Seattle Voters Tear Up The Map
In yesterday’s vote, Seattle voters rejected both the underground tunnel and elevated freeway options for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. They clearly see a different future than the one politicians have mapped out for them.
And the winner is: none of the above.
Seattleites cast a ballot for further political uncertainty Tuesday, as voters overwhelmingly rejected both proposals for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct — trouncing the tunnel idea by a ratio of more than 2-to-1.
The all-mail election, which was not binding, hands back to politicians the thorny debate over how to replace the earthquake-damaged, 54-year-old double-decker highway.
But, much like Seattle’s morning commute, don’t expect a breakthrough anytime soon in the gridlock between city and state, observers say.
Indeed, many of the key political players avoided the media Tuesday evening; most declined interviews and many refused to even be seen.
It sends a clear message that the citizens are not interested in a huge tax bill that robs them of their money, vandalizes the waterfront and encourages commuting and suburban sprawl.
[Gene] Hoglund [chairman of the group pushing to rebuild the existing elevated freeway] said the elevated likely would have won in a tunnel-vs.-viaduct face-off, but the ballot wasn’t designed that way. Hoglund called it “jury-rigged” because it permitted voters to reject both options and allowed officials to avoid a conclusion.
In other words, he wanted voters to be presented with a bifurcation, a false choice. He would have preferred that only options being pushed by the politicians and their deep-pocket special interests were allowed on the ballot.
The ballot could actually have been improved if it had a box for “tear down the freeway and restore the waterfront” because it seems that’s what the voters really want. But both sides wanted voters to think they only had two options. I’m grateful that Seattle voters saw through it and voted no on both options and false choices.
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March 16th, 2007 at 6:54 am
I’m sorry. This is off topic: where did you go? I miss you.
March 16th, 2007 at 9:42 am
Still here. Kind of burned out on blogging since I’ve said just about everything I have to say many times over.
Thanks for asking, though.