I have been listening and watching lately to all the controversy surrounding the Alaska Way Viaduct, whether to rebuild above ground or build a $4.9-plus billion tunnel as proposed by our own Mayor Nickels.

The cost and method of payment has seemed to be at the center of the discussion. In all this discussion I have been surprised that the most obvious and sensible source of financing a new tunnel has not even been discussed. Since the property owners on the east side of the viaduct have been campaigning for years to tear this "ugly, view blocking" structure down, why not let them pay the cost since they will gain the most in appreciated land values?

The neighbors living behind me years ago didn't like the utility poles and large cables crossing their views and so they paid to have them removed and buried underground. Why should the wealthy land owners downtown be treated any different?

Our mayor who seems to like to mention to the West Seattle voters that he lives in West Seattle certainly does not behave like he has their interests at heart. Adding more property tax, auto license fees or tolls to pay for a tunnel are not friendly gestures to the voters and should be considered by the mayor if he plans to seek reelection and not forgotten by the voters at the next mayoralty election.

According to some reputable engineers, there is just one section of the viaduct that is in need of replacement and could and should be fixed at a fraction of the cost of removal and replacement.

We are not all Microsoft multimillionaires and it is getting more difficult to afford to live in Seattle/King County with the big tax and spend politicians we seem to be afflicted with.

May God have mercy and deliver us from them all.

Ron Marshall

Fauntleroy