One of the options I've been hearing for getting the monorail project back on track, is to scale the project back, in order "to meet the promise made to voters."

It would be ridiculous to build a monorail that served fewer people, with fewer stations and a shorter run. This would only turn the monorail into a novelty ride, like the one we already have. The current plan is already scaled back, with bulky support columns that will be an eyesore.

What's always been missing from this project is leadership in the form of powerful politicians with national clout to bring federal funding to this project. I'm talking about congressmen and senators. This project should never have been attempted without federal funding, or at least a funding source greater than it's current Seattle-only car tab tax. That's the basic flaw.

Cutting back on the design is not the solution. In fact, it should be budgeted based on earlier elegant and more costly designs that will still look good in 20 years. Stations should be added, not subtracted.

The new monorail head should be someone with national political stature, who knows how the other Washington works and can do some serious lobbying and back-room deal-making. Slade Gorton comes to mind (not that he'd want the job), or someone else with national political clout.

Federal funds for less worthy pork projects are found all the time, as congressmen trade favors. Sorry folks, but that's how it's really done. With the current car tab tax, over a period of 20 years as a base, and federal funding picking up the balance, we could have a system that is affordable and serves many people. It would also be a system we could afford to expand later.

Build it right or not at all.

Eric Shalit

Seaview