Many thanks to Jim Karlock for taping the May 8, 2012 meeting and supplying this clip to me. Full length video at Vimeo
Once again, we see Tim Leavitt, who blatantly lied his way into the Mayor’s office in essence stating he doesn’t care what voters and taxpayers think, by our vote, he and the C-Tran Board are “committed” to dragging Portland’s financially stumbling light rail into our community over the proposed Interstate Bridge project, also plagues with its own problems, the least of which is citizen disapproval as designed.
How is the C-Tran Board “committed” to this project considering that neither the Washington State or Oregon Legislatures have committed a dime towards it? The current bridge design has run afoul of both the US Coast Guard for insufficient river clearance and can’t be raised without running afoul of the FAA, since the project is directly beneath the approach to Portland International Airport as well as just slightly southwest of the end of the runway for Pearson Airfield.
Our county is in the 4th year in a row of double digit unemployment with no end insight.
The Columbia River Project was just passed over for a $1 Billion loan to begin construction of the proposed $3.6 Billion project that will very likely end up costing $10 Billion after bond interest is calculated in along with cost overruns.
But, what really indicates the complete lack of actual thinking, whatever tax or fee Leavitt piles on the back of struggling taxpayers, does it escape him that he is only providing a means for Clark County shoppers to hope on the slow moving train to go spend their money in Portland, bolstering Portland’s troubled economy for sure, but also further plunging out local economy into despair.
Not only will those funds spent in Portland not circulate in our community, the sales tax they most likely will end up relying upon to pay for this mess will not be able to be collected on those sales in Portland, which means C-Tran will just have to raise some other tax or fee to stick taxpayers with even more of a burden.
As Liberal Democrat County Commissioner Steve Stuart stated, when he was seeking reelection in 2010, “If Clark County residents don’t support [Light Rail], then the states have the wrong project.”
If only we had elected officials who stood by their words from campaigns instead of giving us the finger.
