PETER SHERWIN, author of November's monorail initiative, was worried about the direction of the Elevated Transportation Company (ETC) after the group adopted a city-proposed charter on December 22. Following the lead of Mayor Schell's office, the ETC went ahead and added new language that could, Sherwin worried, derail the whole project.

Created by voters in 1997 to build a citywide monorail system, the ETC was disbanded in July 1999 when the city council repealed I-41, the first monorail initiative. The ETC was resurrected this fall when voters overwhelming approved I-53, Rise Above It All's monorail initiative. This new initiative, which is now law, gave the ETC two years and $6 million to craft a proposal for a citywide monorail system, with routes and funding sources spelled out. According to I-53, the plan, known as the Seattle Popular Transit Proposal (SPTP), would automatically go to voters for approval in November 2002.

But the charter the ETC adopted on December 22--without public comment, which is required by law--only says the ETC "can ask" the city council to put its proposal on the ballot.

"What if the city says 'no' when the ETC asks that the proposal go on the ballot?" says Sherwin. "And from now on, the mayor or the city council may feel that they can violate the letter and spirit of I-53, and the ETC won't try to stop them."

ETC chair Tom Carr insists that it's unlikely that the city council would refuse to put its proposal before the voters. "The city can't put something in the charter that undermines the initiative," says Carr, ignoring the fact that his organization allowed the city to do just that. "If we spend the next two years putting a proposal together, and they say they're not putting it on the ballot, then clearly there will be some sort of confrontation. If there's a conflict between the law and the charter, the law will control the outcome."

In another development that disturbed monorail supporters, the ETC dismissed attorney Christopher Beer less than two weeks after hiring him. ["Don't Go There," Dan Savage, December 21, 2000.] Beer had successfully sued the city to enforce the monorail initiative that voters approved in 1997, and hiring Beer was seen as a signal to the city that a newly confident ETC--having been handed an overwhelming mandate by Seattle voters--intended to hang tough in its dealings with the city. When the ETC fired Beer less than two weeks later, some monorail activists accused the ETC of caving into pressure from the mayor's office to get rid of Beer, who is reported to have encouraged the ETC to reject the city's charter.

Not true, says Carr. "I have great respect for Chris," he says. "But there was a problem with his relationship with Rise Above It All, and we made the decision to end our relationship with Beer. None of this reflects on his abilities in any way."

Adopting a charter that conflicts with I-53 and then firing Beer worried monorail backers, who feared that the ETC was getting into bed with the mayor and city council, and abandoning the transit activists who resurrected the ETC. The effort to extend the monorail has been a grass-roots insurgency up to this point (and a wildly successful one), but even the most rabid monorail backers (and I include myself among the rabid) have to accept that the effort will have to become an establishment project--if, that is, we actually want the monorail to be built.

One power player who recently attempted to get involved was Tom Jones. Jones, who sat on the steering committee for both Sound Transit campaigns and served as campaign manager for the recent tax increase for Metro bus service, was one of two candidates for the position of ETC interim executive director. An establishment face with a long, impressive resume, Jones had the backing of Gogerty Stark Marriott, a large PR firm that ran the anti-monorail campaign in 1997, something that doesn't sit well with monorail supporters. The only other candidate for the interim post was Patrick Kylen, who acted as treasurer for the I-53 campaign, backed by Rise Above It All.

"I'm not a Sound Transit plant sent to kill this thing," said Jones before an ETC meeting on Monday night. "The question is, do you want someone who can go in and make it happen? Some of [the longtime monorail backers] are foamers; they get really excited about this stuff. But at some point you need to bring community leaders on board if you want to get this done. And I have experience getting those people on board." Community leaders, Jones believes, want to see some familiar faces working on the monorail, and fewer foamers.

"A lot of sensible people involved with the monorail have been painted as 'foamers' by monorail opponents," says Sherwin, who went to Monday night's meeting to express his support for Kylen. "Given what has taken place here over the last three years, knowing that the people involved at this stage are truly enthusiastic and truly supportive is important for building trust."

After Jones and Kylen spoke at Monday night's ETC meeting, the job was given to Kylen.

"Patrick seemed to fit better with what we have to do over the next 90 days," says ETC chair Carr, "and enthusiasm and involvement weighed heavier."

While the ETC's decision to hire Kylen did much to mollify monorail activists--probably the main reason Kylen got the job--the city's establishment wasn't shut out at Monday night's ETC meeting. The ETC filled one of three board vacancies by appointing Tom Weeks, a former city council member. And Tom Jones isn't entirely out of the running for the ETC post. Kylen was only appointed as interim executive director for a 90-day contract. Some monorail watchers speculate that after his three months are up, Kylen will be out and Jones will be in.

"Tom Jones said he would be interested in the job if he was still available in 90 days," said Carr after the ETC hired Kylen. "And he's a well-qualified guy, so we would be open to talking to him again."

If Jones makes an effort to persuade the foamers that he's on their side, and not a double agent, monorail backers should welcome this establishment player. Of course, to persuade the foamers, the Johnny-come-lately Jones (where were you during the I-53 campaign, Tom?) may have to froth a little himself.

savage@thestranger.com