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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More Ethics Problems for Monorail Opponents
For over a year a group known as "On-Track" has been attacking the monorail in the press, at public meetings, and in hearings with the city council. Their membership includes many of the same people who campaigned against the monorail in 2002 and previous elections.
What is not known about this group is who is providing their funding. Seattle and state election law was carefully designed to make sure voters were fully informed about the financial support provided for and against ballot issues. On-Track has been providing support for the anti-monorail initiative (I-83) but has failed to register as a political committee and provide full disclosure of their funding and expenditures.
buildthemonorail.com has filed an official complaint with the Seattle Ethics Commission asking them to complete a full investigation of On-Track's compliance with the law. If the commission finds in favor of the complaint, we request that On-Track be fined significantly and be forced to retroactively report all contributions and expenditures going back to the time of their founding.
Here is the full text of the complaint:
Wayne Barnett
Executive Director
Seattle Ethics Commission
700 5th Ave Suite 4010
Seattle, WA 98124
Dear Mr. Barnett
This letter forms a formal complaint against the anti-monorail political group known as "On Track". This group has been working throughout the last year to make political attacks against the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) on behalf of downtown special interests. In February 2002 an ostensibly separate effort was undertaken to seek qualification and approval of an initiative (I-83) that would block the SMP from completing the plan for a citywide monorail system most recently approved by voters in November 2002.
I request that the Seattle Ethics Commission complete a full investigation of On-Track's adherence to Seattle election laws. The people of Seattle deserve full disclosure of the detailed contributions and expenditures of a group that is in support of a ballot proposition we will be voting on in November's election.
On-Track should be subject to full disclosure due to each of the following points:
1. Their political attacks and lobbying are outside of their purported goal of "keeping the monorail accountable" and instead mirror political statements by the registered pro I-83 political committee. A close examination of the materials on their website shows more general attacks against monorail, the SMP, and its officers. Almost all of the "Issues" listed in On-Track's literature are used by I-83 proponents as reasons to approve the ballot initiative. In addition, many have nothing to do with design issues at all and instead attack the agency directly with claims such as excessive salaries at the SMP. A careful examination of these materials should show a very similar line of attack as used by other pro I-83 groups and should thus subject On-Track to the same reporting requirements.
2. Their expenditure of large amounts of money against the monorail could have a significant impact on the November election. Since they don't report, there is no way to give a precise estimate of their expenditures. However, outward appearances would seem to put it at a fairly large number:
- A website which was professionally designed by a company called "Methodologie".
- An office in a downtown high-rise at 520 Pike St.
- A full-time staff member
- According to press reports, members of OnTrack provided financial support for a poll that was designed to discover a message that would work well for the pro I-83 campaign.
- Legal support provided by Hillis, Clark, Martin & Peterson
- Rumors that many of the communications and press events held by On-Track were coordinated by Gogerty and Stark, a professional PR firm with a history of involvement in anti-monorail campaigns.
3. On-Track's membership includes many figures, such as Henry Aronson, that held high-profile roles in opposing previous monorail elections, including the most recent one in November 2002. Several members, such as Martin Selig, have been large contributors to the official pro I-83 campaign. Some figures previously associated with On-Track, such as John Magnuson, have been featured as speakers to support I-83 on recent radio programs. In another instance, The Stranger reported that On-Track founder Henry Aronson was seen in a strategy session with recall proponents to decide how to proceed after their initiative was deemed illegal by a King County Superior Court judge in August.
These three points should illustrate that On-Track is a political committee that is expending money and providing support to the campaign in favor of I-83 and against the monorail. If the Committee's investigation is shown to support these allegations, it is appropriate that On-Track be forced to retroactively report all contributions and expenditures back to the time of their founding. In addition, On-Track should be fined significantly for each disclosure report it failed to file from that time up to the present.
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