Mayoral candidate McGinn. Courtesy of McGinn for Mayor.

Seattle Mayoral Candidate Mike McGinn

10/22/2009

Attorney and environmentalist Mike McGinn unleashed a bombshell in the race for Seattle mayor this week. Throughout the campaign, McGinn has vigorously opposed building a downtown tunnel to replace the damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct. But after the City Council unanimously endorsed the project, he announced he would not stand in the way of the tunnel after all. Depending on who you talk to, the move is either brilliant strategy or political suicide. This week, we're taking a closer look at the candidates for Seattle mayor.

The one thing that is clear about Mike McGinn is that he has a passionate group of followers.

Volunteer: "I'm going to pass around phone numbers to call, just take one sheet off these and pass them around."

On a recent Sunday, more than 30 volunteers show up at a downtown architectural firm to phone bank for McGinn.

Thomas: "Hi, my name is April. I'm a volunteer with the Mike McGinn for Mayor campaign, how are you?"

April Thomas is putting in about 60 hours a week on the campaign. She's an environmentalist, and she says she got really excited when she heard the ex–chairman of the Sierra Club was running for mayor.

But she says it was one issue in particular that compelled her to join the campaign.

Thomas: "The tunnel is what brought me. The tunnel is what brought me, I think it's what brought a lot of people. I intend to live in this city for a long time. I'm only 23 years old. I don't want to be paying for that thing for the rest of my life!"

McGinn has made his opposition to the tunnel a cornerstone of the campaign. He's cast it mainly as a money issue. The project would cost $4.2 billion, and Seattle would be on the hook for close to a billion of that, plus any cost overruns. He calls it the largest tax increase in Seattle history. He also objects to the design: no downtown exits. And he objects to the fact the city would be building a brand new roadway at a time when it should be working to reduce its carbon footprint.

McGinn: "We know we need to invest in transit and expand light rail. That's the path for our city to prepare for the future, it's not investing that much money into an underground highway with its risk of cost overruns, etc."

McGinn says the tunnel is a symbol, an entry point to a discussion about the future.

Now, in case you're still confused about who he is, McGinn is the environmentalist, the attorney, the big–burly–bearded guy. He grew up on Long Island, the fourth of six kids. He came to Seattle in 1990 to attend the UW Law School, and he's spent most of his career working as an attorney at the downtown law firm of Stokes Lawrence. In his spare time, he's advocated for sidewalks for his north Seattle neighborhood. He joined the Sierra Club, and served as its local chairman. Several years ago, he quit his job to found a nonprofit called Great City.

In the early days, McGinn was a supporter of Greg Nickels, and even served on Nickel's Green Ribbon Commission, which was charged with finding ways to reduce the city's carbon emissions. But he says over the years, he got discouraged with City Hall.

McGinn: "And I was kind of wondering who was going to show up to run for mayor. And lots of people with political pedigrees, you know, who had run before and maybe held elective office, they were all taking a pass. And then my friends started talking to me, and they started asking me, which was very surprising, we'd be having a conversation and we'd finish the conversation and they would say to me, so are you going to run for mayor?"

Even though he's never run for elected office before, McGinn says he's had his political successes. He led a campaign against a giant roads and transit levy that he claimed put too much money into new highways. The next year, he helped pass the measure to expand Sound Transit. At Great Cities, he helped get the parks levy passed.

His record as an activist has won him support from environmental leaders, public transit advocates, neighborhood activists, and a lot of young people.

Denis Hayes is a long time environmental leader and the founder of Earth Day.

Hayes: "He cares a lot about urban issues, he's pretty deeply knowledgeable about urban issues, cares passionately about Seattle. I've known him long enough to have respect for his integrity and his intelligence and when you know somebody like that and they ask you for an endorsement, of course you say, sure."

But McGinn's list of endorsements pales in comparison with his opponent's, Joe Mallahan's. Mallahan has received the majority of big endorsements from the business community, from labor unions, and from elected officials. McGinn says there is a reason for that.

McGinn: "The big corporations, you know, the Chamber of Commerce, and the big construction unions, really want that tunnel. And, you know, Joe Mallahan is now their man."

So it came as something of a surprise Monday night when McGinn called an impromptu news conference and announced that he would not stand in the way of the tunnel after all. His opinion of the tunnel hadn't changed, he said. He still opposes it. But the City Council had voted unanimously to move forward with the project. "It will be my job to uphold and execute this agreement," McGinn said. "It is not the Mayor's job to withhold the cooperation of city government."

Last night, during a debate on KING 5 television, reporter Linda Brill asked McGinn why he changed his mind.

McGinn: "When I held town halls out in the public, I heard people say, Mike, you know, we don't like that tunnel either, but if everyone in the region, if the City Council, the Mayor, the Legislature and the Governor are going to go, what will you do then? And I said, I understand the role of a mayor in a democracy, I'll stand up, I'll follow the rules, but I am going to keep asking the tough questions. I wish I had the votes to stop it Linda, but right now I don't."

Joe Mallahan jumped on McGinn's reversal, calling him a political opportunist. He said McGinn is changing his position because he's seen the poll numbers and is fighting for his political life. Recent polls show Mallahan edging ahead in the race, with a large number undecided.

Allen: "I think it's fair to say McGinn had to do something dramatic."

Cathy Allen is a Democratic political consultant in Seattle. She hasn't taken a position on the mayor's race. She says McGinn suffered from the reputation of being arrogant, an obstructionist, someone who didn't play well with others. This might change that.

Allen: "This bore tunnel has been a deal breaker to people who liked him. He had little choice but to say, you know what? A deal is a deal, the fact is, the Council has gone ahead and approved this, I'm going to move on. Politically it was probably the only decision he could have made, though most people are pretty skeptical about the fact that you can't take what was your number one core issue, do an about–face and still intend to keep your core supporters."

So, how will this about face play with his core supporters? Well, remember April Thomas? The volunteer who puts in 60 hours a week working for McGinn?

Thomas: "Actually, yeah, I'm the person who answers the phone and the person who emails when people write into the campaign."

Thomas says the calls and emails are running about 50 percent in favor of the decision, and 50 percent against. But she makes a point of talking to the people who are mad about it.

Thomas: "If I can just, you know, take a couple of minutes and explain the context, the fact that the Council voted unanimously, that Mike had to acknowledge that decision, but we still are strongly in opposition to the tunnel and think it's the wrong choice, people have been pretty much universally understanding."

And Thomas says personally, she's not at all phased by the change. She's spent hours listening to McGinn speak at forums and town halls, and she says he's always had a much more nuanced position on the tunnel than most people realized.

I'm Deborah Wang, KUOW News.

© Copyright 2009, KUOW