McGinn fires back at Mallahan over criticism of light rail proposal (updated)

An earlier version of this story contained inaccurate information about the timing of a possible expansion of light rail to neighborhoods on the west side of Seattle.

What began as a proposal by Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn to expand light rail to more parts of the city has turned into the testiest exchange between him and opponent Joe Mallahan in the general election campaign.

McGinn, responding to statement by Mallahan critical of his proposal, sent out his own statement Wednesday afternoon.

Mallahan had said, in part, that McGinn’s pledge to go to Seattle voters with a proposal to expand light rail to the west of the city in two years, would pit the measure against the renewal of the city’s Families and Education levy.

"I think the last thing we should do is pit kids against mass transit solutions," Mallahan’s statement said.

McGinn countered, “Mr. Mallahan's comment is uninformed.

“Seattle voters routinely pass multiple measures on the same ballot.” He cited two examples: the passage of the parks and the Pike Place Market levies in 2008, and the passage of Bridging the Gap Levy King County's Transit Now measure in 2006.

McGinn continued, “My question for Mr. Mallahan is would he vote for a good light rail package and an education measure if they were on the same ballot?”

And then McGinn said, “I also find it somewhat ironic that Mr. Mallahan is trying to raise concern about the Families and Education Levy (passed with a 62% Yes vote) as an excuse to not move forward on light rail.  County voting records indicate that Mr. Mallahan has missed ten important elections since he moved to Seattle nine years ago including the last Families and Education Levy in 2004."

Though any plan that McGinn would present would presumably have a price tag when it goes before voters, Mallahan had also responded in the statement, “When someone proposes a plan of this size, the responsible thing to do is let voters know how much it will cost and how he’s going to pay for it.  Mike McGinn won’t be honest with voters about how much his proposal will cost and suggests putting this haphazard measure on the ballot the same year Seattle’s Family and Education Levy is up for renewal.

To be fair, McGinn only said he'd propose a plan two years after he is elected, not that it would necessarily be on the ballot that year.

Mallahan's statement continued: “Voters approved a package last year that included studies for expanding in other parts of the city.  I will advocate for expediting those plans and work with Sound Transit to move forward in a responsible manner.”

McGinn, at a morning press conference at the Columbia City light rail station, was short on the details, saying several times that he wasn't ready to draw lines on a map.

But he mentioned a line serving neighborhoods on the west side of the city, including West Seattle, Queen Anne and Ballard. Money to plan for the future lines was included in the Sound Transit's most-recent ballot measure approved by voters. Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray said the agency could decide to put a proposal on the ballot in 2016. But he emphasized that date is not certain and is up to the Sound Transit board.

But, he said that after repeatedly speaking on the campaign trail about what he's against, he was highlighting what he supports.

The exchange comes in the context of McGinn trying to raise his profile beyond being the anti-tunnel candidate. The most recent KING5/Survey USA poll shows Mallahan with a slight 41 to 36 percent lead, though with 23 percent of respondents undecided, the race is still very much in the air. As the local politics site, Publicola , reports, the candidates are still so unknown that the 11th District Democratic organization opted to hold off on making an endorsement in the race Tuesday night.

McGinn said at the press conference that Sound Transit has used up all its taxing capacity to build the next phase to the University District. At best service could be expanded to the west side of the city as part of a third or fourth phase, unless the city passes its own proposal.

"At current course and speed, we are probably a minimum of 20 to 30 years away from bringing light rail to these Seattle neighborhoods. These neighborhoods simply cannot wait this long to connect to light rail," he said.

He emphasized that he wouldn't create yet another transit agency and said he envisions contracting with Sound Transit.

Obviously, the idea raises a number of questions, not the least of which being cost and whether light rail is the best solution, versus buses.

McGinn said Seattle-only taxes would be used to build the project and he'd try to keep costs down by using existing right-of-way, much as Sound Transit did in South Seattle by building light rail down the center of Martin Luther King Way South.

City Council President Richard Conlin, a member of the Sound Transit board, said the idea of expanding light rail to west side neighborhoods "is something we're really enthusiastic about," noting city officials got funding to come up with a plan included in the ballot measure.

Conlin said the route mapped out in the failed monorail plan from downtown to West Seattle "works really well. That's something that could be done fairly quickly."

"The key question is how do you pay for it," he said, adding it would be great if the city can get the same ability to collect car tabs taxes from the state that the monorail authority had.

Conlin said putting a plan before voters in two years seemed "ambitious...But it's great he's putting it on the table."