Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Mayor Greg Nickels:
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August 20, 2009 at 9:32 pm #591987
JiggersMemberAre you going to vote for him or not. Why are you or why aren’t you. Let’s not be shy now. I’m not voting for him. Too many reasons to not vote for him back in office. But…
August 20, 2009 at 9:57 pm #675210
JoBParticipantis this an option now? i must have missed something.
August 20, 2009 at 9:59 pm #675211
flowerpetalMemberGreg Nickels has to move ahead in the primaries first. He’s losing ground with the vote count; and if he doesn’t place first or second, he won’t even be an option to vote for. (Unless he attempts a write-in campaign, which would be foolhardy)
August 20, 2009 at 10:11 pm #675212
JenVMemberyup. we have a “top two” primary system, and he is currently running 3rd. Not a chance he’ll make up that ground even with the late ballots.
August 20, 2009 at 10:51 pm #675213
maplesyrupParticipantI’m curious why people seem to dislike him so much.
August 20, 2009 at 11:29 pm #675214
HMC RichParticipantBecause climate change and global warming caused it to snow more than an inch for a few days and people couldn’t get to work because the roads didn’t get plowed, public transportation failed, people had to take care of their children instead of sending them to school or daycare, and had to find some way to keep their homes warm. I kid, I kid.
Seriously, if his people at the SDOT would have performed better and not seemed so clueless, maybe he wouldn’t be in so much trouble. Charlie Chong we miss you!!
It could also be that people do not like the tunnel for SR 99 because that became and will be a debacle.
One minor note might be that he let the Sonics go to, but that is minor.
Start a new post. Nickels pickles
I liked him much more than Schell.
August 20, 2009 at 11:41 pm #675215
WSBKeymasterAugust 21, 2009 at 12:24 am #675216
JiggersMemberHMC Rich.. Losing the Sonics was bigger than you think. I can think of $30 million reasons. If the Sonics weren’t given a new team within five years, Clay Bennett would have owed the city $30 million bucks. Legislature didn’t approve a plan in time. Is it Nickels fault for not pushing them hard enough? I say yes. Month’s and month’s went on with no success. The current restaurant hotel and motel tax would have just been extended to help refurbish K.A.-no new tax at all. Now Nickels just announced a $72 plus million dollar shortfall in its budget. So, don’t you think that $30 million would have eased the loss a bit?
August 21, 2009 at 1:36 am #675217
maplesyrupParticipantI think the Sonics loss was one of the bigger screw-ups of the Nickels reign. But unfortunately he also had to contend with Gregoire’s deer-in-the-headlights approach and Frank Chopp’s determination to drive the team out of town. But ultimately I blame David Stern more than anyone on this. He wanted to help his friend get a team and the Sonics were right in his path.
The snowstorm thing wasn’t really that big a deal in my book. It was the most extended period of snowfall I’ve seen in Seattle since I’ve been here (1994). There’s really no reason for the city to have a bunch of expensive snow removal equipment sit idle 99% of the time. No salt was dumb but live and learn. And the whole thing about him getting a path paved so he could get out of West Seattle…he’s the fricking mayor! He needs to get out. Besides California Ave. looked like a road in the Bolivian Andes so I don’t see how we got so much preferential treatment there.
However, I’m glad someone finally took some initiative regarding the tunnel. He also pushed light rail along. And I liked how the main streets in West Seattle were repaved.
August 21, 2009 at 3:38 am #675218
OlMomParticipantI think the response to the snowstorm could of been forgiven if not for the fact that he gave the response a grade of a “B.” This demonstrated his disconnect with reality.
August 21, 2009 at 4:09 am #675219
MrJTMemberTalk to someone that is in management for the city. They are THRILLED hes gettin the boot. That says a lot.
August 21, 2009 at 4:13 am #675220
JanSParticipantLook at it this way, people. He won’t be showing favoritism (ok, only rumored) to his brother , the townhome builder :)
August 21, 2009 at 4:27 am #675221
pamMemberHow about the tram/train service from Stewart/Olive Street to Lake Union so he could impress Paul Allen for how much money with no purpose???
August 21, 2009 at 4:42 am #675222
TacomachineMemberI agree the snowstorm thing shouldn’t have been as big a deal as it’s been. Look at any other city in the midwest (where snowfall is a constant winter issue), the mayor’s street and traffic path is always the first to be cleared.
