By now we all know that you can trust little if anything that Mayor Tim Leavitt has to say, after his multiple lies to get elected as Mayor and his major flip-flop on tolls across the Columbia River.
He has become a slick tongued weasel who, as all the sleaziest politicians we have ever seen like to do to scare voters and mislead them. He did that just today in the comments at a Columbian article on a back and forth between Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler and him in regard to the vote we were promised and that he led the effort to renege on.
Being raked over the coals by citizen comments, Leavitt pops in and says in part,
“The CTRAN Board is planning to place a sales tax increase measure on an upcoming ballot.
The vote is about a sales tax increase and where the sales tax would be increased.
Some would prefer that everybody in every City in Clark County pay more sales tax.
I don’t believe that has to be the case.Raise sales tax on everybody in every city in Clark County?
That is what a vote of the entire CTRAN service area will do.Or, raise sales tax on those who most directly benefit from the CRC light rail and the Vancouver bus rapid transit? That is what a sub district would do.
Does somebody living in Battleground or Washougal or Camas or Ridgefield feel like their sales tax should be increased to pay for CRC light rail and Vancouver bus rapid transit?
If you vote on it, then you’ll pay more in sales tax.
However, if you don’t vote on it, then your sales tax won’t increase.This is the vote. Plain and simple.
Some would like citizens to believe that this vote is an “up or down” on the entire CRC project.
That is NOT the case.”
Pure smoke & mirrors worthy of the sleaziest of politicians. Slick too.
To begin with, it was just last September that a vote on light rail maintenance and operation was split from the vote on additional C-Tran funding, much to the irritation of Leavitt. It irritated him so much that he succeeded in having city council member Jeanne Stewart, who rightfully listened to and heeded the voices of citizens; cast the deciding vote to split the two.
We were promised the vote on both this November, but by political maneuvering and stalling, only the C-Tran additional funding will be voted on with more promises of the light rail maintenance & operations vote coming maybe in 2012 or 2013, AFTER sub-district lines are drawn to keep many in the county who will undoubtedly also pay for it from voting on it.
But, the most ridiculous part of the comment is that voting on it will raise taxes and not voting on it won’t raise taxes.
Does he forget that people vote NO and if enough people vote NO, as I intend to do on anything related to C-Tran, we also won’t see a tax increase?
This is campaign double speak that unscrupulous politicians use to hide their true positions and fool the public.
Leavitt is not up for reelection this time, so why he tries pulling this crap is beyond me, other than dancing to the tune of the downtown light rail mafia that intends to ignore voters three times before voting against measures for or perceived to be for light rail coming over from Portland.
We are stuck with Leavitt until we can vote him out.
Unless of course, a recall campaign is initiated or he does the honorable thing and resigns.
It is time to send him and the light rail mafia a message. Vote NO on any tax measure related to C-Tran until he, city council, county commissioners and others associated with the Columbia River Crossing begin heeding the voices of the citizens.
