Last Friday, King County Superior Court Judge Laura Gene Middaugh ruled that the public can vote on a portion of the tunnel measure, Referendum 1, saying both that the people have a right to be heard and that the version of the measure that will go on the ballot, with deals with a council process issue, is not, fundamentally, about the tunnel.

Yesterday, the city council put the measure on the August ballot.

Now, both sides in the debate have seized on the ruling and the pending August 16 vote to frame the meaning of it all. Former Seattle Chamber of Commerce leader Tayloe Washburn, a tunnel supporter, and Referendum 1 campaign activist and tunnel detractor Ben Schiendelman square off in today's PubliCola ThinkTank. The question: What is this referendum really about?