As we reported here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2011/03/29/news/update-protect-seattle…-

City Attorney Pete Holmes filed a lawsuit against the Protect Seattle Now Coalition. That group this morning turned in almost 29,000 signatures to the City Clerk to put the deep bore tunnel project to a vote. The Clerk's office then hands the signatures off to the King County election board to validate each vote.

Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel, or SCAT spokesperson/organizer Elizabeth Campbell is also a Coalition member who was present at City Hall this morning with the signatures.

She just told the West Seattle Herald, "Within an hour after we submitted the signatures Pete Holmes ran off into court to file the lawsuit. Why did he file it so soon? King County elections does not have the petitions yet, The City Clerk sends the petitions to them. So how can he file against a referendum that hasn't qualified yet? I think he is being overzealous."

Campbell also questions why Holmes placed certain names and not others on the lawsuit.

"He just picked names out of a hat," she said. "Those of us who are the core of the coalition were not named."

She also pointed out that the lawsuit will cost the city money.

"The game is on," Campbell said. "The lawsuit will be interesting because what happens with this is what can happen with SCAT's initiative (101). If the (Protect Seattle Now) referendum goes down in flames, what does that portend for me?

"They are walking a legal tightrope," she said of Holmes, the city council, and WSHDOT. "They act like we're not building the tunnel, but we are building it, but we're not. They claimed in SCAT's legal suit against them that they never made the decision, but if it is 'an administrative act' as Pete Holmes says, then they did make the decision."

AND THIS PRESS RELEASE FROM THE COALITION:

Protect Seattle Now expects that Seattle’s elected officials will uphold the democratic process as directed in the City Charter and place this referendum on the ballot. So far, only three elected officials in City Hall have taken the pledge to uphold the City Charter and place this referendum on the ballot: Mayor Mike McGinn, Councilmember Tim Burgess and Councilmember Mike O'Brien.

Two elected officials in City Hall oppose a public vote. Councilmember Sally Bagshaw told the Seattle Times yesterday that she opposes a public vote in spite of 28,929 voters who signed our petitions. And City Attorney Pete Holmes is now suing the people of Seattle to block a vote on the deep bore tunnel. He has yet to disclose his client.

Yesterday the campaign asked the Mayor, the City Council and the City Attorney to pledge by 5 p.m. today that they will place this referendum on the ballot and not silence the voice of the people of Seattle. Burgess responded this morning, stating, "The Charter is very clear that if sufficient voter signatures are verified the Council will place the measure on the next election ballot, which would be August. I'm confident we will follow the law."

The campaign has not heard from Councilmembers Clark, Licata, Conlin, Harrell, Godden, or Rasmussen.