ORIGINAL 12:26 PM REPORT: According to citywide reports today, the mayor says that when legislative leaders announce this afternoon which projects they plan to earmark for distribution of federal “stimulus” money, the list will NOT include two major city projects – including $25 million sought for the Spokane Street Viaduct widening project adding more lanes to, and changing the ramp configuration of, the stretch of the West Seattle Bridge between 99 and I-5. We have a message out to the mayor’s office to ask where the money is supposed to come from otherwise, or if this would put completion of the project in doubt (early stages have already begun, with the work along lower Spokane St.); the other project that’s reportedly being aced out of stimulus $ is the “Mercer corridor” work planned for the south end of downtown. ADDED 2:41 PM: The mayor’s official statement on the Legislature’s announcement – AND FOLLOWING IT, A 4:06 PM ADDITION: Now there’s a statement that the mayor’s gotten some hope from the governor: AND FOLLOWING THAT, A 5:34 PM ADDITION FROM TWO COUNCILMEMBERS WHO ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE MAYOR’S REVELATION EARLIER:

“From his first day in office, President Obama has been clear: federal stimulus funds must create jobs, and build new projects that benefit the economy. Along with mayors across the country, I met with the president about his economic recovery plan, and it was with his guidance that we proposed including the Spokane Street Viaduct and fixing the Mercer Mess. These projects will directly create more than 1,300 jobs. On Jan. 13, I signed an agreement with Gov. Christine Gregoire and King County Executive Ron Sims to allocate federal money to the Spokane and Mercer Street projects. What’s more, we have lined up $45 million in unprecedented private support for Mercer Street. This is exactly the kind of partnership that will put people to work and grow our economy. It is mystifying that the state Legislature would seek to eliminate Spokane Street and Mercer Street from its list of stimulus projects. In fact, the Legislature has excluded Seattle from any significant federal funding. This runs contrary to economic good sense, and the explicit directions from President Obama. Seattle has 17 percent of the jobs of the entire state, and 15 percent of total retail sales. Eighty-five percent of federal medical research dollars go to Seattle institutions. With Spokane and Mercer Streets, we have the projects that will put people to work immediately. We need to move forward with an economic stimulus package that benefits the entire region, now and in the future.”

ADDED 4:06 PM: Looks like the mayor’s gotten some hope from the governor – here’s a new statement:

“I want to thank Gov. Gregoire for her commitment to work with the Legislature to include Spokane and Mercer Streets in the list of projects receiving federal stimulus dollars. I’m gratified the governor is working to find solutions that create jobs and benefit our regional economy, and I accept her proposal to work with her and legislative leaders to fund Spokane and Mercer Streets. The governor and I have both heard from President Obama directly, and understand that economic recovery depends on our ability to fund new projects and get people working.”

ADDED 5:34 PM: A statement from Councilmembers Nick Licata and Tom Rasmussen, who are not happy with what the mayor said earlier in the day:

“Today we learned from the joint Transportation Committee press
conference in Olympia that the Mayor knew in advance that $50 million
needed to fully fund the Mercer Project would not be included in the
proposed Federal stimulus package.

“The Council voted 6-3 yesterday to release the remainder of Mercer
Project funds after the Executive provided a full funding plan, thus
meeting the Council’s requirement from last year’s budget process.
It appears this vote was taken without Councilmembers knowing that the
state Transportation Chairs had already decided not to propose funding
this project from the Federal stimulus funds. It raises the question
whether the Council would have voted to proceed with this project if it
had known that the city does not have the money to complete it.

“The Council should re-examine its options with regard to the Mercer
Project, and consider spending limitations.”