Monorail shutdown begins -- but too quickly?

Seattle's monorail project, shut down by voters in Tuesday's election, moved quickly Wednesday to start shutting itself down and possibly selling off its $72 million worth of property by early next year.

Monorail board members brushed aside a plea from City Council members who asked the agency to slow down so there could be talks about what to use the land for. Board members barely disguised their anger at the city's request, given the recent withdrawal of city support and the push for the do-or-die ballot measure that killed the project.


		Grant M. Haller / P-I
	John Haley, interim director of the monorail project, was asked by the agency's board Wednesday to work another week.

The letter with the council's request "is so filled with ironies, I'm aghast," said board member and state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle.

Voters rejected a ballot measure permitting the agency to build a line shortened from the original 13.6 miles. The measure provided that a monorail wouldn't be built if voters turned the measure down, and board members had agreed earlier that they'd close the organization if the measure was defeated.

Wednesday night they canceled a $1.7 billion construction contract, terminated all non-essential contracts and agreed to cut the staff to a handful by the end of the year to handle the final real estate, financial and legal affairs.

It's not clear how long the 1.4 percent monorail license tax will have to remain in effect. Monorail acting board Chairwoman Kristina Hill said it could be a year or so but others say it depends on how quickly the property could be sold and whether the tax rate remains the same.

There has been some talk of lowering the tax rate to make sure that all car owners pay the tax in the last year of the agency's existence.

Board members agreed to "rapid disposition of real property," aimed at raising as much money as possible to pay down the agency's $110 million debt. Two board members forecast the move at a midday press briefing, saying it was their responsibility.

That prompted a quick letter from seven City Council members, asking the agency not to sell the land "before you take in account their potential usefulness to the city in considering options for serving Seattle's western transit corridor."

"Let's take a deep breath and see what we're doing here," said Councilman Nick Licata.

Board member Rick Sundberg said the agency wouldn't be "precipitous" in its action but "I find the City Council was very precipitous" in halting the board's project reorganization work and forcing the vote.

"I would have very much appreciated some of those sentiments from the mayor and council before the events that occurred in September," Kohl-Welles said.

Board member Cleve Stockmeyer said there could be some compromise on the timetable if the city announced an alternate transit-service plan for the Ballard-to-West Seattle corridor the rejected monorail would have served.

"Now that you've slapped us in the face, don't look to us for a solution," Stockmeyer said, aiming his remark at the city. He said the "ball is in the city's court" and the agency will push ahead with the property sale unless it hears the alternate plan it wanted before being pushed to the election.

The agency has acquired 34 parcels of land along the original 13.6-mile corridor between West Seattle and Crown Hill. Courts have approved a 35th, the "Sinking Ship" garage in Pioneer Square, as a condemnation purchase but it has not been completed.

The tracts vary from vacant land to parking lots to office space, ranging in price from $310,000 to $16.5 million.

Longtime monorail supporter Peter Sherwin said he's floated the idea of having city officials take over management of the monorail and the property so it could reserve it for transit or even park use. He asked the board members to delay the land sale until the city completes another transit study.

"Before we're sure we don't need it for transit, let's hold onto it," he said.

He, Stockmeyer and other monorail supporters have asked the city and monorail opponents to propose an alternative of their own.

Opponents said they're not sure that's up to them.

Chairman James Tupper of the No on Monorail Prop 1 organization said the city and state Department of Transportation, Sound Transit the King County Council, the Legislature and governor are all working on transportation solutions.

"I don't know where we start taking a crack at this but I'm sort of looking at any or all of those people to take the lead on transportation prioritization and planning," he said. "Are there other transit needs that aren't being met in the city?"

Stockmeyer and Sherwin said a proposal by state Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, to have the state take control of the monorail's debt payments and property dispositions doesn't make sense to them because the monorail project is inside the city.

"What's the point ... ?" Stockmeyer asked, referring to having the state treasurer handle debt payments and the state Department of Transportation dispose of the property. "This has always been about city transit and city taxes."

Mayor Greg Nickels reacted similarly. "If it's sold to private users the city wants to make sure it's sold for appropriate uses," said Nickels spokesman Marty McOmber.

The city plans to study alternative transit methods in the corridor, with a report expected out by next spring.

Murray predicted the Legislature will take some action to make sure the monorail debt is paid. He said it would be "great" if the city or King County Metro wanted to buy the land but the debt should be paid soon if other transportation projects are to be financed.

City voters "are not going to pay for a tunnel (to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct) when they're paying for a (monorail) system that's not being built," Murray said.

Some think there will be some form of mass transit in the West Seattle-to-Ballard corridor but interim Monorail Director John Haley doubts it now that voters have spoken.

"I think it's dead," he said. Board members agreed, at Haley's request, to end his consulting contract Nov. 16, allowing him time to start the dissolution work.

P-I reporter Larry Lange can be reached at 206-448-8313 or larrylange@seattlepi.com.

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