Washblog

850-page glorified file memo on viaduct?

Yesterday, Will at HorsesAss reported on a Seattle Times story  outlining how the Washington State DOT apparently concealed an important 50-page study on a hybrid tunnel option during weeks of intense public debate during which the tunnel option was eventually squelched.  Will wrote:
While I have not favored building a tunnel on the waterfront for some time, this news strikes me as being incredibly unfair and dishonest. WSDOT, including Doug MacDonald and David Dye, appear to have disregarded the facts with which they don't agree in favor of facts that fit their goals: building an elevated freeway on the waterfront.    These revelations show that the tunnel never got a fair shake, and it gives me every reason to believe that the 'surface plus transit' plan will never get the fair shake either.

Today, Will links to a followup  PI story in which Holly Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Gregoire, responded to the concealment charge by explaining that the tunnel study was not a "full-blown study".  WA DOT's David Dye, also responded, characterizing the document a "glorified file memo," that summarized a week's work.  Will provides a stark visual refutation of these reassurance that nothing much was left out of this debate.  omg Please go see it.

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not a secret document and not a final document.
Getting from the point where an idea is thrown upon the table to the point where the idea is developed to a point where you can understand its intended scope, the big picture things like how does it link up with roads to the South and the battery street tunnel to the North is a long way from being done with the review. Safety, capacity, timeline driven by design, compatibility with state and federal policies for many issues and fed and state funding are all things which would have to be reviewed in order to get to a reasonable point of review. Some of these issues I expect, would require extensive site work to quantify the archaeological content along the cut and cover area in order to allow for or eliminate the 100's of millions this issue alone could cause.
Will, though reportedly banned from Washblog, is not a bad guy. Still, he is in full campaign mode and has demonstrated no personal limits in the tools he will use, things he will say or fingers he will wrongly point in order to campaign for his desired outcome.

by Particle Man on Thu Feb 22, 2007 at 01:32:29 PM PST

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Stark visual refutation? Says who? It's a picture of a loose leaf binder. I'm guessing that you haven't read what's in it, and Will hasn't read what's in it. He has just parroted what somebody else has said is in it, with no evidence of any attempt to have verified it.

You're only making it worse by taking what he says on faith, offering no independent evidence, and jumping to a conclusion that is not supported by any evidence other than a picture of a fat loose leaf binder.

Why should I trust what he says? Because he calls himself a "progressive blogger?" Eff that! Let him produce the facts or STFU. If the contents of that binder say what Will says they say, let's see the evidence.

Are we the "reality-based" people? This is nothing more than a knee-jerk hive mind at work, and it's not anything we need to tolerate.

Bad, bad post, Noemie. You know I support you and help you when you do right. This isn't it.

If perception is reality, then the world must be flat and the sun must revolve around it.

by ivan on Thu Feb 22, 2007 at 05:43:05 PM PST

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If you define refutation as absolute proof -- this photo ain't refutation.

But that's not the common meaning of refutation.  The common definition of refutation is 'answering an attack', 'evidence that helps estabish the falsity', etc.

Will's photos -- unless he's being accused of making this up (now that would be not only immediately debunkable, but also quite  interesting) -- are indeed, a stark visual refutation of reassurances that DOT had come up with nothing that would be interesting to tunnel advocates.  That's exactly what these photos are.  Stark refutation.  

Ivan's point is true that I did no research (other than reading the 2 articles and 3 blog posts).  I had no obligation to.  I'm posting no new assertions, simply spouting off opinion.  The things I say as factual are facts.  Holly Armstrong diid respond to charges, etc. My opinion -- an exclamation of omg!, for example, isn't likely to fool anyone.  Would it have been better if I did research?  Maybe.  I'm glad to think about that one.  Ivan, you might be right there.  

Blogs.. short for web logs.  A log being a recording made in installments to record things as they fly by.  The form's evolving so we really are getting on blogs now some solid reporting.  This particular little post of mine doesn't masquerade as anything but a reaction to someone else's post.  If every blog post that is sheer opinion and reaction to the day's events must be fully researched, that's going to mean giving up some useful aspects of the form.

I hate the tunnel idea.  I think it's the worst option.  And  clearly Ms. Armstrong and Mr. Dye are telling the literal truth.  This isn't a report per se -- something teams of people worked on to develop, review, refine, etc.  But, really, how can anyone blame people in the city of Seattle who want the tunnel for being righteously pissed that they weren't told about this 850-page memo?  Put it in any context you want -- you can't get away from the fact that a team of professionals worked on this for a week and produced lots of info.  That's a major chunk of work.  There's info in there that the tunnel people would have wanted to see -- even if it was flawed or incomplete.  

Will's posting of these photos is, to me, like a plain, direct citizen stop-action, if just for  a moment of an incredible flow of bureaucratic stuff -- bureaucratic ectoplasm....  Trumpets floating in the air, etc.   None of that, truly, Governor Gregoire's fault.  But this, really, shouldn't be about her.  She shouldn't be the fall guy.


Bureaucratic ectoplasm advancing on a small, motorized scooter type conveyance

Through a couple of decades of transportation gridlock, people have been sorting out, puzzling over official explanations that cast things in the light most favorable for the speaker.  It's sort of dizzying.  How, in all this study, all this negotiation, all this speech, all these bits & bytes, all this paper, pouring pouring out -- can we never seem to pin down what's really the story.  I love those photos!  They are a kind of performace piece.  They are a kind of poem.  A manifestation -- a shimmering forth from the realm of evidence to show... that people are diligently studying the situation -- and then not sharing the information with each other...

Perhaps I misunderstand.  That's the nature of a blog, I think. Trying to piece things together.

by noemie maxwell on Thu Feb 22, 2007 at 10:07:05 PM PST

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I'll try to get to the rest of your comment later.

But we can start off with what's in the dictionary.

by noemie maxwell on Fri Feb 23, 2007 at 07:47:17 AM PST

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Urgh! we can't even tell the truth at a local level.  You need to tell your representatives that this is not ok.   That they need to start funding international aid and accomplishing the Millennium Goals like they promised!

by KatieL on Fri Feb 23, 2007 at 10:57:23 AM PST

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... Will can't participate in this discussion.

You're only young once, but you can be immature forever -- Larry Andersen
Blogging at Peace Tree Farm

by N in Seattle on Fri Feb 23, 2007 at 12:41:26 PM PST

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