I’m pretty sure that I have the exact same right to sign off on things on behalf of the city as Richard Conlin does. Neither of us are members of the city’s executive branch of government. Unlike Conlin, I don’t want a tunnel. Although nobody has asked for my signature on anything, I’m certainly willing to provide it:
So, on behalf of the city, I’ll sign onto any bike path anybody is proposing. Finally complete the Burke Gillman? Don’t mind if I do! A road diet on all roads over 4 lanes? Provide bike lanes and you’ve got me — on behalf of the city — on board.
Hell anybody can do it! Got a project you’d like completed, just sign off on behalf of the city. Feel your neighborhood is being deprived of sidewalks, parks, or other amenities? Just sign off on behalf of the city, and presto!
The emerging hyperbolic and shrill tantrum over this non-event merely illuminates the bankruptcy of McGinn’s tactics, and those who support them.
This is aside from whether one even wants the tunnel built, or not.
You dumb fucking sheep didn’t want a responsible adult (Mallahan) as mayor, so now you got some doofus who misses deadlines. You got what you wanted, now quit your fucking whining about it.
No bike trail for you, tpn.
Goldy,
I’m afraid much of the citizenry never grasped the concept of three branches of government. Sounds like members of the city council missed it too. So much for high school civics…
@4
As a former judge, attorney, and law professor, it is my professional opinion that the branches are working as they should. If my calculations are correct, the city attorney will now determine …
brb, a colleague from Harvard is calling me.
I’ll gladly sign off on monorail from West Seattle to Ballard.
[deleted]
You’re a motherfucking lying moron aren’t you?
You’re a motherfucking lying moron aren’t you?
At first, I took Troll seriously. Then, came to the conclusion that s/he was a parody, because it was all so obtuse and funny at the same time.
Now, I realize that Poe’s Law is what is in effect. Sad. Funny. True.
I’ll sign off on any bike trails that need built in Gig Harbor and I’ll also start working on turning the parking lot the city bought down town into a park.
Poe’s Law indeed!
LOLOL
tpn, sorry I had to remove your comment, but the comment section has been getting out-of-hand of late. Too many off-topics/thread-hijacking/and trolling going on. The HA Board of Regents and I will be monitoring the threads a little more aggressively in the future. Please refer to the HA TOS.
Goldy,
I’m not expert on Seattle’s charter, but it’s actually quite possible the Council President does have the authority to do what he did. In most cities the position is actually called Mayor Pro Tem. Typically they just take over when the Mayor is gone but in some cases they can execute contracts and agreements approved by the Council over the objection of the Mayor.
The question would be, what procedure for such an event is there and was it followed. In code cities it requires a vote equal to a majority plus one, but Seattle being a charter city could have its own and the Council President could have independent authority.
Oops, that was Carl, not Goldy. My bad.
Derek, thanks for that. The TV talkingheads seem to think that the State Constitution is implicated instead of the City Charter.
Unless I misunderstand, Conklin signed this EPA statement to preserve Seattle’s legal rights.
If the Mayor was neglecting this signing as a passive-aggressive way to defeat the tunnel then he is imply not to be trusted.
@12: Horsecrap. [Troll unsubscribed]
@13
I’ll step in and help out Gig Harbor turn the parking lot we bought for the Tides Tavern (socialism for the rich and connected!) into a park instead and to get bike paths built on 38th and Hunt streets.
75% of cars are bought on credit, the credit markets are shot and so is the credit of a huge chunk of the American public. The % of American’s who own cars will be going down. We need to build out a ped/bike infrastructure to help people get around.
I voted for the ‘responsible adult’ Mollohan, and daily watching McGinn’s malarkey reminds me why.
I didn’t want the tunnel either but now I say Just get the damn thing built! Why dither until the next earthquake can squash cars & taxpayers like bugs?
Maybe the big show he has been spending time on would have been better spent reviewing the summary to see if his edits were accepted or not, now the one man comedy act on Monday will be overshadowed by his own inability to meet a minor deadline on a draft document.
Monday should be entertaining. I wonder if the council will transmit their new ordinance to the mayor when he shows up to deliver his wish list.
ARTICLE IV. Legislative Department.
Section 14. POWERS BY ORDINANCE: Ninth. BRIDGES, VIADUCTS AND TUNNELS
To construct and keep in repair bridges, viaducts and tunnels, and to regulate the use thereof.
I think Conlin rounded up a supermajority of council votes, and committed to passing an ordinance on Monday.
So, yes, in that instance he does have the powers of the executive branch.
I think the council should anticipate having to pass an ordinance whenever the city has to make sure it meets its commitments. Good thing it is in the city charter or there could be real trouble, and not the angry and bitter disappointment displayed by McGinn. Foot dragging thwarted, what’s the next half assed tactic (other than the grandstanding over the budget on Monday).
@20,
That’s only for writing “ordinance and not otherwise” not signatures that are clearly executive department responsibilities. You’re saying the mayor is bound to sign documents based on ordinances that might be passed in the future?
What a screwed up government!
@21, I am saying that on Monday the council will pass an ordinance with a veto proof majority that has the same effect as the mayor’s signature in relation to the “viaduct” and “tunnel”, the city’s approval of the public release of a draft document.
The certainty was apparently more acceptable than the mayor maybe signing in a week, maybe not sign the release of the draft to the public in a week.
It is the release of a draft document to the public, Carl.
Just so everybody is clear about this, the preliminary draft was released on the Internet without signatures at the insistence of the “public”, posted on Slog.
What WSDOT agreed to, in the last council meeting, was back to the mayor and council the revised document, with a table of who requested a given revision, and summary. A week to review that, then an extra week, without a commitment that he would agree that it should be released to the public, is the crisis our democracy faces.
What a bunch of little babies in the mayor’s office. Reading a summary within a fucking week was too hard, they needed another week (no commitment), as they were busy planning a big show in South Seattle on Monday.
Here ya go, Carl, a week’s worth of work, last July’s version.
mayor’s preliminary sdeis – July
Two pages of word smithing.
I sure hope the what the mayor was needing another week to review is a hellofa lot more than that.
According to the mayor at the press conference, he asked for the extension because there’s, you know, the budget address on Monday, and he wanted to concentrate on that. And the state DOT did give him that extension because it’s a perfectly reasonable request.
But even if as you’re implying McGinn is just being an asshole, he’s still not bound by possible future laws, even if people have a whip count. And McGinn being an asshole doesn’t give Conlin any executive authority. If Conlin wants executive authority he should run for an executive position.
What is McGinn going to do about it? Nothing. Game over.
McGinn’s problem is that he is percieved to be acting in bad faith. Remember his statements at the end of the campaign about the tunel? And now he seems to be looking for every conceivable procedural roadblock.
So why should the state accomodate his desires?
fucking road diet bullshit is just that: bullshit.
what the fuck are you people thinking?
get rid of car lanes for the sake of a few(and I mean a very few) people who commute via bike – who turn out to be nothing more than a bunch of fucking crybabies who think they own the road.
make the bike riders pay for their own damn bike trails.
yet another example of how f-ed up seattle and urban king county are…clueless.
Carl, quit digging.
Mr. Baker demolished your hysterical out-burst with solid facts.
Quit pulling a tea-bagger and grow the fuck up. Half a dozen lawyers already looked at the signing and agreed it was within Conlin’s powers.