I’m a fan of Publicola, but they’ve fallen into the same trap as much of the rest of the Seattle media on the McGinn and the tunnel. From a piece about Peter Hahn signing the Environmental Impact Statement for the tunnel (I assume by Josh, but it’s the Afternoon Jolt, so it doesn’t have a name attached, and he and Erica do the same thing).
The move could signify that McGinn’s administration has decided to back off (for now, anyway) from its single-minded opposition to the controversial project. The McGinn administration, mindful perhaps of polling that has linked his bad numbers to his nonstop focus on the tunnel, has been notably quiet about the tunnel these days. This even-keeled move will definitely draw applause from McGinn’s establishment opponents who consider him an obstructionist.
First off, you think McGinn’s establishment opponents give a fuck about policy? Nobody gives him credit for being bold on the Youth and Family initiative. Nobody thanks him for filling potholes quickly. Nobody gives him credit for a budget that didn’t cut social services. Despite the fact that he salted the roads during the snow storm like his establishment opponents demanded (and I think it’s bad policy, but it is clearly the position of Seattle insiders) he doesn’t get credit. So, no, I don’t think anyone will care that this time instead of asking for and being given more time by the state DOT that this time his people just signed it when their concerns were met.
But to the main point, McGinn has always been able to walk and chew gum (see the paragraph above, for examples of other things he does, and it doesn’t even get into the things that the establishment is against, but that deserve more coverage). He’s never been single minded about the tunnel. He’s always talked about other things. I’m sorry, but it’s been the media, including Publicola, who who see McGinn only through one highway project instead of through his budget and other policies.
Perhaps that’s why he has to stop talking about it. Because we have media who can’t stop talking about how much they’re over talking about the Viaduct replacement. The rap on him has always been that he’s a 1 issue candidate or a 1 issue mayor. But that’s never been the case. He’s always been able to chew gum and walk at the same time. He just needs an audience that won’t obsess about the gum thing.
Very true. Another example to note is the fiber optic internet being put into Pioneer Square, the kind of public-private partnership that establishment types love and that is necessary to get the internet coverage we need. It didn’t even get a mention on Publicola.
McGinn had some early trips but honestly he’s done a decent job. But everyone still thinks he’s a single-issue bomb thrower because of bad media coverage.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....le16m.html
Exactly, look at that big golf ball sitting at the end of Harbor Island. McGinn and his team lobbied the federal government to bring that contract to Vigor (used to be Todd) Shipyards. That’s real money paying for real jobs. Not a peep from the media.
What’s funny is that Dave Ross mentioned that McGinn is not a politician, he doesn’t stick his finger in the wind or do polling. Voters rejected Nickels because he was a politician.
And Michael Meved whining that McGinn was the most corrupt mayor in the history of the US last month was hilarious. Apparently Medved decided that Marion Berry’s crack and hookers escapades were ok cause he didn’t do it in his office.
maybe his crony bike nazi scam artist buddy that he hired has a secret plan…LMFAO….
Good post, Carl.
I think our current media serve more to reinforce our preconceived notions than to tell the truth. If you’re a Righty tune into Fox, if you’re a Lefty fire-up HuffPo or CNBC. McGinn as a one-issue wonder obsessed with the tunnel is what the folks in Bellvue and the suburbs that the Seattle media court want to believe about Seattle and it’s mayor.
I think the same thing every time I see a similar post on publicola about McGinn. I always chalked it up to them trying too hard to not look like liberal cheerleaders and so they have something to point to showing how critical they are of McGinn.
I do wish McGinn would shuck the tunnel issue. Decisions have to be made, right or wrong. Seattle’s government has been too long on process for far too long. Enough is enough at a certain point in time. You pull the trigger and see where the bullet hits.
@6
spoken like someone who doesnt care about the costs.
in other words, “lets just spend a lot of money and see where it gets us”…
nice planning there einstein.
the bottom line on the joke called the tunnel is this: we are going to spend BILLIONS, and the final outcome is that it will have less capacity, and NO option for future growth, than the current viaduct.
what nitwit thought up this idea?
hmmm, sounds like more brilliant seattle(and Olympia) thinking to me…..no wonder you guys are a the laughing stock of the country.
Candidate McGinn publicly flip-flopped on the tunnel issue, suddenly going from “totally against” to “maybe not really completely totally against”, because even he knew he would not have gotten elected by running against the tunnel. As the tunnel will define downtown Seattle for decades to come, the tunnel issue will continue defining his time in office.
Democracy can be such a b*tch sometimes, don’t ya know? Damned voters and their accountability and all that. (Who the heck do they think they are, anyway?)
The NUMBER ONE JOB of any politician is leadership. If McGinn can not control his public image or create a functional public agenda, he has failed.
His obsession with the tunnel .. whether you agree with him or not, hurts Seattle because he has not been able to create any POSITIVE momentum toward alternatives.
His obsession with the tunnel .. whether you agree with him or not, hurts Seattle because McGinn has not created a public agenda on nay other issue.
McG’s stands, whatever they may be, on hard issues facing Seattle are pretty much unknown of if known irrelevant. Where is he on the Mercer Corridor, Chihuly, Pioneer Square, height and set back limits, street food, the schools?
As for filling pot holes and salting roads, these may be good evidence that McG is competent, but competence and leadership are3 very different things.
When one contiunally makes stupid, inflammatory, and from-the-hip statements from the viewpoint of a narrow constituency, people are going to pay attention; especially the media. Not only does this speak to his lack of media savy, but also to the continued narrative that he is somehow not responsible for the flak he is generating over his lack of substance, integrity, and competency. It’s everyone else’s problem once again, isn’t it? When has McGinn taken responsibility for a single mistake he has made? That answer speaks volumes about his character.