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News & ArtsThursday, December 31, 2009
City Nickels Voted for Mike McGinn
Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Exiting mayor Greg Nickels, in an interview with KIRO, said this:
Mayor elect (Mike) McGinn, I think, won the election when he said that he would no longer stand in the way of the deal that the Governor (Christine Gregoire) and I came to over a year ago. I know he earned my vote that way and I hope that he realizes that and was being absolutely sincere. If not, I suspect he is going to have a hell of a fight on his hands.
Joe Mallahan adopted a nearly identical platform to Nickels—shared progressive values, moving Seattle forward, etc.—but the mayor still voted for the other guy. Go figure.
1
Oh, gee, I was right about Nickels voting for McGinn because he sees him preserving his legacy.
I hope WestSeattleWaiter isn't golfing in Hawaii right now.
I hope WestSeattleWaiter isn't golfing in Hawaii right now.
2
Well, hopefully McGinn, will help protect the interests of his class: upper middle class professionals.
We did great under Nickels with all this 'green' stuff; it did wonders for gentrification of Seattle and bringing in a higher class of homeowner. Trams, trains, farmers markets, urbanism: all stuff white people like, especially those with college educations.
OK, we'll toss a few crumbs overboard (housing levy!), but in the end, we'll come out ahead.
We did great under Nickels with all this 'green' stuff; it did wonders for gentrification of Seattle and bringing in a higher class of homeowner. Trams, trains, farmers markets, urbanism: all stuff white people like, especially those with college educations.
OK, we'll toss a few crumbs overboard (housing levy!), but in the end, we'll come out ahead.
3
Right except that McGinn and Nickels pretty much are the same except for personality and the tunnel. This is not really a surprise at all.
As much as people loved to somehow portray Nickels as some kind of anti-progressive he did more for this city than any mayor prior.
The problem now is we have a guy with the same ideas, but not the same ability to get them done. Stupid Seattle.
As much as people loved to somehow portray Nickels as some kind of anti-progressive he did more for this city than any mayor prior.
The problem now is we have a guy with the same ideas, but not the same ability to get them done. Stupid Seattle.
6
Dominic, is your head STILL so far up McGinn's ass that you can't see how similar the two guys are? And do you think Nickels would willingly hand off his city to some know-nothing corporate doofus?
@3 is pretty spot on. And unfortunately you, Dominic, were among those leading the charge in casting Nickels as some sort of not-liberal-enough corporate democrat. Of course Operation Sobering Thought was mega-stupid and Tom Carr is a puritan dickhole. But these and other things that you guys constantly pointed to during the campaign are relatively small issues that can be addressed and fixed without ousting the most effective, progressive mayor in recent memory.
I'm willing to give McGinn a chance (hell, I voted for him too in November), but if shit goes south and we end up with some high and mighty city council trying (ineffectively) to drive policy, well, you will have played a role in creating that situation. Time will tell.
@3 is pretty spot on. And unfortunately you, Dominic, were among those leading the charge in casting Nickels as some sort of not-liberal-enough corporate democrat. Of course Operation Sobering Thought was mega-stupid and Tom Carr is a puritan dickhole. But these and other things that you guys constantly pointed to during the campaign are relatively small issues that can be addressed and fixed without ousting the most effective, progressive mayor in recent memory.
I'm willing to give McGinn a chance (hell, I voted for him too in November), but if shit goes south and we end up with some high and mighty city council trying (ineffectively) to drive policy, well, you will have played a role in creating that situation. Time will tell.
7
Seems like a lot of McGinn supporters are still itching to have that "hell of a fight". It'd be nice if they grew up.
If McGinn hadn't taken his nuanced position on the state highway replacement, we'd be talking about Mayor Mallahan, no doubt.
If McGinn hadn't taken his nuanced position on the state highway replacement, we'd be talking about Mayor Mallahan, no doubt.
9
The tunnel must go over the current estimate by 966 million dollars in order for McGinn to be right. If is is less, and there are no projected overruns with more of the engineering done then he ends up attempting to delay the project, in order to kill it, driving up the cost, proving Mallahan right.
If it does project out above the state portion of the budget then the project will fall of its own weight.
In either case McGinn speculated his way into office, and if the estimate do balloon then he will be viewed by the people he hopes will support the surface option as unnecessarily being an asshole.
The project will, or won't, fit the planned budget, no matter what he says or does. His choice is to be, or not to be, an asshole.
After watching the CityStream interview with C.R. Douglas, I am guessing that he will be an asshole either way.
This may play well at the Stranger, Publicola, and the PI Strange Bedfellow, but not so much with the Seattle "nice" voters.
My advice to the new mayor is get as much of his items in motion as soon as possible, including the sticker shock provincial light rail.
If it does project out above the state portion of the budget then the project will fall of its own weight.
In either case McGinn speculated his way into office, and if the estimate do balloon then he will be viewed by the people he hopes will support the surface option as unnecessarily being an asshole.
The project will, or won't, fit the planned budget, no matter what he says or does. His choice is to be, or not to be, an asshole.
After watching the CityStream interview with C.R. Douglas, I am guessing that he will be an asshole either way.
This may play well at the Stranger, Publicola, and the PI Strange Bedfellow, but not so much with the Seattle "nice" voters.
My advice to the new mayor is get as much of his items in motion as soon as possible, including the sticker shock provincial light rail.
10
And what? No mention of how McGinn's last minute reversal leaves Nickels staffers with a couple days before their health insurance disappears? http://tinyurl.com/yecmzzl
Just because the story doesn't cast your guy in a glowing light of progressive goodness doesn't mean that its not print-worthy.
