Local Sierra Club leader Mike McGinn, who announced Tuesday morning that he's running for mayor against Greg Nickels, came out throwing elbows today. 

McGinn sent out a press release this afternoon attacking Nickels' environmental record.

McGinn listed five specific examples where he thinks Nickels' environmental record is lacking: Nickels is failing to live up to his own national initiative to get U.S. cities to meet the Kyoto Protocols; Nickels didn't support 2008's parks levy (a campaign McGinn headed up and won); Nickels has been "virtually invisible" on 520 redevelopment, a mega-project that threatens Seattle's arboretum; and Nickels "illegally [paved] over  a wetland" in South Seattle (Lost Fork/Durham Creek).

And, directly from McGinn's press release, there's this attack on Nickels for supporting the roads and transit initiative in 2007, under the header "NICKELS RECORD: Supports More Highways":

In 2007, Mayor Nickels supported the Roads and Transit ballot measure, which would have built 182 miles of new highways.  Heavily loaded with suburban and exurban highway expansion, the plan raised concerns about increased sprawl, development of sensitive areas, air pollution, and carbon emissions.

McGinn was a leader in the successful campaign against the Roads and Transit measure.

Okay, so this is a little unusual (and awkward), but to get a response, I had to call Nickels' campaign spokesman, Sandeep Kaushik. Kaushik is also a writer and bigwig here at PubliCola.

Kaushik said "Nickels has an excellent environmental record," pointing to Nickels' defiant (hey George Bush) Kyoto campaign—getting thousands of cities to sign on to meeting the Kyoto standards despite the fact that the U.S. hasn't signed on to the treaty. 

Regarding 520, Kaushik says Nickels is committed to a six-lane option that promotes transit, like HOV lanes, and says the discussions about the arboretum are still taking place at the state level. 

As for the light rail initiative, Kaushik said: "Nickels stuck his neck out to get light rail on the ballot in '08"—a reference to the fact the Nickels strong-armed the Sound Transit board to put the initiative on the ballot last year after an initiative went down in '07. (Nickels, in fact, won an award from the Municipal League last night for his work on the '08 ballot initiative.)

Kaushik also used McGinn's energetic offensive to reframe McGinn's campaign. "I'm surprised Mike McGinn is going negative so early in this race," Kaushik said. "[But] we saw a tepid reception to the vision he laid out in his announcement this week," —an obvious reference to McGinn's broadband initiative, which certainly has a yuppie vibe to it.

"At a time when people in Seattle are worried about the economy and whether they'll have a job in six months," Kaushik concluded, "McGinn seems to be a one-note candidate, running to the left of Nickels on the environment. He seems to be out of touch with the people of Seattle who are worried about jobs." 

Kaushik did not address the wetlands issue or the Parks levy, but said the Nickels campaign would be happy to debate McGinn on Nickels' environmental record.  

[Ed. Note:  That didn't seem excessively weird. Or, only about as weird as the goofy situation over at the Stranger, where Commander-in-Chief Dan Savage is actually running for mayor.] 

I've attached McGinn's press release in its entirety below the jump.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

March 26, 2009

 

 

McGinn campaign releases examples of “unrivaled” Nickels environmental record

 

Seattle — Mayor Nickels told a news conference yesterday that his environmental record was “perhaps unrivaled among mayors.” 

 

The McGinn campaign agrees, and today released five recent examples of Nickels’ “unrivaled” environmental record.

 

NICKELS RECORD: Falling Short on Global Warming

 

Mayor Nickels received national attention for traveling the country and urging hundreds of other cities to meet the Kyoto protocol target for reduced carbon emissions. 

 

Seattle’s carbon footprint has been reduced, thanks largely to measures launched by then Mayor Paul Schell to make City Light carbon neutral.   But transportation emissions continue to grow, and are projected to keep the city from meeting even the modest Kyoto target in 2012, let alone the much more stringent reductions needed to address global warming. 

 

“While the city has done a good job on recycling and energy, Nickels has not sufficiently addressed transportation,” said climate advocate Doug Howell.   “Meanwhile his advocacy for the SR 99 tunnel is inconsistent with reducing vehicle miles traveled and associated greenhouse gas emissions.”

 

NICKELS RECORD: Opposed Parks and Green Spaces Levy

 

Mayor Nickels opposed the 2008 Parks and Green Space Levy, even though it renewed the existing parks levy at a lower rate.  As Councilmember Tom Rasmussen noted, “It is surprising that the mayor won't support things that are so important to our neighborhoods.”

 

“We had to fight city hall just to get unsafe playground equipment replaced,” said sports field advocate Morgan Ahouse.  “Fortunately, Michael McGinn was there to rally support for parks and sports fields.”

 

Michael McGinn led the successful campaign for the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy.

 

NICKELS RECORD: Supports More Highways

 

In 2007, Mayor Nickels supported the Roads and Transit ballot measure, which would have built 182 miles of new highways.   Heavily loaded with suburban and exurban highway expansion, the plan raised concerns about increased sprawl, development of sensitive areas, air pollution, and carbon emissions.

 

“I can’t think of a single highway proposal that this mayor has ever opposed,” said environmental activist Kevin Fullerton. 

 

McGinn was a leader in the successful campaign against the Roads and Transit measure.

 

NICKELS RECORD: Passionate Tunnel Advocacy; Silent on Arboretum

 

Mayor Nickels has been a highly visible supporter of a tunnel downtown to replace the viaduct, but he’s been virtually invisible on a threat to one of our city’s treasures: the impact of SR 520 replacement on the University of Washington Arboretum.

 

“The Mayor has been missing in action on 520, and the threat it poses to the arboretum,” said Cheryl dos Remedios, an artist and citizen activist.

 

NICKELS RECORD: Damage to Lost Fork/Durham Creek

 

After illegally paving over a wetland feeding Lost Fork/Durham Creek in south Seattle, the Nickels administration was ordered by the US Army Corps of Engineers to do $4 million in restoration work.  But rather than repair the local damage, Nickels spent this money elsewhere in the city. 

 

In 2007, the City Council appropriated $400,000 to repair the damage, starting with a $50,000 feasibility study.  But instead of even studying restoration work to the creek, for 18 months Nickels did nothing.

 

Finally, two weeks ago Nickels killed the restoration project outright, with Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis saying the greenbelt has “minimal environmental benefits” and again the funds would be diverted for other purposes (this time not even environmental).

 

“Decades of work by community volunteers restored this creek before the city paved over the headwaters,” said B. J. Cummings, environmental leader.  “The mayor’s refusal to repair the damage and take responsibility has undermined the city’s commitment to urban streams.”

 

As Councilmember Richard Conlin said in 2007 after the Mayor promised to restore the damaged wetlands, “The City must walk its environmental talk when it comes to our wetlands, creeks, and streams.”

 

 

This week, the mayor's spokesperson responded to criticism about his boss’s environmental record by boasting "The mayor would play second fiddle to no one."

 

"The mayor's spokesperson is right," McGinn quipped.   "The mayor deserves the first chair when it comes to fiddling."

 

About Michael McGinn

 

McGinn announced his candidacy for Mayor on Tuesday.  He is former local chair of the Sierra Club, as well as president of the Greenwood Community Council.  An attorney, McGinn was a partner at Stokes Lawrence before founding Seattle Great City Initiative in 2006.   He lives in north Seattle with his wife Peggy and children Jack, Miyo, and Cian.

 

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