Mayor announces interim SDOT director, permanent Neighborhoods leader

While Mayor Durkan looks for a permanent SDOT director – 8+ months after Scott Kubly‘s departure – she’s announced a new interim director to succeed Goran Sparrman. That new interim SDOT director is a former head of the state’s Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, Linea Laird. The mayor’s announcement says that Laird’s appointment takes effect Saturday (September 1st) and that she will “focus on upcoming permanent closure of the Alaska Way Viaduct and realignment of SR 99.” The same announcement also mentions that the mayor is seeking City Council approval for making three interim department directors permanent:

Calvin Goings, Interim Director of Department of Finance and Administrative Services; Sue McNab, Interim Director of the Seattle Department of Human Resources; and Andrés Mantilla, Interim Director of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

Mantilla is a West Seattle resident who became interim Neighborhoods director 3+ months ago.

chemist August 27, 2018 (5:32 pm)

Yay, we’ll have new interim leadership to announce that SW Roxbury and 35th SW (from Morgan to Roxbury) major repaving projects have been deferred. SDOT presentation to Move Seattle Committee from Aug 23rd pg 32

WSB August 27, 2018 (6:16 pm)

Working on a story about the Move Seattle update from last week’s committee meeting, though keep in mind nothing’s final and won’t be until year’s end. Roxbury had been on a faster track but 35th wasn’t on the docket – such as it was:
http://www.seattle.gov/documents/departments/sdot/maintenanceprogram/aac9yearplanrevmay2016.pdf
until 2023.

lastexitfromWS August 27, 2018 (6:24 pm)

Absolutely terrified of the hell that will be brought on WS by former head of the state’s Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, because as I recall we voted twice against the most exspensive viaduct replacement before she rammed it down our throats – and now property taxes are too high to keep living in WS. Can’t afford anymore city employees with their own over-priced agendas.

WSB August 27, 2018 (9:46 pm)

No, that’s inaccurate on both counts. (a) The no-tunnel vote in 2007 (which accompanied a no-new-viaduct vote) was for a different tunnel plan. The 2011 vote was a referendum on this specific project and the vote was in favor of it.
https://ballotpedia.org/Seattle_Viaduct_Tunnel_Replacement_Question_(August_2011)
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/voters-backing-seattle-tunnel-fight-may-finally-be-over/

(b) Linea Laird had nothing to do with “ramming (the tunnel) down our throats.” She was administrator of the viaduct-to-tunnel project for a few years starting in 2011, two years after then-Gov. Gregoire finalized the plan.
- neighborhoodwarrior@gmail.com August 28, 2018 (9:22 am)
  
  Let us keep the history straight. The 2007 vote was a fraud on the voters cooked up by then Seattle City Coucilmember Jan Drago and then Mayor Nickels’ strongman Tim Ceis. It could’ve been for any version of tunnel, surface, no build versus the viaduct project and it still would’ve come out the same way, able to spin that it invalidated anything other than the tunnel which was already in the bag.This was a dirty corrupt project from the get go, there never was any possibility that anything other than the Viaduct was going to be torn down, and the tunnel was always going to be built.
  - AMD August 28, 2018 (12:57 pm)
    
    The viaduct replacement is a state project. It has always been a state project. The state certainly asked for Seattle leadership and voter’s opinions on the project since it is happening here, but saying any city leaders were driving the project is just silly.
Jon Wright August 27, 2018 (10:48 pm)

It feels like the Blog has been invaded by Seattle Times commenters.
- KM August 28, 2018 (10:08 am)
  
  We’re not there until half the commenters mention how they are glad they left this “hellhole”, but we’re close…

MrB August 27, 2018 (6:35 pm)

Is SDOT ever going to repave the horrible streets of West Seattle? I emailed Lisa Herbold about it last year… total waste of time. She could care less about her district.

Jon Wright August 27, 2018 (8:23 pm)

Total waste of time because what, she didn’t get out there and pave it herself?
- WSB August 27, 2018 (8:30 pm)
  
  “Constituent issues addressed” map on her council webpage:
  http://www.seattle.gov/council/meet-the-council/lisa-herbold/map-d1-constituent-accomplishments
The Truth August 27, 2018 (10:03 pm)

The roads in North Bend are fine.

KT August 27, 2018 (11:16 pm)

8 months after Kulby’s departure. Seriously? And only an interim director!

Eric1 August 28, 2018 (6:51 am)

LOL KT. Who in their right mind would take that job? You get an impossible to manage budget and a City Clowncil more concerned about evil Chinese bike-shares, homeless rights, and toy trains using SDOT property rather than cars and pedestrians. .The streets of Seattle are so far gone that it would be the equivalent of volunteering to be the captain of the Titanic AFTER it hit the iceberg with only a tin cup to bail water. The pay and damage to your career isn’t worth it.

psps August 27, 2018 (11:58 pm)

Like the charlatan Kubly, this Laird person doesn’t seem to have any professional credentials or even experience in the field of urban traffic planning or anything like that. She’s a project engineer.

MrB August 28, 2018 (6:53 am)

Constituent issues addressed is a joke. Minor repairs while the core infrastructure is literally crumbling. We need new leadership in West Seattle.

MJ August 28, 2018 (8:19 am)

Kubley was a disaster and left a huge mess. Many experts in the Transportation Field are simply not interested in the job due to mess left behind and too much political interference with what should be a job basing decisions on technical criteria!

neighborhoodwarrior@gmail.com August 28, 2018 (9:10 am)

This is just another apparatchik in the pool of transportation masterminds that float between jobs and entities selling their transportation wares to the highest bidder. She will do very well fitting in at what has become the Seattle Department of Toys. The play factory that has choked on too much money.

KBear August 28, 2018 (9:44 am)

Neighborhoodwarrior, your comment makes absolutely no sense. Do you really think SDOT is ignoring the potholes because they have too much money? You can’t get your government handout (paved streets free for you to drive on) if you refuse to let anyone be taxed.
- WSB August 28, 2018 (9:59 am)
  
  Speaking of potholes, the map:
  http://web6.seattle.gov/sdot/potholemap/
  
  Green is what’s labeled as fixed in past 90 days, blue is recently reported and in the pipeline. (I clicked on the first blue dot I saw and it is listed as reported yesterday, 8/27, at 3622 SW Snoqualmie, which is the address for the West Seattle YMCA.) If you know of one or more reported recently and not fixed nor labeled as in the pipeline, we’d love to follow up on it.

rico August 28, 2018 (8:00 pm)

SDOt does have too much money, it is called a severe case of government bloat

k. Davis August 28, 2018 (9:16 pm)

Do tell … please tell us all how you know that SDOT has too much money. We’re all ears. This ought to be rich.

MJ August 28, 2018 (10:41 pm)

k. DavisSDoT costing is far higher than King County DoT. King County DoT has learned to live with a limited budget. Also many other local agencies operate on lean budgets that foists efficiency.SDoT spends a lot of resources on process, if they simply followed technical criteria and made decisions based on sound engineering practice significant resources could be saved!MJ

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