Obvious Diversion

Update: Take action at 2045 Seattle to Save Your Seattle Monorail

Initiative 83, the monorail recall, is being run on a campaign of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) in the hopes of scaring you away from a project that’s been voted on three times to date and is already well under way. It’s just hilarious and here are four simple reasons you should vote no on 83:

1. When the viaduct comes down (either by design or by earthquake) and light rail kicks all the buses out of the downtown tunnels and onto the street, we’ll be proud that we had the forethought to build a monorail that gives us another choice and rides above traffic.
2. A healthy array of mass transit choices, including both light rail and the monorail, is fantastic for the economy by allowing people to get to work cheaply and gives people who prefer to drive more parking on the streets and room on the road.
3. It’s under budget right now by $150 million. No kidding.
4. It’s not really a recall. It takes away land use rights from the monorail authority, but the authority still exists and still collects taxes. Confused? The worst part of this initiative is that it doesn’t resolve anything. It just leaves a confusing mess.

Seattle needs heathly mass transit choices to become a better Seattle instead of devolving into just another town in America or, worse, a town like Detroit.

A quick note: those who read this site may say “Didn’t you just move here?” In fact, I did, but I’ve lived here before and voted for both the library and the first monorail vote. The new Seattle Public Library is an amazing example of what we can do when we pull our resources and create. It’s time to do it again.