Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Election You Elected 'Em: Now What?
Posted by The Stranger Election Control Board on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 6:03 AM
In case you didn't catch it, some of these numbers over here show that approximately 20 percent of all Seattle voters looked at The Stranger's endorsements online—meaning at least every fifth voter in the city looked to the SECB for voting guidance (or possibly in order to vote the opposite ticket, but whatever). This isn't even counting cheat-sheet downloads from the home page or the three issues of the paper-paper around town that had the endorsements; we're no mathologists, but that would add some more people, too.
The entire SECB ticket won. Almost. Voters didn't elect our pick for the Human Calculator, err, County Assessor, the King County Council member for District 9, which stretches from central Bellevue to northern Flagstaff, or a greasy half-empty tub of Crisco for Port Commissioner. But everyone else is headed to office. (Sorry, Crisco, we tried.)
So, we the people, you elected 'em: Now what do you want them to do?
Personally, the SECB would like staggered bar closing times (for safety!), more housing like the 1811 building (for drunks!), and a log flume ride from 15th Avenue and East John Street down Denny Way to the sculpture park (for obvious reasons!).
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1
Grand, unified, neighborhood-to-neighborhood public transit. The bus + street car + light rail + novelty monorail system makes people just want to get in a car and drive. How about an underground or elevated network with the fixed rail appeal of light rail and street car and the coverage of buses?
5
If I look at the cheat sheet at home, on my phone, and at work, I'm three unique individuals, according to Google Analytics. Web server logs are a really sketchy way of doing demographic statistical analysis.
7
HEY! The half-empty yogurt thing (or whatever that was for the port endorsement) lost miserably. Do you know how many bucks I gave that thing?
8
Seattle should prepare for peak oil. Yes it's a downer, but it's not going away.
We should have mass transit that allows us to live and work without needing to drive. This should include consideration of hub+spoke models with a transit center in every neighborhood, express buses between them and local shuttles to cover the last couple miles. Bus service should include the middle of the night! Bus routes that are empty most of the time should get less service or shorter buses. Bus routes that are often full should get extra buses. Abolish 40/40/20, or augment it with Seattle CITY buses.
The city should work to form live, work, play districts, which focus on facilitating affordable efficient living.
We should have city utility fiber optic cable to every building, just like we have power and water.
Make the police's top priorities 1. Public order (facilitate events, etc). 2. Violent Crime. 3. Property Crime. 4. Traffic. Drugs and vice should be ignored unless they're actually causing a problem. No amount of enforcement is going to make vice go away, instead of fighting it, lets direct it - allow it in a controlled and safe way, to make Seattle awesome.
We should have mass transit that allows us to live and work without needing to drive. This should include consideration of hub+spoke models with a transit center in every neighborhood, express buses between them and local shuttles to cover the last couple miles. Bus service should include the middle of the night! Bus routes that are empty most of the time should get less service or shorter buses. Bus routes that are often full should get extra buses. Abolish 40/40/20, or augment it with Seattle CITY buses.
The city should work to form live, work, play districts, which focus on facilitating affordable efficient living.
We should have city utility fiber optic cable to every building, just like we have power and water.
Make the police's top priorities 1. Public order (facilitate events, etc). 2. Violent Crime. 3. Property Crime. 4. Traffic. Drugs and vice should be ignored unless they're actually causing a problem. No amount of enforcement is going to make vice go away, instead of fighting it, lets direct it - allow it in a controlled and safe way, to make Seattle awesome.
10
Cost and red tape for sidewalk installation and sidewalks in areas without sidewalks. I realize this issue isn't on the front burner for people on the Hill and in most other areas of Seattle, but in those parts of mainly north and south Seattle without sidewalks it's growing into an important neighborhood issue, and the establishment does *not* get it.
11
Stop the pay parking creep down our streets. No more giant apartment buildings in old neighborhoods. Free pizza for everone.
12
That log flume ride would take me basically door to door from my apartment to work. IN FAVOR.
But seriously: public transit reform, a solution to the financial crisis at SPL that doesn't involve being closed two days a week, and a swift and decisive end to segway cops.
But seriously: public transit reform, a solution to the financial crisis at SPL that doesn't involve being closed two days a week, and a swift and decisive end to segway cops.
15
While I am a huge advocate for public transportation and an improved public transportation system, I think that until we run out of gas all those that voted for mallahan will still be sitting behind the wheel of their car. Therefore, I'd like to see a better system for road construction downtown. Last summer I'd sit on the bus for over an hour to get from 7th and Stewart to 2nd and Stewart, until I finally got off and walked to the stop by the freeway entrance, and then it was still another hour ride home. Either a system that will prevent massive congestion in places like 2nd and Stewart (where three bus lanes meet at a corner stop, which is madness) or a smarter traffic system that prevents congestion across the entire city. Brisbane Australia has a smart traffic grid that completely prevents conegestion, which they boast drastically lowers the amount of auto emsissions that they send into the atmosphere. I feel like if a city that big can do it Seattle with our entire green army could easily make it happen, more now than ever with McGinn leading the charge.
