On Thursday, I called Suzie Burke of the Fremont Dock Company and told her that I was going to be running for the State House Seat, Position #1 in the 36th District. She said “Why don’t you come over and we will talk about it.” So Friday, I spent a few hours in her conference room listening to her concerns and ideas. I wish I had brought a tape recorder.
We talked about transportation which included the “Mercer Mess” (which is a pain for so many of us) and how she feels we could fix it by starting from Elliott and going east. When Aurora is reached, a lid could be put over it or a tunnel could be bored under and then connect to Mercer. One of the most important things she said is that this work needs to be done before any more condos are built!
We also discussed the Alaskan Way viaduct. I mentioned that I had heard that only a section of the viaduct had a large a problem and Suzie said it is actually only four pillars. She went into more detail and suggested I speak with Gene Hoglund. I spoke with him yesterday and he sent me the following information:
The easiest web address to use for promotion is www.wffes.org <http://www.wffes.org>
Please bookmark this address, and remember when you tell others.
The No Tunnel Alliance campaign web site has been closed, to save hosting cost. The NTA blog remains - the web address, www.notunnelalliance.com <http://www.notunnelalliance.com> now loads the NTA blog.
Gene is a member of the stakeholder advisory committee and sent me this information also:
April 24, 2008 Meeting
The viaduct is what the service trucks use and the thought of shutting it down for any length of time is frightening. She gave me a very large number of cars that daily utilize the viaduct but I didn’t capture it. If the viaduct can be retrofitted and safe, why don't we just get on with it—we have much better places to put our money!
Suzie mentioned “Bridging The Gap” and explained how bonds were voted on to do certain projects and the money is not going for what it was supposed to be spent on and guess what—they will be coming back for more bond money. Suzie said “What will they call it next time?”
I mentioned that schools are a very important issue to me as it is with Suzie. She pointed to how successful F. B. Day is and attributes its success to the excellent work being done by the principal. They operate on about $4,000 per child.
I mentioned that when the schools get 50% of the tax money (which they are supposed to according to the State Constitution) that I feel Seattle should be having excellent schools all around. I would like to see a performance audit on the Seattle Schools to see if the money is being spent as wisely as it can.
Her next “hot button” was utilities. I need to look into how money collected from our water bill is being spent. Susie pointed out that there is not a breakdown. Often money is placed in the “General Fund” and then can be spent anyway someone wants rather than how it was intended. Susie asks “why is it that when Washington State has so much water that generates electricity—why should our water and electric bills keep going up?”
She suggests making a reduction in the water and electric bills—this would give immediate relief to pocket books that have to spend so much more for food and gasoline.
Regarding gasoline, another thing Suzie brought up was about people retrofitting their cars to run on electricity. It is great for our environment but the cost of electricity is very prohibitive. She also pointed out that the battery packs used when a car is retrofitted are small and not so damaging to the environment when they need to be disposed of.
I also met two of Suzie’s daughters. Her daughter, Kirby Lindsay, told me about all the businesses that are along the Burke-Gilman trail. “High paying jobs that some people may feel are noisy.” We need to be mindful that the city needs those jobs!
There was so much more that came out of the meeting that I want to research before I share. I plan to go to other areas of my district and, hopefully, find other’s like Suzie Burke and her daughter Kirby that are willing to take the time to share their concerns and ideas on important issues.
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