Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 10, October 2003

Copyright 2003 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Seattle Sun Letters to the Editor

Excitement for Monorail

Thank you for covering our work to build the Monorail Green Line ("Making way for the monorail," Seattle Sun, July 2003). Community involvement by north end neighborhoods has been tremendous and will continue to be key to building the project on time, on budget and with excellent design.

In only six months we have held three large community meetings in Ballard attended by over a thousand citizens, sent out several mailings to every address within a half mile of the Green Line and had extensive media coverage. Our Ballard Monorail Representative, Bob Derry, has also met one-on-one with businesses, residents and property owners along the Green Line in addition to providing regular briefings to civic, commercial, and neighborhood groups. While a range of opinions have been expressed, one thing is clear: Ballard is excited about the Monorail.

This spring we announced a "Preliminary Preferred Alternative" early in the planning process to help the community understand our current thinking rather then wait until decisions were being made. The fact so many people know about it highlights our active communication efforts. We anticipate the final selection to be reached after much more community outreach and technical analysis has been conducted.

To help inform the decision process, we are also developing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will look closely at the potential impacts of various route and station options available. All of this information will be available for public review and comment at the end of August, followed by a public hearing late September.

Decisions on Green Line alignment and station locations will be made by the Monorail's Board of Directors in early 2004, with construction beginning in 2005 and the initial segment opening in 2007.

The Seattle Monorail Project is committed to working closely with businesses and residents throughout the life of the project. As the Monorail takes shape we need and want the participation of the entire community. We'll continue to do our part by providing lots of information along the way.

VEN KNOX, Director of Community Involvement, Seattle Monorail Project

Critic of (that other) Bush

George W. Bush ("Local business owners have close encounter of the presidential kind," Seattle Sun, September issue) should be condemned for his lack of actions regarding the economy. He has failed to do anything to create lasting economic growth.

Bush's entire agenda is completely focused on tax cuts for the richest people in our society. The top 5 percent will have more money than they know what to do with while the rest of us struggle. This is Bush's payback to these people for the millions they give him for his campaigns.

Bush is increasing the overall tax burden on average people and small businesses by causing state and local governments everywhere to increase their taxes as a result of his irresponsible and cynical policies.

This man is a fraud, not a leader. This time, when he loses the election, let's make sure he doesn't find a backhanded way to steal the White House, as he did in 2000.

JIMMY CAPATELLI, Wallingford

Clarification on family center

Thanks for the story on the cut in family center funding in your September issue ("Family centers face funding crisis")! This is an issue that is affecting many communities across the state, and it's good to see local coverage.

I wanted to let you know that the name of Children's Home Society's family center in Seattle is actually the North Seattle Family Center, not the North End Family Center, as stated in your article. If you'd like more information on what services we offer, visit us online at www.childrenshomesociety.org or call 695-3200.

SARAH WEDEMEYER, Communications Project Manager, Children's Home Society of Washington