Monorail revote plan unlikely; cutting costs instead may be on tap

Odds are increasingly slim that the Seattle Monorail Project will draft a public revote plan in time to meet the Sept. 15 deadline Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels recently set.

Instead, some monorail leaders are aiming to show progress on efforts to make the stalled $2.1 billion plan for Hitachi trains more affordable.

Yesterday the agency's interim executive director, John Haley, visited Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis to discuss the city's expectations.

Earlier this month, Nickels issued a letter instructing monorail leaders to draft a ballot measure to either shorten the proposed Ballard-to-West Seattle route, or raise taxes.

"The 15th still stands, and we think John's committed to giving us a proposal by that time," Ceis said afterward, not elaborating on whether "proposal" means revote. Haley, ending his fourth day with Seattle Monorail Project (SMP), gave no details.

Monorail-board members are counting on an outside adviser, Kevin Phelps, to shave $4 billion in payments off an earlier 50-year, $11.4 billion scheme, scrapped in late June.

"If we're not asking for higher taxes and not asking for a shorter line, I don't believe there's any reason we should go to a new vote, because we're doing what people voted for already," board member Cleve Stockmeyer said. Voters approved a car-tab tax for the monorail in 2002.

The mayor's deadline allows time to send a proposition to King County Elections by Sept. 23 for the November ballot.

City Councilwoman Jan Drago said yesterday she doesn't believe the agency could put together a plan that soon.

"It's basically rebid it or terminate it, in simple English," said Drago, once a firm SMP supporter.

Canadian train-maker Bombardier says it could propose a cheaper system.

Meanwhile, interest in building the monorail is growing among other groups. Letters of interest to SMP have arrived from Monorail Malaysia and Linimo, building magnetically levitating trains in Japan.

Casey Corr, who is running against Drago this fall, said: "We need a vote this November on a new proposal, or phase out the tax. They cannot continue to collect tax at $1 million a week for a plan they've abandoned."

SMP backers grumble that politicians gave Sound Transit two years to regroup after the near-collapse of its light-rail plan in 2000-01.

"To dig [out] and do what we're trying to do under this forced march is inappropriate," said board member Cindi Laws.

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