Tell The City Council You Want Monorail
The usual well-funded monorail opponents are giving one last try to stop us from building a new monorail in Seattle. The last step is for the Seattle City Council to approve the use of city streets for monorail tracks. It is crucial that you let your voice be heard and tell the City Council that we've voted 4 times for monorail and you want it built. more...
We Must Build The Monorail
There are times where communities face critical tests: do they build for the future, or retreat to the past. This is one of those times for the citizens of Seattle. more...
Monorail MVET Growth Analysis
The SMP says the monorail tax will grow at 6.1% per year. The mayor has a more pessimistic view of his economic policy and says it will be 5% per year. We've got the details on the actual difference between the two.
Help Build the Monorail Message
We'll be publishing some print-your-own flyers and brochures here on the site. Help out by adding your suggestions to the comments in this thread. more...
We Must Build The Monorail
There are times where communities face critical tests: do they build for the future, or retreat to the past. This is one of those times for the citizens of Seattle. more...
Mayor and City Council Defy Will of the Voters
Once again the denizens of Seattle City Hall are trying to kill the monorail. more...
Equity Office's Anti-Monorail Activity Causes Employee to Resign
There's a triumvirate of wealthy property owners downtown that are bankrolling the anti-monorail campaign. One employee has had enough of her employer's questionable ethics and has resigned her job. more...
More Endorsements for the Monorail
The campaign to save the monorail from greedy landlords and corporations continues to rack up endorsements. The anti-monorail campaign is stuck at 0. more ...
WAMU Hit Hard By Boycott
Last week's protest against Washington Mutual's anti-monorail activities was a huge success, resulting in the removal of twice 10 times as much money from the bank than what they've spent to fund lies about the monorail. more ...
Boycott WAMU
Although the anti-monorail campaign is late as usual with their public disclosure filing, reliable sources indicate that Washington Mutual has donated $85,000 to the effort to permanently ban the construction of a monorail in Seattle. It's time to boycott WAMU. more...
Monorail Grassroots At Work
The monorail has won 3 elections due to the combination of a great, common sense idea and the dedicated efforts of ordinary, inspired, grassroots volunteers. See how they're back at work this campaign season. more ...
Get a Break From High Gas Prices
Analysts say that the age of cheap oil is over. If that is the case, why would we approve an initiative that will ban the construction of rapid, electrically powered monorail anywhere in the city? more ....
Anti-Monorail Campaign Breaks Copyright
The anti-monorail forces have made another ethically questionable, if not downright illegal move. Their recently launched television commercials feature video that was stolen from a monorail supporter's website. more ...
WAMU Turns To The Dark Side
A buildthemonorail.com exclusive: It appears that another billion dollar downtown business has turned against Seattle and the monorail. more...
Anti-Monorail Campaign Gets Extreme Makeover
In the last several weeks this website has cataloged the distortions, outright lies, and right-wing agenda of the wealthy forces working against the monorail. It looks like that may have had an effect. more...
More Ethics Problems for Monorail Opponents
The anti-monorail campaign has been characterized by two things: distortions of the facts and deceit about who is actually behind their efforts. buildthemonorail.com has filed an official ethics complaint that alleges further illegal activity. more...
Monorail Winning the Endorsement Race
A surprising thing is happening so far in the campaign to save the monorail from right wing extremists. Many of the groups that opposed the monorail in 2002 are now supporting it in 2004. more...
Are Monorail Opponents Simply Anti-Transit?
Monorail opponents say that they oppose the monorail because of their distaste for taxes and elevators. Is it possible that they're also opposed to all forms of mass transit? There's some interesting new data that could answer that question. more ...
Another Recall Lie Exposed
The Seattle Times recently quoted Tim Wulf as saying that his involvement started with his registration of their website domain last year. A simple internet search has revealed that it was actually registered by the chairman of the King County Libertarian party. more...
The Truth About Selig
The monorail opposition is almost entirely funded by a single wealthy property owner. Who is Martin Selig and why does he hate the monorail? more...
