[Transit] SLU station controversy - weighing in?

Sat Jun 17 07:12:38 PDT 2023

The Urbanist is in. Maybe we can put the letter out to the MASS list giving
them say a Wednesday deadline to sign on and then we send Thursday morning
ahead of the Board meeting?

*Douglas Trumm*, *Publisher*
Pronouns*: he, him*
The Urbanist <http://theurbanist.org/> | 320.237.4771

On Fri, Jun 16, 2023 at 6:38 PM Peter Campbell <odell.campbell at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Do we want to try to get others too?
>
> (I have no opinion on yes or no)
>
> If so who?
>
> On Fri, Jun 16, 2023 at 15:28 Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Doug, I think following last night’s meeting you can share the letter
>> with The Urbanist, Seattle Subway, and Sierra Club, and see if they’d like
>> to sign on. (But let me know if you think it’s better for me to email those
>> groups.) Maybe we can aim to send to ST next week?
>>
>> On Jun 15, 2023, at 5:16 PM, Doug Trumm <doug at theurbanist.org> wrote:
>>
>> Great work on this letter, Peter. Really hammers home the points well.
>> The Urbanist has been working on a letter to the ST board with Seattle
>> Subway and Robert Cruikshank from Sierra Club. We echo many of the same
>> points, but less succinctly and eloquently :)
>>
>> If TRU is looking for co-signers, I think The Urbanist and others may be
>> interested.
>>
>> *Douglas Trumm*, *Publisher*
>> Pronouns*: he, him*
>> The Urbanist <http://theurbanist.org/> | 320.237.4771
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 14, 2023 at 2:28 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks, Peter!  This letter
>>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing> is
>>> what we’ll be considering at tomorrow’s meeting, so you all have one more
>>> day to review and suggest any final changes (please make sure you’re in
>>> suggesting mode if you do)
>>>
>>> On Jun 13, 2023, at 10:10 AM, Peter Campbell <odell.campbell at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I made some suggested changes with an eye to:
>>>
>>> *make it shorter / more concise / hopefully more readable
>>> *avoid overstating facts
>>> *better organized (our positive claims at the top)
>>>
>>> Peter
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jun 12, 2023 at 10:40 AM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi All, just a reminder to review & leave any comments or suggestions
>>>> on this draft letter
>>>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing> by
>>>> the end of the day tomorrow, so we can bring a final draft to Thursday’s
>>>> Membership Meeting for approval.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>>> Katie
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 9, 2023, at 4:36 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Thanks so much for drafting this, Peter! Looks really good to me too. I
>>>> just pasted it in a google doc
>>>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing> in
>>>> case that’s a convenient way for folks to leave comments and suggestions.
>>>> Everyone, can you review by next Tuesday so that we can bring this to the
>>>> MM next Thursday for approval?
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 7, 2023, at 8:35 PM, Dave Schuldt <dave.schuldt at me.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Looks good to me.
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 7, 2023, at 3:07 PM, Peter Campbell <odell.campbell at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> 
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Here is a draft to get us started. No worries if it isn't useful. I
>>>> probably don't have the capacity for revisions, so putting this here for
>>>> others to cut up / make shorter more concise / change as you all will :).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Transit Riders Union
>>>> P.O. Box 20723
>>>> Seattle, WA 98102
>>>>
>>>> Board of Directors
>>>> Sound Transit
>>>> 401 S. Jackson St.
>>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+S.+Jackson+St.+Seattle,+WA+98104?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>> Seattle, WA 98104
>>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+S.+Jackson+St.+Seattle,+WA+98104?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dear Board Chair Constantine and Members of the Board:
>>>>
>>>> We write as the General Membership of the Transit Riders Union to urge
>>>> the Sound Transit Board move ahead with the Denny Westlake (DT-1) preferred
>>>> alternative for Ballard Link construction.
>>>>
>>>> As Doug Trumm reported in *The Urbanist* on June 1, the DT-1
>>>> alternative "continues to rank highest" among the four options under
>>>> consideration when it comes to "rider performance and risk."  In his
>>>> written statement to the May 25 meeting, Mayor Harrell also underscores the
>>>> Harrison Street station's "projected...high ridership and...critical
>>>> connection to many bus routes."
>>>>
>>>> We cannot overstate the importance of the ridership and route
>>>> connection represented by a station sited at Harrison Street. This
>>>> station—as the Board well knows—will provide a vital connection between
