Most news organizations are having to cut back, but I was still surprised to see a local columnist eliminate one of the standard five (or often six) questions.
First, some background. The South Park Bridge, which carries about 20,000 vehicles a day, is scheduled to close at the end of this month.
According to Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat, this will be a serious hardship for the South Park community. (Which is not especially wealthy. Or powerful.)
To this point, Westneat and I are in agreement. If what he is saying is correct, then it is wrong not to replace the bridge. And I would agree with the two people he talked to for the column, one living in the neighborhood, and the other visiting, who also think that closing the bridge will blight the neighborhood.
After reading the column and sharing a little of Westneat's outrage, I began wondering who, if anyone, was responsible for the failure to replace the bridge. I began to wonder who is to blame.
But Westneat, perhaps responding to cost controls at the Seattle Times, never goes beyond "King County", never names a single elected official who we might blame for this failure. That first "W" never made it into his column.
I understand, of course, that times are tough in the news business, and that news organizations have had to make all kinds of painful cutbacks. But I hope Westneat and the Seattle Times will reconsider and restore the first "W" to their stories, columns, and editorials. They may not realize this, but many readers are more interested in the "Who" than in anything else.
Is it possible for those of us not in the news business to fill in for Westneat, and supply that first "W"? Perhaps, if we work together on the problem.
We can start with the one clue that Westneat provides. King County is officially responsible for the bridge. The current King County executive is Dow Constantine (D), who served on the county council beginning in 2002, until he became the executive in 2009. His predecessor was Ron Sims (D), who was a terrible manager, as even Westneat's newspaper has admitted occasionally. (Those not familiar with the politics in this area may want to know that Sims has taken his managerial skills to the Obama administration.) Although the county council is now formally nonpartisan, the members still vote along partisan lines. The Democratic party has controlled the council for many years.
Our state's senior senator is Patty "not-a-rocket-scientist" Murray (D). She is famous — some would say infamous — for her pursuit of pork projects, but this one never seems to have gotten much attention from her. (On the other hand, South Park probably hasn't contributed much to her campaigns, either.)
Our governor is Christine Gregoire (D). Since her disputed election in 2004, state spending has soared, but she has never found the money to replace this bridge.
In 2009, the Congress, led by Speaker Pelosi (D) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), passed an immense "stimulus" bill. In principle, the bill could have provided for infrastructure projects such as a replacement bridge, but it was reshaped in Congress, after a campaign by feminists, to provide fewer jobs for men, and more for women. That meant, among other things, that there were fewer construction projects, since most construction workers are men. (In the latest unemployment report, the unemployment rate for adult men was substantially higher than for adult women.) Despite this, President Obama (D) signed the bill.
Those are the names that occur, offhand, to me. Perhaps, if you are familiar with this area, you can add to that little list. Together, perhaps we can supply the "W" that Westneat, and the Seattle Times, are too impoverished to give their readers.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(I can't help wondering whether Westneat's elimination of the first "W" is related to another cutback. As most readers know, many news organizations have decided to economize by eliminating the "(D)" after politicians of a certain party, who have gotten into trouble. Oddly enough, the same news organizations have not gotten around to eliminating the "(R)" after similar miscreants in another party, but I am sure they will do that soon.)
Posted by Jim Miller at June 09, 2010 02:09 PM | Email ThisPosted by: Gary on June 9, 2010 02:57 PM
It's a common Hustle for Government to have a "Big Dig" project whenever they can get away with it. Yes, sometimes it is needed but nevertheless, it is an opportunity to for the Politicians/Cons/Criminals and their associates to kickback, scam and skim Taxpayers money into their own pockets. Take the Urgent need to replace the Viaduct. According to the first reports sometime ago, the Viaduct should be laying in a collapse heap of rubble by now. The Viaduct is in noway about to fall down just, like the South Park Bridge. It has many years of useful life ahead of it. Yet, according to the Politicians, it is in dire need of replacement. Yeah...Right! They want the pumped up excuse to have another Big Project/Tunnel at the expense of the Taxpayer along with the opportunity to steal/skim from the Money Pool. We all have heard of Cost Overruns, haven't we? Yeah, that just extends the opportunity to steal even more.
