Port's trolley plan fuels dust-up in council race

The beloved waterfront streetcar has become the object of hardball politics as Paige Miller, one of four candidates challenging City Councilman Richard Conlin for re-election, moved to the front of the queue with her Port of Seattle offer to rescue the threatened trolley line.

But Miller's close-to-the-vest approach in revealing the proposal, which caught city and county officials flatfooted, is being criticized by her opponents as political grandstanding. They also are doubting whether the Port's proposal to extend the line north will work, as key details on financing are unclear.

Miller, a Port of Seattle commissioner since 1988, finds the pessimism disturbing, especially since she has promised that neither the city nor King County will have to pay a penny for the 1.2 miles of new track or two new stations.

"People are saying we're not going to be able to do it, and I'm saying, 'This is our offer. Say thank you,' " she said. "How many times do I have to say that the financing is a commitment? We wouldn't have put it out there if we weren't sure we could do it."

Miller's campaign could hinge on her ability to pull it off. If she succeeds, she undoubtedly will cast herself as the leader who saved the streetcar. If she fails, her opponents' charges of recklessness are more likely to stick.

On March 23, Miller announced the Port's offer at a news conference, trumping a streetcar photo-op later that day by County Councilman Dwight Pelz, who also is in the race. Miller announced the Port was prepared to donate land at its Elliott Bay Park, near the grain terminal and the Amgen biotechnology campus, for a replacement streetcar-maintenance barn, in addition to arranging for financing for the additional track and stations.

The current barn sits on a strip of shoreline that the Seattle Art Museum plans to develop as part of its $85 million Olympic Sculpture Park, scheduled to open in summer 2006. Without a facility to store and service the vintage streetcars, the line, operated by Metro, is doomed.

The Port offer was discussed at last week's meeting of the Regional Transit Committee, which counts both Pelz and Conlin as members. Miller didn't attend, saying she didn't want campaign politics to be the focus.

Dwight Pelz, county councilman and City Council candidate

Pelz, chairman of the County Council's Transportation Committee, attempted to price the Port's proposal — something Miller has not done — by itemizing costs that either the county or the city would have to bear, such as building the replacement barn and a new power substation. Pelz estimated the county's share could be as high as $9.4 million but would drop to $5.5 million if the city assumed some of those costs.

He predicts the County Council would be willing to spend $5.5 million to extend the line, but not $9.4 million.

At the meeting, Pelz pressed a Port official for more financing details but received only assurances in return. The Port official said the agency is working to find partners and that the agency is prepared to spend some of its own money, if necessary.

Pelz estimates the Port's contribution could be as high as $10 million when the value of land is added into the calculation.

"It must be wonderful to work for an agency that can spend $10 million on a nonrelated function, but that's the Port's business," he said. "If Paige Miller can walk the talk on this proposal, if she can deliver the funding on the track and do it in a timely manner, then I congratulate her. If this falls apart, then it moves into the realm of bad policy and political grandstanding."

Conlin said he is not convinced the northern extension proposed by the Port is either workable or a wise expense. His focus is on extending the trolley line east up South Jackson Street, through the Chinatown International District, and building a replacement maintenance barn at the Qwest Field north parking lot.

"On the plus side, campaign politics impelled some action," Conlin said of the Port offer. "The downside, though, is that the action is not as effective as it might have been if it was not politically motivated."

Casey Corr, a former aide to Mayor Greg Nickels and another candidate in the race, called Miller's maneuvering a petty stunt and said the Port's offer was shoddily conceived.

"The public wants leaders who talk together and solve problems, but instead we're getting vaporous proposals, turf battles and competing press conferences," he said. "One-upmanship is not going to get problems solved."

Miller said the Port and others have been studying the idea of extending the trolley north for about three years — but the idea never garnered much interest from the city or county. A Metro study of options for replacing the maintenance barn, prepared in November, did not list a northern extension as one of six options.

"Why didn't I go to the city and Metro?" Miller said. "We'd done that before."

Miller said the first person to hear her idea was friend and City Council President Jan Drago. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, the two met at the trolley barn and walked north along the path that Miller envisioned for the line extension. Drago told her she thought it was as good an idea as any she had heard.

Drago, aware of Amgen's interest to extend the line to its campus, said she and Miller discussed how to proceed.

"We agreed that you can't go public until you have the basic facts," Drago said. "It really is her baby."

Miller said she worked with the Port staff to turn the idea into an offer, examining issues such as track alignment and permitting.

"By the Wednesday morning that we announced it, about 40 people had a hand in it," Miller said. "We had this actionable moment to pull together a real plan, so instead of letting it dribble out, we decided to announce it straight to the public and see if it's an idea people like."

Miller said she consulted with Seattle Art Museum officials the evening before the news conference so they would not be surprised the next day.

Had Miller publicized her proposal before researching it, Drago said, "it probably would not have seen the light of day, bogged down by bureaucracy."

Miller said she solicited and received support from two of the other four Port commissioners. At a meeting the day before Miller's news conference, the two who had not pledged support expressed concern about getting involved in the streetcar issue, so Miller said she opted to not share details with them.

Darlene Madenwald, president of the American Lung Association's Washington chapter and another candidate in the crowded City Council field, said the lack of public vetting of the Port proposal concerns her.

"There should be a transparent process for the public to see and participate in how decisions are made," she said. "I'm not sure that process took place in this Port decision."

Miller said she typically solves problems by working behind the scenes.

"This is just an unusual circumstance where policy and politics are working together," she said. "This is the way things get done."

Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293 or seskenazi@seattletimes.com