New details about Mayor McGinn’s June 23 West Seattle Town Hall

The time and agenda are now set for Mayor McGinn‘s June 23rd Town Hall meeting in West Seattle (first reported here last month). The location is indeed Hiawatha Community Center (2700 California SW), the date still Thursday, June 23rd, and the time breakdown is as follows:

5:30 to 6:30 pm: Community information fair
6:30 to 6:40 pm: Performance by local artists
6:40 to 8:00 pm: Open Q&A with Mayor McGinn and City staff

His last West Seattle Town Hall was at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in December (WSB coverage here), though he’s been here more than a few times since then, including this past Monday at Don Armeni for the SPD Late Night Emphasis Patrols announcement (which is when we took the photo above).

GiveMeABreak June 10, 2011 (11:09 am)

Can he just get back to work?

CandrewB June 10, 2011 (11:25 am)

I think he is trying to be outstanding in his field.

Steve M June 10, 2011 (11:39 am)

Will he be bicycling to this event? As a West Seattle bicycling commuter (to downtown) I’d like to know that our bicycle advocating mayor has personal, first-hand experience riding the obstacle course/rolling construction zone that is our bike commute these days. Its downright dangerous at points. North enders would not tolerate this. Can nothing be done?

eileen June 10, 2011 (12:10 pm)

Har-Har!

He needs a stylist/PR person to get better pictures -he looks like he’s lost!

WSB June 10, 2011 (12:18 pm)

We took the photo (co-publisher Patrick Sand, to be precise). We had many other photos from the event with people in them, but when writing the story on Monday, I found this one striking, so it was still left over in our photo files, and I decided to use it here. No PR people or stylists involved, sorry – TR … PS to C/A/B, yes, every time I look at it, that’s the phrase that occurred …

Scott June 10, 2011 (2:28 pm)

Who let mayor bicycle into West Seattle. Lets make sure to put up the drawbridge up when he trys to come over next time.

KBear June 10, 2011 (2:37 pm)

“Mayor McGinn meets with his supporters” would be a good caption for the photo.

Stu June 10, 2011 (3:00 pm)

He should come to West Seattle when the Viaduct is closed for repairs. This way he will get to experience the 2 hour commute we will all be living with if we don’t get a tunnel

Peter on Fauntleroy June 10, 2011 (3:11 pm)

I second Stu’s comment. I would add that McGinn needs to stop his obstructionism. Not that it would affect his zero percent chance of getting reelected.

Mags June 10, 2011 (3:32 pm)

Oh my gosh Stu is so right! I keep telling my husband they should have all of the viaduct planning meetings in West Seattle at about 5:30 PM so that all the transporatation planners who live elsewhere can get a taste of our reality. Let’s make sure they are on a day when there is a baseball/sounders game.

The Velvet Bulldog June 10, 2011 (3:48 pm)

KBear: laughed out loud good and hard at that. Thanks.

kgdlg June 10, 2011 (5:21 pm)

I actually think McGinn looks fabulous in this photo. He has lost like fifty pounds and apparently he wears matching suits now. I can’t stand how his biking makes him look like a messy slob most of the time. Not professional!

Dawson June 10, 2011 (8:47 pm)

Steve M, the normal route prior to construction turned away a local bicycle group evaluating infrastructure. They evidently had never ridden this end before. He can always take the water taxi over, it’s a viable alternative to the mess now.

Mike June 11, 2011 (12:28 am)

What’s the use in a mayor when they don’t do anything? Fire him and his crew, that’ll save us a lot of money right there. Useless politician.

Jasperblu June 11, 2011 (6:30 am)

I love the idea of ALL Viaduct, Tunnel, and general transportation related meetings being held in West Seattle. If they only knew!
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And Mayor McSchwinn should definitely be required to ride his bike into WS for any/all of his visits (not via the water taxi, that’s cheating!).
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Speaking of the water taxi… NO public transport into downtown is “viable” from West Seattle until we have at least one Park & Ride location &/or more shuttle & bus service to the water taxi dock. Unless you live really close to Seacrest, which I definitely do not (I’m down by the Fauntleroy ferry), getting there is as damn near impossible time-wise as getting downtown via Metro is.
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Too bad, because if I COULD park my car safely & securely down there while I’m at work in downtown all day, I’d probably use the water taxi over the bus every single time. That’s how bad the Bridge/Viaduct & 5 FWY interchange clusterf*ck is. Traveling 7 miles should never take an hour (or more)!
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Too bad our city officials have NO idea what the heck they’re talking about wrt getting in or out of West Seattle. Too bad they abandoned light rail for WS. Too bad they waste time & money screwing around with arguments about tunnels and seawalls.
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Business as usual.

boohiss June 11, 2011 (9:46 am)

Why can’t he go to Capitol Hill? Isn’t that where all his supporters live? Not welcome in WS.

Tim Sherman June 11, 2011 (10:10 am)

The mayor is looking very fit in that suit. Good for him.

I. Ponder June 11, 2011 (1:35 pm)

A few comments. Looks like he’s lost a lot of weight and looks healthy. Let that be a lesson to all you anti-bike trolls.

