As Cienna reported yesterday on Slog, $98 million dollars has now been pledged toward the $131 million cost of replacing the South Park Bridge:
King County ($30 million), Washington state ($20 million), city of Seattle ($15 million), State Transportation Improvement Board ($10 million), Port of Seattle ($5 million), Senator Murray’s Federal DOT-HUD funding bill ($3 million), and PSRC ($15 million).
On the one hand, it’s terrific news to see the region finally getting its shit together on replacing such an absolutely essential, if unglamorous piece of local infrastructure. On the other hand, our political leaders should be absolutely ashamed that it took the bridge’s closure to finally get them to act. How many small, local businesses in the district surrounding the bridge are going to fail during the couple year closure? Or does it not really matter when it’s the wrong type of businesses closing?
Put perhaps more importantly, from a pure public policy perspective, what an incredibly fucked up way of funding local infrastructure!
$20 million here, $15 million there, $3 million in loose change from under the cushions on the couch… really? That’s how we fund road construction around here? I mean, since when did the Port of Seattle become a road-building agency? And yet the Big Bore tunnel, let alone the South Park Bridge wouldn’t be possible without hundreds of millions of dollars from the port. The port, for chrisakes. How fucked up is that? And honestly, how dishonest?
It’s all taxpayer dollars after all; the county and the port, for example, share district boundaries and tax exactly the same people. So why do we have to go through this incredibly stupid charade of raising money from seven — count ’em — seven different taxpayer funded governmental entities?
Why? Because our region has become paralyzed by the politics of something for nothing.
There was a time when the county and city had the taxing authority to maintain their own roads without resorting to begging or special levies or, well, laundering taxpayer dollars through the Port of Seattle. But no more. Not since Tim Eyman’s I-747 vindictively capped property tax revenue growth at an absolutely ridiculous one percent annual growth, a limit our cowardly governor and legislature ridiculously reimposed after it was thrown out by the courts.
One percent! Not enough to keep up with inflation, let alone our region’s growth. Are we really that stupid and irresponsible? (Are we, Seattle Times editorial board? Are we?)
I’ve got no problem with state and federal contributions to local projects — it’s always worked that way — but here’s a novel idea: how about giving the city and county sufficient taxing authority to take on the primary responsibility of maintaining city and count roads, instead of relying on such an incredibly convoluted and stupid-ass funding goulash? Wouldn’t that be more efficient? And since the money is all coming from the same people, wouldn’t it be dramatically more honest and transparent?
Or are we really better off sacrificing the South Park business district for the sake of hiding from taxpayers what basic services really cost?
You are a little late to the South Park party, Goldy.
poor goldy is gonna flip out when he discovers that the Port of Seattle owns and operates Sea-Tac…..
and Goldy, since you are so gung-ho on spending more of OUR money and raising taxes, why dont you nut up to the plate and volunteer your hard earned beggars money to the tax coffers of the state and city of seattle?
talk is cheap…lets see you walk the walk before asking others to hand over more cash.
I see Patty contributed by jacked up the National Debt another $3 MILLION.
She’s good at that…deficit spending.
That is why she is vulmerable in a State she should be a slam dunk.
Goldy has unwittingly displayed the problem with our massive Bureaucracy.
How many millions get sucked up in unproductive overhead.
Goldy, you are welcome at the next Tea Party event.
I agree our system of is crazy, but it’s nothing new.
Given it’s location, it’d actually be a little unusual for the Port to NOT be involved.
But the fact that this is how business is done in WA doesn’t mean it’s how it should be done so your point is well taken.
When did they start calling it the Southpark bridge? About the same time someone came up with SODO?
The Port has been involved in a lot of transportation projects. After all moving goods takes more than just the Port itself.
Washington’s port districts have always contributed to land transportation development. All 75 of ’em, including those without seaports, river ports or airports.
The Port Of Tacoma owns its own railroad.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/.....-rail.html
@2: poor goldy is gonna flip out when he discovers that the Port of Seattle owns and operates Sea-Tac….
Right now, there are a bunch of wingnut loons on the City Council that are taking that fine city over the edge into dysfunctional paranoia….a story Goldy should be looking into.
IMHO, the more the people knew about what government delivers and at what cost, they would gladly pay for more of it.
Goldy,
The South Park Bridge spans a water way controlled by the Port of Seattle. They have both an interest and a responsibility for the water way. Like wise they are paying for part of the Alaska Way viaduct/tunnel because it also includes repairs and replacement of the seawall.
@9 IMHO, the more the people knew about what government delivers and at what cost, they would gladly pay for more of it.
A failure to communicate – you must frickin’ be kidding.
Proud @ 9–
Huh??
You’ve got to be kidding me….more government??
You are in the minority Proud….seriously.
Although in Seattle, people love “free stuff” from the government.
This upcoming election and 2012 will primarily be about the size & cost & role of government in our lives. We’ll see. I suspect dreams of being like Yerup…which is running away from Socialism while we try to embrace it BECAUSE IT DOESN”T WORK ONCE YOU RUN OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY!!….are quickly subsiding. Many fellow citizens are coming out of the KLOUDS OF UTOPIA into the real world of THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH and GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CREATE WEALTH, IT SUCKS IT UP LIKE A PARASITE.
This is why we have elections though…right?
cyniklown has the vodka iv dripping again…
…hey fuckwad! tell me again how Bush and his crime syndicate didn’t finish the fuck job on this country that st. ronny ray-gun started…I need a good laugh today.
@13
no matter who is in control of the govt, breaking church windows has never paid well, has it rujax?
Port is an example of seattle at its worst; pork, graft, liberals don’t necessarily like it but never help defund it. talk about taxation without representation.
