{"id":161340,"date":"2010-01-12T14:04:56","date_gmt":"2010-01-12T19:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2010746734_jandragoapoorpick.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-01-12T14:04:56","modified_gmt":"2010-01-12T19:04:56","slug":"the-revolving-door-incoming-and-outgoing-politicians-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/161340","title":{"rendered":"The revolving door: incoming and outgoing politicians redux"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claudia Balducci\u2019s Eastside light-rail stance<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s refreshing to hear that Bellevue City Councilmember Claudia Balducci is open to other downtown Bellevue light-rail plans besides the most costly options [\u201cSound transit board seats filled,\u201d Around the Northwest, Jan. 8].<\/p>\n

Sound Transit will now get over $3 billion less in tax revenue due to the ongoing recession and digging more holes would seem to ignore this new financial reality.<\/p>\n

The Vision Line proposed by Councilmember Kevin Wallace would place an elevated station about the same distance from the transit center as Sea-Tac Airport\u2019s station. A signature skyway above Northeast Sixth Street could provide a level walk over to the center.<\/p>\n

It makes no sense to rip up Bellevue Way Southeast and 112th Avenue Southeast just to access one medium-sized park-and-ride lot. An elevated line above Interstate 405 would speed up construction and significantly reduce infrastructure rebuilding costs. Trains would also avoid mixing with surface traffic.<\/p>\n

The glory days of spending the most money for light rail are over. Rebuilding entire street corridors and boring tunnels is not a wise use of dwindling tax dollars. Minimizing construction costs and getting transit moving sooner is wiser.<\/p>\n

\u2014 David G. Wright, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Monorail issue didn\u2019t cause Nickels\u2019 defeat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regarding the letter by Ross Bleakney in Friday\u2019s Times [\u201cNickels\u2019 swan song,\u201d NW Voices, Jan. 8], I would disagree about the monorail being the reason for Greg Nickels not being re-elected. I think most people by now have forgotten his part in the scuttling of the monorail project and are reacting to more-recent issues.<\/p>\n

However, I do feel strongly that former Mayor Nickels let his ego get in the way of a wise decision when the monorail board defied his demands at the time, and struck back at the board for defying him on preparing a ballot issue. His reaction not only hurt the monorail board, but also the people of Seattle, by forcing a vote in which a misled and confused public voted to kill the project.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Green Line monorail project was the most reasonable solution for rapid mass transit from downtown to West Seattle and also to Ballard, but was canceled only a couple of months away from the beginning of construction. As a leader, Nickels should have worked to solve problems facing the project, not just kill it out of spite.<\/p>\n

During his campaign, Mayor Mike McGinn suggested building light rail from downtown to West Seattle and Ballard. I propose that McGinn should revive the Green Line monorail project instead, which can help spread out costs. He should also revise the route to avoid crossing the Seattle Center and make other modifications to improve the line.<\/p>\n

Compared to light rail \u2014 in this built-up urban corridor \u2014 a monorail would probably cost less, be less disruptive to neighborhoods, be safer and attract more riders.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bob Fleming, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Jan Drago a poor pick<\/strong><\/p>\n

So this is what the King County Council\u2019s \u201cnonpartisan\u201d behavior has given us [\u201cDrago a fine pick for caretaker seat,\u201d Opinion, Jan. 6]: Jan Drago is someone who doesn\u2019t live in the district she\u2019ll be representing; she is a political moderate in a district that is proudly liberal. Also, she is someone who really has no incentive to get to know the district she\u2019ll be representing because she\u2019s only a caretaker. How exactly does this serve the district\u2019s voters or the district\u2019s needs?<\/p>\n

Sen. Joe McDermott would have been an outstanding selection. He already knows most of the council district, understands our problems and has a strong incentive to get to know those parts of the district that are outside of the 34th District\u2019s boundaries.<\/p>\n

If Metropolitan King County Council really wanted a caretaker in the position, Rep. Sharon Nelson, a quick study and very capable legislator, would have ably represented the district. Again, as with Sen. McDermott, she knows the district and our issues. Republicans no doubt find her unacceptable because, like McDermott, she is very liberal.<\/p>\n

I am very disappointed with the Metropolitan King County Council\u2019s decision and The Seattle Times\u2019 editorial lauding that decision. Their choice serves the interests of the Republicans on the council rather than those of the voters.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Gayle Sommers, Vashon<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claudia Balducci\u2019s Eastside light-rail stance It\u2019s refreshing to hear that Bellevue City Councilmember Claudia Balducci is open to other downtown Bellevue light-rail plans besides the most costly options [\u201cSound transit board seats filled,\u201d Around the Northwest, Jan. 8]. Sound Transit will now get over $3 billion less in tax revenue due to the ongoing recession […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}