Mike McGinn

Ed Murray New Seattle Mayor

Published on November 6, 2013

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

Mike McGinn is out and our new Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is in the house. History hasn’t been good to previous Mayors in-fact the last 3 have consecutively been voted out after their re-election attempts. Mr. Ed Murray won with approx. 56% of the vote. His election win makes him Seattle’s 53rd Mayor and also the first openly gay Mayor. Reviewing the election he simply had more support and being someone who is fresh/new really won him this election. He even had the full support of Seattle’s Chamber of Commerce which is a big deal in my opinion. Another concept he preached was “collaboration over confrontation”. Voters can really related to that and are fed up with all the feuding in politics right now from both sides. In just the last few days of the race there was a Washington Post article which stated several of the large telecom companies were supporting Ed Murray over McGinn which just pushed it in Mr. Murray’s favor even more.

Personally, I’m just happy to write about someone else for a while. I’m not a big supporter for either right now honestly and I do believe that the average Joe off the street would get us all better results but that simply will not happen this day and age.

I give everyone a fair shot and if they do a great job and make positive changes I will be the first to support them fully. I do have a few concerns one being his long history in state politics. Some view this as positive but for me that is a obvious negative. Our state is in horrible shape and being involved for so long (18 years as a law maker) that would mean he was part of that effort. Having done that for so long, I have my doubts he is in the loop of what the average worker needs and feels in their daily lives. Both Mike McGinn and Ed Murray support the $15 per hour minimum wage increase. Just him making a stance to support it and going along with Mike McGinn makes him suspicious. Obviously he just wanted that issue to be an even playing field (vote numbers) and it was a wise choice for him to take that stance politically. It is a sign, however, that he is savvy and playing the game of politics. The truth is $15 per hour minimum wage is scam to get more tax revenue out of the workers paychecks. It’s a huge boost of revenue actually. If you’re trying to find a job it doesn’t make sense because it only makes it more difficult for you. It’s a scam and shouldn’t be supported.

I found that Ed Murray’s election campaign was very “play it safe” and identical to Mike McGinns thoughts about issues.

Welcome to the Emerald City Journal Mayor Ed Murray I hope my thoughts and opinions about you are not true. I support you fully to do the right things for this city. Don’t play the political games. Be real, open, honest, and 100% transparent. Make your budgets and request for funds open to public review and you’ll be very successful here.

Mike McGinn News

Published on June 1, 2013

This is our hot topics page regarding the Seattle, Washington Mayor Mike McGinn. Below you’ll find are hottest news articles that everyone is reading at this time. We have covered a lot of stories here involving the Major and there will be many more to come. Mayor Mike McGinn was elected the Mayor of Seattle in November 2009. He is also a lawyer and a former Sierra Club state chair member. One of his most controversial stands was for his opposition to the tunnel replacement project. Mike McGinn was born on Dec. 17, 1959 and his political party is Democratic.

The Seattle Mayor is married to Peggy Lynch and has 3 children (Jack, Miyo, and Cian). He grew up with a family of 8 and got his BA in economics from Williams College (Massachusetts) in 1982. He also attended UW School of Law. Mayor Mike McGinn lives in the Greenwood area of Seattle.

News topics on the Emerald City Journal related to Mike McGinn:

Mayor Mike McGinn’s response to the Supremes Court ruling regarding 2/3 voting is an interesting article about the Seattle Mayor and how he basically applauded the decision of the Supreme Court for ignoring the voters who wanted it to happen. Requiring a 2/3 vote would help all the out of control spending we have in Seattle. He says now Olympia can invest more in our transportation system but he doesn’t understand we pay all that in our taxes. If the spending was made public and very itemized, he could easily ask for more money. I believe Seattle residents just want to know that their money is all being used correctly. If the taxes are being used up efficiently now, then there will be no problem asking for more taxes to repair important transportation matters.

Seattle’s $10 million dollar streetcar project is a construction project that our Mayor Mike McGinn is supporting. We feel quite different about spending so much money and honestly find it wasteful. By the way, the $10 million dollars is just for planning that doesn’t even include the construction aspect. The big project would create just 3 street cars – who cares but read the full news story here on the Emerald City Journal.

