I bet there's plenty of public money and quick decisions for SPORTS TEAMS though!

I hear that. In King County (Seattle), we desperately need more public transit and funding for the homeless problem. The county decided that giving a $135 million handout to the Mariners to build a bigger beer garden (among other things) was a higher priority. Not only is this a flagrant waste of money, but it is highly unpopular.

I wouldn't say it's a handout, they are signing a new 25 year lease, and the funds are supposed to address wear and tear. Seems reasonable to me as a landlord (in lieu of the owner of the stadium performing repairs).

Why wouldn’t the owner of the team or stadium (the ones making money with it) pay?

They are. The county owns the stadium.

How much rent are they charging?

Safeco Field is where this comment stemmed from. Hundred million dollar _public money_ handout to a stadium. We have plenty of money for that, but not the homeless, drug problems, or public transit. Now we have NHL I'm sure Jenny Durkan & City Council will just bend the knee to with multi million dollar renovations to Key Arena.

The city brought homeless problem upon themselves by raising taxes to literally bring them in by the bus load.

http://mynorthwest.com/985398/seattles-next-homeless-encampm...?

Taxes don’t make people homeless. Dumb low minimum wages and the lack of government aids for people who are struggling to survive is the reason for homeless people. More taxes directed at helping people in need is a good thing.

But the true solution to the homeless problem is greater spending on addiction treatment / mental health care, which the state needs to fund

That article has nothing to do with what you said at all.

I think it’s worth not throwing your hands up in desperation. Contact your politicians and get your friends to. It’s hard to make a difference, but pressure from constituents is a primary way to change a politician’s mind.

It's a fun refrain, but without organization, getting your friends together won't be enough to move politicians who will listen to individuals with money rather than just individuals. If you're going to want to become politically active, it helps to join an organization instead of just striking out on your own.

Maintaining our mass transit is (stupidly) a state responsibility, to be fair.

> Maintaining our mass transit is (stupidly) a state responsibility, to be fair.

I guess that this is circumstantial. That is USA's political system that is not working.

Because the headline is about a local government taking responsible actions to improve peoples lives while empowering public transportation as an efficient way of transport.

How different is "Metropolitan Transportation Authority" to "Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid" [0]?

[0] https://www.crtm.es/conocenos.aspx?lang=en

Oh I'm not making excuses for it. The commenter I responded to noted that NYC's political dysfunction makes things difficult. I'm just noting that New York State's political dysfunction is also to blame.

I feel like Western and Eastern WA should just split, they are pretty different culturally, geographically, and economically, plus Western WA sends the rest of the state tons of money while the state largely ignores important problems affecting Western WA. The wealthier part of the state subsidizing the rest of the state is fine but not if the wealthier part gets screwed like this. Plus, if Western WA were to become its own state, they could start off with a new constitution that doesn't prohibit income taxes.

There is a pretty big need for a stronger, faster transit system spanning the region from Olympia to Everett. Housing price madness could be mitigated by fixing the ridiculous commute times over reasonably short distances that occur during rush hour.

Light rail is being built in King County, and the bus system in King County is actually pretty good in my opinion, but those don't cover a wide enough area to truly be effective. Given the geography of the region, I think the greater Seattle region needs a mass transit system most similar to NYC (though smaller)

Wow, that is a bad idea, why is it that way?

I'm not sure there's a better answer than "it seemed like a good idea at the time." The problem (as we saw in the recent primary here) is that the person who is actually in charge of the system - the governor - is able to deny responsibility for it.

https://nyti.ms/2rx3V9D