At a press availability this afternoon, Mayor Mike McGinn said he didn't trust Gov. Chris Gregoire's guarantee, made at a press conference this morning, to veto any future legislation putting Seattle on the hook for cost overruns on the deep-bore tunnel. "I just don't think we can trust the politicians in Olympia to protect us from cost overruns," he said. "If you're a taxpayer in Seattle and you weren't worried about cost overruns before, I think you need to start worrying."

And he said that the state's contingency fund for the tunnel, which was originally more than $400 million, had shrunk to a mere $160 million—a number his staff said was actually even lower than the mayor's estimate. McGinn compared the state's funding for contingencies to a "shell game," adding that the two potential bidders "weren't coming in under bid until we gave them" the extra money.

As we reported this morning, the state has reduced funding for the contingency fund, which would pay for unexpected events like flooding or the breakdown of a tunnel-boring machine, by shifting money into funds that will either pay for specific events (e.g., settling of buildings in Pioneer Square) or go to the contractor if those events don't occur.

"Before the first shovel of dirt has been turned on this project, Seattle has lost most of its contingency fund," McGinn said.