Liberal Talk Radio

How’s that epigraph go? “Nothing in his life so befit him as the leaving of it.” Well, nothing in the Seattle Monorail’s 7-year run was as quick and efficient as the rapid sell-off of lands that were to be used as stations for the now-defunct project. By selling the properties for $11M more than they paid for them, the Monorail Board was able to shave a few months off the amount of time we were supposed to spend paying off their debt in car licensing fees.

But here in Seattle, such quick, decisive, common-sensical behavior draws predictable ire:

“We were really disappointed because the high bid doesn’t necessarily translate into public interest,” said Suzanne Swadener, who belongs to a coalition of residents and businesses aiming to invigorate 15th Avenue Northwest.

“It really was a one-time opportunity to take a big look at what’s happening in the neighborhood, and we lost that opportunity by virtue of their desire to be expedient.”

Yeah — a “big look.” A big, long-winded conversation. That’s what we needed! Take more time, be indecisive, maybe put together a committee or two to study the issue and make recommendations.

Please… it’s time to put this thing to bed. No more big looks, please.

P.S.: P-I reporter Jennifer Langston engages in some pretty sloppy reporting later down in the article:

The nearly defunct Seattle Monorail Project is wrapping up sales of 33 properties, since voters decided in November to kill the expensive, 13.6-mile project.

Expensive? Really? Compared to what? In terms of costs-per-mile, the monorail was going to be one of the cheapest fixed-rail transit projects ever built in the U.S. Far cheaper than Sound Transit’s $4B light rail, and financed without ANY federal or state money… an amazing coup for a public transit project.

Yet there, in that one sentence, you have a crystal-clear example the ill-informed sentiment that killed the monorail project.