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Re:Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in N... by bobthepanda on Saturday November 03, 2018 @06:41PM (#18372908)
Judging from Seattle's experience, Amazon is not really prepared to do anything other than garner support from the business community and support a token streetcar. And Metro's capital needs are probably much bigger than Seattle's and are politically more complicated due to three jurisdictions that are frenemies in the best of times.
Re:Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in N... by mikeash on Saturday November 03, 2018 @11:10PM (#18373930)
More like twelve jurisdictions. The various counties and cities also get involved. It’s quite Fun.
Re:Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in N... by bobthepanda on Sunday November 04, 2018 @12:00AM (#18374122)
I was just talking about the board.

It's worth noting that Seattle and DC have vastly different representations on their boards. In DC this is two representatives picked by the governments of DC, VA, MD, and the feds each, and in some cases not even appointed by elected officials. In Seattle, this is a board consisting almost entirely of elected officials of counties and municipalities.

Seattle's method works because the responsibility of elected officials is quite clear and their voting records are transparent, whereas a diffuse chain of responsibility via appointment is not.