By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Maybe the next politician-meets-the-people Town Hall can be a joint city-county effort, with Mayor Mike McGinn and County Executive Dow Constantine both facing the crowd.

The mayor’s Hiawatha Community Center event tonight brought many a question that should have been addressed by that other government headquartered in downtown Seattle.

Some county-flavored foreshadowing came when breakdancing Vicious Puppies Crew performed pre-mayor with three dancers in yellow T-shirts promoting County Council candidate Diana Toledo – they were the second act, after Defined Movement:

But most of all, county considerations came into play when the mayor was peppered with questions and complaints about transit, which is mostly the county’s responsibility, the way things work now. Here’s video of the event in its entirety:

If you’d rather read the toplines, our story continues ahead:

The fourth person to ask a question voiced regret that Metro wasn’t on hand to talk about the possibility of dramatic service cuts (here’s our Monday story) if a new $20 car-tab fee isn’t put into place to help close the transit agency’s budget gap.

And a later questioner wanted to know why the local governments couldn’t work together to solve transit challenges such as the one she said she faced in the “underserved,” as she put it, Duwamish Head area (where Alki and Harbor Avenues meet).

Yet another questioner suggested it was long past time to redraw bus routes, saying many “don’t make sense,” while observing that she often found herself feeling unsafe having to wait for a bus somewhere after dark.

Overall, the mayor suggested the city might need to take more of its transit needs into its own hands, somehow, but might also have to ask voters for help with that. Transit cuts, as the county has suggested might be needed, “are not acceptable, ” he declared, especially since he says, “we’ve actually seen the amount of driving going down and transit use going up – people want other choices. … We can’t just count on the county and regional [entities], we have to look at what we can do.”

The hottest transportation issue of the moment is the Highway 99 tunnel, ultimately a state matter, but with enough city (and other governments’) involvement that a referendum will be on the August 16th ballot. Three of the first five people to ask McGinn a question expressed opposition to the tunnel, including a man who had a long anti-tunnel, pro-viaduct-refurbishing statement to read, but was gently cut off when he had exceeded his time. “It (the tunnel) is a bum deal for us out here in West Seattle,” he declared.

One of the other tunnel-opposing questioners voiced concerns about maintenance costs and safety. In attempting to answer her, the mayor said he “has to be careful” about what he says now that the tunnel-related referendum is on the ballot, since he’s not supposed to be “using city resources” while campaigning against it.

Non-transportation issues included a question about the old City Light substation building at Dakota Place Park north of The Junction – the park has long since been dedicated, but the completion of building rehab, so it can be put into service as a satellite facility for Hiawatha, seems to be taking forever. A Seattle Parks rep stepped forward to say the work will start soon and should be complete by year’s end; the building will hold classes Mondays-Thursdays, and be open for community rentals Fridays-Sundays.

Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum told the mayor she’s concerned about the revived plan to close the Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction (she and other local neighborhood advocates had met with city leaders last year to lobby to keep it from being cut). He said he wished he hadn’t had to, but budget reality dictated something had to go.

The ongoing budget crunch also figured into the mayor’s answer for another questioner wondering if more existing overhead utility services in the city could be undergrounded. The mayor said he’s “open to it” but warned that “capital costs” could be prohibited. He did suggest that the questioner check into City Light’s ongoing strategic-planning process.

From the HIghland Park Action Committee, Michael Shilley brought his petition expressing concern about low-flying aircraft (as reported here) and asked for the mayor’s support in getting the county to pay attention to the concerns. The mayor agreed to have his staff do what they can to help facilitate that.

From Pigeon Point, Pete Spalding asked why so many taxing efforts – levies – seem to dig into property owners’ pockets. “I wish we had better taxing options at the city level,” the mayor acknowledged.

Regarding other questions, the mayor said he supports the concept of electing City Councilmembers by district, though since it would require changing the City Charter, he said, he’s not expecting change any time soon; he wasn’t enthusiastic about the concept of a Metropolitan Parks District to spin off city parks into their own entity, in hopes of solving their ongoing budget problems.

And in closing remarks, he offered what almost sounded like words of self-defense, saying he had sought to be elected mayor because he wanted to work with the people of the city to make it a better place.

In addition to the youth performances preceding his Q/A, there was an hour-long community information fair, with more than a dozen groups setting up tables and hanging banners around the Hiawatha gym. We’ll be adding some photos, as well as full video of the meeting, a bit later.