To Whom it May Concern :)
Jon Ribary on 12 21, 2007
[photopress:finger_pointing_796415.jpg,thumb,alignright]I am not sure who or where this letter should be directed. I am not even sure if I am angry. Perhaps I am just confused? Here is my dilemma. I was born and raised in the Northwest and I guess you can say I bleed rain. purple and gold, lattes and the Seahawks :). I typically don’t get involved in the political game, however the past couple of years have gotten me to question my NW beliefs.
In my opinion, NW locals take pride in their liberal political beliefs. In recent years, this liberalism has elected Gov. Chris Gregoire (no comments from the Rossi camp please), King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. As I mentioned in my blog almost a year ago, What the Viaduct Vote means (even to those outside of Seattle), it looks as though things are progressing… or aren’t they… there in lies my confusion!
A week ago today, the trifecta of indecision finally joined forces and announced a major step forward in replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct along Seattle’s central waterfront. If you read this report you will see that once again, this is another futile attempt by our elected officials to make good on a promise while at the same time creating even more red tape to getting a final decision. “The central waterfront project will be decided through a collaborative process managed by the State of Washington, King County, and the City of Seattle.”
HUH???
Is this good or bad news? After all the time and work by the elected tribunal, they have added another layer, “Gregoire, Sims and Nickels will also appoint an independent project manager to help identify and evaluate solutions.” Anyone want to guess how long that position will take to hire? Does anyone want to take a guess at how much money taxpayers will dump into a process that, as history has shown, will end up right back where it started?
So after nearly a year of arguing sides, they have now agreed to make future viaduct decisions through a collaborative process managed by three government bodies not known for their decision making skills. I could go on with other examples (S.L.U.T.: Hooker Line’s a Sinker) of our officials making decisions that look pretty but seem to end up creating more problems and pour more money into theories that make no sense to the vast majority of Seattleites… Actually if I would have written this post 2 years ago, I would have substituted the S.L.U.T. with the Seattle Monorail Project. Thus, another great example of something government hacks think is a great win for the city when in reality, they are just creating another problem with no end in sight.
About the Author: Jon Ribary
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9 Responses to “To Whom it May Concern :)”
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Hi Jon…Looks like our Pols like to agree to disagree. It’s hard getting in trouble that way. Never taking a stance, however, doesn’t get us anywhere. Maybe – just maybe – they’re reflecting their constituency. Perhaps it’s up to us to take a stance and make it really clear what we want. -Mike-
Now THAT is a good idea, Mike! Good luck herding those cats…
It’s mind blowing how we can have a non-binding vote (yes/no on viaduct & yes/no tunnel) at a cost of 1 million, with the outcome being NO on both! And it only continues with the 520 bridge and Light rail extensions. S*#T or get off the pot!
Mike-
Let’s DO IT… lets make a change… Oh Yeah, for some reason we ALL agree we need a change but when it is time as Chiilyc says, “S*#T or get off the pot!” we just cannot do anything!
Chillyc brings up another great point. 520 Bridge… I may drive the bridge once a month a MOST and I am 100% in favor of a tax to fix that problem. How could ANYONE be against fixing a serious problem like that?
I drive from Edmonds south to the Tukwila/Renton area on a regular basis. In fact, almost any time of the day that I drive south, I use Highway 99 and the Viaduct instead of I-5.
Why don’t I get to vote on this?
We absolutely need to keep traffic moving through downtown. A tunnel seems ridiculous, slowing traffic by mixing pedestrians with people who are trying to get someplace quickly seems unsafe. Just rebuild the viaduct already! I’m with you, Jon.
The only reason I can think of as to why they’re stalling is because of money. Perhaps the politicians are trying to figure out a way to please all the political DONORS instead of listening to the people who need to use the viaduct.
Maybe the only thing that will get them to move faster is an earthquake.
Jillayne-
I wonder how many people know that oil trucks cannot go through tunnels. That would mean for shipping containers to go from the Port Sout to Ballard North would have to take I5 and back through lake union… where we now have the S.L.U.T. slowing down traffic… not to mention the new Amazon HQ.
Maybe instead of being a land developer I should be a city developer… JOKING…
you rock ribary!!
God point… http://www.keepthesonicsinseattle.com/Default.aspx
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