The Seattle Monorail Board nominated a Ballardite and West Seattle man to fill board vacancies. Peter Gaddu, a Ballard attorney, specializes in real estate, business and commercial law. He's a member of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is a member of the Ballard Seaport Association.

Vlad Oustimovitch, from West Seattle, is a former member of the Seattle Monorail Review Panel and former president of the Southwest District Council. Oustimovitch and Goddu were nominated to replace former board members Kristina Hill and Susan L. Secker. Their nominations must be ratified by the Seattle City Council.

"Our number one task is to capture the best offers possible for SMP properties," said Monorail Board Chairwoman Beth Goldberg. "Vlad and Peter's expertise will help ensure favorable and expeditious real estate deals that will assist in shortening the length of time that taxpayers pay their monorail MVET (motor-vehicle excise tax)."

Goldberg was also heartened by the fact that Oustimovitch and Goddu live in West Seattle and Ballard respectively and therefore know the communities and the surplus monorail properties there.

"The people of Northwest and Southwest Seattle have been so much a part of the Monorail dialogues," Goldberg said. "It seems only fitting that they be at the table."

If confirmed by the City Council, Oustimovitch and Goddu will be seated with recently appointed Board Member Tim Kerr and Board Members Beth Goldberg, Jim Nobles, State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Richard Sundberg, Paul Toliver, and Steve Williamson to focus efforts on selling the monorail project's real estate holdings, reducing its debt and moving quickly to cancel the MVET dedicated to the Monorail.