Bottom Line: If the Romans were able to build bridges and at least, one or two are still in use today which means, those bridges have been functioning for around two thousand years...Well, isn't it Strange that Man of today with all the modern technology, can't build a bridge that can last say, a hundred years? I bet if you look around the Country, you would find a number of bridges far older than, the South Park Bridge and still providing good service. Unfortunately, most Voters/Taxpayers are Easy Believers and are Suckered time and time again on these Scams.
Posted by: Daniel on June 9, 2010 05:29 PMRegarding (D) Dow the County Exec, I don't recall Suzy Q Hutchinson (R) campaigning in the 2009 election to resolve the this old and well known issue.
Regarding (D) Gregoire the Governor, I don't recall Dino Rossi (R) campaigning in the 2008 election to resolve the this old and well known issue.
Regarding (D) Murray the Senator, I don't think you are requesting Dino Rossi (R) campaign in the 2010 election to resolve the this old and well known issue.
The issue is a bit complicated, but it comes down to funding priorities. Any guesses, Jim, why none of our candidates have ever championed this infrastructure replacement issue?
Could there be any relation to the people soon not having a viable means of access to their homes and businesses and the fact that there area was made toxic?
What is it about the people who live there that they get a much more lousy deal from their elected officials, the candidates, and the electorate of Washington state, King Co. and Seattle than say the folks in Green Lake or Mercer Island? What could be the reason???
But there's still time for that.
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on June 9, 2010 06:17 PMPosted by: Matt M on June 9, 2010 07:11 PM
Posted by: MikeBoyScout on June 9, 2010 07:54 PM
Your correct that the Democrats "don't give a S**t about the Hispanics in South Park", but you'd be incorrect if you somehow thought Republicans do or would.
Because the number of votes is so small and the livability of the area already degraded by the polluting industries which used to be there, the economically disadvantaged and relatively small amount of residents of South Park are politically ignored.
Your question about Hispanic political action groups being inactive is a good one.
Why is it that thousands can turn out for immigration reform, yet no one cares about the folks living in a toxic dump which soon will be further isolated?
There is blame to go all around.
Posted by: MikeBoyScout on June 9, 2010 08:33 PM...but Dan, he did in his last sentence @ 9, just a little more subtle than usual for him:
What could be the reason???~Mike BS
In Mikey's mind, Democrats in control of this state for the past 30 years aren't the source of the South Seattle bridge closing, it's the evil Republicans and George W. Bush. Some are just fixated on something other than reality and those folks tend to vote for the Democrat party; where critical thinking skills are not only rarely exercised, but even more often discouraged. That would certainly explain why our state continues to use the CA blueprint for failure despite the disasterous results.
It's nice to finally agree with you on something re: La Raza. As for degraded livability, however, if I could pick one, I would rather live with the pollution than live with the high probability of getting hit by a stray bullet, sadly both facts of life in South Park. I see family there typically three times a week, so I know the place. I didn't click your links, but I do understand that pollution was dumped there in the past. Posted by: Matt M on June 9, 2010 10:12 PM
Democrats are incapable of taking responsibility for their failures.
Posted by: Attila on June 10, 2010 08:50 AMThe bridge issue is still not resolved. Neither the county (which owns the bridge), the Port Authority (which imposes requirements on any bridge so primarily sail boats can navigate past the bridge), nor the state, nor the city (which South Park is part of) have budgeted any money to replace the bridge and provide the residents of South Park the transportation access they need.
It's Bush's fault?
Imagine if we didn't waste billions of dollars on that light rail, and instead spent a tenth the amount to make a bus rapid transit system. We'd have the funds available to get the transportation these folks need.
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on June 11, 2010 09:35 AM