16
I want light rail to every neighborhood and I want I-5 covered and made into a park (with some very limited restaurants/coffee shops/small retail) from Pine to Lakeview.
17
1) Ban cars
2) Tear down the 520 bridge and the I-90 bridge and replace them with a barb wire fence
3) Dismantle the soccer and baseball stadiums and put them back together in Yakima
4) Extend the SLUT to Ballard
2) Tear down the 520 bridge and the I-90 bridge and replace them with a barb wire fence
3) Dismantle the soccer and baseball stadiums and put them back together in Yakima
4) Extend the SLUT to Ballard
19
Simac, regarding sidewalks, two things:
1.) Be careful what you wish for.
2.) It's not the bureaucracy or the cost, it's the homeowners.
Take a look at your sidewalk-less street. Depending on the neighborhood, and when it was developed and by whom, and what jurisdiction it was under at the time, chances are that the city right-of-way extends at least ten feet on either side of the street. Then look at how neighbor A has a huge ornamental flowering tree in that right-of-way, and neighbor B has installed a very expensive rockery in the right-of-way, and neighbor C has a chain link fence in the right-of-way, and how neighbor D has parked his five cars in that right-of-way.
All of that would have to go, or the street would have to be narrowed to allow for sidewalks. Half of your neighbors would go absolutely ballistic, due to the construction work, the "taking of their land" in the case of right-of-way reclamation, or the loss of parking in the case of narrowing the street to put in sidewalks.
I'm all for sidewalks, even though where I live (North Beacon Hill) a lot of people tend not to use them, and still walk in the street. A city full of sidewalks sounds like a very good thing - but when you start messing with people's yards or parking, things go downhill fast.
It's not the powers that be that don't get it. They just don't want to stir up that particular hornet's nest.
1.) Be careful what you wish for.
2.) It's not the bureaucracy or the cost, it's the homeowners.
Take a look at your sidewalk-less street. Depending on the neighborhood, and when it was developed and by whom, and what jurisdiction it was under at the time, chances are that the city right-of-way extends at least ten feet on either side of the street. Then look at how neighbor A has a huge ornamental flowering tree in that right-of-way, and neighbor B has installed a very expensive rockery in the right-of-way, and neighbor C has a chain link fence in the right-of-way, and how neighbor D has parked his five cars in that right-of-way.
All of that would have to go, or the street would have to be narrowed to allow for sidewalks. Half of your neighbors would go absolutely ballistic, due to the construction work, the "taking of their land" in the case of right-of-way reclamation, or the loss of parking in the case of narrowing the street to put in sidewalks.
I'm all for sidewalks, even though where I live (North Beacon Hill) a lot of people tend not to use them, and still walk in the street. A city full of sidewalks sounds like a very good thing - but when you start messing with people's yards or parking, things go downhill fast.
It's not the powers that be that don't get it. They just don't want to stir up that particular hornet's nest.
21
Median-separated/dedicated bike lanes as bike arterials through the city. Safe Injection site for injection drug users (ala Insight in Vancouver, DowC said he was interested). Street food vending that doesn't require a bus/truck.
22
No, the log flume ride should properly go on Yesler from about Broadway straight down the hill and right into a refurbished Kalakala moored at Coleman Dock, replicating the course of the original "Skid Road".
23
Funny, I was just mentioning yesterday how I thought the Monorail's path through EMP should be turned into a flume ride (after seeing that Houston's light rail goes through a fountain).
24
1. I want all of my city's waterways to be fishable and swimmable. Water being necessary to sustain human life, I've always considered this to be a top priority and find it fairly unconscionable that we can't even meet this very low standard.
2. I want all of my city's green spaces to be connected. I want to be able to wander through our entire park system--North, South, East, West--without ever having to try to avoid a car.
3. Whenever road construction interferes with pedestrian/cyclist paths, I want to see a clear, short, and safe detour for pedestrians and cyclists.
4. Also, I want more safe ways to cross roads for pedestrians/cyclists, in general.
5. I want native plant barriers between all roadways and pedestrian/cyclist paths.
6. I want commuting by train/bus to be more convenient than commuting by car for everyone.
7. I want more public waterfront space. A lot more.
8. I want smoking to be eliminated from all public (indoor and outdoor) spaces. Air being necessary to sustain human life, this one seems like a gimme.
