Seattle Press on Line - 22,000 Sign Petition Seeking New Monorail Plan and Vote

22,000 Sign Petition Seeking New Monorail Plan and Vote

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Sarah Stegner and Rodney Rutherford presented the petitions on a satin pillow.

Aug 23, 2000 -- Council May Launch Obfuscating Alternative

Monorail supporters turned in over 22,200 signatures to the Seattle City Clerk August 17 seeking a place on the November Ballot for Initiative 53, a new monorail initiative that provides specific funding for a two-year monorail study and a public vote on implementing recommendations resulting from the study. The petition campaign began just over a month ago.

The petitions were carried into City Hall on satin pillows and silver platters by enthusiastic petition gatherers who stopped in the 4th Avenue entrance of the Municipal building to gather a few more signatures.

Edwin Schlapfer, who personally gathered over 1,500 signatures in the Green Lake area, said, "A lot of the people who signed are really hot under the collar" because of the way the city council overturned the original monorail initiative. "I really want our democracy to work. That's why I'm doing this," he said.

Not everyone in Seattle is for the monorail. Ballard resident Harrison Gardner carries a reader board up and down 32nd Avenue Northwest trying to drum up public support for his views.

Volunteers will continue to collect signatures for a couple more weeks, according to I-53 organizer Peter Sherwin, to make sure they have enough in case some are ruled invalid. 18,800 signatures are needed to win a place on the ballot.

Since the I-53 signature campaign started, just over a month ago, volunteers said the response from the public grew stronger every day.

I-53 requires the city to spend $6 million for a two-year study of monorail routes and technology. The study would lead to recommendations including financing that would be placed before the voters. It also would earmark up to $200 million in city council borrowing authority for construction.

City Clerk Judith Pippin examines the petitions.

City Council opposition to the monorail continues unabated and Councilmember Jan Drago wants the council to place an alternative monorail proposal on the November ballot. Dan Grady, a Drago aide, said the alternative proposal had not taken shape yet, but it is within the council's power to place a measure on the ballot similar to the procedure used for the proposed Parks levy.

Regarding Drago's efforts, I-53 organizer Peter Sherwin said, "I don't understand why the council is trying to make this a battle. We just collected 22,200 signatures in 35 days. Now they want to confuse the issue instead of just letting the voters give a straight answer to a simple question."

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