Opinion
Where's McGinn on the Tunnel?
After throwing a couple of staffers at the anti-tunnel campaign's signature gathering effort this spring, Mayor Mike McGinn, who has essentially staked his mayoral legacy on stopping the tunnel, hasn't provided any troops to the actual campaign itself.
Compare this to former Mayor Greg Nickels' effort on his number-one issue, light rail: After rail took a dive on the 2007 ballot as part of the roads and transit package, Nickels, a Sound Transit board member, worked his skeptical colleagues to bring light rail back to the ballot, sans roads, in 2008. And then once the board put it on the ballot, Nickels donated a parade of his staffers---five in all---to the cause, plus his fundraiser, Colby Underwood. Meanwhile, one of Nickels' staffers, Viet Shelton, didn't leave his job, but was in constant communication with the campaign.
(You can check the campaign's expenditures here and you'll see the Nickels troops, including Alex Fryer, Andrew Glass Hastings, Rebecca Hansen, Andres Mantilla, and Rachel Smith. You'll also find my name. In the fall of 2008, before starting PubliCola, I was a staffer on the light rail campaign.)
Seattle City Council member Mike O'Brien, who ranks only second to McGinn as a tunnel opponent, has one staffer, Esther Handy, on the anti-tunnel effort; and Seattle City Council member Sally Clark, a big tunnel backer, has a staffer, Dan Nolte, on the pro-tunnel campaign.
Why isn't McGinn doing everything he can to amp his cause celebre—like doing campaign events, speaking out, and lending brains and bodies to the effort? I guess he was cowed by polling that showed his drive to stop the tunnel was hurting his numbers. And intimidated by the Seattle Times' mission to link him to the campaign.
Compare this to former Mayor Greg Nickels' effort on his number-one issue, light rail: After rail took a dive on the 2007 ballot as part of the roads and transit package, Nickels, a Sound Transit board member, worked his skeptical colleagues to bring light rail back to the ballot, sans roads, in 2008. And then once the board put it on the ballot, Nickels donated a parade of his staffers---five in all---to the cause, plus his fundraiser, Colby Underwood. Meanwhile, one of Nickels' staffers, Viet Shelton, didn't leave his job, but was in constant communication with the campaign.
(You can check the campaign's expenditures here and you'll see the Nickels troops, including Alex Fryer, Andrew Glass Hastings, Rebecca Hansen, Andres Mantilla, and Rachel Smith. You'll also find my name. In the fall of 2008, before starting PubliCola, I was a staffer on the light rail campaign.)
Seattle City Council member Mike O'Brien, who ranks only second to McGinn as a tunnel opponent, has one staffer, Esther Handy, on the anti-tunnel effort; and Seattle City Council member Sally Clark, a big tunnel backer, has a staffer, Dan Nolte, on the pro-tunnel campaign.
Why isn't McGinn doing everything he can to amp his cause celebre—like doing campaign events, speaking out, and lending brains and bodies to the effort? I guess he was cowed by polling that showed his drive to stop the tunnel was hurting his numbers. And intimidated by the Seattle Times' mission to link him to the campaign.