The Waste Management garbage strike in Seattle which basically shut down the collection of garbage for 8 days are going to be fined $1.24 million dollars. Mayor Mike McGinn made the announcement back in Sept. 2012. The settlement was 1/3 of the amount set in the contract breaching terms. The amount was far less than expected considering the Agreement the City of Seattle had with Waste Management.

Mike McGinn’s support for new NBA team is a news article about the Mayor’s secret NBA contract and support for the cause to making this happen in Seattle. As you know the City of Seattle is constantly talking about slashing and cutting police and fireman and how we have no money for the streets, however, a new NBA deal would be OK. It turns out the Mayor has a fund of $250,000 that he can use without even telling the City of Seattle council about it!

Mayor Mike McGinn opposes the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement provided by the Emerald City Journal newspaper the Mayor responds via email for his views of why the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement (Tunnel) is a bad idea. He simply feels it’s not the best option available to repair it. Read the email now and consider his view of why replacing the viaduct is not the best option for Seattle residents.

McGinn On Supreme Court Ruling (2/3 Voting)

Published on March 4, 2013

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn

Mayor McGinn’s statement on state Supreme Court ruling
Yesterday, the state Supreme Court issued a ruling stating that a state law requiring a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to increase revenue is unconstitutional.

“I applaud the state Supreme Court’s decision. This opens the door to common sense returning to Olympia’s process to fully fund education and invest in our transportation system,” said Mayor McGinn.

THE ABOVE STATEMENT IS CUT AND PASTED FROM A WEEKLY E MAIL I GET FROM MAYOR McGINN.

This really surprised me (and not much the politicians do surprise me anymore). I can’t believe he would actually put in writing that the will of the voters mean absolutely nothing to him. We all know that includes almost every elected official but to admit it in writing and be proud of it. His e mail called the reader is sent to us voters who have signed up for it. lol I hope when he runs for re-election this gets really circulated and can be filed under, “Put a fork in it, his goose is cooked”. But then if you look at what happened in November he could get voted in again. He won last time by running on the fact that he was Keep Reading

Seattle Streetcar Ten Million Dollar Plan

Published on November 14, 2012

After the shock and disappointment of the election, I thought I would try to make a fresh start in my thinking and try to accept the fact that i just don’t fit into the way most Washington voters think. I thought I might just sort of give up and go with the flow, then the Times runs this big article that Mayor McGinn and the City Council are going to spend ten million dollars planning where some new street cars would go. This is just planning, and they don’t really have a clear cut idea of what they are planning so for sure they will run out of money fast. They say the city is broke. Had to re-do the bus routes and cut service to thousands of people. Georgetown had 3 buses and now we don’t have one bus along the highway or 4th ave. We have to either walk a half mile or so to get to the only bus stop in Georgetown that will get us to town without transferring. We have a little community of residents that the 131 got us downtown and to Burien for years but now it comes from Burien over the 1st Ave Bridge and the only stop at what they call their new and improved service for Georgetown is at Keep Reading

Seattle Waste Management Is Fined A Little

Published on September 25, 2012

Today Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the fine for uncollected waste during the strike for Seattle Waste Management. For the 8 days of the strike, Seattle Waste Management is going to pay 1.24 million dollars in a settlement. I’m disappointed we didn’t really nail them hard on this one. We should of made a point and showed an example that if you’re going to play games they you’re going to pay the full amount. There shouldn’t have been a settlement for 1/3 of the amount for breaching the contract amount which is what this amount comes to. We shouldn’t of even sat down and talked about it. Just send the penalty per the contract and that is it. Seattle Waste Management got a slap on the wrist with this decision and more importantly we wasted an opportunity to make a point so this won’t happen again next year or the following years (and it will for sure).

So for the 8 days of the strike you can expect to get about $8 dollars back. Wow Big Deal!

