'No support for it'
McDermott withdraws support for Seattle Olympics bid
Posted: Thursday November 19, 1998 12:16 PM
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- A Seattle congressman has withdrawn his support
for a Seattle-area bid to host the 2012 summer Olympic Games.
Other members of the state's congressional delegation, however,
urged a regional planning agency to give the governmental blessing
required before the U.S. Olympic Committee will consider a bid.
The Seattle City Council earlier refused to endorse a bid
prepared by the Seattle Bid Committee. The committee then turned to
the Puget Sound Regional Council, an advisory panel that contains
elected representatives from a variety of local governments.
On Wednesday, Washington's U.S. Senators - Republican Slade
Gorton and Democrat Patty Murray - along with four Puget Sound-area
members of Congress, sent a letter to the regional council, asking
it to act as the local-government endorser.
The signature of Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott, who represents
urban Seattle, was also on the letter.
But McDermott said an aide mistakenly added his signature, not
knowing the congressman no longer supports the effort. McDermott
had signed a letter of support when the City Council was
considering the issue, but changed his position when that panel
balked.
"I try and respond to what my district wants, and there's no
support for it except among a very small group," McDermott said.
McDermott called the end-run around the City Council another
example of "going around the public" - similar to the
construction of a new, partly publicly financed baseball stadium
for the Seattle Mariners. A similar proposal had been rejected in a
countywide election.
Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel, president of the regional
council, said the council would ask the USOC whether it would
qualify as the type of host-city legislative body that could
endorse a Seattle bid.
Kathy Scanlan, president of the Seattle Bid Committee, said the
USOC has given an informal but "positive indication" that the
regional council might qualify.
The Puget Sound council coordinates regional transportation and
growth-management planning.
Drewel said he reassured the City Council that the regional
council's potential role is "not an attempt to lead the city of
Seattle anywhere the city does not wish to go."
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