>>>> Link riders and the Aurora bus corridor. Proposals to further delay Ballard
>>>> Link construction in order to examine the Shifted West or other
>>>> alternatives are rooted in short-term thinking that risks permanent damage
>>>> to Seattle's future as a fully accessible, mass-transit city. We share
>>>> Trumm's puzzlement as to how such an outcome can be consistent with the
>>>> public decarbonization commitments made by Amazon and other South Lake
>>>> Union opponents to the DT-1 site.
>>>>
>>>> Mayor Harrell suggests further study of the Shifted West alternative
>>>> without abandoning the idea of a station sited on Harrison Street. However,
>>>> while the Board has not completed a full assessment of rider performance
>>>> for the "Shifted West" alternative discussed at your May 25 meeting, we
>>>> already know that the Shifted West alternative is incompatible with current
>>>> plans to site a station at Harrison Street with transfers to the Aurora
>>>> Corridor.
>>>>
>>>> Further, as King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci stated at your
>>>> May 25 meeting, it is increasingly apparent that the continued delays
>>>> required to assess additional proposals for preferred alternatives are
>>>> incompatible with completing the Ballard Link project within a reasonable
>>>> timeframe.
>>>>
>>>> "Rider performance and risk" should be the core priority of this Board.
>>>> This Board has already been presented with a clear path forward to a
>>>> Ballard Link extension that most efficiently balances the impacts of
>>>> construction and the benefits of reducing emissions and economic insecurity
>>>> through increased transit ridership.
>>>>
>>>> The Transit Riders Union strongly urges the Board to stay true to its
>>>> stated commitments to the people of Seattle and King County and move
>>>> forward on this project with no further delay.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> [    ]
>>>>
>>>> *The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of more than
>>>> [MEMBER #s] working and poor people committed to preserving, expanding, and
>>>> improving the public transportation system in Seattle and beyond so that
>>>> every human being has access to safe, affordable, and reliable public
>>>> transit.*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 11:26 AM Peter Campbell <
>>>> odell.campbell at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> I can draft at least a skeleton statement and will post it here.
>>>>>
>>>>> Peter
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Teamsters Local 763
>>>>> SPEEA IFPTE Local 2001
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 10:44 AM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi All,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Blake Trask from CM Balducci’s office called me to ask whether TRU is
>>>>>> planning to weigh in on the SLU station siting controversy that Doug
>>>>>> wrote about here
>>>>>> <https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/06/01/harrell-advances-new-denny-station-options-that-could-delay-ballard-link/>.
>>>>>> It sounds like they think it could be helpful— at least giving Balducci
>>>>>> some backing to continue the fight to preserve plans for a station at
>>>>>> Harrison St. with transfers to the Aurora corridor. Two ways we could
>>>>>> weight in:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Write a letter to the board. Anyone want to draft something? I could
>>>>>> run it by the GC and/or we could bring it to next Thursday’s MM.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Testify at upcoming board meetings. There’s a System Expansion
>>>>>> Committee Meeting this Thursday, June 8th at 1:30pm. And the full board
>>>>>> meeting later this month on Thursday, June 22nd at 1:30pm. Anyone want to
>>>>>> testify? To do so on behalf of TRU we should make an official decision
>>>>>> first, so the 22nd may be better timing, though if anyone wants to testify
>>>>>> this Thursday I could try to rush a GC decision.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Katie
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Katie Wilson
>>>>>> General Secretary
>>>>>> Transit Riders Union
>>>>>> https://transitriders.org
>>>>>> 206-781-7204
>>>>>>
>>>>>> *The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and
>>>>>> poor **people, including students, seniors, and people with
>>>>>> disabilities, taking control over our own lives, and building up the power
>>>>>> we **need to change society for the good of humanity and of the
>>>>>> planet. We will **fight to preserve, expand, and improve the public
>>>>>> transportation system in **Seattle and beyond, so that every human
>>>>>> being has access to safe, **affordable, and reliable public transit.*
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Transit mailing list
>>>>>> Transit at transitriders.org
>>>>>> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Transit mailing list
>>>> Transit at transitriders.org
>>>> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
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