At 8:55 am today, Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin entered the office of Councilmember Mike O'Brien to announce the special session meeting, scheduled for 9:00 am this morning to discuss the tunnel/viaduct referendum (vote) controversy, had been cancelled. No explanation was given. O'Brien speculated that this is part of a legal strategy but that the 29,000 signatures are evidence of the fact that a vote should go forward.

There was a cluster of people gathered outside the chambers and only O'Brien came forward to announce that the meeting had been cancelled. It is well known that he is the only councilmember to oppose the tunnel project, at least until a vote is taken, which is also Mayor McGinn's position.

UPDATE-2, 1:00 p.m. West Seattle Councilmember Tom Rasmussen Explains:

In a phone interview at 12:45 p.m. with the West Seattle Herald, West Seattle resident and Councilmember Tom Rasmussen explained why the meeting was cancelled.

"I heard about the meeting last night when returning from a trip to Chicago. I just felt that as I told my colleagues that unfortunately things were moving so quickly that the notice went out before I could get back to my colleagues and I said, 'I don't think we need a special meeting to make any statement prior to the court making a decision on Friday it only complicates things', and so because there wasn't a consensus among councilmembers to move forward with the special meeting, then it was cancelled.

"If the judge (rules to) put this on the ballot then we would meet on Monday and comply with the judge's order. We would do that by resolution or ordinance. We can't defy the judge's order.

"Delays would result in potential higher costs, and certainly risk of life due to catastrophic earthquakes. The community is divided on this. The agreements that we have approved are strong agreements protecting the city, and I would hope the voters would approve the agreements. If people vote to reject the legislation then my question is, OK. What's next?' There is no plan in place. There would be more delay and more debate. You see what the construction is like now and it would only get worse."

UPDATE

O'Brien said, "President Conlin said 'We have decided we don't have enough (information) to go forward.' This is unusual and something I've never experienced before," he said, speaking in reference to such a late cancellation.

At about 9:05 a.m., O'Brien told the West Seattle Herald, "I figured that there would be people here who probably would want an explanation since they weren't given one, so I figured I'd give mine as best I can.

"It's unfortunate that this project has gotten so bitterly divisive that probably both sides are fairly entrenched in their position and I know that as human beings when we get those ways we tend to stop paying attention to the big picture, things like transparency, what are the actual policies we are trying to achieve, things like what is the long term vision of the city, and we're focused on the very short-term things. I'm probably guilty of that too just like everyone else. I think what we're seeing play out this week unfortunately is a little embarrassing and it's a result of the divisiveness here.

"There are a lot of people out there who would clearly like to vote on (the tunnel.) The signatures show it. The polls show it. I think everyone knows it. Hopefully we can move forward, with the judge's clarification Friday, and look for a ballot this August. Maybe we'll get to a spot where we have an honest and open campaign about what we're getting, what we're not getting, and who is going to pay for it and move forward. I still think there is room for a good debate about this in public and I feel good that we will have that shot."