Brewster avoids the issue

McGinn stirs the embers with his 'trust' insult to Gregoire

Good article by David Brewster, in Seattle's always-establishment weekly Crosscut, except for actually getting to the issue.

 

I too cringed a bit to hear the Mayor speak so bluntly. I would rather have heard the Mayor say that the Governor is irrelevant on this issue.  The Governor's promises are beyond her ability to follow through.:

 

1. She may well be gone after 2012. Should the tunnel actually happen, overruns will likely not appear until much later in the project when the book-keeping cannot be avoided. Even before 2012, the Governor may be called to DC for some higher appointive office; or she may be called to some even higher place beyond reach of any act on earth.

 

2. The Governor may veto any act of the Legislature. But the Legislature can override the  Governor. Check-mate. 

 

The Governor, try as she might, simply does not have the power to "protect Seattle."

 

The Governor has so far been unwilling to help resolve the cost overrun issue through the Legislative action. Perhaps she is sure that if the Legislature is actually asked, the answer to the Legislature might be "Hell yes! Seattle wanted a tunnel. So let 'em pay."

 

Or perhaps she really thinks it's rough justice for Seattle to  pay for the extra costs of a tunnel. 

 

In any case, while the Governor may be acting in total good faith, she is trying to make a promise which, by the realities of time and tide, cannot protect Seattle from cost overruns.

 

As an aside, I am curious that tunnel supporters don't seem to care if the overrun issue gets resolved. Maybe it's Don't Ask, Don't Get the Wrong Answer. Supporters too know that  the obvious legislative solution is to ask for clarification and maybe the obvious response, which everyone assumes, will be a "Hell! yes" to Seattle property-owners. Consider the Tacoma News-Tribune's recent editorial; consider whether Spokane and Vancouver are going to say "No problem. We are happy to pay for cost overruns on a project at the behest of Seattle." Not likely.