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Come on… can anybody other than a newspaper editorial board or a stadium-struck state senator really take Sonics owner Clay Bennett seriously? Yesterday Bennett unveiled sketches of a proposed $500 million Renton arena, but….

Bennett said team owners won’t pay for any cost overruns [… and] he did not say how much owners would contribute…

So let me get this straight. The Sonics want a $500 million arena of their own design, financed by $300 million in state money, plus $100 million or so in land and cash from the city of Renton. Renton would own the arena, and be responsible for major maintenance and repairs, but the Sonics would keep all revenues from all events, and not be responsible for a penny of construction cost overruns. Of the remaining $100 million not covered by taxpayers, that would mostly be offset by naming rights, seat licenses and other such deals, bringing Bennett and his partners’ total contribution to… just about nil.

And Bennett calls a public vote on the proposal “problematic”…? No shit, Sherlock.

Given the political reality (you know… that state Sen. Margarita Prentice of Renton only has one vote,) you’d think Bennett might have tried to sweeten the pot instead of announcing that taxpayers would be stuck with the inevitable cost overruns. But then, I’ve never believed that Bennett ever seriously wanted to keep the Sonics in the Seattle area, but rather has always intended to move the team back home to Oklahoma City, where he will be welcomed as a conquering hero. In that admittedly cynical scenario the arena proposal must be just believable enough to keep gullible fans (and editors) in their seats until the Key Arena lease runs out in 2010, but outrageous enough to make the deal politically DOA.

That Bennett now says he might accept a public vote on his proposal fits in quite nicely with that strategy, dragging the process out even further while virtually assuring that such a grandiose act of corporate welfare is rejected at the polls.

So enjoy the Seattle Sonics while you can. That is, if you can enjoy a team that can’t be bothered to put a quality product on the court, even while supposedly in the midst of fight to gain public support for a new, taxpayer-funded arena.

TANGENTIAL UPDATE:
After a similar Sonics “announcement” a couple weeks back, I compared the contrasting coverage in the Times and P-I, much to the irritation of Times reporter David Postman, who accused me of being a wrong-headed, fatuous drunk.

I like Postman, and think he’s a great reporter. But he’s more than a little bit sensitive, and he took my critique as a personal attack on the Times and his colleagues. No doubt I preferred the editorial slant of the P-I’s coverage (I often do,) but whether Postman accepts my explanation or not, my main goal was to point out that different papers covering the same event often impress in readers dramatically different perceptions of the key issues at hand.

So considering our previous media criticism brouhaha, it is only fair to compare and contrast the Times and P-I in their coverage of yesterday’s Sonics “news.”

Seattle Times: OLYMPIA — Sonics owner Clay Bennett on Monday unveiled early sketches of a proposed $500 million Renton arena and softened his stance on whether it should go to a public vote. But Bennett said team owners won’t pay for any cost overruns. And with a Legislature skeptical over the $300 million-plus bill to taxpayers already sought, it’s not clear whether the building will ever become more than ink on paper. At a hearing before the House Finance Committee, Bennett offered few new details about the proposed arena beyond the sketches. He did not say how much owners would contribute and said many details would have to be worked out in a lease with King County.

Seattle P-I: OLYMPIA — After months of conjecture, Clay Bennett and his partners put a visual face on their new arena concept Monday with the release of architectural drawings of the proposed Sonics facility in Renton. “I’m open to whatever the right answer is, whatever leadership recommends and whatever’s right for this region,” Bennett told lawmakers. The public — as well as lawmakers — can now picture the 20,000-seat building Bennett has planned for the site, which was announced two weeks ago.

Readers of the P-I were presented with a lede that pretty much tells the story Bennett wanted to tell: a politically conciliatory Bennett released architectural drawings that enable the public and lawmakers to envision the new, proposed arena. In fact, the P-I article never even mentions anything about cost overruns or owners contributions.

The Times lede is quite a bit more nuanced… and appropriately cynical. It too starts with the visual — the sketches of the new arena — but quickly dives into the political deep-end of the story: the team won’t pay for cost overruns or commit to a contribution, and legislators remain skeptical. While the P-I says the public “can now picture” the new arena, the Times ephasizes that “Bennett offered few new details.” And though the P-I leads with a propitiative Bennett quote, the Times merely describes the Sonics owner as having “softened his stance.”

My only formal journalism training occurred way back in high school, but I’m pretty sure the admonition to put the most important information near the top, hasn’t changed much these past twenty-five years. (A rule, by the way, which I often break.) Many readers never get past the first few paragraphs, so when it comes to the release of the architectural sketches, those who picked up the P-I this morning will simply learn what happened, while those who picked up the Times will learn what it all means. Score one for the Times.

As I’ve said before: one hearing, two newspapers, two ledes.

