One Man's Monorail Mantra: Don't Ditch It, Fix It

A young techie has started a new campaign and a new Web site urging people not to give up on the project.

Bottom line? Christian Gloddy thinks we've invested too much time and money to give up on the project now.

Nine years ago, Gloddy ditched his car. He's been riding the bus ever since. But he doesn't think buses are enough, it's why he voted for the monorail project.

"We're at really a crucial point."

Like a lot of people, he got frustrated when the Seattle Monorail Project proposed an $11 billion price tag -- $9 billion of it in interest payments.

So this 20-something techie got involved. He went to his first monorail meeting one month ago, and last week he launched a Web site.

The message? Don't ditch it, fix it.

"To me, there seemed there was a missing message that even though the financing had gone bad and we lost trust in authority, it didn't change the fact that tomorrow there is gonna be more cars on the road," he said.

Gloddy says it's basic math. We get the monorail we can afford. His Web site is only a week old and already several thousand hits. He's worried if the monorail goes, it will never be resurrected.

"Seattle really does empower people to be a part of their life and their city," he continued. "I'd like to see if we can make a difference."

This week, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels gave the monorail board an ultimatum: find a solution by mid-September or else he'll pull the permits.

Without the permits, the monorail can't be built on city property.

Gloddy admits he doesn't know if he'll agree with the Board's final proposal, but says has to support them. His future depends on it.

"I wonder in 40 years, what am I gonna leave behind and I wonder if there is gonna be some kid who makes a Web site to yell at me if I didn't do a good job, I feel like we're making our own history now."

Because he's worried about will happen 40 years from now, he's named his website www.2045Seattle.org . He hopes other young people will get on board. He says not enough of his generation is involved.

Gloddy, who lives on Capitol Hill says he's also worried about West Seattle. He says if the Alaskan Way Viaduct comes down, the monorail would be West Seattle's only lifeline.