Why we need him in office
Editor, The Times:
Am I the only citizen in Seattle who does not think that two of un-columnist Joni Balter’s examples [“Seattle’s stumbling ‘un-mayor’ needs to find firmer footing,” Times, Opinion, March 25] of Mayor Mike McGinn’s “stumbling” are actually examples of why we need him in office?
For years, I have been stunned by the self-delusion of our local leaders, who have professed Seattle to be the “greenest city on the planet,” “striving for carbon neutrality” (and all the other platitudes) at the same time they have planned for the replacement of two of the major highway segments into and through the city (the Highway 520 bridge and the Highway 99 viaduct) with new shiny projects designed to carry far more cars and buses and zero rail mass transit.
I don’t care if Balter and her big-business-and-politics-as-usual attitude calls McGinn the “un-mayor.” It just makes her look petty. When McGinn says these projects are sorely misguided, he is right on point and protocol be damned. If he can prevent us spending many billions of dollars on infrastructure that could have been dreamed up in the 1950s, more power to him.
Yes it has taken interminable amounts of time and money to come up with these two awful design solutions, but that does not make them right. They are both disastrously wrong for the environment and the urban quality of our city.
I have no regrets about the mayor I helped vote into office. Is he perfect? No, but it is human to err and I kind of like that we now have a mayor whose errors might lead to a better environment.
— Nic Rossouw, Seattle
My kind of mayor
I voted for Mike McGinn for many reasons, but I was attracted to his campaign because it was not slick, and much of the campaign financing was generated by local communities. His opponent touted having “the right contacts” and his campaign was financed by himself as well as the well-connected. I care less about how the mayor dresses, or that he has irritated the City Council.
Perhaps former Mayor Greg Nickels’ initial transition went smoother by patching potholes. So what? There has been the biggest implosion of the U.S. economy as the new mayor entered office. Budgets are more than tight. Many projects may need to be “trimmed.”
It is clear The Seattle Times is not enchanted with the new mayor; that is the privilege of the only large-circulation newspaper in town. [Joni Balter’s column] is nothing more than a long-winded chastising, and I know you can do better.
— Roselee Warren, Seattle