Fred Jarrett has been many things in his career – Republican and Democrat, winning and losing candidate, elected official and appointed bureaucrat. Now that he is at that final stage after losing his last election, he is now an appointee of the man – Dow Constantine – who beat him, left to echo whatever the boss says.
And King County Executive Constantine says we must spend $54 billion on Sound Transit’s 25-year light rail expansion plan, so Jarrett is left to ask how high he must jump.
And jump he does in a piece in the Seattle blog Crosscut, creating multiple straw men about the virtues of light rail and vices of those who would like to see a more effective plan for the huge price tag that Sound Transit’s Seattle officials have proposed.
Jarrett starts by talking about the frustration of traffic congestion and being “stuck in the carpool lane no less.” He fails to mention that even by Sound Transit’s own admission, its expensive ST3 plan on the ballot this fall will not reduce congestion. You might think for $54 billion it might get easier to get around the region.
The Deputy County Executive then writes about how much transit ridership is growing, and a “great example is the euphoria around U-Link opening.” Of course, Sound Transit boosted that “euphoria” with a nearly million-dollar taxpayer-funded party when it opened that University of Washington station – 10 years after when it had promised to do so. Again, one might think that for the exorbitant costs Sound Transit rings up, that it might able to get something done on time, rather than just moving the deadline back and then saying it has been done on time.
But that’s not how the bureaucrats roll at Sound Transit roll at Sound Transit.
Finally, Jarrett resorts to comparing critics – who prefer that Sound Transit spend less and be more efficient with taxpayer dollars by focusing on transit options that more people could use, more quickly – to the people who voted down the Forward Thrust initiative in 1970. He wants us to think how much better off we’d be if we hadn’t listened to those voters back then.
Of course, many differences abound between the current transit debate and the one in 1970 – and not the least of which is that the federal government won’t be picking up the vast majority of the tab for ST3. It is solely on the backs of local taxpayers to fund this $54 billion dollar boondoggle, which for the first time ever also taps the property tax to pay for Jarrett/Constantine’s train set.
Jarrett concludes his plea with some unfortunate language however, as it does not reflect well on Sound Transit. He suggests that “We must prepare for the future, make the right investments and keep our people moving. We have the plan. We have the experience and the track record.”
Consider each of Jarrett’s arguments:
- The Seattle Times has pointed out that ST3 is the wrong “investment”.
- ST3 only moves people from buses to trains without reducing overall traffic congestion and keeping “people moving”
- The ST3 “plan” is one that an influential Democrat State Senator says does not pencil out.
- And finally, Sound Transit’s “track record” is one of always being late with projects and over-budget – and with that kind of “experience”, why should anyone join Jarrett in supporting this massive, Seattle-centric money grab?
tensor says
Speaking of straw men…
…ST3 plan on the ballot this fall will not reduce congestion. You might think for $54 billion it might get easier to get around the region.
It’s now possible to go from the University of Washington to Sea-Tac airport in less than an hour, even if all of the intervening roads are packed with traffic, because it’s inherently possible to get around easier without reducing congestion.
(Breathing all those automobile emissions for hours a day just doesn’t do much for your already-feeble brain power, guys. Just sayin’.)
Clay Fitzgerald says
So what? That’s real convenient for just about… no one, and still doesn’t do a darn thing to relieve congestion one iota.
tensor says
Yes Clay, the UW, downtown Seattle, and Sea-Tac Airport have “just about… no one”.
You can go back to sleep now, never asking why Shift never mentions Sound Transit’s ridership numbers.
Clay Fitzgerald says
Hey stupid, there’s no point because they are so low that it has NO effect on congestion and the best estimates are that if and when the entire system gets completed it will handle less than 4% of commuters… and that’s the optimistic outlook. If you really want a choo-choo train, go buy a trainset at Toys-r-us and set it up in your mama’s basement.
BTW, I said “just about no one,” those that would use it to get to Sea-Tac Airport are a limited demographic. There are a lot more people that aren’t going to bother driving to some train station with NO parking in order to use it to get to their flights than will ever use it for that. If those who don’t want to drive to the airport themselves, there are other alternatives, supplied by private enterprise that are more expedient, like Shuttle Express. They pick you up at your door and drop you at the airport at the time you need to be there, reasonably fast, expedient and for a reasonable cost not underwritten by taxpayers.
tensor says
Whine harder, Clay. We’re having a vote whether you like it or not. (And no airport shuttle has ever been as fast or convenient as Metro/Link, at least in my experience.)
