Morning Fizz
The Tunnel's Latest Problem: Tim Eyman
1. Sightline's Eric de Place pointed out
an interesting (presumably) unintended consequence of Tim Eyman's I-1053 yesterday: If Eyman is right that 1053—the recently passed initiative that mandates a two-thirds vote of the legislature for new taxes—also requires state lawmakers to approve any tolls (no super majority necessary on that score), the legislature will have to reconsider and vote on the funding package for the tunnel, which relies on $400 million in tolls.
That will require them to revisit the infamous cost-overruns provision, and "I can't really imagine how the legislature will deal with it this time around," de Place writes. "So while Eyman didn't outright kill the deep-bore tunnel project, he certainly made life more difficult for it."
2. KOMO News has turned up cell phone video of what they say appears to be the same undercover SPD officer caught on video attacking a teenager in a downtown mini-mart during an October 18 arrest gone awry (and made public by KIRO TV late Wednesday), in an earlier violent confrontation the day before the now infamous mini-mart arrest.
The SPD would not give KOMO a comment on the new video, but the police asked KOMO to give the video to the Office of Professional Accountability which is currently investigating the mini-mart incident.
SPD brass is also looking into whether the existence of the mini-mart video was covered up by officers and, in light of several recent examples of police violence against minorities—including the August police shooting death of Native American wood carver John T. Williams by SPD officer Ian Birk—the ACLU has called on the U.S. Dept. of Justice to investigate the SPD for civil rights violations.
3. In the runup to yesterday's televised UCLA-UW football game, media outlets across the city warned of a pending "traffic nightmare" as an estimated 60,000 fans descended on Husky Stadium. Stories with headlines like "Rare Husky Night Game Likely to Cause Traffic Havoc" and "Gridlock to Gridiron" were told to expect gridlock between 3:00 and 5:00 pm, and to avoid the area entirely if possible; in the morning, Fizz even heard a rare on-board warning to all Metro bus riders to avoid the area or expect delays during the afternoon.
So was there chaos? Not hardly. At 4:00 or so, here's what the state Department of Transportation's traffic map looked like (green means "all clear"):
It's impossible to say exactly why "gridlock to gridiron" didn't materialize as expected, but Fizz will hazard an idelogical guess: After all those warnings of traffic mayhem, people decided to use alternatives to driving alone---alternatives like busing, walking, biking, or skipping unnecessary trips. The same thing happened when the Nisqually Earthquake shut down the Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2001: People are smart enough to figure out that sitting in traffic isn't the only alternative, and to change their plans accordingly.
The Huskies won, by the way, 24-7.
4. Back in September, Seattle city council member Nick Licata asked city finance director Beth Goldberg for an analysis of the city's speed-camera vans---specifically, how much revenue they're bringing in. The purpose, Licata wrote, would be to come up with a draft "model traffic safety law" that would dedicate that revenue to traffic-safety programs.
Goldberg's response? The budget office sees no need to dedicate red-light and speeding camera revenues to specific programs. "[E]xplicit dedication of these revenue streams to traffic safety expenditures is not necessary to maintain public support of the use of traffic enforcement cameras or to maintain support of traffic safety expenditures," Goldberg wrote.
Goldberg's response seems like a risky position in light of state legislators' hostility to traffic enforcement programs (the reason behind Licata's idea). State Rep. Chris Hurst (D-31) says he plans to re-introduce legislation aimed at reining in cities' ability to use things like speed vans and red-light cameras, citing concerns that cities use them to pad their general funds---something Licata's proposal would prevent. But without information showing how much money is generated by automated safety programs, Licata said in his letter to Goldberg, the city won't be able to propose a program that will satisfy legislators.
5. The King County budget adopted this week included an odd, below-the-radar proviso---a provision prohibiting the county from spending money unless it meets certain conditions. The proviso cuts off funding for the county's six unincorporated areas commissions---the community councils for the county's unincorporated areas---until the county comes up with a plan to consolidate the six commissions into one.
The commissions, unlike the city's community council's, receive direct funding from the county---a total of $100,000. The new, consolidated commission wouldn't necessarily receive any funding; the proviso leaves open the question of "how and to what level the unincorporated area commission should be funded."
