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June 29, 2005

Back To The Ballot Box

Holy cow!

Last night, Chris and I talked for quite a while about the monorail, and I pointed out that The Stranger had been eerily mute, from an op-ed standpoint, about the recent project revelations. Dan Savage and company have been among the staunchest supporters of the monorail, and the least patient with "The Seattle Way" of doing things. I told Chris that if The Stranger came out against the monorail plan, it would signal the beginning of the end - when your best friends tell you your baby is ugly, well, it's because your baby is ugly.

Well, the cat is out of the bag. About two hours ago, the Stranger posted this article, "Back To The Ballot Box" to their blog:

"In today's Stranger, we call for a revote on the monorail's financing plan, and the resignation of Seattle Monorail Project director Joel Horn..."

"$11 billion - the monorail's $2.1 billion construction cost, plus $9 billion in interest payments over 50 years - is too much to pay for the monorail..."

"...We still strongly support the idea of the monorail, and the $2.1 billion plan the agency released this month, while flawed, is acceptable. But we can't support this financing package..."

This sums up my feelings on the subject perfectly. Do we need transit? Yes. Do we need a monorail? Sure. Is a Ballard-to-West-Seattle line an appropriate first step? Yes. But do we need this plan, funded this way? Hell, no.

From a public-opinion standpoint, this is a big, big deal. I can't wait to read the full article tomorrow.

UPDATE, May 6, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined.

Posted by Gavin Shearer at June 29, 2005 4:22 PM. Posted to Politics | Transit.

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