If it were up to Phil Bevis, the stories of heartache and dysfunction would only live on the pages of the books in his Pioneer Square bookstore.
Since 1995, when he first opened, he says things had been going well.
"Yeah, you know up until the city came in like Godzilla and stomped all over it fairly recently, this has been a great place to be," said Bevis.
Steps away from his front door is Seattle's streetcar construction project, which Mayor Jenny Durkan put on hold in March while the city evaluates the costs of the project.
Bevis says the streets have been torn up since January as city utility crews do work on the water main, sewer and drainage systems.
"What that does is undermine this neighborhood's role as a tax generation, job-generating tourist destination," said Bevis.
Bevis says he's been able to make up the loss in retail costs from online sales.
"Many of the other businesses here either sell immediately consumable products like food or drink, and what are you going to do right?"
He's talking about restaurants like Delicatus down the street.
"Streets are closed. We closed weekends because of it,” said Mike Klotz, Delicatus co-owner. He said their business has been down 10 to 15 percent in revenue because of the construction and lack of parking.
"I mean, what is City Council doing? Like they should be governing. They're too busy doing other stuff."
Both Bevis and Klotz have been in communication with city leaders. Klotz says leaders have been down to chat but not consistently.
"There should be meetings regularly, but there's no coordination. There’s is no discussion," said Klotz.
In the meantime, they're hoping summer business will help to stay afloat while they wait for answers.
"This is unconscionable. It’s wiping out family businesses; people that have worked hard," said Bevis,
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Jenny Durkan wrote:
"The Mayor wants a thorough and thoughtful analysis that addresses a range of questions related to the costs of this project. KPMG, who was retained to do the independent review of the Center City Streetcar, has not completed the final report but verbally briefed Mayor Durkan on initial findings on June 19. As part of the briefing, the Mayor asked for a further analysis on technical assumptions, ridership projections, operations and capital costs, funding options as well as more detailed information for additional alternatives for providing transit connections moving forward.
"In addition, she asked for a final technical review by City departments including City Budget Office, SDOT, Seattle Public Utilities, and Seattle City Light to verify material costs and labor, utility relocations, and project timelines for a series of options to ensure the final report is accurate for taxpayers. With this additional analysis, KPMG will deliver a final report to the Mayor and Council. It is expected that the work can be completed in the coming weeks that will outline operating and capital costs as well as funding risks for both the utility and streetcar work."
