Comments on: Monorail Board Meeting Downtown Tonight at 5:30 http://2045seattle.org/monorail/downtown-board-meeting/ Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:59:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Natasha http://2045seattle.org/monorail/downtown-board-meeting/#comment-71 Natasha Thu, 18 Aug 2005 21:41:43 +0000 http://2045seattle.org/?p=45#comment-71 Please, please, please, build our monorail. I agree, we need the monorail now and spent way too much money in the past 10 years getting this to the point. I don't care how we do it but GET IT DONE now. There is no way Seattle will be able to afford it in the future. Everyone heading north I-5 and everyone using the viaduct now will have massive gridlock if the City does not figure out how to make this monorail happen. I figure paying taxes for this monorail is a way to give back to our communities and make them better for everyone. I can tell you I'll be mighty mad if the City sells the land purchased at top dollar for the monorail to below market value to developers if the monorail does not get built. This whole thing about stopping the monorail comes from big business who only want to line their pockets further and who will never use the monorail or any type of public transportation. SEATTLE STOP BEING SELFISH and think about everyone. Now is the time to step up to the plate and make this happen! Please, please, please, build our monorail. I agree, we need the monorail now and spent way too much money in the past 10 years getting this to the point. I don’t care how we do it but GET IT DONE now. There is no way Seattle will be able to afford it in the future. Everyone heading north I-5 and everyone using the viaduct now will have massive gridlock if the City does not figure out how to make this monorail happen. I figure paying taxes for this monorail is a way to give back to our communities and make them better for everyone. I can tell you I’ll be mighty mad if the City sells the land purchased at top dollar for the monorail to below market value to developers if the monorail does not get built. This whole thing about stopping the monorail comes from big business who only want to line their pockets further and who will never use the monorail or any type of public transportation. SEATTLE STOP BEING SELFISH and think about everyone. Now is the time to step up to the plate and make this happen!

]]> By: Christian http://2045seattle.org/monorail/downtown-board-meeting/#comment-63 Christian Wed, 17 Aug 2005 15:03:40 +0000 http://2045seattle.org/?p=45#comment-63 I don't think the negotiations should have been shut down sooner. What should have been dealt with sooner was the money problem. Revenues were coming in short and had they not, the contract wouldn't have had the compromises we see today including the quickly trounced financing plan. That said, we have had many weeks since the proposal was released and I certainly hope everyone has given their feedback either via email or in person. There is at least one meeting a week which includes two comment periods for anyone to address issues that concern them. My hope is that this feedback will be incorporated into what we are voting for this November, something that we will all feel is worth fighting for. As for electing the board members, I very much agree and it sounds like the board may talk about expanding elected members tonight. I don’t think the negotiations should have been shut down sooner. What should have been dealt with sooner was the money problem. Revenues were coming in short and had they not, the contract wouldn’t have had the compromises we see today including the quickly trounced financing plan.

That said, we have had many weeks since the proposal was released and I certainly hope everyone has given their feedback either via email or in person. There is at least one meeting a week which includes two comment periods for anyone to address issues that concern them. My hope is that this feedback will be incorporated into what we are voting for this November, something that we will all feel is worth fighting for.

As for electing the board members, I very much agree and it sounds like the board may talk about expanding elected members tonight.

]]> By: Jean Darsie http://2045seattle.org/monorail/downtown-board-meeting/#comment-62 Jean Darsie Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:10:13 +0000 http://2045seattle.org/?p=45#comment-62 If this were a reasonable process, there would be a reasonable period (3-4 weeks) to get public reaction to the proposal (design, technical plan, financing) followed by a decision by the board whether to accept the proposal. I understand that the public meetings held subsequent to the release of the contract proposal were a joke. The SMP was acting like we were still at the point before the vote asking questions like "Should there be bathrooms at the stations?". Good grief! If the SMP decided the bid was a "no-go" as it appears to be because of the financing then the bidding would reopen with every effort made to attract new bidders within the constraints of what the people voted for and a new negotiation round would begin. The difference this time would be that the Board would not allow itself to be shut out of the negotiating process. This is an argument for an elected board. One would hope that had the board been more informed and involved they would have shut down the negotiations much sooner and gone back to the drawing board and we would not have wasted these precious months waiting for word. But then we know this is not a reasonable process. If this were a reasonable process, there would be a reasonable period (3-4 weeks) to get public reaction to the proposal (design, technical plan, financing) followed by a decision by the board whether to accept the proposal. I understand that the public meetings held subsequent to the release of the contract proposal were a joke. The SMP was acting like we were still at the point before the vote asking questions like “Should there be bathrooms at the stations?”. Good grief!

If the SMP decided the bid was a “no-go” as it appears to be because of the financing then the bidding would reopen with every effort made to attract new bidders within the constraints of what the people voted for and a new negotiation round would begin. The difference this time would be that the Board would not allow itself to be shut out of the negotiating process. This is an argument for an elected board. One would hope that had the board been more informed and involved they would have shut down the negotiations much sooner and gone back to the drawing board and we would not have wasted these precious months waiting for word.

But then we know this is not a reasonable process.

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