@11 & 12: Kidding? Government spending is over 1/3 of GDP. If you believe we have any semblance of democracy in this country, then its citizens have a hearty preference for public spending–mostly because it can deliver publicly desired services relatively inexpensively, better, and faster. To believe otherwise is to be in the tiny minority….oh, I forgot.
@15: The Port Commission is a body of elected officials you fucking dolt. I see you also hate democracy. Why do rightards always hate democracy?
BOSTON – Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family’s new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, allowing him to avoid paying roughly $500,000 in taxes to his cash-strapped home state.
hey proud; i only vote for the port commissioners. they have broad taxing powers. very opaque in their dealings.
why should they get any tax revenue? don’t ships and planes pay fees?
@17
and yet another example of progressive “do as I say, not as I do” mentality
I dunno, Goldy. Even with caps in place, taxes are shockingly high. The property taxes on my dilapidated burrow have quadrupled since 1990, whereas its non-inflation-adjusted value in nominal dollars is up only 67%. And the cost of things nowadays is stunning: $131 million for a small bridge! The steel will come from India, the cement from China, and be carried to South Park on ships manned by foreign crews. The ordinary folks who pay for all of this don’t have enough money to make ends meet, and about a fifth of them are unemployed or underemployed. The world is out of whack.
@17 Kerry, with all his faults and limitations, would have been a better president than second-term Bush. We might not have had this economic conflagration if Kerry had been in charge. You must like unemployment, foreclosures, and declining asset values. If you vote Republican, you hate your money.
@17
Now that’s
Tooooooooooooooooooooo
Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnny
As you can see only the little DUMMOCRAPTS pay taxes, not the rich whitey types eh Steve Steve Steve?
That was really dumb Roger. Kerry, the Vietnam War Vet, couldn’t legislate his ASS out of a wet paper bag. He was against guns before he was for them.
Puddy–
Rog is taking heavy-duty narcotics these days because of his health problems caused by years of cigarette smoking that was the tobacco companies fault.
One of the side effects is chronic fits of delusion and losing touch with reality.
John Kerry was a real zero.
So was Algore.
I’m a big critic of Bush and his signing unsustainable budgets with Deficit Spending. He failed to stand up to the Democrat Congress and use his veto power.
I didn’t vote for his old man in 1992….and I reluctantly voted for Bush cuz Algore is a power hungry Liar and sleezeball (history is proving that point) and Kerry is inept and flip-floppy.
The Democrats have had pretty lame candidates since Clinton. ObaMao is an unqualifies, incompetent opportunist and ideologue.
He will be a 1-term President.
Righties like to go off half cocked on stories without knowing the truth (see Sherrod, et al). The boat in question is not owned by John Kerry, it is owned by a company in Pittsburgh, related to Heinz, the company that Kerry’s wife is heir to. And the boat is moored in Rhode Island because that is where the maintenance and chartering is being done on it. See, when people in Rhode Island go to lease a boat, it makes sense to keep it where the charter company is located. That way, people in Rhode Island don’t have to travel to Massachusetts when they want to get on the boat.
Can’t wait for the riveting story on Kerry bypassing Massachusetts’ pickle tax by making them in Pennsylvania.
If Dino Rossi gets elected he’ll have Jesus H. Christ Himself come down from heaven and build a new bridge from some old rusty rebar and busted up concrete, saving the tax payers millions of dollars. Then Jesus will give everyone a free mani-pedi, ’cause that’s how Jesus rolls.
@23 “That was really dumb Roger. Kerry, the Vietnam War Vet, couldn’t legislate his ASS out of a wet paper bag.”
Hey puddy, it was a real pleasure meeting you at Seattle Jew’s daughter’s wedding reception last night. A PLEASURE, man! It’s amazing that so much stupidity can come in such a polite and charming package. I’ll bet Kerry has a Silver Star and 3 more Purple Hearts than you do. Just out of curiosity, which war did you fight in?
@24 “Rog is taking heavy-duty narcotics these days because of his health problems caused by years of cigarette smoking that was the tobacco companies fault.”
I’ve never smoked, but I’m pretty sure you smoke something before going into the goat shed. I don’t see how you could do it otherwise.
Hey Cynical, how are your goats treating you? You seem a little cranky this morning. Do you get visitation rights with your baby goats?
28. Roger Rabbit spews:
Huh?
You told us numerous times in the past you foolishly smoked them cigs…picked up the habit in Nam. Were you making that up Rog?
I’m sorry to here about your lung/breathing problems. I’m sure it must be hell to suck for a breath. But don’t BS us about the smoking Rog. The damage is done to your lungs…but perhaps you can convince others not to do the same thing??!
I hope so.
My dad died from emphysema. I never smoked. Was and still am disgusted by it. We all make mistakes. I eat too much red meat.
I’m glad the Port is stepping up to the plate, hope they do more. Unfortunately the neo-cons have decided that they don’t want to pay for maintenance because their special snowflake selves should just get everything for free.
They remind me of the guy who sits on the couch polishing his guns so he can protect his home while the termites, carpenter ants, mold, mildew, wet-rot, dry-rot and everything else he refuses to pay for destroys it around him.
“God hates Jedi!” No, really. At least that’s how a sign that a guy in a Startrek uniform is holding reads.
Westboro Church (“God Hates Fags” freaks) protests at San Diego Comic-Con. Oh no, tell me they didn’t! Comic-Con attendees know how to counter protest! Lesson to be learned here? Never, ever take on America’s Superheroes. Or weird looking, protesting robots.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/.....st-church/
Hmm, these Comic-Con folks could teach teabaggers a thing or two about writing protest signs. And I do love their chant.
24. Mr. Cynical spews:
“I’m a big critic of Bush”
Yeah, so I noticed.