And all the more reason to keep this a two newspaper town.

The Tri-City Herald’s Chris Mulick digs up the dirt on state Rep. Shirley Hankins (R-Richland):

Longtime Richland state Rep. Shirley Hankins has repeatedly used the power of her office in the past five years to muscle state and local officials into directing business to her two daughters’ struggling tire baling company.

A Herald investigation shows the Republican lawmaker’s efforts to promote Northwest Tire Recycling have ranged from carefully indirect to downright blunt, and the tactics raise questions about abuse of power.

[… Hankins] denied she’s ever used her office to promote the daughters’ business […] but multiple interviews, letters, e-mails and other documents reveal that Hankins has actively promoted Northwest Tire Recycling in Olympia and the Tri-Cities.

Great reporting by Mulick, but will his paper follow up? Central WA blog The Other Side demands that both Hankins and the region’s editorial boards do the right thing.

The papers in the region should call for her resignation. And, of course, the only honorable thing for her to do……resign.

Hmm. I dunno. I mean, all Hankins really did was abuse the power of her office to benefit her daughters’ business, and as far as editorial-worthy scandals go, that pales in comparison to this session’s notorious Dogs-In-Bars Controversy.

As for my colleagues on the right — who fancy themselves watchdogs of government corruption — you just know that if Hankins were a Democrat they’d be screaming for her political necklacing. But I’m not gonna hold my breath waiting for cries of outrage from my friends over at (u)SP.

From the Times:

The trail would be designed as a “dual-use facility” that could accommodate a high-capacity passenger rail line sometime in the future, said one of the architects of the deal, County Executive Ron Sims.

If a final deal is reached in the coming months, the Port would pay $103 million for the rail line, then swap it with King County in exchange for county-owed Boeing Field.

The Port would also give the county $66 million to build a biking and hiking trail south of the Snohomish County line. Freight trains would continue to run between Woodinville and Snohomish.

The really important thing to remember here is this: before everyone starts arguing about what to do with the right-of-way, we had to acquire the right-of-way. Idon’t know if rail will be feasible, I don’t want the rail line eliminated in favor of a trail-only use. At least not right away.

Here’s what Goldy had to say about it back in January:

The pro-rail group wants the corridor to be converted to commuter rail now, using the existing tracks, but transit experts who have studied the route insist that it just isn’t economical. The tracks themselves have been neglected over the years and would require expensive upgrades, while current commuter patterns simply won’t support much of the route. Or at least, that’s what I’ve been privately told.

Who are these guys? The only Republicans who walk the talk when it comes to the environment.

Dan Evans made environmental conservation a priority during his three terms as Governor, and was greener than the Democrat who succeeded him.

Rep. Fred Jarrett (R-Mercer Island) is one of the few Republicans in Olympia who believes global warming is real. Heck, Fred’s one of the few Republicans who believes the Earth is more than 7,000 years old! Where do his views get him? Ostricized within the GOP caucus.

Jim Nobles currently sits on the Seattle Monorail Board, a governmental organization that won’t exist in three months. (did you think it still existed? I didn’t) Jim is an avid user of public transportation, and actually supports light rail. Jim is the only Republican office holder in Seattle in large part because he never had to run with an “R” next to his name. Still, Nobles is the kind of Republican that used to get elected to the Seattle City Council.

So, there you go, Eric. Can anyone else think of any?

The Seattle Times editorializes this morning, once again defending the initiative process status quo, and quite frankly its arguments are a stinking pile of shit so weak and unsupportable that they are forced to resort to the lowest of rhetorical lows… the anecdote.

In attacking efforts to impose some degree of accountability onto the process, the Times attempts to strike an emotional chord by propagandistically rising to the defense of the poor, embattled signature gatherer:

Jaye Anderson, testified about what it’s like. She said, “I’ve been spat on. I’ve had French fries thrown at me. I’ve had people following me to my car.” There are, she said, “a lot of weirdos out there.”

Like many signature gatherers, she is in her 60s, and not physically imposing. She has reason not to put her home address on the petitions, which are public documents.

Oh, boo-hoo.

I’ve had people call me up in the middle of the night threatening to come to my house and “beat the commie crap” out of me. I’ve had scores of anti-semitic comments and emails joyfully telling me that when “the Sweep” comes they want to be the first at my door, or laughing that I can have all my fancy words, “but we own all the guns.” I’ve had a load of horse manure dumped on my sidewalk, and the car tabs repeatedly scraped off my license plate in what I suppose is intended to be an ironic gesture. I’ve been falsely and maliciously reported to authorities for soliciting sex from minors online. I’ve received death threats.

As a blogger and journalist (yes, journalist) I’m at least as integral a part of our democratic process as an itinerate signature gatherer, and yet I don’t see the Times demanding that the state protect my anonymity.

