City Hall
McGinn and Conlin Square Off on Tunnel
"This isn't about the tunnel. It isn't about the EIS. It's about whether we're going to follow the law," McGinn said. "It doesn't work that if you really, really love a project you get to ignore the law."
McGinn made those comments at a press conference this morning responding to yesterday's action by city council president Richard Conlin. Late yesterday afternoon, Conlin signed an environmental impact statement for the deep-bore tunnel after McGinn requested, through Seattle Department of Transportation director Peter Hahn, another week to review the document.
Although WSDOT's lead waterfront planner, Ron Judd, initially told Hahn he could have the week, he subsequently withdrew that offer, giving Hahn and McGinn just 15 minutes to sign the document. When they declined to do so, Conlin signed in McGinn's stead. McGinn said Judd had put Conlin under "tremendous pressure" to sign. Judd has not returned a call for comment.
Conlin and McGinn had dueling press conferences this afternoon to lay out their extremely different interpretations of the past day's events.
At his press conference, McGinn said that in signing the supplemental draft environmental impact statement, Conlin had seriously violated the city charter, which says that only the mayor can take executive action (the council is limited to passing laws) and that the mayor oversees all city departments. And he said that by placing an "invalid" signature on the document, Conlin had ensured that the city was no longer co-lead on the project. If true, that means the city no longer has a seat at the table when discussing the tunnel and that it could lose funding from the state.
Additionally, McGinn said that Conlin had violated state law that says the city department of transportation---not the city council---is "the single point of contact [for the tunnel project] with the public, the media, and other interested parties."
"We cannot ignore the separation of powers in our system or ignore the proper procedures for government," McGinn said. Governor Gregoire, whose position as head of the state's executive branch is analogous to McGinn's, "would not stand for [House Speaker] Frank Chopp or [Senate Majority Leader] Lisa Brown to sign WSDOT environmental impact statements" in her place, "nor should she accept the signature of the president of our legislative branch," McGinn said.
In an impromptu press conference immediately after McGinn's, Conlin strongly denied that he had violated the charter, and insisted that the city remains a co-lead on the project. "My action yesterday was taken in order to protect the city and keep us moving forward as co-lead," Conlin said.
The city attorney's office hasn't commented formally on which side is right, and is expected to issue a statement at 2:00 today.
At his press conference, Conlin denied that he had violated any law, and said the city remained co-lead on the project. And he said he had been under "no pressure" to sign the document. He said he had consulted with city attorney Pete Holmes' chief of staff, Darby Ducomb, and "another attorney whose name I misplaced."
"I am quite confident that the members of the law department [know what they're talking about," Conlin said.
However, McGinn said Holmes himself hadn't heard anything about Conlin's action as of last night. We have calls out to DuComb and Holmes to find out if DuComb talked to Conlin and if so, why she didn't tell her boss.
Conlin said he was "baffled" by McGinn's request for a week-long extension. "Many people in the mayor's office and throughout the city have been working on this environmental analysis for months," Conlin said. "This schedule had been set up in July. ... There had been no indication, as far as I could tell, that there was going to be any delay."
Asked why---given that the city council granted itself a six-month delay before signing a separate contract with the state---he believed a weeklong delay was excessive, Conlin said, "the EIS process is a very formal process. The schedule has been determined."
The project will move forward even if the city is no longer a formal participant; however, the city will likely lose funding for 16 transportation department employees who are funded by WSDOT to work on the tunnel.
Conlin said he wasn't trying to pick a fight with the mayor by signing the SDEIS in his stead "I did not want to get into a confrontation with the mayor," Conlin said.
McGinn made those comments at a press conference this morning responding to yesterday's action by city council president Richard Conlin. Late yesterday afternoon, Conlin signed an environmental impact statement for the deep-bore tunnel after McGinn requested, through Seattle Department of Transportation director Peter Hahn, another week to review the document.
Although WSDOT's lead waterfront planner, Ron Judd, initially told Hahn he could have the week, he subsequently withdrew that offer, giving Hahn and McGinn just 15 minutes to sign the document. When they declined to do so, Conlin signed in McGinn's stead. McGinn said Judd had put Conlin under "tremendous pressure" to sign. Judd has not returned a call for comment.
Conlin and McGinn had dueling press conferences this afternoon to lay out their extremely different interpretations of the past day's events.
At his press conference, McGinn said that in signing the supplemental draft environmental impact statement, Conlin had seriously violated the city charter, which says that only the mayor can take executive action (the council is limited to passing laws) and that the mayor oversees all city departments. And he said that by placing an "invalid" signature on the document, Conlin had ensured that the city was no longer co-lead on the project. If true, that means the city no longer has a seat at the table when discussing the tunnel and that it could lose funding from the state.
Additionally, McGinn said that Conlin had violated state law that says the city department of transportation---not the city council---is "the single point of contact [for the tunnel project] with the public, the media, and other interested parties."
"We cannot ignore the separation of powers in our system or ignore the proper procedures for government," McGinn said. Governor Gregoire, whose position as head of the state's executive branch is analogous to McGinn's, "would not stand for [House Speaker] Frank Chopp or [Senate Majority Leader] Lisa Brown to sign WSDOT environmental impact statements" in her place, "nor should she accept the signature of the president of our legislative branch," McGinn said.
In an impromptu press conference immediately after McGinn's, Conlin strongly denied that he had violated the charter, and insisted that the city remains a co-lead on the project. "My action yesterday was taken in order to protect the city and keep us moving forward as co-lead," Conlin said.
The city attorney's office hasn't commented formally on which side is right, and is expected to issue a statement at 2:00 today.
At his press conference, Conlin denied that he had violated any law, and said the city remained co-lead on the project. And he said he had been under "no pressure" to sign the document. He said he had consulted with city attorney Pete Holmes' chief of staff, Darby Ducomb, and "another attorney whose name I misplaced."
"I am quite confident that the members of the law department [know what they're talking about," Conlin said.
However, McGinn said Holmes himself hadn't heard anything about Conlin's action as of last night. We have calls out to DuComb and Holmes to find out if DuComb talked to Conlin and if so, why she didn't tell her boss.
Conlin said he was "baffled" by McGinn's request for a week-long extension. "Many people in the mayor's office and throughout the city have been working on this environmental analysis for months," Conlin said. "This schedule had been set up in July. ... There had been no indication, as far as I could tell, that there was going to be any delay."
Asked why---given that the city council granted itself a six-month delay before signing a separate contract with the state---he believed a weeklong delay was excessive, Conlin said, "the EIS process is a very formal process. The schedule has been determined."
The project will move forward even if the city is no longer a formal participant; however, the city will likely lose funding for 16 transportation department employees who are funded by WSDOT to work on the tunnel.
Conlin said he wasn't trying to pick a fight with the mayor by signing the SDEIS in his stead "I did not want to get into a confrontation with the mayor," Conlin said.