9. I want roads to be designed for their speed limits and speed limits to reflect the design of the road.
10. I want tighter boundaries around Seattle--an even stronger focus on density as opposed to suburban sprawl.
11. I want more and better signage directing me to community/cultural spaces.
12. I want a bus schedule at every stop.
13. I want an easy-to-find and navigate comprehensive resource enumerating all of the public spaces and events available to me at all times.
14. I want more community/cultural spaces open at all different times of the day and night. And holidays too. Presidents' Day should offer me more than the ability to buy a cheap mattress. Public space should be available when the public has time to use it, which often includes after-hours.
15. I'd prefer more public amenities: restrooms, public phones, etc.
16. And I would love to see wireless publicly available all throughout the city. And actually have it work.
To start.
More...
2. I want all of my city's green spaces to be connected. I want to be able to wander through our entire park system--North, South, East, West--without ever having to try to avoid a car.
3. Whenever road construction interferes with pedestrian/cyclist paths, I want to see a clear, short, and safe detour for pedestrians and cyclists.
4. Also, I want more safe ways to cross roads for pedestrians/cyclists, in general.
5. I want native plant barriers between all roadways and pedestrian/cyclist paths.
6. I want commuting by train/bus to be more convenient than commuting by car for everyone.
7. I want more public waterfront space. A lot more.
8. I want smoking to be eliminated from all public (indoor and outdoor) spaces. Air being necessary to sustain human life, this one seems like a gimme.
9. I want roads to be designed for their speed limits and speed limits to reflect the design of the road.
10. I want tighter boundaries around Seattle--an even stronger focus on density as opposed to suburban sprawl.
11. I want more and better signage directing me to community/cultural spaces.
12. I want a bus schedule at every stop.
13. I want an easy-to-find and navigate comprehensive resource enumerating all of the public spaces and events available to me at all times.
14. I want more community/cultural spaces open at all different times of the day and night. And holidays too. Presidents' Day should offer me more than the ability to buy a cheap mattress. Public space should be available when the public has time to use it, which often includes after-hours.
15. I'd prefer more public amenities: restrooms, public phones, etc.
16. And I would love to see wireless publicly available all throughout the city. And actually have it work.
To start.
25
Twenty percent of Seattle voters did not look at your endorsements online. That's just delusional. Why do you people think that anything involving numbers is a license to lie?
You're worse than Fox News and Glenn Beck. "Some people say!" "Could be true!" Basically any self-serving hypothesis that hasn't been positively proven false can be treated as fact.
You're worse than Fox News and Glenn Beck. "Some people say!" "Could be true!" Basically any self-serving hypothesis that hasn't been positively proven false can be treated as fact.
26
Dear Stranger
Hate to rain on your parade, perhaps it is not at all depending on the methodology of your tracking, but your voting guide page wouldn't load properly on my computer, so I ended up loading that page three times and then finally downloading the PDF twice. I only voted once. If our Mac laptop was having troubles, I imagine lots of other folks were.
I'm actually glad that a alt lefty is the voting guide for this many folks, but you might want to double check your numbers. And more importantly make sure that the voting guide page is more robust next time around.
Hate to rain on your parade, perhaps it is not at all depending on the methodology of your tracking, but your voting guide page wouldn't load properly on my computer, so I ended up loading that page three times and then finally downloading the PDF twice. I only voted once. If our Mac laptop was having troubles, I imagine lots of other folks were.
I'm actually glad that a alt lefty is the voting guide for this many folks, but you might want to double check your numbers. And more importantly make sure that the voting guide page is more robust next time around.
27
First, sidewalks. Second, parking enforcement where pedestrians walk. Double the enforcement where there aren't sidewalks. You just try and imagine yourself in a wheelchar or being blind, and navigating an arterial street without sidewalks. Cars are parked everywhere, double parked, perpendicular parked, leaving nowhere for pedestrians.
Third, a unified system for city services. The current system is just plain broken. Our neighborhood association prints cards with about twenty phone numbers for dealing with "problems" whether it be graffiti, junked vehicles, blocked sidewalks, loose animals, etc, etc. Most of the time the city agency you talk to says it is the problem of some other agency because of #insert bureaucratese here# and they just discard the complaint. If it isn't a 911 emergency, there needs to be a single contact with the city, with a tracking system to send it to the correct agency, and a followup to make sure the problem is dealt with.
Third, a unified system for city services. The current system is just plain broken. Our neighborhood association prints cards with about twenty phone numbers for dealing with "problems" whether it be graffiti, junked vehicles, blocked sidewalks, loose animals, etc, etc. Most of the time the city agency you talk to says it is the problem of some other agency because of #insert bureaucratese here# and they just discard the complaint. If it isn't a 911 emergency, there needs to be a single contact with the city, with a tracking system to send it to the correct agency, and a followup to make sure the problem is dealt with.
28
@11 All parking should be paid parking. (Excepting of course your own driveway, but then, you've already bought that parking spot.)
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