March 15, 2005

 

 

Tom Weeks, Chair

Seattle Popular Monorail Authority

1904 3rd Avenue, Suite 105
Seattle, WA 98101-1126

 

The Honorable Greg Nickels

Mayor of the City of Seattle

PO Box 94759

Seattle, WA 98124-4749

 

The Honorable Richard Conlin

Seattle City Council

PO Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98124-4025

 

An Open Letter Urging Coordinated Public Hearings For The Seattle Monorail Project

 

Dear Mr. Weeks, Mayor Nickels and Councilmember Conlin:

 

After more than two years of planning, public meetings and negotiations, the Seattle Monorail Project (the “Project”) is approaching the end of its planning process, a point when Seattle citizens and the Seattle City Council will have a final opportunity to examine the Project before the construction phase begins. Two important hearings will be convened in the coming months, a Seattle Popular Monorail Authority (the “SPMA”) public hearing to present the proposed DBOM (design, build, operate and maintain) contract to the public and a separate City Council hearing to consider the Project’s financial viability.

 

The SPMA’s public hearing is required by law. Under the SPMA’s enabling statute, section 35.95A.050 (3)(f) RCW, the SPMA must do two things before it signs a DBOM contract for the Project. First, the SPMA must hold a public hearing on the proposed contract and, second, after the public hearing ends, the SPMA must adopt written findings that the contract is in the public interest, that the contract is financially sound and that the method of awarding the contract is advantageous as compared to all other methods of awarding such contracts. In its February 25th publication, Questions and Answers About the Green Line, SPMA acknowledged that the DBOM contract will be released for public review and comment before the SPMA Board makes any final decision. We have every confidence that SPMA’s acknowledgment means that it is already planning for the required public hearing.

 

The City Council has imposed its own requirements. The City Council will conduct a separate examination of the Project’s financial feasibility before it will grant the SPMA the right to use the City’s rights of way on and above its streets and other public spaces. The City Council has engaged an independent financial consultant to review how the SPMA plans to pay for the Project’s construction, operating and maintenance costs. The consultant will report its findings to the City Council. The independent financial consultant is ready to start work once the SPMA and the Cascadia team conclude negotiations of their DBOM contract, negotiations that may be completed in the next several months.

 

We urge the SPMA and the City Council to coordinate their disclosure of public information and their hearing schedules with the goal of assuring that the public has a full and fair opportunity to review crucial information before the hearings begin. The SPMA and the City Council must deliver vital Project information to the public at least two weeks before any hearing starts. The vital Project information should include the full text of the proposed DBOM contract, the final Project budget, the report of the City Council’s independent financial consultant and the current version of the SPMA’s official statement (prospectus) to potential bond investors.

 

We recommend that SPMA postpone its public hearing and execution of the DBOM contract until after the City Council conducts its public hearing and approves the use of its rights of way because such use is fundamental to performance under the DBOM contract. So long as access to the City’s rights of way remains unsettled, the SPMA cannot reasonably make the statutorily mandated findings regarding the DBOM contract (i.e., that the contract is in the public interest, is financially sound and advantageous).

 

At a minimum, the Cascadia team would be excused from performance under the DBOM contract if their right to use the City’s rights of way is delayed or denied. It is inconceivable that the Cascadia team will bear the entire risk of the delay or denial. Because the SPMA has no control over when the City Council will act, an early signing of the DBOM contract may leave the SPMA vulnerable to numerous adverse consequences if the start of construction is delayed or prevented because the City Council chooses to delay or deny use of the City’s rights of way. The adverse consequences may include payment of substantial sums for demobilization and cancellation if the contract is terminated or, alternatively, payment of substantial price increases if contract performance resumes after the City Council gives delayed approval. Any one of these adverse consequences may invalidate any earlier SPMA findings that the contract is financially sound and advantageous.

 

Consequently, we believe that the SPMA must postpone its public hearing regarding the DBOM contract until after the City Council makes a determination with respect to the use of its rights of way by the SPMA. We recognize that the financial review by the City Council’s independent financial consultant will postpone the start of the City Council hearings, the SPMA public hearing and the execution of the DBOM contract for several weeks. In our judgment, this delay is prudent and consistent with sound planning practices. At this juncture, we urge the SPMA to address the delay in its contract negotiations with the Cascadia team.

 

A careful public review of the Project is essential in the coming months, especially because the Project’s final scope, design, cost and financial plan will become clear only shortly before these hearings begin. The SPMA and the City Council must assure that the decision making process is judicious and transparent to the public. By coordinating their information disclosure and hearing schedules, the SPMA and the City Council will assure that the SPMA complies with chapter 35.95A RCW, that there is meaningful public access to final Project information and that an open public discussion of the issues will occur. The SPMA’s recent request to the Washington Legislature for extra time to retire its bonds underscores the need for an open public discussion.

 

We look forward to hearing your thoughts about how you propose to schedule and coordinate public disclosures and hearings on these crucial matters.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Lucy Steers, Chair

Municipal League of King County Issues Management Committee

 

 

 

 

Robert S. Klein, Acting Chair

Municipal League of King County Ballot Issues Committee

 

 

 

Bruce Carter, Trustee

Municipal League of King County

 

 

cc:       SPMA Board of Directors

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