From the better-late-than-never category: one of the the sharpest summaries of what went wrong at the Port of Seattle this Christmas season.
Peter Callaghan of the News Tribune says the port commissioners “received bad staff work, got bad legal advice and used a bad process” to deal with questions over Christmas trees in the Sea-Tac terminal. “The number of unintended — and bad — consequences just might set a record for a single public-policy decision by an elected body in the state of Washington,” he writes.
The uproar distracted attention from questions of whether the port is effectively doing its job with Sea-Tac.
Comments
2 responses to “Another verdict on the Christmas tree fiasco”
That article says the port should have had a public discussion about the issue. That would have only been more distracting from more important issues.
I think the only mistake the port made was bothering to consult with legal before removing the trees.
The blame lies with people who can’t enjoy simple seasonal decorations and push their personal requirements onto public property.
In this case no one pushed their requirements. It was just a request. But the Port over-reacted, relied on poor advice and completely bungled the fallout. What a waste.