Sign Put Up by Angry Business Owner in Pioneer Square
When the King County Prosecutor refused to prosecute Ian Birk, I was pretty angry at Mayor Mike McGinn for not doing something tangible to make things right. I felt that his speeches after the fateful decision were long on words and short on substance. I thought then, and still do, that he should have fired the Seattle Police Chief.
I also wretched several times when, during the State of the City address, the Mayor repeatedly “accepted President Obama’s challenge” to do one thing or another. If the Mayor is not aware that the presidency is a dog and pony show put on by corporateers and their figurehead of the moment, then I submit that the guy is more than a little naive. Frankly, I wouldn’t accept Obama’s challenge to eat when I’m hungry, and I’m not even a Republican.
Later, when the parking rates Downtown and on Capitol Hill went up, I again found myself somewhat critical of the guy (and the Council of course). I hate to see people driving cars down here, but I’m not sure if it’s fair to rent to the public their own spaces at a premium. Get rid of the parking, or give it to the people for a fair rate, but don’t shamelessly money grab. At the very least, make it free for residents of Seattle proper.
These caveats being noted, I’ve come to the conclusion that we could do worse that Mike McGinn. Much worse.
You see, it’s becoming very apparent that Mike McGinn is a true “city” mayor. A mayor that has no love for the auto culture of the Eastside, or the carpetbagging corruption of the Olympia elite.
As much as I disagree with him about some things, I realize that for every one of his positions I oppose, I agree with him on two others.
For instance, he vetoed an anti-poor-person law that would have made folks from Redmond feel more safe in Downtown Seattle. It would have made me feel more safe Downtown too. Hell, it probably would have made Mike McGinn feel safer as well. This doesn’t mean that it was the right thing to do, however. He who sacrifices safety for liberty gets neither safety nor liberty and all that.
Then, there’s transit.
Mike McGinn is not a fan of the almighty automobile. He obviously thinks it is a clear cause of Seattle’s transit woes, and I do not know an intelligent person who could disagree with this.
As a matter of fact, it has become apparent that those who hate McGinn the most, are those who worship the private automobile the most.
Then, there’s this … check out the Walk, Bike, Ride campaign, championed by Big Mike himself:
http://walkbikeride.seattle.gov/
That, my friends, is what you call an appropriate solution for a dense, urban area (along with mass transit expansions).
For crying out loud, the guy actually rides a bike to work! This alone garners mad points from yours truly.
Mike has also spoken out for residency requirements for the SPD. Although he does not himself have the power to make it happen, he has at least floated the idea that new recruits to the Seattle Police Department should actually, you know, live in the City of Seattle.
Now, the guy wants to give the people of Seattle a vote on the deep-bore tunnel running under Downtown. Before moving forward with the multi-billion dollar project, he thinks the people should have a say.
Again, what rational person could disagree with this?
McGinn may be a lot like myself in some ways (probably not something he would want to hear). He’s probably not overtly evil, greedy, or corrupt. He’s simply misunderstood. He’s passionate about a lot of things that piss off moneyed suburbanites and the campaign contributions that they control.
This is why he constantly draws ire from Christine Gregoire and other politicians, which in my opinion, can only be a good thing. I’m sorry, but that lady is about as genuine as Monopoly money. When Mike stated publicly that he couldn’t trust her, my respect for him went up 1,000 fold.
Being right is always more important than being popular, and this is yet another principle that I share with McGinn.
Now, look, is the guy perfect? No. Is he completely void of self-interest? Certainly not. Is he right most of the time? I doubt it. It’s very difficult to be elected to a public office in the USA if you have integrity. Some say it’s downright impossible.
That being said, he’s no Marion Barry either.
I think Seattle could do a lot worse than Mike McGinn, and dare I say it … I kind of like the guy.
In my opinion, his ideas are far more rational than those of his detractors, and as time goes on, I find myself becoming more and more of a fan.
It will be with a heavy heart that I defeat him in the 2013 elections.
One of Seattle’s police problems (and way too many police depts across the USA)is allowing the existence of an occupation force. First, make residency a condition of hire and continuing employment. If forbidden by a state law, give a considerable pay/priveliege to those who can respond quickly, say because they actually live in the city limits. Another cure is working with the Armed Forces recruiters, when ever they enlist some one to a Military Police job, keep contact with the enlistees who live in the city of Seattle. Further have a police cadet program open to citizens of the city. Also work directly with all city schools and churches to mine young citizen/students who might want to live in the city and be policemen. You have this problem because you want to tolerate it. GOYA Seattle.
I think the problem is the people of Seattle are misinformed by the media. I think most people believe what the news reports. That is the problem. WA has been a democrat state for so long they have forgotten about the Republican point of view all together. I don’t even know of a Republican in WA that gets any media time.
Are news channels are the worst. If you get your information from Komo King Kiro they are all democratic reporters. It is impossible to get true unbiased information. You never here from a republican’s mouth. The reporter will talk for them and tell us what we should think.
MSNBC still talks about Bush politics. Let it go!!!! Instead of talking about Obama being the worst president we have ever had in the US history they still talk about Bush.
Our local news does the same. They do not talk for the people. They talk for their political motives. They want us to vote democratic for ever and try to brainwash us with their one sided reporting. Please don’t listen to anything about politics from our local news channels. It is one sided unfair and totally bias. What happened to reporting the facts and letting the people make up their own mind. Instead they report their opinions instead of facts. They don’t even report anything from a Republican’s point of view.
Tim Iman is awesome but never gets any media time. The media wont give him one second of air time. When he talks we don’t here his voice. The media tells us what he just said so they can manipulate our thinking. We are being brainwashed by our own media.
Any good Republican will not come to WA. Republicans have no voice here. Look what happened when a Republican won a seat. It went to 3 counts the last one being a hand count in the county the democrat was from. HHMMM Bias one sided hand count. Proof it is corrupt at the highest level in WA.
Mike Mcshwinn took money from the I-5 expansion project to add more bike lanes. ????Have you tried to go through downtown around 3pm. Why do only 2 lanes go through downtown. We have approved money to change that. He puts the money for bike lanes and bus access. He tries to slow the tunnel down by saying we haven’t studied the environment impact. This shows how stupid this guy really is. The people vote and approve something. He doesn’t listen to us and puts his priorities first. Parking is killing downtown business. What does he do he raises it. He is not done yet I can’t wait to see his next selfish move.
Tim Iman doesn’t get any coverage in WA because nobody with any sense respects or trusts him. After the first car tab vote (I think that is the timing) he got caught using some donated funds for things he should not have. Next thing you know he is on camera crying and asking for forgivness. It will always be the image in my head I have of him when I hear his name. That tells me he is no different than any other political hack. I believe there is political corruption in every state / city committed by both parties. No one is innocent. There is a lot of money at stake so people try to protect what they perceive to be theirs. The result is what we have today.
I agree what you say about the news(that is why I don’t watch it). But don’t be fooled by Fox thinking that they are “Fair and Balanced”. They are as bad or worse then anyone else. Whatever your political leaning there are news organizations and websites ready to agree with you. They don’t report the news as much as blow smoke up viewer’s asses.