<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">Thanks, Peter! <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing">This letter</a> 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)<div>
</div>
<div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jun 13, 2023, at 10:10 AM, Peter Campbell <odell.campbell@gmail.com> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Hi all, </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">I made some suggested changes with an eye to: </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">*make it shorter / more concise / hopefully more readable</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">*avoid overstating facts</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">*better organized (our positive claims at the top) </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Peter</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Jun 12, 2023 at 10:40 AM Katie Wilson <<a href="mailto:katie@transitriders.org">katie@transitriders.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>Hi All, just a reminder to review & leave any comments or suggestions on <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">this draft letter</a> by the end of the day tomorrow, so we can bring a final draft to Thursday’s Membership Meeting for approval.<div><br></div><div>Thanks!</div><div>Katie<div>
</div>
<div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jun 9, 2023, at 4:36 PM, Katie Wilson <<a href="mailto:katie@transitriders.org" target="_blank">katie@transitriders.org</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div>Thanks so much for drafting this, Peter! Looks really good to me too. I just <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAlbia9ig097SBF2YKV4ZrSUkOOAjoja6hfMfcjhc7E/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">pasted it in a google doc</a> 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?<div>
</div>
<div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jun 7, 2023, at 8:35 PM, Dave Schuldt <<a href="mailto:dave.schuldt@me.com" target="_blank">dave.schuldt@me.com</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div dir="auto">Looks good to me.<br><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Jun 7, 2023, at 3:07 PM, Peter Campbell <<a href="mailto:odell.campbell@gmail.com" target="_blank">odell.campbell@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Hi all, </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">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 :). </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Transit Riders Union</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">P.O. Box 20723</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Seattle, WA 98102</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Board of Directors</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Sound Transit </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">401 S. Jackson St.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Seattle, WA 98104</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Dear Board Chair Constantine and Members of the Board: </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">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. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">As Doug Trumm reported in <i>The Urbanist</i> 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." </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">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.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">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.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">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. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">"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. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">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. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Sincerely, </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">[ ]</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><i>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.</i> </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 11:26 AM Peter Campbell <<a href="mailto:odell.campbell@gmail.com" target="_blank">odell.campbell@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Hi all, </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">I can draft at least a skeleton statement and will post it here.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Peter </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">--</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">Teamsters Local 763</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">SPEEA IFPTE Local 2001</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 10:44 AM Katie Wilson <<a href="mailto:katie@transitriders.org" target="_blank">katie@transitriders.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>Hi All,<div><br></div><div>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 <a href="https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/06/01/harrell-advances-new-denny-station-options-that-could-delay-ballard-link/" target="_blank">Doug wrote about here</a>. 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:</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>Thoughts?</div><div><br></div><div>- Katie</div><div><br><div>
<div dir="auto" style="letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none"><div dir="auto" style="letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none"><div style="letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div><div style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Katie Wilson</span></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><font color="#666666">General Secretary</font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><font color="#666666">Transit Riders Union</font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><font color="#666666"><a href="https://transitriders.org/" target="_blank">https://transitriders.org</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span><font color="#666666">206-781-7204</font></span></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><font color="#999999"><br></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><i><font color="#999999">The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and poor </font></i><i><font color="#999999">people, including students, seniors, and people with disabilities, taking control over our own lives, and building up the power we </font></i><i><font color="#999999">need to change society for the good of humanity and of the planet. We will </font></i><i><font color="#999999">fight to preserve, expand, and improve the public transportation system in </font></i><i><font color="#999999">Seattle and beyond, so that every human being has access to safe, </font></i><i><font color="#999999">affordable, and reliable public transit.</font></i></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>
<br></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
Transit mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Transit@transitriders.org" target="_blank">Transit@transitriders.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit</a><br>
</blockquote></div></div>
</blockquote></div>
<span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>Transit mailing list</span><br><span><a href="mailto:Transit@transitriders.org" target="_blank">Transit@transitriders.org</a></span><br><span><a href="http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit" target="_blank">http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit</a></span><br></div></blockquote></div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></blockquote></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>