Jolt
Council Blows an Opportunity
Today's winner: Mayor Mike McGinn
Yeah, yeah, a King County Superior Court judge forced the city council to put the tunnel referendum on the ballot, which they did today, but that's not why Mayor McGinn gets today's winning jolt.
McGinn wins because the council decided not to put a competing measure on the ballot: the surface/transit option. Surface/transit is McGinn's preferred viaduct replacement option, and he's never had to defend it.
"No" campaigns are easy, and the tunnel is going to have a hard time surviving a public vote. (A version of the tunnel option already lost at the ballot in 2007, along with a proposal to rebuild the viaduct.) The fact is, none of the options has majority support. McGinn has been able to throw rocks for two years without having to lead on a solution.
Had the council been politically savvy enough to go with council member Nick Licata's idea to put the mayor on the defensive for once, and put the surface/transit option up for a vote too, McGinn would have have been forced to do what he was actually elected to do: lead.
Today's loser: Seattle Public Libraries.
The PI.com reports today that a controversial crackdown on 13-and-under kids who fail to return library books has backfired, costing the city more to implement than it raked in in fines for overdue books.
Yeah, yeah, a King County Superior Court judge forced the city council to put the tunnel referendum on the ballot, which they did today, but that's not why Mayor McGinn gets today's winning jolt.
McGinn wins because the council decided not to put a competing measure on the ballot: the surface/transit option. Surface/transit is McGinn's preferred viaduct replacement option, and he's never had to defend it.
"No" campaigns are easy, and the tunnel is going to have a hard time surviving a public vote. (A version of the tunnel option already lost at the ballot in 2007, along with a proposal to rebuild the viaduct.) The fact is, none of the options has majority support. McGinn has been able to throw rocks for two years without having to lead on a solution.
Had the council been politically savvy enough to go with council member Nick Licata's idea to put the mayor on the defensive for once, and put the surface/transit option up for a vote too, McGinn would have have been forced to do what he was actually elected to do: lead.
Today's loser: Seattle Public Libraries.
The PI.com reports today that a controversial crackdown on 13-and-under kids who fail to return library books has backfired, costing the city more to implement than it raked in in fines for overdue books.
The proposal, part of Mayor Mike McGinn's 2011 budget, would have made children under 13 subject to collections for unpaid library fines. The idea raised a ruckus among some council members and state Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36), who pledged to protect kids from collections agencies.
The PI reports that the free market may be accomplishing what Carlyle and council members could not:
In November, when library officials started chasing overdue kid accounts, they estimated a revenue bump of $371,000 for 2011.
But the library made only $28,500 in the first three months this year. And last month, it downsized the year's forecast significantly to only $65,000.
After launching its juvenile crackdown, officials soon discovered that older debts had diminishing returns. It costs the city $10 to submit accounts more than a year old. But the chance of collecting on them is lower, because people move and become harder to track.
