McGinn Flogs the Tunnel
The P-I has a long interview with Mike McGinn today, and he's sharpened his talking points on the waterfront tunnel since his candidacy announcement, really going after Nickels for the city's $900 million investment:
[Y]ou can't commit $900 million of money you don't have and at the same time say you're looking for efficiencies in government. You just can't do that.
You can't say that you're moving toward a clean-energy economy and then invest in the most expensive, most polluting option on the waterfront.
Of the likely unenforceable cost-overrun provision (that would pin all cost overruns on Seattle property owners), he says:
[O}ur mayor's response to that is that that provision is illegal and can't be enforced. That misses the point. Is Mayor Nickels going to go down to the state Legislature and explain to them that because it's illegal they have to come up with another billion dollars for Seattle?
The point is, the state doesn't want to pay for cost overruns. The city doesn't want to pay for cost overruns. And cost overruns are almost inevitable. If nobody really wants to pay for the tunnel, why are we proceeding with it?
It's a good interview and well worth the read, but one thing McGinn still hasn't addressed since his announcement--and it's notable only because he wasn't ready for it then--is public safety. When asked about measures to address youth violence, McGinn basically said it was a high priority, but he didn't know enough to offer his plans yet. It's probably not likely to be a huge campaign issue, but he'll have to offer his thoughts at some point.
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