Yes, initiative petitions are public records. Everybody and anybody who signs a petition is potentially putting their name and address out there for all to see. And the signature gatherer should be no different.

What the Times doesn’t tell its readers is that there have been documented cases of signature fraud throughout the nation, and that the only way to track down the perpetrators is to have them identify themselves on the petition. The Times wouldn’t protect the rights of poll workers and elections officials to remain anonymous (at least I hope they wouldn’t,) so why should they protect the anonymity of signature gatherers? Everybody who participates in the electoral process can be identified in the public record… except for the migrant, piecemeal workers who collect the bulk of our signatures. What sense is there in that?

There is nothing inviolate about the statutes currently governing the initiative process — which I should remind the Times were written by, you know, legislators — the same sort of legislators the Times now mocks and excoriates for attempting to update our laws to meet the demands of modern times. But then, I have trouble taking the Times’ holier-than-thou grandstanding seriously. Personally, I can’t help but wonder if it’s just another one of their occasional bouts of faux populism intended to cover up and facilitate (and perhaps, make themselves feel better about) the corporatist agenda their op/ed page routinely promulgates.

I love to talk policy, and that can get kinda wonky, but tonight on “The David Goldstein Show” I’ve got a couple of issues guaranteed to a raise few hackles… including a few of my own. So tune in to the fireworks from 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO, and give me and my guests a call.

7PM: Is the WA State Legislature the proper place to debate presidential impeachment? State Sen. Eric Oemig (D-Kirkland) thinks so, and he joins me for the hour to talk about why he introduced SJM 8016, “Requesting an impeachment investigation into actions by President Bush and Vice President Cheney.” Is Sen. Oemig’s Joint Memorial a goofy waste of the Senate’s time, or a bold effort to hold the White House accountable?

8PM: Is it time to elect our Elections Director? It was my coverage of the contested 2004 gubernatorial election that first made HA a must-read blog — an election whose problems I believe were grossly exaggerated by Republicans and the mainstream media. Now with the much anticipated Gregoire-Rossi rematch coming into focus, former state Rep. Toby Nixon is rekindling the controversy by filing an initiative that would make the King County Elections Director and elected officer. Oy. I like Toby — for a Republican — which should make disagreeing with him all the more fun.

9PM: Did you watch the Oscars? I didn’t. (Because I was, um, on the air talking about politics and stuff.) So give me a call and fill me in on what happened.

Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

James Vesely, the Seattle Times columnist who referred to Darcy Burner as “Miss Bruner” several times during the Reichert-Burner debate he moderated last fall, comes to some odd conclusions in his Sunday column:

Winners: Anti-incumbents; legislators who see Seattle as losing some of its power; Dino Rossi; eager challengers to City Council members; King County Executive Ron Sims, who is working on a surface and tolling plan; and maybe the Port of Seattle by staying out of this mess.

I’m not sure which incumbents Vesely is talking about. David Della, a rebuild supporter, is the biggest target in this fall’s city elections. With every single Democratic legislative district declining to endorse a Viaduct rebuild, Della will have to clam up about his support of a big freeway on the waterfront.

Dino Rossi doesn’t seem to understand the basic parameters of the debate. Why Vesley makes him a winner is astounding. The Seattle Times seems to be going out of it’s way to make the irrelevant former senator relevant again.

Then there’s this:

The most passionate, emotional voice for the tunnel is Peter Steinbrueck’s; the calmest and most logical against a tunnel is Nick Licata’s. Go figure.

That’s weird. I was standing 10 feet away from Peter at a Friends of Seattle event when he bashed the hell out of th tunnel. You see, Peter’s for the “surface plus transit” option.

On the biography page of his legislative website, state Rep. Glenn Anderson (R-Fall City) proudly notes his “active” participation in Encompass (formally Children’s Services of Snoqualmie Valley), an organization whose stated mission is to “value” and “nurture” children and families.

Hmm. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I’m wondering how one nurtures children by protecting the use of products that strangle them?

A few days ago the state House passed by a 95 to 1 margin HB 1256, “Preventing serious injury and strangulation from window blind cords or other significant safety hazards in child care settings,” and Rep. Anderson cast the lone vote in opposition.

Since 1991, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has received 174 reports of strangulation involving cords on window blinds, including the December 2005 strangulation death of Jaclyn Frank, an eighteen-month old baby girl from Washington State, who got caught in the cords of a blind near her crib at a residential day care home. According to the House Bill Analysis, HB 1256 would update the safety standards at child care facilities:

The prohibition of the use of window blinds or other window coverings with pull cords or inner cords capable of forming a loop and posing a risk of strangulation to young children is added to the minimum safety requirements for child care licensing.

