Molly and I gave up thirty minutes of our Saturday night to hopefully ask the mayor a few questions. Much to our surprise, the fundraiser was actually pretty empty, so it was pretty easy to walk up to the mayor and ask for a picture. Here’s the proof.

We Asked Some Questions

After our complimentary photo op, we managed to ask a few of our questions. Would he be attending the monorail meeting on Monday? He started shaking his head when he heard the word ‘monorail’ and quickly replied with a no.

We mentioned that it was our understanding that he received an invitation from board chair Kristina Hill requesting his presence at the meeting. He said that he was not aware of any letter.

He expressed that he felt the leadership was not adequate to complete the project and we responded by saying that he appoints two of those board members and didn’t he feel between the two he chooses and the coming change to a more democratically elected board, wasn’t that enough to instill confidence in the future of the board. In short, he said no.

We got one last question in: when he pulled his support and left the board with a single week to put something on the ballot, why didn’t he attend a single board meeting to help make sure what was on the ballot was something he would support. He said that he didn’t feel it was appropriate for him to involve himself in that way in another government agency. At that point, a staffer rescued him by pulling him into his next photo op and we thanked him for his time.

Molly’s next question was a good one: if he didn’t feel it was appropriate for the Mayor to get involved at board meetings, why did he feel it was appropriate for him to dictate an artificial deadline? Maybe next time.

We didn’t show up to this thing thinking we were going to change the Mayor’s mind. We knew already that his decision wasn’t a practical one or a respectful one, but a political one. We don’t win this by convincing the Mayor. We do it by convincing the voters in the limited time we have left.

The Mayor Blocks Transit

A little tongue-in-cheek humor: see that car in the picture there? That’s the Mayor’s stylish ride illegally parked, blocking the 54 bus’ right of way. The bus driver wasn’t amused and stopped and honked his horn until the car was moved. We knew the Mayor was blocking transit by pulling his support of the monorail, but he’s really taken blocking transit to a personal level.

Strange Interactions

We’ve had a couple weird interactions in the last few days that are worth mentioning. On Friday, when we went to city hall, Seattle Times reporter Mike Lindblom asked if we were going to “burn the mayor in effigy”. On Saturday, when Molly and I walked into the Mayor’s fundraiser, we were immediately asked if we were going to “be respectful” and “behave”.

Everyone who has pitched in on this effort, whether postering, designing, copywriting, recruiting businesses to help or even taking the time to attend incredibly boring government meetings has always done so with civility. We’ve put a lot of work into getting articulate and intelligent messages out there and when we do criticize, we’ve tried to do it with a good deal of humor. How in the world we have this reputation of somehow being disrespectful or just plain stupid (what would burning a mock mayor accomplish or even say exactly?), I haven’t a clue. I’d say we’ve been a lot more civil than a lot of the older folks in this whole thing, so being treated in this way just seems inappropriate. We’re here to try and get information out there and a ton of people have pitched in enough little ways to make this effort real.

Monorail Board Meeting at 5:30 pm

There’s a monorail board meeting at the usual bat time and bat place (Seattle Monorail Project Community Room at 1913 4th Avenue). Usual bat format as well with an opening comment period, presentations on financing, and a closing comment period. Come by if you’re interested, although your time is probably better spent working your neighborhood with posters and such if you’re not in the area.

Last night we received this lovely invitation to meet the mayor at the Seattle Glassblowing Studio at 8pm tonight (Saturday). I’d like to point out that we didn’t receive this invite from just one person, but many many people. It would seem many “Neighbors for Nickels” are a little more than upset with Mayor Gridlock.

So, if you’d like to come by for a short while (probably no more than 30-60 minutes) and ask the mayor a question, feel free. Here are some questions to get you started:

• It’s my understanding that the monorail board invited you to attend their Monday public meeting? Will you be there?
• Why haven’t you ever attended a monorail board meeting?
• How many votes on a single issue do you think are appropriate to gauge public intent? 1? 5? 10?
• The week the monorail board needed to put something on the ballot, why couldn’t you find time to come down and help, but you found plenty of time for ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings? (Four of them for a total of 3 hours, 45 minutes)
• Why have you shut down your public email address? Don’t you want to hear from the public? (more on that later)

And if we’re not allowed in, we’ll have Mayor Gridlock signs and fliers there. I’m expecting this to be brief but interesting, so if you’re nearby, come by, but if you’re not, seriously enjoy your Saturday.

