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Gregoire vs. McGinn
[This was originally posted at noon. It has been updated with comments from Mike McGinn, Susan Hutchison, and Dow Constantine.]
Whoa. I missed this: Andrew Garber at the Seattle Times got some serious quotes from Governor Chris Gregoire about the waterfront tunnel.
Her candor has implications for mayoral candidate Mike McGinn, who wants to stop the tunnel, reopen the debate, and go with his preferred option—the surface/transit option— which he claims can be paid for with the $2.4 billion tunnel money from the state.
Not many agree with his estimates (WSDOT puts the option at $3.3 billion.) And more important, if Seattle bails on the tunnel, the $2.4 billion could disappear.
Gregoire in the Seattle Times:
McGinn has actually taken on Gov. Gregoire before (and won) when he stood up to the line coming out of her office in 2007 that the state was not interested in bringing back a light rail-only vote in 2008 if the roads and light rail vote went down in 2007.
(McGinn rejected Gregoire's threats in this and this now-classic debate filmed in front of the Stranger's editorial board back in the fall of 2007 when Erica and I were there.)
The 2007 initiative lost. And a transit-only initiative came back in '08. And it won.
If McGinn's elected mayor does he plan to duke it out with the Governor again? I have a call into McGinn to get his response to Gov. Gregoire's throwdown and to ask him how he squares his numbers with WSDOT's and how he plans to pay for his option if the $2.4 billion disappears.
UPDATE 1: The McGinn camp responded to my call by sending me a Seattle Times article that says Gov. Gregoire is taking a look at the surface/transit option.
The problem is this: The article is from December 2007. Since that time, Gregoire has taken a look at the surface/transit option and rejected it—as did the state, which made a deal with the city and county last year and passed legislation authorizing the tunnel.
UPDATE 2:
McGinn says, "I'm happy to work with the governor and the state legislature to do something that fits within the available funds," following up with a question of his own: "Do we proceed with a project where the city has to come up with another $1 billion and cover any cost overruns?"
McGinn estimates that the $4.2 billion tunnel project is $1.8 billion shy and counters Gregoire: "The governor said it's done and we're moving forward, well I have two questions about that. One, it's not done until we have the financing in hand, and we don't. Two, the state legislature said Seattle has to pay any cost overruns, but that wasn't the deal she made [with] the city and the county. Is she willing to honor the deal and say the state will pay the cost overruns?"
Cute rejoinders, but given the governor's position, I asked McGinn if he had a practical gameplan to deal with the standoff. "Maybe listen to the people," McGinn said. "Do they want the most expensive option?"
McGinn will also have to work with the new King County Executive on this issue, King County Council member Dow Constantine or former KIRO-TV anchor Susan Hutchison.
Hutchison spokesman Jordan McCarren tells PubliCola that Hutchsion is "for the deep bore tunnel."
Constantine is for the tunnel too, and his spokesman Sandeep Kaushik adds: "It's taken years of debate to reach a decision and it's time act on that decision. Reopening the debate could create the same kind of paralysis we've seen too often on big decisions."
Whoa. I missed this: Andrew Garber at the Seattle Times got some serious quotes from Governor Chris Gregoire about the waterfront tunnel.
Her candor has implications for mayoral candidate Mike McGinn, who wants to stop the tunnel, reopen the debate, and go with his preferred option—the surface/transit option— which he claims can be paid for with the $2.4 billion tunnel money from the state.
Not many agree with his estimates (WSDOT puts the option at $3.3 billion.) And more important, if Seattle bails on the tunnel, the $2.4 billion could disappear.
Gregoire in the Seattle Times:
"I'm going to respectfully disagree with this candidate. I'm going to say 'Been there, done that,' " Gregoire told a crowded conference hall at the AWB's annual policy summit held this week at the Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum.
The governor said the state has researched the options to death and concluded, "to go to a street option, which is the alternative that's being offered up ... you can shut down business in Seattle."
She argues a surface route also would snarl traffic on Interstate 5 for most of the day. "When they're trying to bring parts for the second (Boeing) 787 from Renton to Everett, when are they going to do it?"
Gregoire said the state Legislature, after much debate, has made up its mind to go with the tunnel. "It's done. We're moving forward," she said.
McGinn has actually taken on Gov. Gregoire before (and won) when he stood up to the line coming out of her office in 2007 that the state was not interested in bringing back a light rail-only vote in 2008 if the roads and light rail vote went down in 2007.
(McGinn rejected Gregoire's threats in this and this now-classic debate filmed in front of the Stranger's editorial board back in the fall of 2007 when Erica and I were there.)
The 2007 initiative lost. And a transit-only initiative came back in '08. And it won.
If McGinn's elected mayor does he plan to duke it out with the Governor again? I have a call into McGinn to get his response to Gov. Gregoire's throwdown and to ask him how he squares his numbers with WSDOT's and how he plans to pay for his option if the $2.4 billion disappears.
UPDATE 1: The McGinn camp responded to my call by sending me a Seattle Times article that says Gov. Gregoire is taking a look at the surface/transit option.
The problem is this: The article is from December 2007. Since that time, Gregoire has taken a look at the surface/transit option and rejected it—as did the state, which made a deal with the city and county last year and passed legislation authorizing the tunnel.
UPDATE 2:
McGinn says, "I'm happy to work with the governor and the state legislature to do something that fits within the available funds," following up with a question of his own: "Do we proceed with a project where the city has to come up with another $1 billion and cover any cost overruns?"
McGinn estimates that the $4.2 billion tunnel project is $1.8 billion shy and counters Gregoire: "The governor said it's done and we're moving forward, well I have two questions about that. One, it's not done until we have the financing in hand, and we don't. Two, the state legislature said Seattle has to pay any cost overruns, but that wasn't the deal she made [with] the city and the county. Is she willing to honor the deal and say the state will pay the cost overruns?"
Cute rejoinders, but given the governor's position, I asked McGinn if he had a practical gameplan to deal with the standoff. "Maybe listen to the people," McGinn said. "Do they want the most expensive option?"
McGinn will also have to work with the new King County Executive on this issue, King County Council member Dow Constantine or former KIRO-TV anchor Susan Hutchison.
Hutchison spokesman Jordan McCarren tells PubliCola that Hutchsion is "for the deep bore tunnel."
Constantine is for the tunnel too, and his spokesman Sandeep Kaushik adds: "It's taken years of debate to reach a decision and it's time act on that decision. Reopening the debate could create the same kind of paralysis we've seen too often on big decisions."
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