You say you want to wait until the final monorail plan is done in August before you begin media and education campaigns. Screw that. Do it now. People still confuse you guys with Sound Transit and light rail. And you know as well as I do, that's not good. You've done some great work on the plan, but you need to start hyping it to voters before it's too late. We understand you can't legally advocate for the plan, but you can inform people about it. We have a few suggestions.
1. Step up your media presence. Sure, the weeklies and dailies cover you, but where are the radio, billboard, and TV ads? I know this guy over at AK Media, Frank Podany, who will make you a great deal on billboards. Also, send out some goddamn mailers. Where is the one-sheet letter that lets people know who you are? Nothing fancy, just remind Seattle's 563,374 residents what the monorail is and what they voted for twice. Attach a mail-in response sheet. This little place called Kinko's inside the Convention Center will give you a great deal on mailers. Let's say you run off 300,000 at two cents a copy--that's only $6,000. "I could possibly even go lower than that," says Julie Jones, Kinko's commercial representative, "but I'd have to talk to my manager." I know TV and radio is expensive, but the market is cheap now. Call KING 5--they give deals to nonprofits and public agencies. Do it fast. The success of the Olympics is driving rates back up.
2. Separate the old 1963 monorail from new monorail technology. I can't tell you how many people still associate those big concrete columns in the middle of Fifth Avenue with the new monorail. Educate them. You know the pitch--the columns are thinner and much farther apart, and can hide utility lines, fitting into the landscape better. Belltown, one of your biggest obstacles, needs to understand that the monorail will only up their property values, not drive them down. Show people pictures and video footage of the monorail in Sydney, Malaysia, and Las Vegas. During your KCTS broadcast two weeks ago, I sat watching with a bunch of people whose jaws dropped when they saw that footage. To them, in an instant, the monorail became real. Not a dream, not a fantasy, but something capable of whisking them away to Mariners games and the Sunset Tavern in Ballard.
3. Think bigger. Have you talked to the major environmental groups in town-- Washington Conservation Voters or 1000 Friends of Washington? Have you talked to the Seattle Building and Construction Trade Council? If they see jobs, they'll support it. Have you talked to Boeing? They're just itching to leave for good if local transportation isn't fixed. Get them on your side. Again, you've done a good job of reaching out to communities directly affected by the proposal, but expand your outreach to places like Lake City and North Seattle, neighborhoods less inclined to pay taxes for something that won't directly serve them. Find the neighborhood town halls, lay out the benefits that streamlined mass transit will bring to the entire city, and do some quick straw polls. Speaking of polls, where are yours? Contact the folks over at Evans/McDonough. They'll give you a great deal on a 15-question poll for under $6,000 bucks (Hell, trim ETC director Harold Robertson's $140,000 salary and buy 12 polls). You say you're a grassroots agency--well, act like one. Do bus campaigns. At 5:30 p.m. every day, hand out those one-sheets we talked about to everyone on that packed and miserable bus. I'll bet they'll be receptive to what you have to say.
