‘I want to see somebody fired’: Jake calls for accountability over Sound Transit’s $35B hole, project delays

Sound Transit held a board meeting recently to discuss how the agency is in a $35 billion budget deficit, but had a keen idea for making up the losses: start delaying projects.

Some of the delays include the Ballard Link Extension, the South Kirkland to Issaquah Link delayed until 2050, the discontinuation of Sounder North Service planned for 2033, and several park-and-ride garage upgrades being canceled or deferred in Tacoma, Everett, Sammamish, and Renton.

Jake Skorheim, co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, called for someone in Sound Transit to be fired over the agency’s mismanagement.

“Do you think somebody should resign from the board, somebody who’s been part of this project?” Jake asked. “Shouldn’t somebody from Sound Transit, they all say, ‘We don’t know what we’re doing.’ Is this the lesser part of me that I want to see somebody walk away? I want to see somebody fired. Is that wrong? Is it wrong to want to see somebody fired?”

“These are new people for the most part,” co-host Spike O’Neill responded. “These aren’t the people who sold it to us at the well 30 years ago. That’s how it works: You get people who are making horrible decisions, making promises they can’t keep, mismanaging money. Then you get rid of them and bring in new people who we can’t blame. It’s now Dow Constantine’s fault. He’s trying to clean up somebody else’s mess.”

From Ballard to Everett, projects taxpayers paid for are being delayed or canceled

Jake wondered if Sound Transit even wants residents to ride the train at all after years of delays on the projects funded by Washington taxpayers.

“If they’re going to come and have a big meeting, then tell everybody, ‘Hey, Ballard, I know you guys really want this thing you’ve been paying for, many, many years of money coming out of your pocket, but you’re not getting it,'” Jake said. “Or ‘Everett, I know we told you we’re going to build like a big parking facility or whatever they’re going to build. That’s not going to happen now.’ I have a real question: do they even want people to ride it?”

Sound Transit initially proposed a budget of around $50 billion, but Jake was concerned about the agency’s ability to raise more money for a project that’s half-complete without a vote from taxpayers.

“The problem with this is, I feel like they underbid the public. You look at the initial funding they asked for on ST3, it’s gonna be $53 billion, a lot of money,” Jake said. “Spread that out over 30 years, and now the numbers are like near $200 billion to complete the entire thing. Now they’re saying, ‘We’re not even at that number. We still don’t have enough money, so we’re gonna have to not deliver on the things.’ The problem is that we’re not locked in on that price.

“They gave themselves the ability to just take more of your money through taxes, and estate taxes, all these things, without a vote of the people,” Jake continued. “They just gave themselves that ability. There are no repercussions for these people who run Sound Transit, which goes back to me wanting to see somebody fired.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.