Nickels Gets Cold Feet
City Council President Jan Drago can count to five. And she's got five votes. That's all it takes--along with the mayor's signature--to pass an ordinance at city hall. If the mayor's not willing to sign, you can override him with six votes. Well, Jan Drago can count to six, too. And I think she's got those votes as well. Go for it Jan!
After five special monorail city council meetings this year alone, an environmental impact statement, in-depth negotiations with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), negotiations with Seattle Center, 11 serious changes to the plan based on public input, and three public votes dating back to 1997, the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority has finally submitted its route to the city to get its construction permits. It's the last bureaucratic hurdle before the monorail agency chooses a company to build the 14-mile line it promised voters. The council is ready to pass the plan.
However, earlier this week, Mayor Nickels' frontman, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, told SDOT to hold the legislation. Team Nickels has every right to do its due diligence on the monorail project, but if Nickels is getting cold feet, or worse, siding with the obstructionists, I can't help but feel a little peeved at a mayor who otherwise has a track record of pushing forward on important projects. And I'm a bit nervous about Nickels' intentions. Maybe Team Nickels' true colors are finally showing. Or maybe the mayor is just posturing to distance himself from the monorail as a cushion against any controversies the project causes, which, like any billion-dollar public-works project, it surely will.
Well, Nickels should get a spine, act like the transportation mayor he claims to be, and commit to Seattle's inner-city, rapid public transit project with all the risks that public transit projects entail.
Indeed, despite revenue shortfalls and inevitable NIMBY complaints, the monorail agency has submitted a responsible plan. It's priced at $1.6 billion (voters approved $1.7 billion in taxes under the monorail's self-imposed bonding cap to prevent runaway increases), it includes tens of millions of dollars in mitigation costs, will have trains arriving at stations every three to five minutes at peak hours, will take riders downtown in under 20 minutes, and will provide 69,000 rides per workday--with capacity for more. In short, the monorail plan is exactly what voters requested.
As president of the city council and co-chair of the council's special monorail committee, Jan Drago has emerged as the monorail's staunchest supporter this year. Populist council member Nick Licata, the longest-term monorail supporter and co-chair of the monorail committee, is also a staunch supporter. Drago, a business-friendly conservative, and Licata, a lefty's lefty, are typically on the opposite ends of big votes. Not this time. And with the two veterans aligning on this issue, the council has the power to lead where Nickels is faltering. Go for it!
