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Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

The War on Seattle

News   January 14, 2010 at 2:39 pm Josh Feit

If I may steal Erica’s “C” for a second and get cranky about the news she just reported—that Camano Island state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D-10) and North Seattle Sen. Ken Jacobsen (D-46) are sponsoring legislation that would take away the city’s right to permit major projects that run through the city. The bill is custom made to rob Seattle of its say on the waterfront and 520.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Jacobsen’s okay with legislation that F’s Seattle. Seattle legislators don’t always have Seattle’s interests in mind. Remember the Seattle representatives who voted to make Seattle accountable for the state’s cost overruns on the tunnel project?




  • pete

    We’ve needed a mayor that could unite/rally the City’s delegation to promote a concencus agenda for some time. I hope that McGinn can be that mayor in the future, but he certainly missed his opportunity this time. The Mayor should call together a pre-session forum of all the city’s legislative electeds, the council, city attorney, etc.

  • pete

    We’ve needed a mayor that could unite/rally the City’s delegation to promote a concencus agenda for some time. I hope that McGinn can be that mayor in the future, but he certainly missed his opportunity this time. The Mayor should call together a pre-session forum of all the city’s legislative electeds, the council, city attorney, etc.

  • Seattle Resident

    Who is running against Ken Jacobsen this year?

  • Seattle Resident

    Who is running against Ken Jacobsen this year?

  • dogs in bars

    hey, watch it!

  • dogs in bars

    hey, watch it!

  • SuperSteve

    “Remember the Seattle representatives who voted to make Seattle accountable for the state’s cost overruns on the tunnel project?”

    Remember when Seattle voters decided that it was alright to stick people in Pierce County with 100% of the cost of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge on State Route 16?

    What comes around goes around!

    At least the vast majority of the AWV replacement is being paid for by the state – toll payers in Gig Harbor would be grateful for the deal that Seattle is getting.

  • SuperSteve

    “Remember the Seattle representatives who voted to make Seattle accountable for the state’s cost overruns on the tunnel project?”

    Remember when Seattle voters decided that it was alright to stick people in Pierce County with 100% of the cost of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge on State Route 16?

    What comes around goes around!

    At least the vast majority of the AWV replacement is being paid for by the state – toll payers in Gig Harbor would be grateful for the deal that Seattle is getting.

  • Progressive.

    We need all the State legislators who advocating the Tunnel. We need their names and their districts. We will carry relentless campaign to remove them from office.

  • Progressive.

    We need all the State legislators who advocating the Tunnel. We need their names and their districts. We will carry relentless campaign to remove them from office.

  • phil

    @4

    Pierce County voted YES with 54.11% of the vote, so you can’t say they were against it. In King, 58.25% voted YES.

  • phil

    @4

    Pierce County voted YES with 54.11% of the vote, so you can’t say they were against it. In King, 58.25% voted YES.

  • TizzyMarie

    @ 2: David Frockt is taking on Jacobsen. I heard him speak on the No on 1033 campaign and he seems like a smart guy who wants to get things done. (Wouldn’t THAT be a change?)

  • TizzyMarie

    @ 2: David Frockt is taking on Jacobsen. I heard him speak on the No on 1033 campaign and he seems like a smart guy who wants to get things done. (Wouldn’t THAT be a change?)

  • phil

    @4
    Also looks like only a small part of King could vote on the issue; there were only 82,222 registered voters listed who could have voted for the specific item “TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION”.
    Pierce County had 338,116 registered voters who could have voted, 106,006 voted YES.

  • phil

    @4
    Also looks like only a small part of King could vote on the issue; there were only 82,222 registered voters listed who could have voted for the specific item “TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION”.
    Pierce County had 338,116 registered voters who could have voted, 106,006 voted YES.

  • Mr. X

    Actually, that voting boundary was carefully gerrymandered to ensure that those who would have to pay the toll were far outnumbered by those who wouldn’t.

  • Mr. X

    Actually, that voting boundary was carefully gerrymandered to ensure that those who would have to pay the toll were far outnumbered by those who wouldn’t.

  • Voting Guy

    Totally different issues, SuperSteve, @$.

    The AWV tunnel is a one-for-one replacement for an aged and dangerous structure. The Second Narrows Bridge was a doubling of highway capacity on an existing corridor

  • Voting Guy

    Totally different issues, SuperSteve, @$.

    The AWV tunnel is a one-for-one replacement for an aged and dangerous structure. The Second Narrows Bridge was a doubling of highway capacity on an existing corridor

  • SuperSteve

    @9

    Correct – and the gerrymandering was executed by politicians from all over the state who figured that if they could toll the TNB then they would be saving state funds for projects in their districts.

    The tolls on that Tacoma Narrow are paid almost completely by people on the Kitsap Peninsula, who voted overwhelmingly against the bridge.

    There’s nothing wrong with tolls – as long as they are put on projects using a uniform standard.

    The TNB cost less than half what a AWV replacement will run – and yet tolls would only pay for cost over-runs, if any.

    A state highway system should have a single standard for funding

  • SuperSteve

    @9

    Correct – and the gerrymandering was executed by politicians from all over the state who figured that if they could toll the TNB then they would be saving state funds for projects in their districts.

    The tolls on that Tacoma Narrow are paid almost completely by people on the Kitsap Peninsula, who voted overwhelmingly against the bridge.

    There’s nothing wrong with tolls – as long as they are put on projects using a uniform standard.

    The TNB cost less than half what a AWV replacement will run – and yet tolls would only pay for cost over-runs, if any.

    A state highway system should have a single standard for funding

  • SuperSteve

    @5

    Good luck with that – the legislators who voted for the tunnel come from all over the state, and most of them have constituents who think (rightly or wrongly) that Seattle already gets the better of them.

    You’d be doing those legislators (especially Sen. Haugen) a favor by complaining about them!

  • SuperSteve

    @5

    Good luck with that – the legislators who voted for the tunnel come from all over the state, and most of them have constituents who think (rightly or wrongly) that Seattle already gets the better of them.

    You’d be doing those legislators (especially Sen. Haugen) a favor by complaining about them!

  • aargh

    @12 is right. We must bow down in subjugation and not complain. If we acceptour karma to be slaves of the rest of the state, then we achieve peacefulness, just like any slave enjoys! Struggling to have your own identity only brings sorrow.

  • aargh

    @12 is right. We must bow down in subjugation and not complain. If we acceptour karma to be slaves of the rest of the state, then we achieve peacefulness, just like any slave enjoys! Struggling to have your own identity only brings sorrow.

  • Mathew “RennDawg” Renner

    As much as I cannot stand Seattle, I think that most of its leaders think that non-Seattle residents of King County County are second class citizens, I cannot support this. If it is happening in the city and is not a project that a state project then the state has no right to interfere.

  • Mathew “RennDawg” Renner

    As much as I cannot stand Seattle, I think that most of its leaders think that non-Seattle residents of King County County are second class citizens, I cannot support this. If it is happening in the city and is not a project that a state project then the state has no right to interfere.