Seattle Metro Trip Planner – Confusion

Published on September 25, 2012

Metro Transit has a great slogan. “We’ll get you there”. What they don’t say is you can’t find out what bus to take and where. Let me start by giving you Bus riding 101. This is so simple and easy to understand.

#1. BE SURE YOU BUS IS LISTED ON THE SIGN.

#2. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM CALL info listed on your bus schedule. Customer Service (206) 553-3000.

Now look at the two photos of the bus signs. These pictures were taken a block apart on the same day, so I had no idea which one was right.

I don’t mean this to sound like I think Metro has a vendetta against me, but I will write my experience and it has to be happening to hundreds and hundreds of people.

My story:

I had my green bus schedule in my hand, headed to East Marginal way to catch bus 131 to Burien for a doctors appointment. But my bus number was no longer listed on the sign. Look at the picture of the two bus signs. The bus numbers on the signs had been changed. The buses that I ride are 124, 131, 132. These get me to down town Seattle on 4th and to Burien. You will see that the on the sign these three numbers have been removed. No rider alert on the post, nothing explaining anything. Remember rule #1. If your bus is not listed, it wont be coming to that stop. I was bus less in Seattle all of a sudden. Missed my appointment, walked back home and called information. Nothing but a busy signal for over ten minutes. I had relatives and neighbors try to find out for me and no one could get anyone to answer the phone but a Grandson was told to leave his number and they would call him back. THEY NEVER DID. I emailed Metro and left a comment/complaint and it said they would try to answer me within two weeks. I finally wrote a snail letter to the Mayor. The secretary had no idea what to do with it, but bless her heart she sent out an email all over the place called, How can I help an 89 year old catch a bus? I am sure there was a lot of laughs about a little senile old lady but the flood gates opened. The Mayors Secretary or whoever answered me was Becky Stanley. Without her I don’t think I would have ever got an answer about the buses. She assured me it’s not Mayor Mcginn’s problem but she got Deidre Andrus attention at Metro and I got my answers. These girls/woman were courteous and helpful. The message was awful but the messengers were great.

The answer I got from metro was this. THEY ARE VERY SORRY I GOT CONFUSED. well duh. Here is why I was confused. I was supposed to just stand at the old bus stop and wait for my old bus, although it was not listed. They are changing 50 bus routes and had to change the bus signs early to have them in place by Sept 29th. How is anyone to know, without a notice on the bus sign post? Lets say I go stand and wait for a bus that is not listed on the sign, when I get to Burien Transit station how am I going to know what sign to stand under to get home?

This is not only unnecessary, but is actually cruel.

I have now heard the information that my bus 134, will not exist anymore. To get the 131 I would need to walk from Corson to past 4th and Michigan, and it would take me to town, NOT TO BURIEN like it always has. The 124 bus I can catch on Carlton and it will go down airport way to 2nd and Jackson.

To sum up what these changes did for me (and many many hundreds of riders) was to take away my independence completely. I have rode the buses 66 years from this same address. I could take a bus that would go by here to town and all the way to Federal Way. I could ride it to the Grey Hound bus station and see the Christmas lights along 4th and get to the Monorail. Its gone. The 131 took me to Burien and downtown. My doctor and hearing aide office is in Burien. They tell me I need to take the 124 either to South Park or Tukwila Link and catch a bus to Burien. Every time you change buses you can count on an extra half hour. I would be afraid to stand in South Park. So the new BIG change just ruined the bus service for Georgetown completely. We have no buses that we can take to Costco, Food bank of the businesses along 4th. Can’t get to Burien without a major mess. Think of the millions they spent to give us this NEW AND IMPROVED SERVICE. I asked the Mayor if he was able to get me a three wheeled bike but did not get a response. Before you ask, age does not qualify me to get a senior shuttle. I would need a doctors slip saying I have trouble walking. I can walk a couple blocks fine, can climb on to a bus fine, but first I need THE BUS.

Now look at the 2013-2014 Transportation Budget Highlights below. This is from the Mayor that didn’t have a clue about how I could get a bus. Look what they spend for studies and analysis and planning. They want funds to get a 4th street car to Paul Allen’s Vulcan spread. We can’t even get a bus in Georgetown.