The Seattle Glassblowing Studio is at 2227 5th Ave. It’s a pretty cool place too. How do we know this? They hosted the pro-monorail party after we won last November.

Now that the monorail has a great financing plan, Mayor Gridlock is just pretending nothing has changed. He has shown his true colors.

It’s time to show the Mayor for what he is: a hypocrite and an opportunist who wants to spend our money on more roads and an overpriced tunnel instead of the monorail we voted for. If he thought after four votes we were going to take his betrayal lying down, he is seriously mistaken.

We have to let everyone know that Mayor Gridlock isn’t a leader. He’s just a politician.

Introducing MayorGridlock.com

Check out the nice little secret diary for Mayor Gridlock over at mayorgridlock.com. Check it out and see how the mayor doesn’t deal with our transportation problems year after year after year. Plus you’ll get to see great pictures of all the ribbons he has cut! Remember: ribbons don’t cut themselves!

Come Get the Word Out From 5pm to 7pm at City Hall

Come by between 5pm to 7pm after work in front of Seattle City Hall to help us catch people on their way home from work, hold signs and hand out information once we’ve got their attention. Seattle City Hall is on 4th Avenue between Cherry and James. We’ll have the signs and handouts there, so just bring yourself and Our goal isn’t to stand around and agree with each other or deliver fierce speeches about how upset we are. Our goal is to reach the people around us through a smart message, some humor and the undeniable need for the monorail. Hopefully, we’ll leave them thinking about why a yes vote is so important.

Here’s are the fliers we’ll be handing out.

We will work in teams of three or four spread around city hall with two people holding signs and two people handing out information. Our goal is to get out the vote, to change minds and to make sure our monorail gets built.

Why We Are Trying Something Slightly Different

Protests are interesting things. A bunch of people get together who agree with each other and rally to their cause. The protesters feel good about themselves, the press may or may not have a story, but what about all those people who walked by, who weren’t sure what you were so excited about and then headed off to their destination? Those are the people you want to reach. Have you ever found yourself by a protest and just kept on walking.

Let’s experiment in the days ahead with way to start a dialog with those people who usually walk by with smart messages and easy information to take home.

Staple Hammers and Posters Available

We will also have staple hammers and run-free posters available tomorrow for those who requested them. Information rich brochures are a few days away, but they’re coming.

The Tuesday protest is now officially a Thursday protest and it’ll be outside City Hall. (Shifted it a couple days to get some other materials together.) If you can’t make it to this one, don’t worry. There’s about five more coming and each focuses on a different issue, so you’ll have another opportunity. The good news is that staples and hammers will be available for those who asked for them.

A Word About Protests

If you’ve watched a protest before, you realize they can be quite lacking. The enthusiasm is great, but the results are what matter. For most of us, this will be the first protests we’ve ever done, so let’s try to create protests that are genuinely effective.

The Message is What Matters

The personalities don’t matter, the number of people don’t matter, it’s the message. It’s all about the message. If you are saying something that’s both needed and true, you’ve won the day.

Handouts are more important than big signs.

But together, they’re like Voltron. Big signs, a staple of protests, can’t really communicate a whole lot and don’t do it very eloquently. They’re good for catching a glance, but aren’t so good for changing minds. So, use those big signs to catch a glance, but make sure you have a handout that they can read on the bus home so they know what is so important that it’s worth making a big sign.

Tell a Focused, Yet Simple Story

It’s not enough to be a cheerleader for something. Simply showing up and demanding a monorail isn’t good enough. Each protest should focus on a particular element of what it means to vote Yes on the monorail. There are so many positive aspects to highlight, so take your time to highlight each one.

Stay on Target

Once you’ve picked your message for a protest, stick to it. Sure, there are lots of great things to talk about, but right now you just want to get that one message across. You may find it a worthy cause to try to free mumia, but that’s another protest, not this one.

Any other advice we should add to our list? Add it in the comments.