Monorail Mania
So I promised I would get around to discussing stressful things...
The most paramount would be the Seattle Monorail Project, which could be facing a dead end (AP via The Guardian) after suddenly slipping into a coma about six weeks ago.
I kinda expected after all of this time to be happily watching final design -- and even early construction starts -- at this point. I did NOT expect to be spending 10+ hours in meetings every week for the last month and a half, schmoozing with various local reporters, drafting letters to the editor and editorial pieces, and generally playing the political game on this issue. And I certainly did not expect it to be this frustrating!
The really, really short version follows for those outside of Seattle, or trapped indoors with no media access this summer:
1. Agency finally concludes NINE MONTHS! of secret contract negotiations
2. Staff recommends contract, but doesn't call attention to creative financing plan attached to it.
3. Shit hits the fan when media notices that the proposed finance plan would mean $9 Billion in interest (on top of $2B cost) and take 50+ years of levying the tax to pay off
4. Opponents work themselves into a frenzy like sharks smelling blood in the water
5. Executive Director and Board Chair resign over Fourth of July holiday
6. Board quickly rejects financing plan.
Life has been hell ever since. Regional and state politics are affecting this in all sorts of ways. Everyone has an opinion of what to do. Supporters cannot find agreement on what to do. Public and private betrayals and disappointments have occurred. And on and on and on... (Read the news briefs on our Friends of the Monorail website if you continue to be interested in more details)
I won't bore people with details. If you're interested in them, y'all know how to get a hold of me. This has just seriously consumed large amounts of my free time. And I have alternated between anger, frustration, depression, and a few other emotions with the way the politics have gone, how uneducated people are sometimes about their own community, and how some of us have been and continue to be treated by leaders who should know better.
I don't know what's going to happen right now. It's rather upsetting to feel like a cause that I have been working for in one way or another for over five years may be DEAD by the end of the year. It's rather depressing to consider that some of the progressive ideals which first excited me about this project have been utterly destroyed by certain individuals. And it's just frustrating right now, because I don't quite know how I feel any more, and what I want to do.
Sometimes I just want to say fuck it all and go home and watch TV or play with the kittens. That's not so easy when I have been this involved for this long. It's not so easy when I am currently the elected President of one of the supporter's groups, and involved with keeping many folks informed and organized.
I need to really ask myself why I got involved in this Monorail Dream in the first place. Was it my idealism? Support for the environment and public transit? Its progressive ideals and people-powered politics? Are these things still there? Could they be resurrected?
Do I want a new monorail in Seattle? No matter what it looks like, who it serves, and where it goes?
Which do I value more: beautiful urban design or utilitarian transit speed and capacity?
Can I support a shortened line after we promised citizens 14 miles and up to 19 stations? Even if the alternative could very possibly be no monorail? No in-city rapid public transit?
And what happens if I walk away from Friends of the Monorail? Or if I come out against the Board or this Agency when it makes its final decision?
The most paramount would be the Seattle Monorail Project, which could be facing a dead end (AP via The Guardian) after suddenly slipping into a coma about six weeks ago.
I kinda expected after all of this time to be happily watching final design -- and even early construction starts -- at this point. I did NOT expect to be spending 10+ hours in meetings every week for the last month and a half, schmoozing with various local reporters, drafting letters to the editor and editorial pieces, and generally playing the political game on this issue. And I certainly did not expect it to be this frustrating!
The really, really short version follows for those outside of Seattle, or trapped indoors with no media access this summer:
1. Agency finally concludes NINE MONTHS! of secret contract negotiations
2. Staff recommends contract, but doesn't call attention to creative financing plan attached to it.
3. Shit hits the fan when media notices that the proposed finance plan would mean $9 Billion in interest (on top of $2B cost) and take 50+ years of levying the tax to pay off
4. Opponents work themselves into a frenzy like sharks smelling blood in the water
5. Executive Director and Board Chair resign over Fourth of July holiday
6. Board quickly rejects financing plan.
Life has been hell ever since. Regional and state politics are affecting this in all sorts of ways. Everyone has an opinion of what to do. Supporters cannot find agreement on what to do. Public and private betrayals and disappointments have occurred. And on and on and on... (Read the news briefs on our Friends of the Monorail website if you continue to be interested in more details)
I won't bore people with details. If you're interested in them, y'all know how to get a hold of me. This has just seriously consumed large amounts of my free time. And I have alternated between anger, frustration, depression, and a few other emotions with the way the politics have gone, how uneducated people are sometimes about their own community, and how some of us have been and continue to be treated by leaders who should know better.
I don't know what's going to happen right now. It's rather upsetting to feel like a cause that I have been working for in one way or another for over five years may be DEAD by the end of the year. It's rather depressing to consider that some of the progressive ideals which first excited me about this project have been utterly destroyed by certain individuals. And it's just frustrating right now, because I don't quite know how I feel any more, and what I want to do.
Sometimes I just want to say fuck it all and go home and watch TV or play with the kittens. That's not so easy when I have been this involved for this long. It's not so easy when I am currently the elected President of one of the supporter's groups, and involved with keeping many folks informed and organized.
I need to really ask myself why I got involved in this Monorail Dream in the first place. Was it my idealism? Support for the environment and public transit? Its progressive ideals and people-powered politics? Are these things still there? Could they be resurrected?
Do I want a new monorail in Seattle? No matter what it looks like, who it serves, and where it goes?
Which do I value more: beautiful urban design or utilitarian transit speed and capacity?
Can I support a shortened line after we promised citizens 14 miles and up to 19 stations? Even if the alternative could very possibly be no monorail? No in-city rapid public transit?
And what happens if I walk away from Friends of the Monorail? Or if I come out against the Board or this Agency when it makes its final decision?