Fnarf guest posting over at Slog (yay for guest posters!) has a great post about the Port of Seattle parks. They are a mostly hidden treasure:
For all of the many malfeasances of Mic Dinsmore’s and Pat Davis’s crony operation down on Port 69 (where elected officials and port businesses gather to fellate each other), they did a fantastic and largely unheralded job building a network of waterfront parks. Some of these fulfill the classic parks ideal of picnic tables in a field of grass, but they also don’t shy away from the truth about Seattle’s waterfront. Work goes on there, heavy industrial work, work that is a lot of fun to watch.
These parks are tucked in between working port sites and can be hard to spot. Some of them have sexy, romantic names like “T-105 Park”, but don’t let that put you off. They’re quite pretty, and have lovely river views. The Duwamish lives beneath the radar of most Seattleites, but it is the center of our Indian heritage, our early white settler heritage, and our industrial heritage.
Click over for some great pictures. My only complaint is nary a mention of my favorite Port of Seattle park, Jack Block. The best view of the skyline and some good biking. Near Alki, so well integrated into the Seattle Parks system.
In any event, I’ll have to check out some of the other parks this weekend. If you see someone who seems overdressed, especially given his crazy facial hair, say, “hi” and even if it isn’t me, it’s a nice thing to do.
Before you start fawning over these parks too much, you should ask some questions. Such as, how much did they cost? And who got the contracts to build them? How were those contracts awarded?
Follow the money.
They’re already built Roger, so you may as well enjoy them.
Fnarf is an old buddy of mine. From, like, 15-20 years ago in New England.
Really.
Stop The Presses! Richard Pope Switches Parties!
It says so right here in the official candidate filings:
“County Council District No. 6 – DEMOCRAT Pope, Richard (DEM)”
http://www.metrokc.gov/electio.....x?eid=1219
Roger @ 4
Finally a race where I’d vote for Richard Pope. But man alive, would that be the most crowded primary in a King County Council race against an incumbent if he managed to win.
Unlike HA, SLOG isn’t men only for guest posters.
@5 Richard has been making a few Democrat-like noises for some time now, and also has been burning his bridges with local Republicans in an irredeemable fashion, so I suspect he’s been plotting this for some time. Hey, ya can’t blame the guy for moving over to a more successful brand name! It’s like leaving Caribou Coffee Co. to work for Starbucks.
Actually, I take it back. I think I did vote for him for Port Commissioner, ironically enough because I didn’t care about what the port was doing, and figured I’d make a semi-informed decision in the general.
Uh-oh! Isn’t he taking the chance he’ll be called a “flip-flopper?”