In his mayoral race against Sierra Club-alum Mike McGinn, cell phone executive Joe Mallahan isn't likely to get the environmental vote. The latest evidence came on Monday night at the candidate forum in Ballard, where the two men were asked a series of rapid fire “lightening round” questions.

When asked if they supported the instating the “missing link” of the Burke-Gilman bike trail through Ballard, which would make bike-commuting from the neighborhood significantly easier, McGinn said yes, Mallahan, no.



Mallahan at Ballard High School on Monday night

This isn’t terribly surprising.  Big Business has been lining up behind Mallahan since Nickels’ defeat and they’ve also been lining up against the Burke-Gilman extension, which would connect the two sides of the pre-existing trail which are currently separated by an industrial area. The primary groups opposing the expansion of the trail, largely because of their concerns with safety around their industries, are manufacturing and maritime businesses, Mallahan’s natural constituency.

A coalition of Ballard businesses came out swinging against the Seattle Department of Transportation’s announcement last November that the trail would have no adverse affects on its surrounding environment, issuing a formal appeal. (The first appeal failed, but a second appeal is pending, with February 22, 2010 set as the court date with the King County Superior Court.)

“They are committing hundreds of thousands of dollars to file frivolous legal claims to block construction of the trail, and now it looks like we have a mayoral candidate who wants to revisit a decision made,” says David Hiller, Advocacy Director for the Cascade Bicycles Club, a 11,000 strong bicycling non-profit.  “Its funny his campaign talks about not wanting to revisit eight years of process on the viaduct and yet he wants to revisit 20 years of process on the Burke-Gilman. When bicycling is going up 17-18 percent a year in Seattle and driving is declining.”

But Mallahan’s spokeswoman Charla Neuman insists that he does, in fact, support expansion of the Burke-Gilman bicycling trail, reading from a statement that quotes him as saying he wants to find a compromise “that ensures bicyclists their safety as well as the continued ability of for business to assure truck access.” Neuman points out that the question format did not allow for him to expand upon his views.

“McGinn did that several times last night where he wouldn’t answer a yes/no question because he disagreed with the premise,” Neuman says. “In this case it’s more about how they described the trail and the cost. He wasn’t saying no to expanding it, he was saying no to that specific plan.”

For those who share Hiller’s concerns, there already has been a compromise, “The Green Route,” proposed in March, 2003. The Green Route would bypass some of the more anti-trail businesses, and funnel cyclists onto to Ballard’s main drag, instead of continuing the path on a straight line and connecting the divided trail in the most straightforward fashion.

The companies holding up the trail’s extension include the Ballard Oil Company, the Seattle Marine Business Coalition, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel, and the North Seattle Industrial Association, amongst others. The business coalition argued that increased biking near their properties would result in increased accidents, which would in turn hamper their ability to obtain liability insurance.

None of these companies are on Mallahan's contributor list.

George Griffin, a lobbyist for Salmon Bay has maxed out to Mallahan. (Although, Griffin has  several other city clients that have nothing to do with the Burke-Gilman issue, like the Seattle Hotel Association, Comcast, and American Life Inc., a SoDo warehouse property owner)

As we reported last month, Suzie Burke—an opponent of bike lanes in Fremont—has maxed out to Mallahan.

“They think you can’t make [pedestrians] and people who bike safe anywhere near anything and they have fought like the dickens to prevent safety improvement from being made,” Hiller says. “It’s a very different attitude from port cities in northern Europe. They are shocked in Rotterdam when only 20 percent of their employees bike to work, while in Seattle its more like 3 percent. And Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, so don’t tell me maritime industrial businesses can’t coexist with bikes.”

Beth Miller, the Executive Dircetor of the Ballard Chamber of Commece, which supports the busnieses opposing the extension, says: "Basically, the bike trail goes through an industrial area that is actually supporting the city through its tax dollars, a thriving industrial neighborhood. The current rail goes on a highway that is designated as a truck route, which does not seem like the safest thing for people riding bicycles, particularly for families." (Miller has donated $50 to Mallahan's campaign.)

Neuman says Mallahan is “looking forward to meeting with all stakeholders to see whether all solutions have been considered.”