Nickels’s Anti-Rebuild Hysteria
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, inaugurating what appears to be new phase in his campaign of pro-tunnel hysteria, released a list of “myths” today about a rebuilt Alaskan Way Viaduct, titled “Myths of a Big Ugly ‘Rebuild.’” (The rebuild is one of three viaduct replacement options that are likely to be on a November advisory ballot; the others are a $4 billion-plus tunnel, which Nickels supports, and a transit/surface option that involves tearing down the viaduct, replacing it with a boulevard, and making improvements to the street grid and transit connections downtown.)
The press release, which is as blatant an example of campaigning on government time as I’ve ever seen, sets up a list of “myths” about the rebuild (which Nickels insists on referring to, repeatedly, as “a bigger, uglier viaduct”) and knocks them down. Many of them are claims no one is actually making: things like “The bigger viaduct involves retrofitting the current viaduct”; “A bigger viaduct can be built without replacing utilities or rebuilding the seawall”; and “A bigger viaduct will be better for traffic” (huh?). Others are wildly exaggerated versions of claims people are actually (and, in many cases, legitimately) making: “The bigger viaduct will continue to provide stunning views of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains (potentially true, contrary to what the mayor continues to claim), and “The tunnel is risky and will cost many times more than projected while a bigger viaduct involves little or no risk” (no one’s actually saying this, but it’s undeniable that projects that involve digging, like subways and underground freeways, are more likely to run into overruns than projects that happen on the surface.)
Voters can expect to hear more and more from the mayor as November’s election approaches. Last month, he sent out several press releases calling for voters to “say no to the Big Ugly” and held a press conference during a routine viaduct closure “celebrating a waterfront without noise.” But the campaign may be short-circuited by city elections law. Last year, Nickels got himself in trouble for using city money and employee time to produce an elaborate election-year brochure touting his accomplishments; if NIckels keeps up his pro-tunnel campaign after the city council puts the advisory measure on the ballot, Seattle Ethics and Elections director Wayne Barnett says, “that certainly does raise some pretty serious issues.â
It's a red meat kind of day for ECB! Keep throwing the controversy out there. For the record I support the tunnel ALL THE WAY!