Friends of Seattle has released partial results of a poll about the proposed deep-bore tunnel. The poll asked 411 likely voters how likely they would be to vote for a generic city council member who supports signing a contract with the state that “accept[s] the state law that makes Seattle taxpayers liable for all cost overruns” on the tunnel. (Mayor Mike McGinn and city council member Mike O’Brien want the city to add a clause to the city’s tunnel agreement with the state stipulating that the agreement won’t go through unless the state legislature removes a clause in state law that says “Seattle-area property owners who benefit” from the tunnel must pay for overruns. Tunnel supporters say the provision is legally unenforceable.)
Slightly more than half the voters polled, 51.6 percent, said they would be somewhat or very unlikely to support a council member who signed an agreement that didn’t specify that the state, not Seattle taxpayers , is responsible for cost overruns. Just 35.2 percent said they would be somewhat (17.3 percent) or very (34.3 percent) likely to support such a council member.
Additionally, the poll shows that a plurality, 48.8 percent, said they would be likely to vote for a referendum overturning the contract with the state if it doesn’t include a clause exempting city taxpayers from cost overruns. Thirty-two and a half percent said they would not support such a referendum, and 18.7 percent weren’t sure how they’d vote.
Five council members are up for reelection next year: Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, Tom Rasmussen, Tim Burgess, and Sally Clark.
The group plans to release the rest of the poll, which deals with individual council members, pedestrian, bike, and transit funding, and land use, next week.
