Wednesday's P-I has a rare (mostly) sensible editorial "Monorail Project: Board must say no".
Squeezed by a 20 percent increase in project costs on one side and a 30 percent decrease in anticipated revenue on the other, members of the Seattle Monorail Project staff have done their best to come up with a viable project at an affordable price.I've never known the P-I editorial board to oppose a transportation boondoggle. Good for them for finally seeing the light.Sad to say, they have failed.
It's incumbent on the SMP Board of Directors to acknowledge that failure and reject the current proposal.
There's also a poll at the bottom of the page. Be sure to vote.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 29, 2005 12:50 AM | Email ThisHe goes about now saying that the newspapers and Mike Murphy are "misleading" the public. To the contrary sir. Your agency has a policy of disinformation and outright rejection of the principles of transparency.
Posted by: Rex on June 29, 2005 05:43 AMSometimes, every once in while, common sense breaks out.
Posted by: JCM on June 29, 2005 06:41 AMIn fact if attorneys for Ebbers and Lay had shown the level of deceit and outright fraud that the same government that was prosecuting them routinely practices, I don’t believe that it would have been possible to gain a conviction against either of them.
Posted by: JDH on June 29, 2005 08:05 AM1. PI readers are mostly moonbats who doesn't have any common sense (as evidenced by those who post silly comments on this board)
2. Many SP readers went and voted to approve as a form of punishment to Seattle's lack of reality
3. Those voting are not Seattleites, and they'd rather see Seattle suffer permanently (somewhat related to #2)
4. Those with close tie to SMP have been instructed to vote on this.
5. Etc.
Mark a
Posted by: MARK A on June 29, 2005 08:58 AM1) I'm a Seattlite who really wants a monorail and I'm counting on a State and/or Federal bailout when cost balloon even more.
2) I'm not a Seattlite and I want to watch them suffer for their own stupidity. I'm also counting on their not being a State and/or Federal bailout.
(wouldn't let me post the word b e t t i n g as opposed to counting)
Posted by: Steve B on June 29, 2005 09:06 AMwhy isn't there a link to the Seattle Times article today that says that the SMP is considering issuing $350 million in debt to pay their contractors BEFORE the Seattle Council conducts its vote?
labor wants this project and labor is going to get it. labor gets paid to build it. labor gets paid to tear it down. labor doesn't care about the numbers. labor doesn't get paid to care.
Posted by: Rex on June 29, 2005 09:27 AMhttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002351477_monorail29m.html
Even before the council acts, though, the SMP's Finance Committee tomorrow will consider authorizing up to $350 million in short-term debt called "commercial paper" to start paying contractors. That adds to the $110 million the agency already owes Bank of America for land purchases, planning and other tasks since voters approved the Green Line in 2002.
Posted by: Rex on June 29, 2005 09:29 AMWas it Jefferson who said that democracy was the theory that people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard?
In any event, that seems to be what is playing out here.
I say give us all the Cadillacs with a driver the study said we could all have for less than the price of this mess.
At least then I could sit in traffic with my laptop, climate control and wireless internet connection for the 2 hour drive to Puyallup :-)
I suppose I could kick a few bucks in for that; but not for a monorail that myself nor my family will ever ride.
We could also employ a lot of people as drivers.
Hey there's an idea: poop-on.org
Posted by: Bill on June 29, 2005 10:39 AMSince noon the disapproval has gone about 87%, and has remained that way. I am guessing that whoever was skewing the poll did so from before nine, took a lunch break from ten until ten thirty, then continued for about an hour before tiring of the effort.
I would normally attribute such a difference in poll results to the flakyness of moodbats legitimately taking the poll, but in a naturally occuring poll there would be steady numbers throughout the day and would not likely be any large swings. The "opposes" have remained steady, approaching a bell curve in distribution. The "supports" have come in two large bunches, from 8:30ish to 10:00 and 10:30 to 11:30, with small amounts trickling in at other times; a distinctly unnatural distribution of results.
Not that anyone really cares, since common sense would oppose the continuation of the monorail, but I think this observation shows that the "supports" lack common sense and must resort to underhanded tactics to even appear to have public support.
Plus, I am just bored at work and did this observation for fun.
Posted by: Kim S on June 29, 2005 02:14 PMMark a
Posted by: Mark a on June 29, 2005 02:27 PM