later date for a price of about $18 million.

The city, which was facing a budget shortfall of about $60 million, worked out a deal with MOHAI—a deal McGinn opposed, because he wanted MOHAI to give the city $7 million outright—under which MOHAI would loan the city $8.5 million from its $20 million windfall. Once the land sold, MOHAI would get either $7 million or 40 percent of the proceeds, whatever was less; the city would get the balance, and pay MOHAI back from the difference.

Fast-forward to this year. WSDOT did its own appraisal of the land, and concluded that it was worth only about $4 million, or $14 million less than MOHAI's original estimate. If the land sold for that little, the city would be out a little more than $6 million—money that would have to be made up from other city funds.

In her latest letter, Goldberg warns the council that the city may owe MOHAI $2.5 million as of February 1, 2013—the date the city agreed to start paying back the loan—depending on how the council interprets the legislation in which the city adopted the terms of repayment to MOHAI. (Basically, one provision says the city will pay MOHAI the amount of payments it has received for MOHAI's land or $8.5 million, whichever is less; the other says payment is required regardless of whether the city has received payments for the land).

Goldberg suggests that the council may have to come up with an alternative funding source, such as the city's general fund, to pay back the loan. "I am assuming that Council will wish to repay the MOHAI loan with a new funding mechanism chosen by Council, given that the original funding source may prove to be unreliable."

Council staffers say there's no contradiction, that the legislation makes it clear that the city won't have to pay MOHAI back until the land is sold, even if that's after the February "deadline," and that negotiations between MOHAI and WSDOT are ongoing. Just because WSDOT wants to pay less for the land than MOHAI wants it to, in other words, that doesn't mean it will.

Staffers for the mayor—who, again, has a political interest in making the council's decision to push through legislation he strongly opposed look like a bad move—disagree.

McGinn spokesman Aaron Pickus says, "The issue here is that council made a budget decision based on what they thought the land is worth, which was in the $15 to $18 million range. We have an interest in preserving our budget. ... Knowing what we know now, that WSDOT may significantly reduce its offer on the land, we’re asking for guidance of how to proceed."

Burgess, the recipient of the letter, tells PubliCola, "The MOHAI situation is under review. There is disagreement on the contradiction the Bbudget office has identified and I haven’t looked at that specific part yet."

McGinn, Council, and City Attorney Spar over DOJ Monitor Selection

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:00:00 -0700

Ouch: After Mayor Mike McGinn publicly questioned the credentials of Merrick Bobb, the lead candidate for SPD's Department of Justice–mandated police monitor, four city council members and the city attorney took the unusual step of issuing a harshly worded statement criticizing the mayor for making "statements [that] undermine the candidate selection process and are factually wrong.

McGinn suggested that Bobb might have a conflict of interest, based on the fact that one of the board members of his consulting firm helped write the DOJ report that concluded Seattle police had engaged in a pattern of excessive force."If someone does not have the confidence of the police department and the command staff, that's a legitimate concern."

"We have been patient throughout this process, hoping that the necessary reforms could begin quickly. Unfortunately, the Mayor’s statements today reveal a continuation of the obstruction and stall tactics we have seen from the beginning. We can no longer remain silent.

“Merrick Bobb is one of our country’s preeminent police reform experts. His reputation is unblemished. His experience with police practices, accountability and rebuilding public trust and confidence in the police is extensive and highly appropriate for Seattle.

“All five of us interviewed the finalists for the monitor position. All five of us—independently and contrary to the Mayor’s conclusion—ranked Mr. Bobb as our first choice for this very important position. We intend to advance our recommendation favoring Mr. Bobb’s appointment.

The statement is signed by council members Tim Burgess, Nick Licata, Sally Clark, and Bruce Harrell (head of the council's public safety committee), as well as city attorney Pete Holmes.

McGinn's spokesman Aaron Pickus told PubliCola, "Any of the three candidates on the [city's] list would be acceptable, including the candidate that the DOJ also included on their list," former DC police monitor Michael Bromwich."

He continued, "Bobb has an apparent conflict on his board and, while the mayor is open to the idea of him serving on the monitor's team, the conflict does not make him appear to be a neutral party that would be appropriate to serve as the monitor whose task is to impartially implement our successful settlement agreement with the DOJ."

McGinn also addressed the monitor selection process, as well as his objections to Bobb's inclusion on the DOJ's list, at a press conference yesterday, saying "it's critical that that person be above reproach from any party in terms of their independence.

"If someone does not have the confidence of the police department and the command staff, that's a legitimate concern," McGinn said.