A municipal fiber-optic network would “address poverty, the digital divide, environmental sustainability, the need for civic engagement, education, and many other concerns,” said Reclaim the Media’s executive director, Jonathan Lawson, in a Seattle PostGlobe report yesterday. Michael McGinn similarly views a municipal fiber-optic network as an opportunity to boost the economy and create jobs, to close the digital divide, and to give consumers a better deal. Reclaim the Media, a Seattle nonprofit organization, is urging the City of Seattle to build a municipal fiber-optic network within six years, the PostGlobe reported, and McGinn has promised to build such a network when elected mayor.

Federal stimulus funds could partly finance a municipal fiber-optic network, Reclaim the Media noted, because the federal American Recovery and Renewal Act Initial allocated $7.2 billion for local governments to build modern Internet broadband infrastructure. continue reading »

Greg Nickels today announced he would eliminate the “head tax” on Seattle businesses, which currently collects $4.7 million a year for street repair and walking and biking improvements.

If Nickels really cared about taxes, transportation, and local businesses, he would stop championing the $4.2 billion tunnel project, which includes a $930 million commitment from Seattle residents in new taxes, utility rate increases, and local fees. Even worse, the state legislature has passed a law requiring Seattle to pay for all cost overruns, which on a project like this could run into billions of dollars. continue reading »

The voters of Seattle are speaking clearly: They want a mayor who understands the $4.2 billion tunnel is a boondoggle. But more than that, they want a mayor who, instead of dedicating $1 billion of city money for a two-mile-long tunnel and leaving Seattle taxpayers on the hook for cost overruns, will allocate more resources to Seattle’s real priorities: reducing overcrowding on buses, improving our public schools, and preparing for a clean-energy economy.

A poll recently commissioned by the McGinn for Mayor campaign shows that voters don’t want the tunnel:

• 64% oppose
• 7% neutral
• only 29% support after learning Seattle citizens would pay for cost overruns

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Michael McGinn, the only major candidate for mayor of Seattle who opposes Greg Nickels’ $4.2 billion plan for a bored tunnel, today challenged Nickels to acknowledge the lessons that he should be learning from the Brightwater and Beacon Hill tunnels.

“At $4.2 billion, the tunnel already costs too much and harms Seattle’s real priorities,” McGinn said. “And anyone who has seen what has happened with the Brightwater and Beacon Hill tunnels knows that the costs could rocket even higher.”

McGinn continued, “Greg Nickels needs to be honest with the voters of Seattle: continue reading »

And that’s fine. The photo above is me saying no to the Viaduct Tunnel in response to a question to candidates at the annual Seattle Chamber of Commerce breakfast. The Tunnel is one of its highest priorities.

I used my speaking time to the Chamber members to focus on the tax implications of the massively expensive and unfunded tunnel, as well as the economic implications of spending billions of dollars a year on imported oil and gas. continue reading »