Recent Stories with tag richard conlin

The P-Patches are the most visible evidence of Seattle's unstoppable green thumb. Established in the '70s, when Seattle was emptying out and lots stood vacant, they've survived at least two major real estate booms since then, thanks to the pitchfork lobbyists of the P-Patch Trust, Seattle Tilth, and others.

The City of Seattle oversees 73 P-Patches in conjunction with the Trust, which works out to 1,900 plots over 23 acres. The largest and oldest, northeast Seattle's Picardo P-Patch, looks bucolic enough, but plenty of people can think of "better" uses for that land, including neighboring University Prep. Meanwhile, plenty of other people just want in; the P-Patch wait list can be 3-5 years long.

That kind of entrenchment--this here's our land, we farm it!--is why you don't see vacant lots today sprouting greenery right and left. Developers are skeptical about how temporary P-Patches turn out to be. And the best use of public space is not a fight the city wants to be in the middle of, either. That's why the Trust exists, to get P-Patches off the city's Parks holdings: Actual parks, open to all, are a slam-dunk. But city sponsorship of what are essentially "private" garden plots with no term limits is a more contentious issue.

Urban farming, in contrast, isn't "just" about P-Patches. In Seattle, you can now get a free permit online to cultivate your parking strip. We're talking about the works, raised beds, what-have-you. But the city is looking at going even further, reports Urban Farm Hub, to encourage people to take hoes in their own hands. If all goes well, city dwellers may be able to plant up to 4,000 sq. ft. without a permit....

(more)

I just got this news release from the Mayor's office, which has got me imagining the Mayor--frustrated in his attempt to debate City Council president Richard Conlin (vacationing in Greece, loving it)--roving Seattle, buttonholing passersby, and demanding answers.

Don't get me wrong, they're good questions. But it makes for a strange news release, in that there's no actual news involved, except for perhaps, "Mayor Has Questions!"

And here they are:

• Why did the state cap its contribution to the tunnel at $2.4 billion and make Seattle taxpayers responsible to pay for cost overruns?  
• How can the City Council protect Seattle taxpayers from paying for cost overruns on the project?
• How can the city manage a state project to prevent cost overruns? 
• Given the cap in state law, how would the state legally pay more than $2.4 billion for the project?
• Why has the state shifted risk on the performance bonds away from itself and the contractor and onto Seattle?  
• What is the cause of cost overruns on other megaprojects?  Is it as proponents claim due to delay?  Are there other causes? 
• What is the state doing differently here than on other megaprojects to prevent overruns? 
• What will happen if the tunneling machine gets stuck underground?  Who will pay?  How will it be resolved?
• If Seattle has to pay for cost overruns, how would the city pay for them?  What taxes would the City Council raise, or what programs would it cut?

(h/t Publicola) City Council President Richard Conlin needs to work harder on believing impossible things. The Queen in Alice and Wonderland can do six before breakfast, and he gets stuck on just one: believing the state would really make Seattle pay for deep-bore tunnel cost overruns. 

In his post "Time to tell the truth about costs and the viaduct tunnel project," he says the risk of cost overruns is an "exaggeration and serves solely to instill fear and doubt" and calls upon Mayor McGinn to "publicly announce that he will do everything in his power to keep the project moving." Since the legislative intent was to shift all responsibility for cost overruns to "Seattle property owners" (with no upper limit), I'm not sure how Conlin is defining "risk" and "exaggeration." 

McGinn's made a public announcement, but it's not quite what Conlin was hoping: "I think it is time that Richard and I air these issues and talk them through in a public forum.  A debate like this between us will give the public a chance to decide for themselves whether or not we should worry about cost overruns."

Conlin spends a whole paragraph on what he characterizes as the unenforceable state legislature provision that targets Seattle property owners who benefit from the tunnel:

First, the legislation limiting the state’s responsibility says nothing about the City, but instead makes a legally meaningless reference to property owners. In addition to being vague, the statement that names ‘Seattle area property owners’ as responsible for cost overruns has no legal teeth to compel the City to assume cost overruns for a project that the state is managing.

But in the paragraph immediately succeeding that one, he writes: "Yes, the state could take future legislative action to force the city to pay for overruns," appending to that admission the disclaimer, "but this scenario would set a terrible precedent for all Washington cities and an honest political assessment suggests that such a move would never be approved." Just for the record, the first part is a fact. The second part is an assumption....

