Why did they like Mike a month ago?
In order, McGinn’s follow-up acts included: 1) Starting an urbanist nonprofit called the Seattle Great City Initiative, which, among other things, helped nudge the city council to pass the legislation requiring the city to add bike and pedestrian facilities whenever it tears up city streets. . .
Publicola.net Endorses, Mike McGinn
There was more, feel free to follow the link, but the #1 was getting taxpayers to pay for improvements in and around private investments. How green of him.
Today, Erica Barnett has written a story to inform the Mike McGinn Kool-aid drinkers where Mike McGinn got support for Publicola's #1 reason for endorsing him.
So it may come as a surprise to some of his idealistic supporters that the group that financed McGinn’s Great City—in addition to environmental groups like the Cascade Bicycle Club and the Bullitt Foundation—includes many of the city’s biggest developers, law firms, and builders.
. . .
the group has posted a list of the companies and organizations themselves that funded the group’s creation.
. . .
The most prominent company on the list is Vulcan, Paul Allen’s South Lake Union development firm. Although McGinn wouldn’t say specifically how much Vulcan had contributed to Great City, he does concede that the developer is among the organization’s top two or three contributors, along with Bullitt and the Land Conservancy.
McGinn Group Funded by Seattle’s Biz Establishment
BY ERICA C. BARNETT, 09/11/2009, 3:11 PM
The story got a shout-out from SeattleWeekly's Mark Fefer:
Where exactly is the surprise in the fact that real estate developers like Vulcan and Harbor Properties, and the architects they employ, are supportive of a group like Great City that's all about creating amenities for more density? Why wouldn't they like a group that led the charge in 2008 to get Seattle voters to put up $145 million in taxpayer money to fix up parks near the developers' condos and apartments?
News Flash From Publicola: Developers Like Density and Taxpayer-Funded Parks".
So, do not ask how and why Mike McGinn can oppose a tunnel replacement for the Alaska Way Viaduct, but be for the $290 million dollar reworking of the "Mercer mess" that does next to nothing to improve traffic (that IS the mess). It sure does look good in the middle of Paul Allen's Vulcan investment and development in the South Lake Union area (this for that?).
Have a great day,
Mike Baker
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http://ManyWordsForRain.blogspot.com
