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Irony Alert: McGinn Calls Council "Obsessed" With Tunnel
Irony alert: On C.R. Douglas' "Ask the Mayor" show on the Seattle Channel last week, Mayor Mike McGinn accused his counterparts on the city council of being "obsessed" with the deep-bore tunnel.
"The obsession of the tunnel proponents with this project goes beyond belief," McGinn said. "I would love to be done with this issue and I've proposed two solutions to be done with it: Either the state pays for cost overruns or let's go to a vote. I'm prepared to call the question and answer it. They're obsessed with trying to figure out how get it built without even analyzing it first, without asking the public ... Let's just figure out how to resolve the issue and get an answer to the question and see if the public wants to do it."
[pullquote]"The obsession of the tunnel proponents with this project goes beyond belief," McGinn said.[/pullquote]
After that lecture about the tunnel, McGinn himself went on to answer questions that weren't even about the tunnel, from both Douglas and the audience, with responses about the tunnel.
In response to a question about the new SR-520 bridge, McGinn responded by recalling that he was "troubled" when the state released a video simulation of the viaduct collapsing in an earthquake, and suggested closing the structure earlier than the governor and city council have proposed.
And asked about plans for a proposed homeless encampment in SODO, he responded that the city council will "move heaven and earth to move that tunnel forward, but we talk to the poorest among us and they have to do the [environmental impact statement]" before moving forward on the encampment.
"That's kind of a double standard down there at city hall," McGinn said---perhaps forgetting, as a former anti-tunnel activist, that he now works there.
"The obsession of the tunnel proponents with this project goes beyond belief," McGinn said. "I would love to be done with this issue and I've proposed two solutions to be done with it: Either the state pays for cost overruns or let's go to a vote. I'm prepared to call the question and answer it. They're obsessed with trying to figure out how get it built without even analyzing it first, without asking the public ... Let's just figure out how to resolve the issue and get an answer to the question and see if the public wants to do it."
[pullquote]"The obsession of the tunnel proponents with this project goes beyond belief," McGinn said.[/pullquote]
After that lecture about the tunnel, McGinn himself went on to answer questions that weren't even about the tunnel, from both Douglas and the audience, with responses about the tunnel.
In response to a question about the new SR-520 bridge, McGinn responded by recalling that he was "troubled" when the state released a video simulation of the viaduct collapsing in an earthquake, and suggested closing the structure earlier than the governor and city council have proposed.
And asked about plans for a proposed homeless encampment in SODO, he responded that the city council will "move heaven and earth to move that tunnel forward, but we talk to the poorest among us and they have to do the [environmental impact statement]" before moving forward on the encampment.
"That's kind of a double standard down there at city hall," McGinn said---perhaps forgetting, as a former anti-tunnel activist, that he now works there.
