Samples of Letters We've Sent

Letter to Tukwila City Council

June 16, 2002

Dear Tukwila City Council,

Please do not sign the Memorandum of Agreement with Sound Transit.

Sound Transit is overstepping its mandate by proposing to build a light rail system that is one-third shorter, will carry two-thirds fewer people, will cost almost three times as much per rider, and will require tax collections three years longer than what was approved by voters. The agency appears obsessed with building the project at all costs rather than solving the real transportation problems experienced by the taxpayers that fund it.

This lack of accountability extends to its disregard for the needs of the city of Tukwila. Sound Transit's charter requires that tax dollars be spent where they are raised, but the agency seems more interested in helping Seattlites get through Tukwila to the airport than in serving Tukwila's major destination of Southcenter.

Ironically, this route for reaching the airport is not particularly useful to those of us in Seattle either. The line takes an indirect surface route through the Rainier Valley and stops two miles short of the airport terminal. The current 194 Express bus gets there from downtown faster than this route will. If Sound Transit is not building a fast direct route from downtown to the airport, it should at least serve a useful destination such as Southcenter.

Your courageous steps to oppose this boondoggle will be celebrated by taxpayers and transit supporters throughout the region.

Thank you.

Bob Gale, Seattle