My neighborhood has lots of woman and little kids, guys in wheel chairs and we just don’t count in the scheme of things. He talks in some of his other plans how he will have well lit places for people to wait for their buses. WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A BENCH, but heck we don’t have a bus either. Call the information number and let them know what you think, or better still go to the comment section of Metro Transit and tell them. While you are at it leave a comment on our Journal.

2013-2014 Transportation Budget Highlights

FAST AND RELIABLE TRANSIT
Nearly $6 million to connect our neighborhoods with high capacity transit

$2 million      for a corridor analysis of a high-capacity transit line from downtown to the University      District, via Eastlake. If approved by the council, this      work would begin next year.

$850,000      for a corridor analysis of a bus rapid transit line on Madison Street,      starting at Colman dock downtown.

$500,000      for a study of a pedestrian,      bike, and transit crossing of the ship canal. Identified      as a need in both the Bicycle and Transit Master Plans, a north/south      crossing of the ship canal between the Ballard and Fremont bridges would      allow transit to flow more freely past this obstacle without getting stuck      in traffic.

A $2.5      million Transit      Master Plan Reserve fund to help pay for the next phase of      design work on these corridors, starting in 2014

At Metro, we’re working hard to give you easy, convenient access to the places you want to go, while helping you save money, control stress and protect the environment. So when we say, “We’ll Get You There,” we mean it!

If you have questions or need help planning your trip, call Metro Customer Information at 206-553-3000 (TTY Relay: 711) or visit our Trip Planner.

– This really meaningless.

Mayor Mike McGinn’s Secret NBA Arena Contract

Published on January 15, 2012

Taxpayer’s get ready to be jumping though the hoops again paying fees, taxes, fines, levy’s or whatever else the city might decide they want to take away from you to build a new Basketball Arena. We lost the Sonics because we the people would not pay for another stadium for them. Of course we the people voted against the other two stadiums but they got built anyway. I thought we had made it clear that we were not interested in building a bunch of millionaires a sports facility so a bunch of millionaire players could earn them some more money. Tickets are out of reach of the ordinary person.

When Mayor McGinn talks about the city slashing, cutting, laying off police and fireman and no money to fix streets. No money for the homeless. Man he says the city is broke. What most of us don’t know about is the fund he has that allows him to spend up to $250,000 without even telling the city council what he is spending it on. To the city that is just pennies, but it had to be taken away from workers to create that fund. In secret he has had a contract with Carl Hersh, a sports- facility consultant. He has been paying him $19,500 a month since July. The Mayor says he is examining the “opportunity” to bring an NBA Team to Seattle. He didn’t even bother to tell the city Council about this. Something is really wrong here.

There was an opportunity to keep the Sonics here but we could not afford to build a playpen for Bennett so he took the team to Oklahoma. The economy has not improved. We can’t afford a stadium anymore now than when Bennett said Key Arena was not good enough but the Mayor is blowing almost $20,000 on this consultant. This is the same consultant that worked for Howard Schultz on how to make the Key Arena profitable. Maybe we need Dr Phil to ask the Mayor, “hows that workin’ for ya”. We were still paying on the mortgage on of king dome when they blew it up to build a bigger, better more expensive arena THAT THE VOTERS VOTED DOWN.

Let the investors hire their consultant, let the investors buy up property, then let the investors apply for permits, pay for everything including the building. Then let them pay their taxes and the city might make some money but not if we are in the business of buildings stadiums and then being made hostage by the millionaires that bought the team wanting more remodeling, more luxury seats. Let all of that be THEIR problem. Not the taxpayers problem. How many more secret things are we paying for that never see the light of day. Why is this such a secret. Is the Mayor wheeling and dealing and by the time we hear about it and say we don’t want it he can say the contracts are signed, we cant back out now like the stupid tunnel that we cant afford. I say whoa nellie. Stop spending money on consultants and lawyers looking at the initiative that taxpayers signed that says the city has to make money from the stadiums. Let the millionaire players build their stadium like the millionaires have to build their own swimming pools etc. No taxpayer money should be used, especially while the Mayor is talking about how broke the city is. Shame on him. If he thought the people would be excited over it why keep it a secret?

