Monorail assets aren't for the taking

The Seattle City Council is having difficulty deciphering Tuesday's easy-to-understand vote to end the monorail project.

By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Seattle voters opted to abandon the planned monorail. Voters went two steps further by electing two new board members who favor wrapping up the project.

Then along come seven members of the City Council, sending an ill-advised letter to the Monorail Board that says: Whoa, stop, don't sell the real estate acquired for the project yet. The city, Metro or Sound Transit may want the land for a westside transportation system or other public purpose. Maybe they do. They can step forward and buy it if they wish.

It will be difficult, if not impossible, to create a responsible plan in a short time. Sitting on the monorail's property violates the voters' will.

The $72 million worth of property belongs to citizen-taxpayers paying the monorail car-tab bill. Many are already angry because they are writing checks — and will continue to write checks — for about two more years to retire debt accrued by a flawed project.

In an act of hubristic hair-splitting, Councilman Nick Licata, who faced minimal opposition Tuesday, says voters didn't vote down monorail technology. They voted down this project.

Hoo-boy.

He and Council members Jean Godden, Jim Compton, Jan Drago, Tom Rasmussen, David Della and Richard Conlin want the city to take a deep breath and ponder if monorail assets can be used for a different project.

The best course is for assets to be sold, debt paid and voters given the break they emphatically said they wanted Tuesday. It is not right to throw around polls and act like you know better.

It is wrong for City Council to come along and say, what the voters were really saying is they want that land for bus rapid transit or a westside link to Sound Transit or any other creative interpretation, such as a West Seattle monorail.

The project is dead. The land should be sold in a careful, orderly manner to pay off the agency's $110 million debt.

Voters understand they must pay until the debt is retired. They should not have to pay beyond that for more hand-wringing over a project that has run its course.