1. Dow Constantine is paying Northwest Passage—his political consulting firm during the King County Executive’s race—a $30,000 win bonus according to the most recent campaign finance reports.
2. Now that Mike McGinn is going to be mayor, is he going to oppose the tunnel? Morning Fizz doesn’t know. But we hear the city council—which supports the tunnel—is worried about it.
Watch for some drama between the council and McGinn when the council tries to formalize the city’s 2010 lobbying agenda in Olympia.
3. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) sent a letter to the city and state departments of transportation last week protesting the way the departments are planning the south portal to the proposed downtown waterfront tunnel, which would be located in SoDo and Pioneer Square.
Instead of looking at how the portal would impact those neighborhoods, the letter says, the departments are focusing entirely on moving as many cars as possible, “without a clearly defined vision for how to simultaneously address and protect Seattle’s urban fabric.” The letter, which is signed by the AIA’s co-chair, president, and executive director, continues:
With its extensive set of elevated, depressed, and surface level roadways and ramps the portal is like a freeway interchange placed directly adjacent to one of the most fragile and important historic districts, Pioneer Square, in the country. It also sits in the middle of the Stadium/Ballpark/Exhibition Hall district which attracts hundreds of thousands of pedestrians each year. The portal as designed has the potential to impose the same negative impact on all of this activity as the current viaduct has had on the waterfront.
The AIA’s letter goes on to criticize tunnel planners for ignoring the impact the project would have on local street traffic, failing to consider improvements for transit users, cyclists, and pedestrians, eliminating access to the waterfront from Pioneer Square, and ignoring urban design and the local ecology.
4. Heidi (aka BookNerd) lit up the comments thread on Friday (BookNerd?). I guess that’s what happens when you slag on Elliott Bay Books. Discussion here.
Today’s Morning Fizz brought to you by Office Nomads:
