Comments on: Video: West Seattle elected officials say, don’t toss that ballot

By: Busy Lady

Busy Lady — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:47:25 +0000

Two emphatic NO votes from this household!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 04:04:40 +0000

Vote Yes and keep us (90% of whom will also be paying the fee for our cars) out of your traffic jam and on the bus. Bus holds 30-60 people. Avg morning commuter car holds 1-3 people. Length of one bus equals 3-4 cars. You do the math after 17% service cut.

Restore a portion of the funding anti-any-kind-of-tax voters caused us to lose in 1999.

By: Running Man

Running Man — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 01:25:05 +0000

Just voted N-O. natinstl took the words right out of my mouth. Metro has been a terrible neighbor in Westwood, too.

By: natinstl

natinstl — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 23:47:01 +0000

I’m voting no, I just haven’t heard enough from Metro as to how they propose to try and cut operating costs. Our operating costs are higher than LA’s and San Francisco’s. I also think they’re just going to keep coming back for more. Let’s add to the car tab fees, yet we want people to get out of their cars? So, if we reduce the number of cars on the road where do they get the money from at that point. I was more in favor due to the poor roads, but I just see to much mis-management when it comes to Metro, WSDOT (look at our tunnel project for gods sake), etc…
If I have to start riding my bike to work so be it. My bus service is so bad now that I’m already considering it. RapidRide was a downgrade to my old #54.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 18:36:13 +0000

I’m a former transit bus driver and I just voted NO and dropped my ballot in the King County ballot drop box. It amazes me when people say that traffic will get worse in West Seattle with fewer bus stops/routes when it’s obvious to any casual observer that buses stopping and blocking traffic lanes are responsible for a lot of our traffic. Until Metro can do something about keeping their costs under control and providing safe transportation for their passengers, I don’t think they deserve a dime.

By: Voeted YES

Voeted YES — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 17:54:37 +0000

Correction to my previous comment, made a serious typo. Meant to point out that a no is an uninformed vote, not a yes. D’oh. It seems people got my meaning anyway. However you feel, vote!

By: wakeflood

wakeflood — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:45:26 +0000

Sorry, WSsince79, you’ve misunderstood their play. It’s wonderfully scalable and easy cuz it takes no effort save fostering some negativity against the rest of society. Here’s the formula:

Step One: Complain about inefficiency and bad performance of any public entity.

Step Two: Use that leverage to defund whatever entity you’ve targeted.

Step Three: Complain that target entity’s performance is worse than ever and should be defunded further or possibly abolished altogether!

See? Anyone can do it. I do suggest you get your grump on before you dive into Step One. It makes reveling in the muck and mire of negativity that much better.

By: West Seattle since 1979

West Seattle since 1979 — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:38:02 +0000

And voting no isn’t going to make Metro not cut buses they shouldn’t, such as the evening 57!

By: West Seattle since 1979

West Seattle since 1979 — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:36:37 +0000

i hope everyone who voted “No” won’t be on here after the cuts happen saying that the traffic keeps getting worse, or if they also ride the bus, that the buses are too crowded or they were passed up by a bus that was too full. Or they they won’t complain about infrequent buses that used to be more frequent.

We’re free to vote the way we want, but we shouldn’t then be able to complain about negative conditions that are a result of our votes.

By: wakeflood

wakeflood — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:30:47 +0000

Nice to see that lots of folks would rather consign EVERY WS commuter to MANY hours of time-wasting, polluting and costly traffic nastiness than spend the equivalent of another tank of gas per car per year. Nicely thought through, folks.

Someone on the other side please tell me exactly what level of “efficiency” you require before Metro gets more funding from you? Lemme’ guess, you can’t describe it but you’ll know it when you see it – which is never? What are the goal-posts here people? Does Dori Monson have to say we’re good? The desperately out of touch op-ed board of the Seattle Times? The King of Bellevue? Who and what exactly? The answer is you don’t like taxes and there’s no metric that will please you. Fine, just admit it already and be done with it.

There’s lots of folks here who still want to find functional solutions to the infrastructure conundrums we face.

Here’s hoping that sanity and foresight carry the day.

By: Perplexed

Perplexed — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 16:12:40 +0000

Yes, let’s cut metro and instantly West Seattle will be crime-free – why hadn’t I thought of that before?

I wish Metro would keep people without a brain from riding buses into our neighborhood.

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 07:31:51 +0000

Already voted NO since Metro cannot and will not keep dangerous criminals from riding the buses into our neighborhoods. More route cuts just means less ways burglars can case our homes, robbers can escape the police, and muggers can get across the West Seattle Bridge with our purses, wallets, jewelry, and cellphones.

By: Danno

Danno — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 06:10:08 +0000

VY-
That link is to nothing but a Metro ‘Puff-Piece.’ The fact remains is that the voting base is sick and tired of the way things are. I ride Metro every day, and am currently being held hostage over Route 57. This is one of the Routes again being dangled near the machete cuts. Just for the record, every morning a 57 double bus leaves WS with nearly every seat taken. Recently some Metro Genius has determined that while every AM double-bus is full, no one wants to come home. They have decided to only run single buses back to WS and make many stand all the way home.
Do not fall for the BS. Make Metro do the job, they are getting paid plenty. Let them cut fat so they can do their duty and drive buses.
VOTE NO!!!!!!!

By: Voted YES

Voted YES — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 03:28:40 +0000

Flabbergasted, the report you cite is five years old, as if all the cuts and savings metro has found in the last five years never happened. Your yes vote is an uninformed vote. Here are some current facts for you:
http://www.munileague.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Municipal-League-Foundation-Metro-Report-2013.pdf
Voting no because you want to punish Metro because of bad behavior based on outdated information is nothing but being vindictive.

By: Vote yes

Vote yes — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 02:04:30 +0000

For the record, We have three cars, one truck, two boats, and an RV. I’m a dumb West Seattle guy who got lucky, and lives in the neighborhood I was fortunate enough to have grown up in. I haven’t taken Metro in twenty-five years. But I know where I come from, I count my blessings, and I am part of the community. If that makes you all itchy, that’s not my problem.