Why Seattle city officials are our worst friends

Seattle politics is that friend you have that always flakes out on you.

You set up a time and place and say “Let’s meet up for brunch! It’s been too long, we totally need to catch up.”

Then your friend is a half hour late as they text you when you’re already seated at the restaurant.

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Except the City of Seattle is one step worse. In our analogy, they proceed to order the champagne and crab, then stick you with the bill because they “forgot their wallet.”

“I’ll get you next time,” the city says, but you’re pretty sure you never want there to be a next time.

So what are we talking about here?

Bike Lanes. Yes, bike lanes. You see, there has been a heavy drumbeat in this region to get people on bikes. To do that, you need bike lanes. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it’s an all-out war against cars.

Turns out, we voted on one thing and got another. We voted on bike lanes that were promised at $860,000 per mile.  They are coming in at — wait for it — $12 million dollars per mile. They only missed the estimate by just over 1,300 percent — no big deal.

I’ve been through enough ballot measures to understand how the game works, but this one is ridiculous. For instance, I knew that Bertha was going to be over budget and late. But at least it was because of an unforeseen incident. And that was a huge project by comparison to building a bike lane.

Make no mistake, we’ve been lied to. We should be outraged. Can you imagine if you hired someone to fix your bathroom and they were off by 1,300 percent? What if you took your car in to the shop for an $860 repair and they handed you a bill for $12,000? You’d lose your mind and threaten to sue. But I imagine people here will just shrug their collective shoulders. I doubt anyone will be held to account.

But on the good side, at least we are getting a state-of-the art biking network that’s the envy of the civilized world. Oh wait, our bike system is a hot mess.

Does any of this sound familiar? Overpay for an inferior product? Does this remind anyone of schools or affordable housing or homelessness.

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The problem isn’t that construction costs have gone up. While that’s true, it doesn’t account for a 1,300 percent error. The problem is that we as a community keep electing the same group of folks that tell you they’re on their way to brunch, they’ll just be a few minutes late … and why don’t you just order a pitcher of mimosas?

It’s time to ditch them for some more reliable friends.