Transportation Funding Package

Published on August 11, 2011

Hold on to your wallets. Seattle has created a “Seattle Transportation Benefit District”. This will consist of 9 Seattle city council members. One thing they are tinkering with is raising car tab fees. It will be divided up as follows.

an $80 vehicle license fee, with:
50% of the revenue would go to transit
30% of the revenue would go to street maintenance
20% of the revenue would go to pedestrian, neighborhood, and bicycle improvements.

This message came out in “The Reader” that Mayor Mike McGinn sends out which is very informative but which I seldom agree with. The Mayor is blaming the recession AND the Eyman initiatives for all the money problems. He says he has no money for basic street maintenance. How can that be? Look all over the city at the projects going on. These are not basic maintenance. They have torn up my whole street and re-doing it when it did not even have a pot hole. They must have a list or plan to tear up a street every few years or who knows if they even have a plan. But the money the transportation department squanders would pave a yellow brick road most anyplace. Instead it just raises our property tax, car license fees and anything else they can sqeak through without a vote. Look what the city council did with the tunnel that no one wants, no one can afford, and will be so dangerous only a fool would go in it. Not sure if they are putting a bike lane in it for the Mayor or not.

When you count on the government to fix the problem that the government created, it will never work. I am not against future planning, I am not against rebuilding things that need rebuilding but we have a bunch of buffo’s that seem to just sit and make a plan and then tell us “worker bees” we are going to get a new road, a new bridge, a new tunnel and it wont cost us a thing. The city will pay and X amount, the state will kick in a few millions, then the good old Federal Government will surely write a check for the rest. They have not told most of the sheep out here that the money tree is really their own pocket. They count on you being so busy with going to work, and your family that you just pay your taxes and stay quiet. BUT right now people have lost their jobs, taxes are maxed but the planners are still planning away.

We need 9 council members that think like Tim Eyman and Elizabeth Campbell and there would be some changes in the city’s spending. The transit drivers are the third highest paid in the nation. That should change. The salaries they pay the people in the transportation department are obscene. Top dog at DOT has a salary of $600,000 and picture what the whole department squanders away. The more they raise the taxes the more raises and bonuses they will get. They muddle it by saying that appropriations committee set the funds aside, or they have to spend millions of city/state dollars to get federal funds but you never hear a thing about government efficiency.

“The Reader” said the Mayor and City Council members want to hear from you. Please contact them. Their addresses are on our website for your convenience here. If enough people start to complain someone will hear about it. Right now any letter I have written to the council members or my congressman had resulted in a boiler plate answer, one size fits all. I could have written a letter saying the “neighbors hamster peed on my lawn”, or tell them to put aside their “funding packages until the recession is over’, and I would have gotten the same answer from them. I want to give credit where credit is due. Mayor McGinn sends a boiler plate letter first but you do get a personal e mail that mentions what you had written him about.

Mayor Mike McGinn Our Double Talking Nanny

Published on July 11, 2011

There has been a lot of talk recently about our Seattle Mayor Mike Mcginn and Seattle’s continued advertising with the Seattle Weekly newspaper. Seattle currently has a Contract with the Seattle Weekly newspaper and are spending $158,000 for this “great deal”. However, Mayor Mike Mcginn has put a pause on it due to a concern of “underage sex trafficking”. They are negotiating at this time and may continue or not depending on those talks. Here is the problem, however, first why are we spending tax money for this type of advertising? The paper is poor at best and has limited distribution. Everywhere you go in Seattle you see a stack of them and nobody even reads them. They just sit there collecting dust every month. Their distribution area and readers is completely shady and over-rated. The magazine has been filled with adult ads forever. This is not something new and you can pick one up anywhere and see for yourself. Just flip to the back pages and you noticed pages and pages of adult prostitution, massage parlors, and other garbage. Did anyone actually pick up the magazine and flip through it before signing this $158,000 advertising deal for the city?

