Editor's note: This post has been corrected to note that Bill Finkbeiner is running for Lieutenant Governor, not Secretary of State. Our daily roundup: 1) Fuse Washington has released its Progressive Voter's Guide---a list of candidates gold-starred by the labor-, environmentalist-, and women's rights'-backed group. In addition to the usual suspects (Jay Inslee for governor, Maria Cantwell for US Senator), Fuse recommends you vote for: • Laura Ruderman, Darcy Burner, or Suzan DelBene for the new 1st District Congressional seat; • Bill Finkbeiner, a Republican, for Lieutenant Governor (a dual endorsement with the incumbent, Democrat Brad Owen, who received a less enthusiastic write-up); • Noel Frame, a Democrat, in the crowded Democratic intramural for 36th District state representative; • And either Dusty Hoerler or Jessyn Farrell in the also-crowded race for 46th District state rep. 2) There's a big new Target opening downtown, and PubliCola is psyched! The Seattle Times reports that the 2/3-scale store, which will open in conjunction with similar City Targets in Chicago and LA, is targeted at downtown workers and residents, whose population has increased by nearly 25,000 to 60,000 since 1990, making Seattle's downtown residential population second only to San Francisco's among US cities. (San Francisco is also in line for a new City Target.) 3) On Crosscut, former mayor Charley Royer isn't impressed by "Mossback" Knute Berger's takedown of the "$1 billion waterfront." 4) There was a big ammonia leak at the Darigold plant in Southeast Seattle early this morning. The Rainier Valley Post has one of the few stories that isn't framed in terms of what the leak means for Your Commute. 5) The Atlantic looks at the secret lives of Zipcar drivers. Spoiler alert: They don't care about the environment or "community"... but they do like the free umbrellas.
At his monthly brown-bag meeting with the press this afternoon, Mayor Mike McGinn reaffirmed his commitment to putting a light rail measure on a citywide ballot within two years, despite a recent report by city council staff showing that a $1.5 to $2 billion West Seattle/Ballard rail bond measure would wipe out the city’s capacity to take on any additional debt.
“We are going to try to minimize the amount of expensive infrastructure” associated with rail construction, McGinn said, mostly by building rail on the surface on existing city streets. That, obviously, would mean taking out lanes of traffic—a move that caused major political problems for the now-defunct monorail, whose concrete pylons would have taken out traffic lanes in West Seattle, Ballard, and downtown.
McGinn said he isn’t worried about the political implications of removing traffic lanes. And he declined to commit to a specific light-rail route, saying, “We’re not starting with lines on a map.” He noted, however, that 15th Avenue NW—where the monorail was supposed to run—would be “an obvious corridor” to get to Ballard.
McGinn also addressed his proposed $243 million ballot measure to replace the waterfront seawall, which has gotten a cool reception from the city council. Asked whether he would seek money from the federal Army Corps of Engineers to help fund seawall replacement—as council member Nick Licata has suggested—McGinn said he didn’t think the feds were likely to help Seattle fund the seawall without substantial city funding up front.
“When I went back to Washington, D.C. in January … I received no encouragement that there was any likelihood of getting Corps money,” McGinn said. “I think we’re going to have to put up some of our own money first. … I don’t think it’s realistic to think that the Corps is going to show up with $250 million to take care of our seawall.”
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