Cool photo, photographer unknown.So here, Lisa Albers at Crosscut is accusing Sound Transit of “push-polling” with the survey they are asking people to take. Mrs Albers is way off-base. It’s just a survey, not a poll, and they are not likely to use the information for anything but getting an idea of what sort of proposals to put on the ballot and when.
I think it’s odd that when it when Sound Transit seeks public feedback about it’s proposals, they are accused of push-polling, while King County can sneak in $1.1 billion for foot ferries with nary a public comment?
I appreciate agencies seeking public outreach. What do you think?
I think you’re right. This is not a poll and Crosscut should be taken to task for suggesting it is.
Albers apparently hasn’t figured out it’s not possible to “push survey.”
Her source is Will Knedlik? Are you kidding me? If Knedlik wasn’t sitting on a stash of cash (made on frivolous lawsuits he constantly filed against on-line dating companies in the 90’s) he would be institutionalized. In the United States, crazy people with money are deemed “eccentric.”
Albers’ post is classic Mossback nitpicking. Why is it the cranks always need to find a new way to say WE HATE LIGHT RAIL! without actually saying it?
When Crosscut was launched, I thought it might be a good source for information. Instead, that thing has morphed into an outpost for complainers with little to say. It’s a shame.
An online poll is hardly “public outreach.” If ST bases its future plans on this sort of thing, we’re all doomed.
I’ve noticed they have an updated version of the online poll.
Where do all these cranks come from? What on earth would lead Joykiller101 to believe ST steers its ship with surveys and polls. Notice how none of these people seem to offer up a better idea. Should we follow the Will Knedlik / Kemper Freeman / Seattle Times editorial board approach, where a handful of old, white, rich, eastside Republican men sit down, and draw some lines where they want the next freeway lanes constructed? Or, should ST follow the cultish monorail model, where only the most ardent Kool Aid drinkers get to shake the pom-poms?
Once again: it’s not the methodology whining mossbacks dislike. It’s the rail Sound Transit is bringing on line soon. Every other major metropolitan city in North America has figured out light rail is an effective way to move people through / between urban areas. In Seattleland, rail serves only as a lightening rod for ideologues and crazies to argue about. The biggest fear for the perma-complainers? Nothing to complain about. So watch the anti-rail jihad go on, and on, and on….
I’ve been to more public meetings and workshops sponsored by Sound Transit over the past 7 years than I’d like to admit. And something tells me this latest survey won’t be the end of the line for them.
On second thought, maybe Will Knedlik and this weak Albers lady are right. Scratch the public outreach, Sound Transit. Just build the light rail. There isn’t another city on the face of the planet which regretted building and expanding their systems. What makes the cranks in Seattle think we’re going to be the first failure?
There certainly is no lack of demand out here for reliable & rapid transit options.
BTW, Will Knedlik also beat his wife, which may or may not tell you a little bit more about his character and credibility. I’m not kidding. Look it up. But even worse than that (and his disbarment): the guy is a shill for Kemper Freeman and his ‘pave the planet’ agenda. In a perfect world (inside my head) Walkin’ Will would have been around the plush offices at Kemper Development Co when Mr. Freeman hosted Karl Rove two years ago. A meeting of truly great minds.
What is your basis for the $1.1 billion in Foot Ferries? Appears to be a 50-year horizon, no? The same horizon which made Prop. 1 appear to be a $157 billion proposition, no?
Honestly, I think the passenger ferry district is the absolute second to last thing we should be doing right now (last thing is expanding the freeway system). I don’t disagree with you at all on that point. I would, however, meekly point out that although the legislation was forward by Sims to the Council for passage, it actually began with the Council (Dow Constantine to be more precise). The ferry district will be run directly under the auspices of the Council and the executive branch is outside any decision making tree on what happens next. But Sims is admittedly at fault for being foolish enough to forward the legislation. It should have been a Council process from start to finish.
We talked about the various King County revenue measures in this post
James, and you don’t think there are any Kool Aid drinkers on this blog over light rail?
The $1.1 billion number is based on how much they’ll be taxing over the next 10 years. Not fifty. Over fifty it’ll be much more.
These rail-haters are hitting their last grasps to some extent. When Link opens people will want more of it quickly.
ST just wants to take the tempurature of the electorate before putting a measure on the ballot. a $5000 survey is a lot cheaper than a $5mn election.
Light rail boosters are the Crystal Light version, Sam. They are nothing like the Peter Sherwin, Dick Falkenbury, Ed Brighton or Kevin Orme variety.
For the record, I reported on Sound Transit being accused of push-polling. I did not make that accusation myself. I’m actually a supporter of public transit, but I do think agencies with public funding need to be above-board about their motives and not cloak public relations as a research survey. It’s not clear to me what the stated vs. real intention was, and the fact that they changed the survey after public comment says something.