As usual, the Tacoma News Tribune comes out on the side of tax and spend politicians in University Place with this headline: City cuts traffic fees, but developers still complain.
Toward the bottom of the article the writer states the real issue:
The city continues to struggle to get its Town Center project up and running.
The background:
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A recent resolution by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents about 600 of Tacoma’s longshoremen, at a West coast meeting. The resolution calls for an 8 hour work stoppage to protest the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
There are several major problems with this resolution.
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According to an article on Crosscut.com (Sound Transit is accused of push-polling - h/t Orbusmax) other people were as displeased with Sound Transit’s recent survey as I was. Here’s more in the PI.
I thought it was funny that some of the comments on Crosscut.com’s blog questioned the qualifications of the responders to the survey. I guess they think that just because someone has to pay for something doesn’t mean they’re qualified to decide what the money should be spent on. But at least there was a little honesty:
“It’s a totally non-scientific push poll. That said, I do agree with most of what they are ‘pushing’ as an alternative, with one exception.” [emphasis added]
This is how an elderly couple in Tacoma was treated by people who are supposed to represent us.
The couple fought the condemnation all the way to the state Supreme Court, arguing that Sound Transit had not given them enough notice. The Millers knew their property was being considered, but the notice for the meeting at which the decision was made was advertised only on the agency’s Web site.
The HOV lanes that we’ve paid for but seldom use are just another reminder of junk science gone mad. But for the sake of argument, let’s pretend they actually do what they’re supposed to do, which is to get people out of single-occupancy vehicles. If we then allow single-occupancy drivers into those lanes, at a premium of course, that will completely undermine the supposed value of the HOV lanes.
So anyone who advocates for HOV lanes and is in favor of HOT lanes is admitting that their stated goal really wasn’t the stated goal after all. So what was the goal? What’s the purpose of HOV lanes if they’re opened to anyone who is willing to pay for it (again)?
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I just got the license renewal notice for my car. It’s going to cost me $95 plus the cost of the emissions test. What happened to those $30 tabs we voted for in 1999?
Then, after opening that little bombshell I find out that there’s a survey up at Sound Transit. It’s obviously a precursor poll to crafting a ballot measure for the fall elections. It is a very badly written survey for several reasons.
The bottom line of the survey is ‘how much should we expand’. Nowhere did they ask the question ’should we expand’ or ’should we just go away and stop wasting taxpayer’s money’ (Think: monorail). They also lumped potentially good solutions in with bad ones and then forced a choice (example: lumping buses and commuter rail in with light rail). Almost every question offered selections that forced me to pick the least objectionable answer, while only a few offered options that I favored.
Since their survey was so narrow-minded I thought I would help them with the questions they should have asked.
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The Port of Tacoma is supported by taxpayers in Pierce County. Our tax dollars built it and supported it as it has grown. Lately there’s been talk of merging it with the Ports of Seattle and Olympia. I’m opposed to that for a number of reasons, one of which is a recent audit by the State of Washington that shows some huge problems.
On the Port of Seattle’s Web site there’s a new section called ‘Accountability’ in which they say:
We understand that the Port must be transparent in how we conduct our business and accountable to those we serve…
Isn’t it ironic that they would claim to be transparent at the same time they’re lawyering up their employees? Let’s see how long the transparency lasts before they claim attorney-client privilege.
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As I was reading a post on ErikEmery.com (The math on the Link) something didn’t seem to add up. As I thought about it I noticed a few things that didn’t seem to be included in Erik’s math. The post was the result of the discussion (comments) in a thread on Exit133.com (No More Tacoma-to-SeaTac Light Rail)
Things like:
So, I decided to run the numbers and see what happens. I created a spreadsheet that looked at the first two issues, but since I didn’t have information on the last two issues available I left them off. It should be noted that the latter two issues will increase the per boarding cost, not decrease it.
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An article in the News Tribune gives some insight into Sound Transit’s plans for mass transit after the failure of Prop. 1 three months ago. This might be a good time for me to express a few of my concerns about mass transit and why it does or doesn’t work in Tacoma.
Since rail is being emphasized (light rail and commuter rail), it pays to take a look at exactly what it will accomplish.
Rail has some major shortcomings that I want to focus on:
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Update: Justice Department investigating Port of Seattle
In light of recent news about how the Port of Seattle is being run, I’m not optimistic about a move prompted by a legislator from Fall City (obviously an interested party) to merge the Port of Tacoma, the Port of Seattle and the Port of Everett.
The recent news I’m referring to is the release of an audit from the State Auditor’s Office in which he reports on serious spending problems by the Port of Seattle. Bear in mind that this audit only looks at construction management (the largest category in their budget, but not the only category). The bean counters in the auditor’s office came up with over $97 million in wasted spending. Here’s a link to a partial HTML version. It’s enough to get anyone’s blood boiling.
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