(more)

Mike McGinn

When Mayor McGinn reaffirmed his intention to veto any city agreement with the state that left Seattle on the hook for cost overruns for the deep-bore tunnel, the City Council, which voted unanimously last year to leave Seattle exposed to unlimited cost overruns, was apoplectic.

"Grandstanding," said Richard Conlin, whose green credentials apparently extend only to composting. (He's worried about delaying the new, higher-car-capacity 520 bridge, too.) 

The Seattle Times quotes the council's transportation chair Tom Rasmussen saying direly, "I think it's a dangerous game. I think it's harmful. It's disingenuous." It seems the council, facing a budget deficit, thinks that it's better to hire "lawyers and other experts to make sure the city is protected in that contract from cost overruns," rather than simply demand the Legislature remove the provision. 

While widely reported as new news, McGinn has repeated his refusal to accept cost overruns and sketchy financing early and often since he ran for mayor. How the deep-bore tunnel would be funded was his concern back in July '09, when the city had agreed it "would levy a parking tax, increase utility fees, and use any federal grant or economic stimulus money earmarked for transportation on the project," to raise its share totaling $930 million.

In August of '09, McGinn's campaign site was arguing about the cost overrun provision specifically, and noting that "the Seattle share of tunnel costs nearly equals the total of every other voter-approved levy in the city." In October came the city council's inexplicable, unanimous agreement with the state approving Seattle's responsibility for cost overruns. Only Nick Licata seemed to realize what a horrendous decision this was, but the City Attorney assured him the agreement was "more like guidelines."...

(more)

Mayor McGinn

Yesterday, Mayor McGinn sent the City Council his proposal for a $243-million seawall bond measure on a special May ballot. Said McGinn:

We have a responsibility to address basic public safety risks. I have directed SDOT to accelerate replacement of the seawall. I look forward to working with the Council on the financing for this critical work.

To up the ante, the Mayor's office also noted that the accelerated schedule would create a "funding gap of nearly $20 million in 2011 for the Seawall Replacement Project." If work on the seawall is to accelerate in an uninterrupted fashion, the money would need to be scrounged up this year.

Said the Council: "How's never? Will never work for you?"

Richard Conlin

Publicola quotes Council president Richard Conlin as saying:

When you come up with these big projects, you can’t just say one day, "Hey, we’re going to do this," then the next day say, "No, wait, now we’re going to do something else." Our voters have been very willing to vote for things in the past, but we think that’s been the case because we’ve prepared the groundwork first.

I'm sympathetic to Conlin's position, but it should in no way be confused with reality. Should that be case, we might well imagine Conlin having giving his quote from the voter-approved Monorail, perhaps looking out over an expanse where two voter-unapproved stadiums do not sit.

In any event, the earliest the Council could get around to getting something on the ballot is likely November, adds Conlin.

Now I need to leave off writing this post to read Jordan Royer's Crosscut article, "City Council: Does process still outrank product?"

*Ahem* The world of blogging is full of tiny little accomplishments. QUIET IN THE BACK! Thank you.

When, following what I am now realizing must have been an undiagnosed stroke, I decided to launch a Seattle news and culture blog, I was thinking primarily of beer money. When I gathered this hardy band of ex-Seattlest-ers, I looked them each in the eye and said, "We will make enough money for a monthly happy hour."

As God is my witness.

Not only did I want us to be writing about local news and people and events, but I wanted to give local businesses and arts groups and politicos a way to reach Seattle readers for what amounts to beer money. Now, I won't lie, we're not talking PBR. I have a fondness for Old Seattle Lager. For the German imports.

But it's working. On our second day, Central Cinema ads showed up. I didn't think it was possible to love a place more that brings me pizza and beer while I watch a movie, but it was. And then Scarecrow Video asked about rates. They're both an advertiser and a source--when I was doing a post about SIFF's Spanish film fest, Scarecrow gave me a list of even more new Spanish films for you to watch. And now Richard Conlin--there he is, in the sidebar, elect him--from the City Council has piled on. Endorsed by The Stranger and the Seattle Times. He's got my vote for that accomplishment alone.

I know, it's only three advertisers. But they couldn't be more local. I--excuse me, a bit choked up...I wrote at Seattlest for four years and all we got was a Chris Gregoire ad. So this is a real moment for me. Big hug, Seattle. Big hug.