Hey, Seattle, Wanna Vote on the Monorail Tunnel?

Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn is starting to mix it up with Greg Nickels over the deep-bore tunnel. (McGinn has been campaigning as anti-tunnel for a while, but Nickels has only now started to respond.) Now McGinn says that since the Seattle share of tunnel costs would nearly equal the total of every other voter-approved levy in the city, it's worth a vote. "If Greg Nickels thinks it's such a good deal for Seattle voters, than he should put it on the ballot and make his case," McGinn said. "We vote on levies all the time, and we approve the ones we think make sense. To argue the voters shouldn't get a say about the largest tax increase in city history is beyond belief."

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By MvB in News on August 11, 2009 2:00 PM

Comments [rss]

sciencevsromance

holy hell. no thank you. the less direct democracy, the better.

Troy Morris

Hey, remember when we voted for the Monorail 4 times, and then the 5th time voted to not have a shorter monorail so they stopped the whole project?

Remember when we voted that all the alternatives to the viaduct sucked (no transit/surface) and then they told us what they're doing anyways?

Remember when we voted for more rapid share buses and they gave 80 percent of it to regions outside of Seattle (even though we voted most heavily for the increase in funding and can actually pay for it)?

Remember when things sucked less?

BigGreenFrank

I remember paying $200/year on my car and having nothing to show for it...

Troy Morris

Which is why once a year, I ride the monorail and refuse to get off for 20 minutes.

BigGreenFrank

is that when it gets stuck and you're trapped for 20 mins?

Troy Morris

I would do that more regularly, but it's never running or on fire.

Shibby

How much did that animation cost to make?

Why can't we just get Federal funding like the Billions that Boston got for the "big dig"? Seattle should get rewarded by Obama and the Democrats for being a solid Blue state.

The Market is a private enterprise where the businesses pay rent and they should have been able to pay for their own renovations. It's like the taxpayers paying for upgrades at the Southcenter mall. The fact that the voters approved that one is ridiculous, that's money that could be being used for the tunnel instead.

Joe G

I think McGinn is right. Its so funny that we have to vote for a measly $78M for the market but be told that we are going to pay $900M plus any cost overruns for the tunnel.