Anti-monorail signatures stand

By Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times staff reporter

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A judge yesterday rejected the Seattle Monorail Project's request to throw out 9,600 petition signatures that opponents already have collected for anti-monorail Initiative 83.

That request came during a court hearing on a challenge to the I-83 ballot title, which was drafted by the City Attorney's Office in cautious legal language.

The original version was titled "Initiative Measure Number 83 Concerns the Use of City Streets for New Monorail Facilities." Monorail officials said the wording was too vague, and King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez agreed it could be clearer — so yesterday he rewrote the title to say the initiative concerns "prohibiting" the new monorail on city streets. He also rewrote a summary of the initiative to clarify that it would block plans for the proposed Green Line.

Then a monorail-agency attorney, Paul Lawrence of Preston, Gates & Ellis, argued that the original petitions should be deemed invalid.

But Gonzalez replied that unless somebody could prove a significant number of voters were misled or misunderstood what they were signing, he would let the signatures stand.

The founder of Monorail Recall, Tim Wulf, accused the monorail agency of contesting the ballot language purely as a ploy to make the opponents start from zero again in their signature drive. Earlier this week, treasurer Liv Finne predicted that if the names were voided, "we won't make it to the ballot by November."

Monorail officials deny such a motivation. Polling shows their plan is popular enough that fewer people would sign a petition or vote for I-83 if they understood it would mean repealing the project, according to Anne Levinson, Seattle Monorail Project's deputy director.

After claiming a groundswell of public sentiment to halt the monorail, I-83 organizers have found a petition drive more difficult than expected. So far, most signatures were collected by volunteers, but Finne said the group has paid a Tacoma firm $16,500 to gather 5,000 more.

Monorail Recall began using the new version of its petitions yesterday, Wulf said.

Peter Sherwin, spokesman for Monorail Now, said any petition campaign using multiple versions could violate city laws.
 
"They shouldn't be going forward under any illusions about this," he said.

I-83 seeks to ban or revoke city permits to build the monorail in city right-of-way. It would kill the voter-approved 14-mile Green Line to link downtown with Ballard and West Seattle.

On Monday, the Seattle City Council voted 8-1 to allow the monorail's planned alignment, which includes a curve through Seattle Center and a train corridor 14 feet from buildings on Second Avenue. The council votes June 28 on an agreement to cover insurance liability, financial guarantees, skybridges and street improvements around the stations.

The monorail agency has filed another lawsuit, saying I-83 is illegally using the initiative process to change a land-use decision. The agency was joined in both suits by pro-monorail landowners, environmentalists and others, including former Gov. Dan Evans and Earth Day founder Denis Hayes.

"We still think we have a very strong case, and we'd like to get that resolved as quickly as possible," said Ross Macfarlane, chief counsel for the monorail.

He said the agency hopes to sell bonds during the fall, and court wins would remove uncertainties — allowing bonds to be sold at lower interest rates and less cost to taxpayers.

The monorail project and a car-tab tax to support it were approved by Seattle voters in 2002 by only 877 votes.

City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, a recent convert to the pro-monorail side, said he didn't see a huge opposition movement emerging. "I have no sense this has lost the confidence of the Seattle voters," he said.

Monorail Recall originated last winter with Wulf, a Fauntleroy-area resident who objected to the tax. He has been joined by architects who dislike the bulk of overhead tracks, and by business owners who could lose parking, retail space or views.

The campaign's largest donor is developer Martin Selig, who provided $9,000 of the group's $22,030, as of Monday. Jeffrey Ochsner, a University of Washington architecture professor, donated $2,000, and West Seattle property owner Fred Kettlewell gave $1,000.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com