City attorney Pete Holmes issued a statement today about council president Richard Conlin's decision to sign off on a draft environmental impact statement for the deep-bore tunnel that says, basically, that he has no idea whether Conlin's signature is valid for the purpose of keeping the city as co-lead on the project. Mayor Mike McGinn has said that only the executive branch (i.e., his department of transportation) has the authority to sign such documents; he had asked the state for an additional week to review the analysis.

Conlin said last night that he'd consulted with the city attorney's office before making his decision; however, Holmes told McGinn last night that he didn't know anything about it.

Seems like that's still the case.

Holmes' statement says:

The overriding question for the City of Seattle right now is whether the City should retain its co-lead status on the environmental impact statement that must precede construction of a deep bore tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, City Attorney Pete Holmes said Friday.

If the City forfeits its co-lead status, it could be hampered in assessing and responding to citizens’ comments on the environmental impacts of the project, and funding for the Seattle Department of Transportation possibly could be jeopardized.

In an attempt to preserve the status quo on the project, Council President Richard Conlin signed the draft EIS late Thursday because the state and federal government said they would recognize his signature as sufficient for those entities to move forward and issue the draft document to the public. Additional questions may arise as to whether the City Council can direct SDOT to retain co-lead status through legislative action.

The City Attorney’s Office is engaging all parties in discussions to find a constructive way forward.  Attorneys are researching legal issues as they arise in the course of these negotiations.

The weirdest thing about Holmes' statement, besides its vagueness, is the fact that if Conlin is telling the truth---if he did, in fact, consult with DuComb before signing the environmental statement---the city attorney now appears to be backing off from the position that Conlin had the authority to sign the document.