The bill would be known as the Jaclyn Frank Act.

I’ve emailed Rep. Anderson asking him to explain his vote, and I’ll post an update as soon as I hear back.

I’m rested, I’m tanned and I’m back. Okay, I’m kinda jet-lagged, and I’m my usual pasty-white self. But I am back, and I’m talking politics as unusual again tonight on “The David Goldstein Show” from 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO. I like to go with the flow, so things could change, but here’s what I have lined up for tonight’s show:

7PM: What’s up (or down) with the Viaduct? Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels joins me at the top of the hour to talk about the latest developments in the ongoing debate over how to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct. Is WSDOT trying to bury tunnel? We’ll ask the mayor.

8PM: TBA

9PM: Did you ever get a really big break? And what did you do with it? The man who gave me my break at 710-KIRO is moving on, and I can’t thank him enough. I want to hear from you on how a big break might have changed your life, and give you the opportunity to thank your benefactor. (Or maybe, I’ll just rant about a bunch of stuff.)

Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

While sitting on the tarmac in Atlanta, I learned that yesterday was Program Director Tom Clendening’s last day at 710-KIRO.

I suppose you don’t bring in a new program director to leave the programming unchanged, so I have no idea what the future might hold for me at the station, but whatever happens I’ll remain eternally grateful to Tom for giving me the extraordinary opportunity I’ve had so far.

In truth, my brief radio career has been rather charmed. One generally doesn’t break into this business at a 50,000 watt legacy station in a major market. Most aspiring hosts work their way up from small stations in smaller markets, or through various on- and off-air jobs at larger stations. But understanding that a local news/talk audience is best served by hosts who are passionate and informed about local issues, Tom occasionally took a chance trying out raw, local talent like me.

If I have a long career in radio I’ll always have Tom to thank for giving me my start, and… well… if I don’t, then I’ll still have Tom to thank for the amazing run I’ve had. All one can ask for in life is the opportunity to succeed or fail on one’s own, and that’s what Tom gave me.

So thank you, Tom. I hope you land on your feet.

“This is not a pipe” -Belgian Surrealist René Magritte

“This report was not a report” -American Surrealist Holly Armstrong

I read this comment by “shoephone” at Washblog:

I was disappointed that Will produced a photo that presumes much and explains nothing. I’ll wait for the facts on what’s actually IN the study. Or file folder. Or pretty white and yellow binder.

I want to explain the binder in the photo, and exactly what is in it. First, this is from Mike Lindblom’s excellent story in the Seattle Times:

A previously unreleased report shows that when the state’s Alaskan Way Viaduct project team examined a four-lane-tunnel concept in January, the group thought the tunnel could handle the expected traffic.

Since then, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) reversed course, concluding Feb. 13 that the option nicknamed “Tunnel Lite” — in which cars would use the shoulders as exit-only lanes at peak times — would be unsafe. Gov. Christine Gregoire promptly declared she would only support a $2.8 billion six-lane elevated highway.

Staffers in the pro-tunnel administration of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels say they’re outraged the DOT didn’t mention the 50-page report during weeks of intense public debate. A state DOT administrator called the report relatively insignificant and said the issues it covers have been aired in public.

The fifty page report mentioned in the article is, in fact, an executive summary of the eight hundred and fifty page report prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff, well-known engineering firm.

WashDOT calls that 850 page report “relatively insignificant,” or a “glorified file memo.” That report, which approved of the Hybrid Tunnel, was ignored four weeks later when Governor Gregoire announced the Hybrid Tunnel wouldn’t work.

That’s the report in the binder. WashDOT flip flopped, and now they’re trying to hide it.

The Smith Tower is hands-down the most appealing structure ever built in downtown Seattle, or in Washington state. It stands in sharp contrast to the Columbia Center just a few blocks away. One terra cotta, one black glass. Smith Tower isn’t doing too well on the commercial market, however.

Smith Tower has struggled a bit to attract and retain business tenants as more modern office towers emerged in recent decades.

“The building itself was never ideally suited to a modern, commercial office-type tenant,” said Kevin Daniels, president of Nitze-Stagen, a private commercial-property investment firm.

The floor space in the upper stories is too small — just 2,000 square feet — and the spaces on the lower levels are either too cut up or too big.

Smith Tower’s occupancy rate was up to 90 percent last year, from 75 percent a decade earlier. But that could reverse itself with the reported departure of two of its largest tenants.

Perhaps my favorite reason to see Smith go residential:

Matthew Gardner, principal in the Seattle-based land-use economics firm Gardner Johnson, said Smith Tower’s conversion “could be incredible.”

“The building itself is iconic, so it does make sense to go down this road.”

Gardner also said the switch would benefit Pioneer Square by bringing more residents into the neighborhood.

Nice.