The reason getting around by car is so bad is because of all the construction and all the single-occupancy cars, not bikes. You should thank each bicycle commuter for NOT using their car. That leaves one less car for you to sit behind, and more gas for you to use while you’re sitting in the gridlock of your own creation.

As a bike commuter, it’s much easier to navigate all the construction than when I drive. If it’s safe you can even ride through the construction zone. Yes, I also own a car and pay taxes, contrary to what trolls prefer to believe about bike commuters.

Rosanne June 11, 2011 (2:10 pm)

I find “I-Ponders” use of the word troll offensive & name calling! Riding a bike doesn’t make you a better person than someone who drives a car.

Riding a bike, with a toddler and a cartful of groceries, in the rain with asthma is impossible!
Gridlock is not my own creation. It’s the result of poor road planning, unreliable public transportation, massive road construction projects, more people moving into west Seattle, etc.

I. Ponder June 11, 2011 (7:07 pm)

Rosanne: Why are you offended by the word “troll”? Please suggest a proper PC name. I’m offended by the constant barrage of anti-bike comments on this and all blogs. While McGinn may be a single-issue Mayor, and not your typical professional politician, the fact that he occasionally rides a bike doesn’t make him Mayor McSchwinn. His single issue is stopping the tunnel, not turning Seattle into a bikes-only utopia, as much as I’d vote for that. Too bad “McGinn” doesn’t rhyme with “tunnel”.

When I’m riding a bike I’m a better person than when I’m driving a car. That’s just me. You can be a better person in any way you choose. I don’t care if you drive a car or a broom.

Every person sitting in their own single occupancy vehicle behind 50,000 people doing the same is responsible for their fair portion of the gridlock. Not possible to build our way out of it.

Mike June 12, 2011 (12:07 am)

I believe the Mayor is called Mayor McSchwinn because he insisted on putting in rediculously unsafe ‘bike lanes’ by painting garbage on lanes used by cars. Any person who takes those to be ‘safe’ and rides in them is putting themselves at risk. Paint does not make it safe, paint actually made it unsafe (it’s incredibly slippery in wet conditions). He also used road paint to do that, during a time in which there is a massive road paint shortage and no budget allocated to do that with the road paint they had on hand to… get this… paint faded lines again so everyone can see the lanes at night and during bad weather. By utilizing road paint for use other than that he’s put lives in danger, both cyclists and drivers of vehicles.
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The tunnel issues alone is laughable, it’s been in the works since the early 90s when original discussions about a tunnel started. He’s got his own agenda and Sierra Club buddies backing him with little support from the voters to back his agenda. He’s failing at his job, he’s a joke of a mayor.
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You know he drives to work right?

I. Ponder June 12, 2011 (12:46 am)

Mike: what you wrote is interesting, but so loaded with rhetoric. “painting garbage on lanes used by cars”…”massive road paint shortage”. As someone who’s not already in the know about your issues, what you wrote doesn’t illuminate anything. What’s this massive road paint shortage? Is it related to the war in Libya? What sort of garbage was painted? Dirty diapers, mouldy lettuce? I don’t doubt he’s got an agenda. I’d expect nothing less of any politician. Is it wrong to have an agenda? Are Sierra Club buddies like the commies of the ’50s. You’ve got my ear, but aren’t communicating anything other than that you’re angry about something. What kind of car does he drive? Does it rhyme with anything so we can get past this Mayor McSchwinn stupidity? What’s your agenda?

Mike June 12, 2011 (12:50 am)

BTW, keep track of this page for 2013 Mayoral election candidates: http://www2.seattle.gov/ethics/eldata/filings/campaigns.asp?ElCycle=el13a

Mike June 12, 2011 (11:05 am)

I believe it’s a Honda minivan, he used it while during snow instead of taking mass transit he tells everyone else to commute to work with when it snowed.
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About a year ago the news had reported that road paint producers where having trouble making enough road paint since the ingredients to make it were in short supply.
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Just posting facts, all available if you Google it.

WSB June 12, 2011 (12:59 pm)

The road-paint shortage links are almost all from May 2010. I will ask SDOT (tomorrow) but FYI, if there is a shortage, it’s not affecting painting crews now – today I’ve seen two sets in West Seattle alone, on 35th SW and the West Seattle Bridge, just in the past couple hours – TR

I. Ponder June 12, 2011 (11:09 am)

Good info!

Mayor McMinnivan

Do you think that’ll stick?

I. Ponder June 12, 2011 (1:51 pm)

I hadn’t realized that was an issue. Certainly not a political one in the sense of the Mayor using paint with impunity for an unpopular project. I’m amused by some of the obscure issues that are brought up when people are against something or someone. But then again, I think it was perceptions about his handling of snow that defeated Nichols in the primary. So you never know what’s going to stick.

Nichols name is now stuck on homeless camps, right?

Mike June 12, 2011 (5:19 pm)

Good to know they are using the road paint to repaint the lines again. Road paint is incredibly expensive, the use of it for something other than what it was purchased for with funds allocated for that use only is my big concern. I don’t think people realize it’s value, not to mention road crews being paid to put it on pavement.
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If we had a viable plan to put in a dedicated bike trail that connected Alki, Admiral, Fauntleroy to downtown, I’d be all for it. A much safer route and longer lasting.

Sorry, comment time is over.