Teach-in on the Seattle Viaduct

It's timely & useful to have a Teach-in on the Viaduct to educate the media & public and draw attention to the fact that the alternatives offered by the City are an artificial and disjointed limitation on the discussion and that there are several quite feasible ways to say "Yes" after two "Nos." (I assume that most people who read this blog are in agreement that the wisest vote will be a Double No.)

I'd urge The Stranger to organize such an event but hitherto its editors and writers have proudly exhibited such a love of "advocacy journalism" (I think that's what they call it) that I can't imagine that they would be able to offer any sort of even remotely fair-handed — let's be blunt: honest — teach-in. But hey! I'd love to be proven wrong. (I don't think that the dailies have the umph to do anything like a teach-in with flair and The Weekly is no longer a player. The broadcast TV stations are a joke. Now KUOW-FM might be able to put together something but they are so earnest and media-centric there is a danger that it would be boring. But hey! Again, prove me wrong, KUOW! Then again there is KIRO-FM. Dave Ross and David Goldstein are quite alert to Seattle politics and Dory Monsen represents a certain perspective -- some of which I share, btw. Maybe KIRO could strike out and position itself as "an adult alternative to the alternative" i.e. KUOW.)

The big danger of such an event is that it might be dominated by cant such as "connect Seattle to its waterfront" and used as a propoaganda tool. And if you invite elected officials (except Chopp, Sommers, Licata and a very few others) you won't get much besides happy talk.

•••

Btw, I hope that the Mayor and City Council will have the grace and concern for Seattle to say something like this:

"Folks," (it's always folks in Seattle), "of course we urge you to vote Yes on the Tunnel. But if for some reason you don't feel comfortable doing that, we strongly urge you to vote No on the Rebuild, which is a truly horrible and stupid alternative."

Comments

[Doug]

Since the problem is between WSDOT and Mr Mayor and Selfserving Property Developers I would suggest that the tunnel be one way 70 feet wide with a low level Bridge 70 wide in the opossite direction. This would allow 4 lanes in each direction, and also allow the traffic to be resumed during the erection of the elevated structure.This would also solve the Big Mayor's problem of the SHADE on the the ground that his Developers want to obtain. The proposal would be via the use of pre cast concrete products that would allow a quick completion andalso staying within the WSDOT budget. The two sides of this issue need to come to some type of agreement. There will not be clear cut winners. The voter should not vote on a tunnel or a elevated structure, They should vote on how to gain solution. Which with our current players ( City and State ) we do not have much to work with.

[Carisa]

Why is everyone so worried about the bottom line and how much traffic we're going to create if we lose the capacity the viaduct currently carries? Why can't we ever get past the money issue? Why can't we come up with a "real" solution. seattle should really be leading the way with environmentally responsible solutions for transportation which means more public transportation using renewable energy...yeah i know i'm dreaming big but i'm also dreaming about a solution that can galvanize our short-sited community into taking care of ourselves, our planet and our future.

whatever the decision reached, any new construction will take years. somehow the people using it will have to come up with a different way to get them from here to there. we need to make public transportation a truly viable option for these users.

why can't we find the money to take care of the big problems, education, global warming, oceans dying, healthcare, poverty, but can afford to have a latte every day.

how many of us out there care about the world we're leaving to our kids?

why stay this course when we know we should be coming up with ones that are real and have long term impact. ahh.....there's the rub...what's in it for me.