"Born November 4th, 1997
Died November 8th, 2005
Born to proud parents Dick Faulkenbury and Grant Cogswell, the Monorail was a good idea at the right time. The Monorail would have stretched 14 miles through many Seattle neighborhoods, acting as a major transportation asset for at least a hundred years. Many Seattle residents (such as this one) who do not own cars will miss the Monorail. People will always remember the many votes, four to be exact, where voters approved it, but somehow it managed to not be built.
Life wasn't always kind to the Monorail. Cancelled by the Seattle City Council in 2000, the Monorail nonetheless made a return that same year when transit activists filed an initiative in record time, which was approved by city voters that fall. Big shot downtown property owners with deep pockets tried in vain to end the project in 2004, but were unsuccessful, when the Monorail was approved for the fourth time. In 2002, voters approved the Monorail by the slimmest of margins. Unfortunately, Seattle's Greg Nickels, a Mayor who allegedly had guts, cancelled support for the Monorail. Sadly, it didn't last much longer.
The deceased leaves behind family, including Cleve Stockmeyer, Cindi Laws, Dan Savage, Peter Sherwin, Jan Drago, Nick Licata, Tom Carr, Josh Feit, Greg Nickels (well, he used to be family), Casey Corr (ditto), Gov. Dan Evans (a Republican!), Joel Horn, Tom Weeks, The kids at 2045, lots of union people, environmentalists, people who get stuck downtown on the bus going 2 miles an hour, people from other (better) cities who actually have mass transit, and a whole lot more than can ever be put in an obituary.
In lieu of flowers, please send $50 to Nick Licata for Mayor, '09"-from Pike Place Politics. Thanks to Carl at Washington State Political Report for the tip. Belltowner also has a nice little post-mortem on the Seattle City Council races.
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