Clay Fitzgerald says
That “no airport shuttle has ever been a fast or convenient as Metro/Link” is ONLY your experience and I have no idea what that is or where it even operates. When I use Shuttle Express, it came right to my house, the driver loaded our luggage into the van and dropped us at the airport. That’s better than driving myself, having to park in long term, off-site parking and taking their shuttle to the terminal.
BTW, you’re the one that seems to be the whiner here, about getting your electric train and making everyone else pay for it, beside that, this topic is old and it’s time for your to move on and get a real life.
tensor says
That “no airport shuttle has ever been a fast or convenient as Metro/Link” is ONLY your experience and I have no idea what that is or where it even operates.
Well, your lack of knowledge of the subject means you shouldn’t have made blanket statements about it. (Yeah, since when has that ever stopped you?) it’s just yet another example of how actual experiences of real people contradict your forcefully-stated ideology. Since this happens to you quite frequently, why are you not used to it by now?
Clay Fitzgerald says
Hey there tensie, you doofus, I don’t live where ever MetroLink or wherever the devil that might be and your disparaging comments only make you look childish, what are you, 13 or 12 years old? Maybe you need your mama to your wipe your snotty little nose and change your Pampers.
Biff says
“Since no one has yet used the North-South Freeway in Spokane”
No one has yet used light rail to get to Issaquah, either, Moron. The Spokane freeway will be carrying people and food to your table long before light rail to Issaquah happens, if it ever does. But the Eastside will still be heavily subsidizing your possibility of a ride from Sea-Tac airport to UW in less than an hour.
“while thousands of people per day use Link Light Rail”
Again, numbers. Thousands in an area with 3.8 million people isn’t really saying much.
“Is your basis for that the government job you say I have, or the minimum wage for which you claim I work?”
Seeing as how we wisely don’t have one your guiding principles, a state income tax, How much the Ministry of Truth pays its serfs (you) has absolutely no effect on your negative contribution to roads. Your negative contribution to roads happens when somebody else pays for your transportation choices.
Clay Fitzgerald says
Who are you replying to, you doofus? I never made such a statement, maybe you’re replying to ‘tensor.’ If so, make sure you know that before posting insults not meant for the person on the receiving end of your commentary.
BTW, I grew extremely weary of tensie’s moronic and outright stupid remarks and blocked him so I wouldn’t subject to it’s more subtle insults.
Biff says
“Meanwhile, thousands of people a day rise (sic) Link from the UW, Capitol Hill, and downtown, walking from the light rail station to baggage claim without the hassles of driving or parking”
Meanwhile, MILLIONS of other people don’t have and will never have convenient access to this system you bloodsucking transit parasites want everybody to pay for. (But you people are capable of walking, aren’t you? You must be so dependent!)
tensor says
Meanwhile, MILLIONS of other people don’t have and will never have convenient access to this system you bloodsucking transit parasites want everybody to pay for.
Just as MILLIONS of Washinton state’s taxpayers (myself included) will never use the North-South freeway in Spokane, but you’ve yet to condemn the Republicans in our legislature as “bloodsucking leeches” for their taking my tax money — without my getting to vote on it — for their pork-fests.
Biff says
More people will use the Spokane freeway than use light rail. At 1.6 cents on the dollar.
“you’ve yet to condemn the Republicans in our legislature as “bloodsucking freeway parasites” for their taking my tax money — without my getting to vote on it — for their pork-fest “freeway” projects”
Nor will I. We’ve been over before but it hasn’t sunken in to your thick skull. Regardless of your mathematical disability, motorists, being the overwhelming majority of the population, pay for the overwhelming majority of road costs. And a majority of non-self sustaining transit costs, too. Your contribution to roads, minus the transit subsidies, wouldn’t buy a single “Detour” sign.
tensor says
More people will use the Spokane freeway than use light rail. At 1.6 cents on the dollar.
Since no one has yet used the North-South Freeway in Spokane, while thousands of people per day use Link Light Rail, I’d like to know the source of your figures.
(Crickets)
…motorists, being the overwhelming majority of the population, pay for the overwhelming majority of road costs.
Again, numbers. (And paying the majority of all taxes doesn’t seem to count for much with you when the actual majority paying those taxes here in Washington state consists of urban liberals.)
Your contribution to roads, minus the transit subsidies, wouldn’t buy a single “Detour” sign.