On KUOW yesterday, county executive Dow Constantine said he didn't know exactly how the budget would impact the unincorporated areas; unlike provisos in the city budget, county budget provisos can be slipped in and voted on without discussion.
That will require them to revisit the infamous cost-overruns provision, and "I can't really imagine how the legislature will deal with it this time around," de Place writes. "So while Eyman didn't outright kill the deep-bore tunnel project, he certainly made life more difficult for it."
2. KOMO News has turned up cell phone video of what they say appears to be the same undercover SPD officer caught on video attacking a teenager in a downtown mini-mart during an October 18 arrest gone awry (and made public by KIRO TV late Wednesday), in an earlier violent confrontation the day before the now infamous mini-mart arrest.
The SPD would not give KOMO a comment on the new video, but the police asked KOMO to give the video to the Office of Professional Accountability which is currently investigating the mini-mart incident.
SPD brass is also looking into whether the existence of the mini-mart video was covered up by officers and, in light of several recent examples of police violence against minorities—including the August police shooting death of Native American wood carver John T. Williams by SPD officer Ian Birk—the ACLU has called on the U.S. Dept. of Justice to investigate the SPD for civil rights violations.
3. In the runup to yesterday's televised UCLA-UW football game, media outlets across the city warned of a pending "traffic nightmare" as an estimated 60,000 fans descended on Husky Stadium. Stories with headlines like "Rare Husky Night Game Likely to Cause Traffic Havoc" and "Gridlock to Gridiron" were told to expect gridlock between 3:00 and 5:00 pm, and to avoid the area entirely if possible; in the morning, Fizz even heard a rare on-board warning to all Metro bus riders to avoid the area or expect delays during the afternoon.
So was there chaos? Not hardly. At 4:00 or so, here's what the state Department of Transportation's traffic map looked like (green means "all clear"):
It's impossible to say exactly why "gridlock to gridiron" didn't materialize as expected, but Fizz will hazard an idelogical guess: After all those warnings of traffic mayhem, people decided to use alternatives to driving alone---alternatives like busing, walking, biking, or skipping unnecessary trips. The same thing happened when the Nisqually Earthquake shut down the Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2001: People are smart enough to figure out that sitting in traffic isn't the only alternative, and to change their plans accordingly.
The Huskies won, by the way, 24-7.
4. Back in September, Seattle city council member Nick Licata asked city finance director Beth Goldberg for an analysis of the city's speed-camera vans---specifically, how much revenue they're bringing in. The purpose, Licata wrote, would be to come up with a draft "model traffic safety law" that would dedicate that revenue to traffic-safety programs.
Goldberg's response? The budget office sees no need to dedicate red-light and speeding camera revenues to specific programs. "[E]xplicit dedication of these revenue streams to traffic safety expenditures is not necessary to maintain public support of the use of traffic enforcement cameras or to maintain support of traffic safety expenditures," Goldberg wrote.
Goldberg's response seems like a risky position in light of state legislators' hostility to traffic enforcement programs (the reason behind Licata's idea). State Rep. Chris Hurst (D-31) says he plans to re-introduce legislation aimed at reining in cities' ability to use things like speed vans and red-light cameras, citing concerns that cities use them to pad their general funds---something Licata's proposal would prevent. But without information showing how much money is generated by automated safety programs, Licata said in his letter to Goldberg, the city won't be able to propose a program that will satisfy legislators.
5. The King County budget adopted this week included an odd, below-the-radar proviso---a provision prohibiting the county from spending money unless it meets certain conditions. The proviso cuts off funding for the county's six unincorporated areas commissions---the community councils for the county's unincorporated areas---until the county comes up with a plan to consolidate the six commissions into one.
The commissions, unlike the city's community council's, receive direct funding from the county---a total of $100,000. The new, consolidated commission wouldn't necessarily receive any funding; the proviso leaves open the question of "how and to what level the unincorporated area commission should be funded."
On KUOW yesterday, county executive Dow Constantine said he didn't know exactly how the budget would impact the unincorporated areas; unlike provisos in the city budget, county budget provisos can be slipped in and voted on without discussion.
