Month: October 2018

In case you haven’t opened your mailbox this week, next Tuesday is election day. Ballot drop boxes close at 8 pm sharp Tuesday. Mailing your ballot is free, but it must be post-marked by Tuesday, so mail it by the day before, take it to a post office Tuesday before they close, find the nearest drop box, or go to one of the accessible voting sites (including at the King County Administration Building), such as the King County Administration Building, and be prepared to stand in queue for awhile. If you lost your ballot, there is a replacement process, but going to an accessible voting site is also an obvious solution.

Check out the link on the top line for STB’s endorsements.  You can also try ReadySetVote.org, a service of the Muni League, which features our endorsements among others.

The latest figures from the Public Disclosure Commission show that the No on 1631 campaign has broken the record for most money raised for a political campaign in the State of Washington, having raised $31.3 million, nearly all of it from oil companies headquartered in other states.

Until this year, the most money ever spent for or against a ballot measure or candidate in Washington State was the No side on Initiative 522 in 2013 (which would have required the labelling of genetically-modified foods), which raised $26.7 million. This year’s Yes on I-1634 campaign (“Yes! to Affordable Groceries”) is third all-time, having raised over $20.2 million.

The most expensive candidate campaign was Patty Murray’s re-election effort in 2010, hauling in $17.1 million. That campaign now ranks fifth in all-time fundraising behind the three initiative campaigns mentioned above and the $20.1 million spent by 2011’s Yes on 1183 (allowing private liquor sales in the state) campaign.

The next most-expensive candidate effort was Rob McKenna’s $13.8 million unsuccessful bid for governor in 2012, but that comes behind several more initiative campaigns in the rankings, including the Yes on 1631 campaign, which has raised $15.4 million, putting it fifth among initiative campaigns, and sixth among all races.

With the opposition basically reduced to oil companies and those opposed to taxing carbon pollution (which even the Times spent lots of paragraphs to eventually admit is its real qualm), the Yes side digging as financially deep as it can muster, and the 41%-59% drubbing I-732 got, it seems unlikely anyone is going to try a carbon tax initiative again if this one fails. The Legislature has had many more opportunities, and gotten nowhere.

• TCC is hiring an outreach and engagement director.
• A sophisticated, even-keeled tweetstorm (!) about the politics of street space.
• Bike share expansion is stalled because of a complaint by Elizabeth Campbell.
• Meanwhile, Pierce County considers road improvements to enable more sprawl.
• Metro pedestrian fatality lawsuit ($) settled.
• Portland Chamber supports kicking cars out of the transit mall – but only as an alternative to a “bike highway” on another street.
• It’s a delicate balance to support electric cars while avoiding the trap of thinking they’re sufficient.
• CAHSR wins in court again.
• Jarrett Walker hiring a freelance cartographer, very quickly.
• Montlake freeway expansion is $30M over budget
• UPS adds bicycle delivery ($) in Seattle

This is an open thread.

Metro and Sound Transit have a new proposal to restructure bus service on the “North Eastside” in order to take advantage of new opportunities arising from University Link and improvements in the SR 520 corridor. Metro abandoned a previous effort to make similar changes right after U-Link opened due to a perceived absence of public comment. Riders interested in increasing the utility of the bus network to get multiple places in a short amount of time should be sure to comment this time.

While University Link was a squandered opportunity, three new stimuli are coming: closure of the Downtown Transit Tunnel to buses in March 2019, closure of the Montlake Flyer stop, also in March 2019, and Northgate Link opening in 2021. Beyond that, East Link and I-405 BRT will provide yet more options. Riders will have to deal with the immediate challenges using the existing network next summer, but in September 2019 there could be a restructure with the following ingredients:

1. Redirect Kirkland’s workhorse, the 255, to UW Station to avoid the 520/I-5 mess and Downtown Seattle surface streets, with operating savings going into more frequency.
2. Flush most of the network of low-ridership, zigzagging routes that serve Kirkland in favor of somewhat straighter routes.
3. Fix the Montlake Triangle bus stops, as advocates have asked Metro, Sound Transit, and UW to do since well before U-Link opened.
4. A new ST Express route from Redmond and Kirkland to South Lake Union.
5. New, Uber-ish  “Community Ride” service in Woodinville (weekend-only) and Kenmore. The vanpool-ish “Community Van” service would extend to Kirkland from its current scope in Bothell, Woodinville, and Kenmore.

Existing freeway peak expresses to Downtown Seattle would not change, so most people still have their rush hour one-seat rides into downtown Seattle. More on the changes below.

Continue reading “Metro Mulls a Kirkland Redo”

Eligible for Sign On Bonus and management incentive!

The role manages the valet, parking system and other roadway and pathway hardscape assets for all Seattle Children’s worksites with a focus on the hospital campus.

The Parking Manager will design and deliver best-in-class, customer-centric valet services to patients, families and visitors who are seeking treatment or services from Children’s emergency department and outpatient clinic; provide a safe, effective and pleasant experience for employees and customers using Seattle Children’s parking lots, roadways and pathways. This position will work with a range of internal leaders to develop and deliver support systems, countermeasures and capacity to optimize clinical demand flow.

Build and manage a support team:
Hire, train/mentor, and schedule customer-facing team of 15 – 25 to support operationally complex emergency department valet and customer flow.

Design and manage three shift staffing schedule consistent with available resources, workflow requirements, labor laws and best practices. Develop strong standard work, protocols and escalation pathways to ensure consistent and thoughtful service delivery. Continue reading “[SPONSOR] Parking & Valet Systems Manager Position at Seattle Children’s”

https://www.flickr.com/photos/40441865@N08/41569085810/in/pool-seatrans/

• 90s neighborhood plans are not sacred.
• The Senator from Maltby is showing the idle Seattle delegation how to build a city.
• As someone grappling with a parent’s retirement arrangements, I’m especially conscious of the human suffering that restrictions on ADUs cause. Blame the people filing nuisance lawsuits to prevent competition for their free parking on public right-of-way, but also blame the law for enabling individuals to block laws that could provide relief for thousands.
• Interested in a construction job? ST is hosting a forum in Tacoma tonight.
• Paine Field’s airport also hiring.
• NIMBYs veering into self-parody.
• Sounder helps spur Kent’s “renaissance.”
• Engineers puzzling over Link rail cracks.
• This transit “ideathon” ($) seems to be a bunch of ideas that are unworkable or expensive. But I guess that’s the outcome of a process that explicitly excludes experts.
• 35th Ave anti-safety activists ($) resorting to vandalism.
• Portland e-scooter riders attacked for being “disrespectful“; car murders continue without complaint.
• Beacon Hill road safety project gets business pushback.
• You can comment on Shoreline’s plan for 185th St.
• Also, comments accepted on reserved parking at the Tacoma Dome.
• Finally, comment on Pike/Pine bike lanes.
• Sound Transit has a new CFO.
• Puyallup may ban sidewalk biking because of… crime?
• Bremerton fast ferry hits log, no serious problems. Meanwhile, seven WSDOT ferries ($) are out of service.

This is an open thread.