Here is the other problem – The Stranger newspaper. It’s very similar to the Seattle Weekly they both are filled with the same type of the adult advertising in the back pages, however, he has no problems with them. He obviously knows about this paper since he got a $1,000 dollar contribution from the paper for the anti tunnel initiative. Yes, he received contributions for the anti tunnel initiatives. Perhaps that is why he is turning the other check when it comes to the The Stranger.

In the end, I am not sure what we do with this mess except we shouldn’t be spending tax money in this shady newspapers in the first place and perhaps an investigation is in order. It’s all just a little shady and has a lot of double talk.

The Mayor Agrees Tunnel Is Not The Best Solution

Published on March 15, 2011

————————————————–
From: “Mike McGinn” < mike.mcginn@seattle.gov>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 4:11 PM
To: lilly

Subject: Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement (00012049)

Dear Lilly,

Thanks for writing to me about the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. I share your commitment to a replacement solution that serves the best interests of Seattle residents.

I agree with you that the deep-bore tunnel is not the best solution, for many reasons. It is the most expensive option, does not serve our future transportation needs and is fundamentally flawed from an environmental perspective. The City Council and the State, however, have chosen the tunnel as their preferred alternative. But there is a very simple question that remains unanswered- who will pay? If the project goes over budget, as studies show is likely, what happens then? The state legislature says Seattle taxpayers will pay and I simply cannot support that. I have urged the City Council to join me in that position.

It’s increasingly clear that there are serious cost issues with the tunnel project but neither the state nor the City Council is willing to examine alternatives. I encourage you to contact both your City Council and state representatives with your concerns.

Thanks again for writing me. Please continue to keep in touch about this or any other issue.

Sincerely,

Mike McGinn
Mayor of Seattle

Update: This email was provided to me from the Mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn in 2011.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct, often succinctly referred to as “the viaduct,” stood as an elevated expressway in Seattle, Washington, USA, accommodating a portion of State Route 99 (SR 99). Spanning 2.2 miles (3.5 km) along the city’s waterfront, it stretched from the West Seattle Freeway in SoDo to the Battery Street Tunnel in Belltown, situated east of Alaskan Way and Elliott Bay.

Constructed in stages from 1949 to 1959, with its initial segment inaugurated on April 4, 1953, the viaduct functioned as one of the two principal north–south transport routes through Seattle, with the other being Interstate 5, facilitating transit for up to 91,000 vehicles daily in 2016. Along its route, it towered above Alaskan Way, a surface-level street, extending from S. Nevada Street in the south to the entrance of the Battery Street Tunnel in Belltown’s north, tracing pre-existing railway tracks.

Long perceived as an obstacle between the downtown area and the city’s waterfront, the viaduct faced replacement proposals dating back to the 1960s. Its seismic fragility came into the spotlight following damage to analogous freeways, some mirroring the viaduct’s design, in several earthquakes in various cities. While the 2001 Nisqually earthquake inflicted minor damage on the Alaskan Way Viaduct, subsequent evaluations revealed its susceptibility to a total collapse should another significant earthquake occur, thereby underscoring the imperative for its substitution.

A myriad of replacement options weighed by state and city administrations included a re-constructed elevated structure, a surface boulevard, and a cut-and-cover tunnel, yet a consensus on the ultimate decision remained elusive. A deep-bored tunnel emerged as the selected option in 2009. Subsequent to the demolition of the viaduct’s southern section in 2011, it was supplanted by a six-lane, single-deck freeway threading through the SoDo industrial zone. Excavation of the downtown bored tunnel by the tunnel boring machine, dubbed “Bertha,” commenced in 2013, concluding in 2017 following a two-year delay. The viaduct ceased operations permanently on January 11, 2019, making way for the new tunnel, which inaugurated three weeks later on February 4. The viaduct’s demolition ensued shortly thereafter, reaching completion by the close of 2019.

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