Over the course of the past year I recall Mayor Nickels reiterating that sinking State Route 99 into his "tunnel of love" had nothing to do with downtown developers or building million dollar condominiums for the well-heeled to enjoy unfettered views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. And it had nothing to do with caving in to the demands of downtown movers and shakers.

The mayor may believe this fantasy but the truth is something else. As the Seattle Times reported on Feb. 21, tunnel of love supporters have raised $415,000. The largest contributors are the following: Downtown Seattle Association (advocates for businesses and property owners - where else? Downtown) with $54,480. LMN Architects is second with $46,160 (in-kind and cash donations). Another architecture firm, Mithun, contributed $13,540 (in cash and in-kind donations).

Then there is also the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce ($14,620), Ackerly Partners ($12,000), Davis Wright Tremaine ($10,000), Vance Corporation ($10,000), Macy's Northwest ($10,000), Skyway Luggage ($10,000), Clise Properties ($7,500), Unico Properties ($5,000), Pine Street Group ($5,000), Samis Land Company ($5,000), Seneca Real Estate Group ($5,000), Metzler Realty Advisors ($5,000).

In contrast, $23,000 has been raised by an alliance of no tunnel advocates.

Tunnel advocates are doing a great job of misleading the public's attention with the non-issue of "to vote or not to vote." It's only an advisory vote so, why bother? Indeed. Every important vote is an advisory vote in Seattle and in Washington when there is fear in Mudville that the fans won't rubberstamp the party line.

Tunnel advocates are also distracting the public with an attack campaign against the state for nixing their tunnel.

Be not distracted ye citizens of Seattle by these and other non-issues! Six lanes or four, view or no view: the mayor's tunnel of love is a bad idea. Financially, the numbers don't add up. The construction project will isolate West Seattle for years. Rather than Seattle annexing unincorporated King County south of White Center, perhaps West Seattle should be annexed by Burien.

Let us remind the mayor and the downtowners that highway 99 is a state highway and not their own, private driveway. Highway 99 carries more than commuters - it carries interstate and intrastate commerce. That the mayor would consider swinging his impressive political girth to deny building permits to the state to build the state's highway makes very bad economic sense and is childish. Adding this behavior to the way Nickels withdrew his support for the monorail (using the same kind of creative financing the mayor now proposes) gives weight to his new nickname (or nickelsname): Gridlock Greg.

Peter Stekel

Alki