Your lead article on March 22, "Nickels clings firmly to tunnel," was funny in so many ways.

"The mayor thinks there ought to be a public vote on the project" (and on the Key Arena), does he? So we can vote "no" and get it anyway? Maybe we'll have to vote "no" over and over and over until we all get fed up with how badly the project has been run, vote "yes," and the mayor finally gets the answer he wants. Great idea. Let's vote on it.

Then he says a rebuilt viaduct would be delayed because of "court action ... based on the claim a new viaduct would be ugly." Oh. I didn't know you could sue someone for building something ugly. I guess I better call my lawyer so we can haul whoever built that awful house on 47th and Oregon into court. That is one ugly house. I want it gone. Who knew the courts could serve such a purpose?

Nickels also says a number of other cities "remodeled their areas where city meets water." He cites San Francisco. I guess you could say that's true, although in fact, it was an earthquake that remodeled that area. The quake of 1989 took out that stretch of freeway down on the Embarcadero, and the city never rebuilt it. They didn't put in a tunnel either.

Then there's the question of money. Why should Seattle worry about things like homelessness when there's a waterfront to be "remodeled," which would benefit so many ultra-rich developers? Why worry about getting a roof over the heads of people sleeping under bridges, when you could build a tunnel and raise property values on $1 million condos up to $2 million? Why worry about the school district that faces a $40 million deficit, forcing the closure of 12 schools citywide and the (ongoing) elimination of programs within those schools when people in those $2 million condos want a view of the water?

Of course Mayor Nickels wants the tunnel. It's Seattle Nickel's style, from where he sits, tucked snugly in the pocket of those developers.

A recent letter to the editor of this paper mentioned that maybe it's time for West Seattle once again to consider seceding. I say she's right!

Sue Scharff

Alaska Junction