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Contents on this page were published in the May, 1993 edition of the Washington Free Press.
WFP, 1463 E. Republican #178, Seattle, WA -USA, 98112. -- WAfreepress@gmail.com
Copyright © 1993 WFP Collective, Inc.
WHERE LOSERS
ARE THE WINNERS
About a month ago, we were all set to declare the whole Washington state Legislature the collective Dufus of the Month. Luckily, they unlocked the grid sufficiently enough to pass major health care, education and civil service reforms, a package of badly needed new taxes, a malicious harassment law to help protect gays and lesbians, and a plan to merge the at-times duplicative Fisheries and Wildlife departments.
Now you're getting the idea.
Senate Majority Leader Marc Gaspard, however, tried his best to be a Dufus. On April 5, the Puyallup Democrat prevented a Senate committee from voting on Rep. Cal Anderson's gay-rights bill, which had passed the House. A private headcount reportedly showed the legislation was one vote short of passing the Senate committee. But Gaspard nixed the vote.
Maybe Gaspard didn't want an emotional, disruptive hearing to ensue; maybe he was afraid the legislation actually might pass. Either way, Gaspard should have allowed the vote to occur, which would have "outed" senators who opposed the bill.
Speaking of Cal Anderson, the Capitol Hill Democrat was one of two well-known figures in the gay and lesbian community victimized recently by radical AIDS activists. Anderson's home and the office of Bob Wood, AIDS prevention coordinator for the Seattle/King County Health Department, were hit with graffiti by "activists" unhappy with various public-policy stances held by the two men.
"They're assholes," Anderson told the Free Press when asked about the incident. He went on to identify likely suspects, though libel tort prevents us from naming them. Some have suspected members or sympathizers of ACT-UP, which has long suffered public relations troubles thanks to its ultra-radical elements.
ACT-UP's Seattle chapter - though marginally understandable given its geographic location - has had more than its share of internal squabbling and rebel members. Recently, for example, some ACT-UP members told total strangers about a plan to out a powerful local politician, and about a perjury trial entangling a top state AIDS official - both of which turned out to be complete fiction.
We wouldn't go as far as Anderson in describing these people; Dufus aspirant will suffice for our purposes.
Nice effort, people. We'll keep you in mind for future awards.
This month's Dufus of the Month (or is it Dufi ?) is the ever-growing group of politicians and media people opposing the regional rail plan.
With the state Legislature wimping out on Gov. Mike Lowry's gas tax proposal, and members of the Joint Regional Policy Committee suffering political impotence, it looks like the plan to spend $6.2 billion on a 128-mile train to link King, Pierce and Snohomish counties has slipped into a coma, out of which it may never recover.
Rail opponents are in a serious state of denial, mainly over the fact that the sleepy, un-traffic-jammed Puget Sound of the past isn't coming back. Like it or not, folks, Seattle is a full-blown city.
First there was anger over this reality. Now people are in denial. It's important that we get to acceptance before inflation pushes the price of the rail plan up to $10 billion or more, and before in-fill makes it impossible to find suitable right-of-way for tracks and rail stops.
Here's some free therapy:
Illusion: We shouldn't build rail because cities that have such a system are still badly congestion.
Reality: Take out the rail in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, the Bay Area, Washington, DC, Boston, et al, and then watch the congestion.
Illusion: $6.2 billion is too much to spend for a rail system that may wind up suffering from lower-than-expected ridership and big financial "losses."
Reality: Public projects are not supposed to turn a profit. Plus, beyond government financial statements are the unquantifiable social costs paid by humans for such "intangibles" as the frustration of sitting in traffic, air pollution and the eating up of our land by new roads.
Illusion: If you built it, riders won't come.
Reality: While many people have personal and logistical reasons against riding the bus, hopping a train is a vastly different experience. It's quieter, faster, cleaner, roomier and, well, it's kind of cool. (The Supertrain idea pitched in the movie "Singles" is just how the real rail system should be sold to the region - think about it.) Many bus-hating car owners think they can get around just as quickly if they're behind the wheel. Not so, however, with rail.
Illusion: Rail will destroy neighborhoods.
Reality: Rail will preserve neighborhoods because rail stops can and assuredly would be built where population and commercial centers already exist, and not built where further growth would want to be curtailed. Developers, as a result, would have less incentive to build in areas with no rail stops.
Sure, the density in urban neighborhoods would increase, but it's already happening. Most urban residents - already accustomed to city life - are willing to accept living in a busier neighborhood than see Puget Sound's open spaces decimated by new development. What's more, a rail system would be virtually required to support the "urban villages" growth management philosophy embraced by Seattle Mayor Norm Rice and many other political leaders.
Illusion: Puget Sound already is too filled in for rail to be effective.
Reality: This is true for Miami and Los Angeles. But Puget Sound has the one of the most distinct system of neighborhoods of any major US city. In this context, it is as close to a perfect "rail city" as you possibly could have in 1993. (It was immeasurably better suited when a rail project was on the ballot in 1963.) Waiting until 2013 would be too late; 1993 is not.
The troglodytes who oppose rail are the messengers of myopic thinking. Institutional and social inertia in a region otherwise known for its daring progressiveness is threatening a project whose time has come. Perhaps the opponents simply are too close to the situation to see the truth. From the outside, rail looks like a project that Puget Sound would grow into - population-wise and culturally.
Exploiting people's fear of higher taxes at a time when, despite 19,000 impending Boeing layoffs, a national economic turnaround is likely is a cheap technique to undermine support.
With President Clinton willing to spend billions on a high-speed rail in the Northwest, many are saying that the three-county system would dovetail nicely with the federal plan. And with Seattle having trouble meeting federal air quality standards, a rail system would take thousands of cars off the road.
Believe it or not, Seattle already has the best bus system in the country. And no, the rail plan is not a silver-bullet solution to our transportation problems.
But don't listen to the Dufi of the Month. A rail system would be a wonderful addition to Puget Sound's public transportation system. Any Dufus can see that.
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