That being said, I’m glad he’s not going to be around any longer. I’m a sports fan but I haven’t gone to a Seahawk, Mariner, or Sonic game in over three years. Still he is a major reason the city of Seattle lost a professional sports franchise. That’s huge money and huge worldwide exposure for the city. It’s basically advertising. Nickels was in charge….the leader…the one others would follow. He did nothing. He waited for others to chime in and then followed. The mayor is the leader, not the follower. He doesn’t lead. He’s an administrator and a good one at that. But Seattle needs a leader, especially after 8 years of focus groups.
Sorry Greg Nickels as much as you would like to compare yourself with Chicago leadership (which you have done many times over the years) you don’t lead. You follow. People forgive mistakes if real leadership is there. That is why Seattle is going a different direction. Nickels has better qualifications, better experience, better connections, but in my opinion, crappy results for 8 years of trying. We’ve got the same problems now or maybe more.
August 21, 2009 at 4:55 am #675223
jamminjMember“One minor note might be that he let the Sonics go to, but that is minor.”
Mayor trailing by 1,200 votes… that’s at minimum your sonics fans. Minor, yes… but a difference maker. He didn’t need to hand over the bank, but to actually know how to negotiate would have helped.
August 21, 2009 at 5:00 am #675224
MrJTMemberWho wants in on the pool for how long Crunican lasts ?
August 21, 2009 at 5:27 am #675225
HMC RichParticipantJiggers and others, I bow to your insight. Actually, I am now probably unemployed partially because of the Sonics leaving. It has affected many of my colleagues and myself.
The Sonics to me were a private/public debacle. I don’t blame Bennett and his investors as much as I blame Howard Schultz, the city council and the soon to be ex-mayor.
You have made your points and I come to you with head down and hat in hand.
Still, I did vote for the former hoops player.
August 21, 2009 at 1:29 pm #675226
EscondidoMemberI did not vote for Nickels because:
The major arterials were not cleared during the snowstorm so that buses could run, people could get to work, and emergency vehicles could get to those in need. Seems like it should have been the first thing to be done in that situation. A no brainer.
As far as I am aware, Nickels never mentioned his concern for the Seattle School District – one of the most dysfunctional school systems I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
The intense development of downtown Seattle while the outer neighborhoods need attention.
And best of all, my shock seeing Nickels driving down Rainier Avenue one afternoon in his gas guzzling car (Lincoln Town Car? Cadillac?) while he wants to make Seattle a top “Green City”.
August 21, 2009 at 2:57 pm #675227
dhgParticipantJimminj is right: The Sonics might have been a minor issue but it also might be the reason he’s not in the top two. Personally, I blame Howard Schultz for the loss of the Sonics. He sold it to Oklahoma with the BS excuse that there needed to be fresh eyes on the issues. He had to have known they only wanted to take the Sonics to Oklahoma.
From my talks with people I see two big issues that caused the Mayor to go down: 1) The tunnel. I don’t know of anyone who approves of it but I know some people who swear they would never drive in it. (Personally, I really want to fix what we have. I don’t want it bigger, higher, with bigger barriers. I like it the way it is) and 2) The snowstorm. I don’t blame him for the weather but I do blame him for not using salt and for using RUBBER scrapers for clearing the roads. Minnesota and South Dakota use a lot more salt than Seattle ever will and yet I don’t see an eco disaster there. The fact that he thought SDOT did a decent job was just the final nail. Goodbye Nickels.
August 22, 2009 at 6:05 am #675228
responsibleseattlenativeMember“Ding dong the witch is dead…!”
August 23, 2009 at 4:40 pm #675229
JoBParticipantPam
“How about the tram/train service from Stewart/Olive Street to Lake Union so he could impress Paul Allen for how much money with no purpose???”
i think in ten years or so that streetcar is going to seem like a much better idea than it does now..
dhg..
“1) The tunnel. I don’t know of anyone who approves of it but I know some people who swear they would never drive in it. (Personally, I really want to fix what we have.”
as a long term option, fixing the viaduct without adding another arterial through town is not such a good option… fixing it wouldn’t stop it from coming down.. it would just delay the inevitable with the traffic loads it currently has…
and fixing it will do nothing for the seawall which is really a major factor in whether the viaduct falls.
However, i am of the option that fixing it with load limits that restrict commercial traffic might not be such a bad idea…
the state disagrees and it is a state hiway:(
August 26, 2009 at 4:56 am #675230
jschuMemberWhere will the mayor go? Is it OK for him to be hired back by the city?
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