Is your basis for that the government job you say I have, or the minimum wage for which you claim I work? Because neither of your claims actually has anything to do with reality. (You do know that, right?)
Biff says
When your experience is a gray bus to the Ministry of Truth and a bike with an “I heart big government” bumper sticker on the fender for weekend getaways, a rickshaw would faster and more convenient. When you’re one of the 99.2%, a normal person with friends, family, private automobiles and will never have convenient access to your “train to UW in less than an hour”, our experiences are far different.
tensor says
…a normal person…
Yeah, you’re a real authority on what constitutes “normal” around here. Let’s find out just how wrong you are:
Over the past twenty years, have you voted for a winning candidate for the U.S. Senate from Washington state? How about for our Governor’s office? How many of Washington state’s electoral votes went to the Presidential candidates for whom you voted? In 2016, did you vote to follow Seattle’s lead on gay rights and legalization of cannabis?
When it comes to the actual decisions made by Washington state’s voters in real elections, I’m guessing you have, for decades, been on the losing side of every last one of those votes, “normal” guy.
Biff says
Apparently you feel one must vote with the King County lemmings to be “normal” What a loser.
tensor says
No, I’m commenting on a political
blog, noting that someone whose political views are of small and dwindling relevance to our modern world thereby lacks the authority to dictate the meaning of “normal” to those of us in the majority.
We’ve spent a century subsidizing highways, and the results are sprawl, pollution, and traffic jams. You can advocate for spending more public money to buy more of that same failure, but don’t delude yourself into believing that anyone else will cede to you the ability to redefine our common words so that you may claim to “win” political arguments you’ve clearly lost.
Biff says
Shift doesn’t have to mention Unsound Transit’s ridership numbers. You already did that by citing an Unsound Transit report stating an average of 33,000 riders per day. In a metropolitan area of 3.8 million, that’s 0.8%
Biff says
“It’s now possible to go from the University of Washington to Sea-Tac airport in less than an hour”
That’s great if you travel between those two points on a regular, or even an occasional basis. For the other 99.2% of us, it’s more like: “It’s now mandatory for you to pay $54 BILLION for the possibility of some freeloader going from the University of Washington to Sea-Tac airport in less than an hour, regardless of the fact the system will never be within 10 miles of you using it conveniently
tensor says
Biff, we’ll have a vote on ST3, of the taxpayers who will pay for it, and the majority will carry the day. That’s called “democracy,” it is the core principle upon which the United States of America was founded, and you can get your hate on it all you want.
Meanwhile, please continue to regale us with your Party’s unquestionable line, about how an unnecessary freeway to nowhere in Spokane, of which those exact same ST3 voters will pay approximately 60 per cent, should not be voted upon by them.
Clay Fitzgerald says
The “freeway to nowhere” in Spokane… prove the figures and how you know that.
tensor says
Yes, the guy who can’t ever produce a single example to support his claims is quick to demand evidence from others. A career of picking up government paychecks while dodging the question, “just what exactly do you do here, anyway?” will give one some skills like this.
Biff says
Do you mean the entire freeway to built in Spokane that will cost less than a mere ONE MILE of light rail? If you don’t like it, take it up with the legislature that approved it. That’s called “representative republic”, it is the core principle upon which the United States of America was founded, and you can get your lust for more tax money on it all you want.
I’d ask you for a source of the claim that voters living in the RTA will pay 60% of the Spokane freeway, but I know all I’d get is vague generalities. But hey, it’s now possible for a transit freeloader to go from the University of Washington to Sea-Tac airport in less than an hour on somebody else’s dime.
tensor says
If you don’t like it, take it up with the legislature that approved it. That’s called “representative republic”, it is the core principle upon which the United States of America was founded,
Yes, that would be the exact same legislature which, as part of the exact same transportation package, approved our upcoming vote on ST3. (What, exactly is your problem with that, again?)
Do you mean the entire freeway to built in Spokane that will cost less than a mere ONE MILE of light rail?
If a quarter of a billion dollars is just so much chump change to you, why do you care so much about the prospect of a tax increase?
Oh, and the North-South freeway in Spokane will also utterly fail to “reduce congestion” there, because Spokane is the only urban area in the state without congestion. Somehow the need for a transportation project to “reduce congestion” just magically disappears when a Republican elected official must purchase his seat by hefting a generous ladle brimming with 100% pure taxpayer-funded pork, straight from the barrel to the open mouths of his constituents.
…and you can get your lust for more tax money on it all you want.
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a miserably failed legislator from Spokane.