I love it when Director's Corner basically writes itself. Last Friday morning, while sitting at my laptop, staring at a blank Word doc, bereft of ideas, Emily Heffter from The Seattle Times called to ask why Real Change had donated to Protect Seattle Now.
It wasn't a hard question to answer. We've been fighting the tunnel for more than a year, and now, in the weeks before the vote, is crunch time. The campaign needs an organizer for voter outreach, and we have a 2011 budget line of $3K for a contract organizer. Our board voted last month to put our money where our mouth is.
We live in a time of giveaways to the rich and austerity for the poor. Public priorities are deeply misplaced. Enter the tunnel: the viaduct replacement option for which downtown interests and developers have gone to the mat. The tunnel is about private profit at public expense, pure and simple. This is the wrong project at the wrong time, it doesn't make sense, and we can't afford it. Most of us won't be able to afford the tolls, there are no downtown exits, and there is no money for transit. When the developers need another billion or two or three to finish this project, someone's going to pay and it won't be them.
Apparently, Let's Move Forward, the pro-tunnel group, raised the issue of whether it was right for a nonprofit newspaper to contribute to a grassroots campaign. I'm glad they brought that up.
As of last Friday, Let's Move Forward, the pro-tunnel PAC, had raised $78,000 through a whopping total of 41 gifts. The heavy hitters were the Downtown Seattle Association ($20,550), The Seattle Chamber of Commerce ($10,050) and, despite the piss-poor jobs multiplier involved here, the King County Labor Council ($10,000). The remaining list is packed with developers and the lawyers who love them, as well as downtown enthusiasts Jan Drago and Tim Burgess. The average gift size was $1,902, and the mean donation was $500. What more is there to say?
Meanwhile, Protect Seattle Now had raised $48,043 from 267 gifts. The three largest contributors were Sierra Club ($12,714), progressive political consultant Bill Broadhead ($5,000) and Real Change ($3,000).
Throughout the rest of the list are activists with whom we're proud to associate: David Meinert, Mike O'Brien, Dan Savage, Cary Moon, Alan Durning, Revel Smith, Kris Nyrop, Sunny Speidel, Paul Loeb. Even me. It's a who's who of Real Change's new and old friends. The average donation size was $179, and the mean gift was $100.
When entrenched power goes up against people, it's clear where Real Change belongs. Stand with us. The tunnel vote is Aug. 16, we have a clear plan for success, and we need your help. Please visit protectseattlenow.org to volunteer or donate. We're in this to win.