C'mon guys, shit like this is very unbecoming of "Seattle's only newspaper."
Just because the story doesn't cast your guy in a glowing light of progressive goodness doesn't mean that its not print-worthy.
C'mon guys, shit like this is very unbecoming of "Seattle's only newspaper."
12
@10 - by the way, you should see how people are reacting to the hundreds of comments on the Times article - they're ripping all the elitist consultants apart and p0wning you six ways to Sunday. LOL, once again, Tim Ceis and the gang who couldn't shoot straight piss off the Seattle voters who tossed them to the curb.
14
@10 Will did you actually just use the comments on a Times article as an argument? Apparently Seattle hates the gays, thinks Obama is a Muslim commie from Kenya, and doesn't buy this anthropogenic climate change nonsense either.
Jesus fuck dude.
Jesus fuck dude.
15
@12, STFU Will.
You picked this article to suddenly give a shit about what the mouth breathing poo-slingers in the Seattle Times comments section are saying?
You picked this article to suddenly give a shit about what the mouth breathing poo-slingers in the Seattle Times comments section are saying?
16
@14 surprisingly, a lot of the commenters on that article are actually Seattle citizens. Yeah, I know, kind of ironic, given it's the Suburban Times, but ...
17
@13, I know they are not nice, they think they are nice, having the same result.
Deconstructing Seattle "nice" still results in the voters acting as if they were nice.
It is what Jan Drago ran on, the "nice" version with Nickels' policies.
Deconstructing Seattle "nice" still results in the voters acting as if they were nice.
It is what Jan Drago ran on, the "nice" version with Nickels' policies.
19
@16, that's not surprising at all. I expect that they, outside of ripping public people on the Seattle Times comment boards, think they are "nice-r" than you, Will, even though they are likely just as "nice" as you.
20
@17 - true.
If you want to see hardball politics you'll have to move somewhere else, however. This isn't even varsity league around here.
If you want to see hardball politics you'll have to move somewhere else, however. This isn't even varsity league around here.
21
MrBaker, how'd your speculation on the outcome of the election go? You seem to play the expert a lot, how did your prediction hold up?
23
McGinn claiming to be the "pro tunnel" at the very end... "tunnel pivot" -- is the most disengous political move since LBJ ran as the peace candidate in 1964.
24
@23: When did he claim to be "pro tunnel"? He said he'd enforce the council's decision which is what a mayor does. And it turns out, he's the mayor in, oh, 9 hours and 57 minutes. Otherwise, he still said he was opposed to it.
From the Wall Street Journal (before you SFCHs think the state is going to steamroll McGinn and that he's rolled over on his opposition, emphasis mine):
So he's still against the tunnel.
"But!" you may exclaim, "The state is unyielding!"
From the Wall Street Journal (before you SFCHs think the state is going to steamroll McGinn and that he's rolled over on his opposition, emphasis mine):
Still, Mr. McGinn said in an interview that he thought the tunnel remained a bad environmental choice with a "very high probability" that it would become an expensive boondoggle. Mr. McGinn said that as mayor, he would ask "tough questions" about the project, and if they couldn't be answered, "perhaps the legislature and city should reconsider" their support for it.
"Nothing has made me think the tunnel is a good idea," says Mr. McGinn, 49 years old, who favors improving mass transit and biking options.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12607449…
So he's still against the tunnel.
"But!" you may exclaim, "The state is unyielding!"
Mr. Paananen said he welcomed scrutiny from the city's new mayor. "We should be open to tough questions; it's a very large project," he said. For now, the tunnel is due to be opened in 2015.
25
@21, many of my endorsements and predictions were correct, but not the outcome of the mayor's race (though I did have both of those candidates coming out of the Primary).
As I think about THE reason people like Nickels (including Nickels) allowed themselves to vote, tipping the election in McGinn's favor should be paid close attention to.
51% is enough to win, but burning 3-5% by being a sandbag, and an asshole, could be his quick undoing. It does not take an "expert" to see that he would have lost the last election and puts the next election in peril by doing what his trolls, like Cary Moon, are attempting to do.
More than anything, more than another do over, or tunnel, people wanted to move on, according to the poll a few months ago.
I do not see how he can stop the tunnel and get a surface option going (expect a tunnel fan to sue over there not being an EIS) before the next election. He will fight the people he expects to have turn right around and support his plan. What legislative session could that really happen in? Would that ness be going on while he is attempting a vote on light rail, while trying to get mvet for AWV replacement?
It is a mess, with little delivered within 4 years.
When he has to hack 42 million out of next year's budget, while getting light rail on the ballot, does not look like the best political conditions.
As I think about THE reason people like Nickels (including Nickels) allowed themselves to vote, tipping the election in McGinn's favor should be paid close attention to.
51% is enough to win, but burning 3-5% by being a sandbag, and an asshole, could be his quick undoing. It does not take an "expert" to see that he would have lost the last election and puts the next election in peril by doing what his trolls, like Cary Moon, are attempting to do.
More than anything, more than another do over, or tunnel, people wanted to move on, according to the poll a few months ago.
I do not see how he can stop the tunnel and get a surface option going (expect a tunnel fan to sue over there not being an EIS) before the next election. He will fight the people he expects to have turn right around and support his plan. What legislative session could that really happen in? Would that ness be going on while he is attempting a vote on light rail, while trying to get mvet for AWV replacement?
It is a mess, with little delivered within 4 years.
When he has to hack 42 million out of next year's budget, while getting light rail on the ballot, does not look like the best political conditions.
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