News And in Other Olympia News…
posted by on January 17 at 13:50 PM
Governor Gregoire is currently meeting in her office with: the transportation chairs from both houses (Rep. Judy Clibborn and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen); Mayor Nickels; Seattle City Council President Nick Licata; House Majority Leader Frank Chopp; and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown to hammer out some sort of compromise on the viaduct.
This morning, two sources close to the meeting offered me their sense of how it’s going to go down.
Source 1: “There will be no compromise. Nothing’s going to happen.”
Source 2: “The governor is losing patience with Nickels.”
The meeting should be wrapping up soon. I’ll see what details I can get.
UPDATE
The 1:15 p.m. meeting was supposed to run an hour. But it’s 3:00 p.m. now, and I’m still standing outsided the governor’s office waiting for the meeting to wrap up so I can find out what happened. I’m waiting out here with Dep. Mayor Tim Ceis, a Clibborn communications staffer, and Licata’s assistant Newell Aldrich. Aldrich has already had to cancel Licata’s next few meetings.
Interesting. What's Lisa Brown's take on this?
How strange that both Brown and Chopp haven't been a huge part of this debate (and whose fault is that?) yet they are in the room with the Guv.
The viaduct debate is a sideshow. There still hasn't been funding lined up for the work on the SR 520 bridge and its approaches. The legislature should square that away first.
Statewide taxes (bump up the gas tax), maybe some kind of emissions-based or vehicle useage levy, and tolls. Get those funding sources nailed down before figuring out other things. Let the viaduct continue as is for a while - patch it up as is needed. Transit Now just passed, and it could reduce vehicle usage so that surface plus transit begins to make sense. Especially if gas prices spike, and there is less driving.
And Cressona (assuming you still lurk here) - do you or do you not understand that RTID is a mechanism to supply massive amounts of Seattle-area taxes to pay for eastside roads in order to pay back the east-King co. ST subarea because of how much ST transit money is going toward light rail?
That is why so much RTID money (over $1 billion) will be spent on I-405 and additional sprawl-causing roads on the Sammammish Plateau. Cressona asked for "a cite," and I said HB 2871 from last session. Well, you are a big RTID supporter Cressona, is that how you see it or not?
Archimedes has a point. The underwater tunnel dreams of the downtown ultra-rich property developers in Seattle are running up against the even richer denizens on both ends of the 520 bridge.
If the Gov doesn't slap Ceis upside the head soon, won't be no funding for the 520 replacement.
Still, as it stands, RTID is going down in flames. And taking the lower-capacity underwater tunnel vanity project with it.
Will: Did you see the new RTID and ST bill: SB 5282? They didn't give ya' the decouple, instead, they merged the two into a single ballot measure. Any thoughts?
Rufus,
Are you trying to say that the Stranger doesn't have any clout in Olympia?
I'm shocked, I tell ya....
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