Pro-monorail Campaign Launched - Funding, Volunteers Needed
The official pro-monorail campaign has started up to defend the Seattle Monorail from its attackers. It's crucial that you send them any funds you can to run the campaign and any time you can give to help win in November. more ...
What would I-83 do?
Curious about what the anti-monorail initiative would actually do? Get the facts here. more...
Don't Let Tim Eyman Style Anti-Tax Politics Kill The Monorail
Do monorail recall leaders really represent Seattle? Or are they in fact nothing more than local versions of Tim Eyman? more...
I-83 Is An Illegal Initiative
Why vote for something that will only be thrown out after the election due to it's blatant illegality? more...
Monorail Opponents Lie about "Grassroots" Campaign, Fined by Ethics Commission
Remember back in the summer when the monorail opponents such as Liv Finne were collecting signatures and claiming the work was done by their "grassroots volunteers"? Turns out it was a huge deception campaign. more...
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Equity Office's Anti-Monorail Activity Causes Employee to Resign
In addition to Bush supporter Martin Selig and the anti-hometown bank WAMU, Equity Office forms the third wheel of the financial support given to the anti-monorail campaign. It is an out of town corporation based in Chicago that owns more property in downtown Seattle than anyone else. They have given tens of thousands of dollars to force a revote on a rapid transit project that we've already approved 3 times.
Much like WAMU, Equity Office followed up on their massive campaign contributions with an email to their employees to intimidate them into voting Yes on I-83 in November. That proved too much for one valued employee, causing her to submit the following resignation letter:
October 17, 2004
Equity Office Properties
701 Fifth Avenue, suite 4000
Seattle, WA 98121
To [supervisor's name edited]:
I regret to inform you of my decision to immediately terminate employment with Equity Office Properties. I would like to stress that my decision is in no way a reflection of my immediate work environment or your ability as a supervisor, but rather from what I feel is a moral obligation.
Last week, an email was sent by the Senior Vice President Pat Callahan stating EOP?s position on Initiative 83 to recall the monorail. I am not sure what disturbed me more: the blatant attempt to influence employees? votes or the fact that the evidence cited does not stand up to scrutiny. In his email, Pat Callahan claimed that EOP supports ?other mass transit initiatives including the completion of the Light Rail system, upgrades to our existing roads, the rebuilding of Alaskan Way and improvements to the bus system? and went on to say that as a communtiy we cannot afford to pay for the monorail.
The monorail project is the realization of a grassroots effort to provide a long overdue solution to Seattle?s transportation problem. It has been approved three times because voters realize that we can?t afford not to build the monorail. From a financial standpoint, it is the best option as it can be built at a third of the cost of the Light Rail system while serving more neighborhoods. The amount of money it would take to build 20 miles of the Light Rail is enough to complete the entire monorail and still have a rebate. As it stands now, the cost of the RTA system, which the Light Rail falls under, is $3.9 billion and rising, to simply build a limited commuter rail service that would go between Edmonds and downtown Seattle. Another line would eventually be built from Seattle to Tacoma, but with only one station in Seattle. Compare this to the monorail which would serve Lake City, the University District, Downtown, Capitol Hill, Rainier Beach, Ballard, Fremont and West Seattle with numerous stops at a much lower cost. Because the monorail would run on electricity, it would create no pollution, making it the most environmentally sound choice. It would also boost the local economy by creating an estimated 2100 jobs between 2005 and 2009, not to mention benefit businesses by enabling fast, efficient travel between Seattle?s many neighborhoods.
It has come to my attention in recent days that EOP is one of the main finacial backers of I-83to recall the monorail. In the past week alone EOP contributed $110,000. Washington Mutual (who has come under attack in the press lately for also trying to coerce employees? votes) came in second at $85,000. I am not entirely sure what has motivated EOP to heavily contribute to the monorail recall, though the fact that they own and manage four buildings along Second Avenue, where the monorail is slated to run, is a likely factor. As a Seattle resident who cares deeply for my community, I can no longer in good conscience continue to work for a company who would place a potentially small corporate profit above the needs of the community at large.
Sincerely,
[employee's name edited]
Paid for by buildthemonorail.com
PO Box 14177 Seattle, WA 98114
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