Is 30 too many? Is 30 enough?

Thirty is the number of people appointed to the new Alaskan Way Viaduct Stakeholder Advisory Committee, chosen to represent commercial, community and civic interests surrounding what will replace the center section of the viaduct after it's razed in 2012.

But not everyone feels the range is fully covered. And few know how they were chosen.

"We haven't a clue how the committee was picked," said Jerome Cohen, immediate past president of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. "We were surprised by the selection process. We were not contacted. We were not asked."

"We do not know the criteria they used for selection," said Patti Mullen, executive director of the Chamber. "The lack of transparency and outreach was remarkable."

On Dec. 12, the day after the committee roster was announced, Mullen e-mailed the Washington State Department of Transportation asking how members of the committee were chosen.

The reply, dated Dec. 28, read: "The 30 members were identified and chosen by Gov. Gregoire, King County Executive Sims, and Mayor Nickels. They wanted the committee to embody a diverse range of views and interests, including neighborhoods, the freight community, environmental groups, design organizations, business, and labor."

It was jointly signed by Ron Paananen, program director for the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program with the Washington State Department of Transportation; Ron Posthuma, assistant director for the King County Department of Transportation; and Robert Powers, the deputy director for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

The paragraph has been copied word-for-word into other e-mails sent from the media relations office of Washington State Department of Transportation.

The formation of this committee began in March, when Gov. Christine Gregoire, King County Executive Ron Sims and Mayor Nickels signed a letter of commitment, vowing to collaborate on a replacement for the viaduct, "to forge a solution capable of being broadly supported and implemented."

They hired Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc., a planning and communications company in Portland, Ore., to interview elected officials, directors of agencies, business and community leaders about the viaduct. In September, Moore asked them not only what should be done, but how much trust they had in the process.

One conclusion of the report was that any process to replace the viaduct had to be iterative, allowing participants to measure the problems, agree on goals, and choose criteria to evaluate any proposed solution. A stakeholder advisory committee could inform any decision ultimately made by government executives.

According to the roster, the new Alaskan Way Viaduct Stakeholders Advisory Committee comprises 30 members representing "economic interests, communities and cause-driven organizations."

Business interests include the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Seattle Marine Business Coalition, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the sports stadiums.

"I'm gratified to see the Manufacturing Industrial Council on the committee," said Cohen, but he noted the Port of Seattle is not listed. "You'd think they might be considered a stakeholder, being right there?"

Communities represented are Belltown, Pioneer Square, Uptown-Queen Anne, West Seattle, Ballard-Fremont, the Pike Place Market, the International District, northeast and southeast Seattle, and northwest and southwest King County.

Ballard-Fremont and West Seattle each have two representatives on the committee.

The "cause-driven" organizations include Transportation Choices Coalition, Cascade Bicycle Club, People's Waterfront Coalition, Working Families for an Elevated Solution, and the Sierra Club.

"We wanted a manageable-sized group," Paananen said in an interview. "We want a robust committee who captures a wide array of interests - people who can represent their constituencies."

Names were suggested by Washington State, King County and Seattle Departments of Transportation, Paananen said, by staff who worked directly with people and organizations who had been active in past viaduct discussions.

He admitted his state agency was not the best organization to identify local community representatives. "We relied on the city and county for those names."

Lists of names were discussed over e-mail for "at least a month."

"There was a lot of back and forth between the three agencies," Paananen said.

A proposed list of appointees was sent to, and endorsed by the governor, county executive, and mayor.

"We were the ones who structured our list," Paananen said. "That I know of, there were no substitutions or additions by the executives."

Phone calls to appointees were made starting in mid-November.

"It came out of the blue," said Vlad Oustimovitch of his call from the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, Grace Crunican. Oustimovitch, an architect and a former president of the Southwest District Council, accepted a position representing West Seattle.

"I was a little puzzled how they selected the folks they did," said Pete Spalding, president of the Delridge Neighborhood District Council and the other West Seattle representative. "But after seeing the other folks (on the committee), I can see they picked people who have had a history of being involved in their communities on a number of different issues, not just transportation."

"I had dealt with them before," said Mary Hurley, recent president of the Ballard District Council and current president of the Ballard Merchants Association. "As a district council person, I had to deal with government all the time, on issues such as sidewalk repair, transit hubs and the monorail."

"Their committee selection process was mysterious to us for sure," said Mike O'Brien, chair of the Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club. He was invited to join the committee in early December. An earlier version of the roster, showing 29 members, excluded his organization.

"They treated it as a typo," O'Brien said.

The three transportation agencies announced the committee roster in a joint press release on December 11. The committee's first meeting was December 13.

Spalding said he hadn't seen much media coverage but received the announcement several times from different e-mail lists.

"There were two or three times as many people in the audience as on the committee," he said, a pretty good turnout despite the short notice.

Paananen disagreed: "Most of audience I recognized were staff from the agencies and executive offices."

The next meeting is Jan. 24.

In his last act as outgoing president on Dec. 31, Cohen sent a letter to the three departments of transportation, with copies to Gregoire, Sims and Nickels, asking them to add Terry Williams as a committee member.

Cohen said he has no complaint with West Seattle representatives Spalding and Oustimovitch.

"They're upstanding representatives of their communities," he said. "I just don't feel that West Seattle business interests are represented."

"I'm not a business rep," agreed Spalding.

Williams, a local architect, is also past president of the Chamber of Commerce, a past president of the Southwest District Council, and someone who served on both their transportation committees.

"I have a good feel for West Seattle, and West Seattle businesses," said Williams. "I think I know what makes West Seattle tick."

Paananen is dubious about adding members to the committee. His communications staff advised him that, to be manageable, an advisory committee should have fewer than 25 members.

"(The roster) wasn't meant to exclude anyone," he said. "But we recognize that not everyone could be included."

He emphasized people can still participate by phone, letter, e-mail or at the specific committee meetings that will be open for public comment.

"We want to proceed with the group we have," said Paananen. "But ultimately, that's the executives' decision."

See Advisory Committee meeting times, Page 15.

Matthew G. Miller may be reached at wseditor@robinsonnews.com