While not exactly the imaginary city of Mayberry, the city of Vancouver, Washington has long had a degree of rustic charm missing from the larger megalopolis south of the Columbia River, Portland, Oregon.
But, if city leaders, city government, Democrats, Developers and the city of Portland get to have their way, that rustic charm will be soon be buried deep under a Concrete Jungle built along the northern banks of the river and catered to by an eight-story monstrosity of a bridge built only to carry Portland’s light rail to Vancouver to ferry citizens, and their money, to Portland, leaving Vancouver with an ever dwindling revenue for her citizens.
This blog is just one that has written on the folly of the Columbia River Crossing light rail project over the years, but little has been said about another Portland envy dream of city leaders and developers, a Waterfront Project along the banks of the river that will offer high end shops, apartments and condominiums for the more wealthy, leaving the struggling middle class in Vancouver floundering and hoping to somehow gain employment as either housekeeping staff, wait staff or grounds keeper for those wealthy who would live there.
Indicative of how the middle class in the city is looked down upon, the local paper of record, the Lazy C as this blog refers to them, editorializes in favor of this concrete jungle that will increase the wealth of special interests while opposing the creation of good paying, family wage jobs at the Port of Vancouver with the construction of a terminal to receive and ship crude oil to other parts of the country.
Special interests pulling many strings in the city have long worked to stack city council with rubber stamp politicians blindly doing their will and have succeeded in all but one city council seat.
But their efforts to rape the citizens of Vancouver with this envy of Portland and transformation of the city away from the rustic smaller city charm to that of a sub-division of the concrete and asphalt jungle of Portland with light rail and a massive high scale concrete jungle blocking the river is being thwarted, thanks to the efforts some State elected officials.
One such official is Republican State Senator Don Benton who has been fighting for the middle class and against these downtown special interests for some 20 years now and from the minority position.
Benton has been joined by another Republican State Senator, Ann Rivers who has been an outspoken critic before her election.
Benton has been tireless in his efforts to protect the middle class from this onslaught of Portland envy at their expense and deserves much credit for his recent successful passage of a bill that would thwart the hastily agreed upon granting of eminent domain rights to Portland’s Trimet through our C-Tran bus system.
Vancouver’s State Representative for the 49th district, Democrat Jim Moeller has already vowed to kill this middle class protective measure once it reaches the House and as those downtown special interests continue working through officials in the Democrat Party.
Forcing the light rail into Vancouver, even though it has been rejected numerous times by voters, is a major spoke in this wheel of corruption special interests have designed and was thought dead after Sens. Benton and Rivers led an effort last year to block a funding measure for it.
But the State of Oregon, eager for sucking more revenue from Vancouver to pay for their many follies, resurrected it with a silly notion of they would “go it alone” and bypass voters, the Washington Legislature and with the aid of the rubber stamp city council, build it anyway while slapping high tolls on the bridge, necessitating Vancouver citizens that work in Oregon to pay for the privilege of driving to work every day and home again.
Senator Rivers received many well-deserved kudos for her testimony by phone and letters written to the Oregon Legislature in opposition. She has let them know that “the Washington State Department of Licensing has not, and will not, enter into any toll-collection agreement with Oregon,” that would leave Oregon citizens at risk for any and all cost overruns.
Showing utter cluelessness, 49th District State Senator Annette Cleveland abandoned her post during session to drive to Salem and testify in person, relying on tired, old and disproved talking points from downtown special interests.
Cleveland claims to be “mortified” and “angry” that the project has not moved forward and displayed her disconnect when she assured Oregon “the majority of the state’s residents supported its construction,” completely disregarding that every single funding measure put before voters over nearly twenty years was rejected by respectable margins, even within her legislative district.
Lesser known was a letter sent to the Oregon legislature authored by Sen. Benton and informing them,
“Three legislators from SW Washington testified in favor of the CRC project. I understand that one of these legislators said that the majority of Washington legislators support this project. This is not accurate. There are 15 legislators in SW Washington; the three legislators who testified in favor of the CRC project yesterday are the ONLY supporters of the CRC project. The rest (including myself) would like to see the I-5 Bridge replaced but oppose the CRC for a multitude of reasons.”
After listing key problems with the project, Benton goes on to say,
“The citizens of Clark County would be harmed the most if the CRC is built. Thousands of local permanent jobs will be lost. Downtown Vancouver would be destroyed by the bridge’s construction.”
Not mentioned is that it is Vancouver’s middle class targeted for paying for this as well as the desire to link it to the concrete jungle to house and cater to wealthier citizens, likely Portlanders wishing to escape the smudgy atmosphere of Portland that would benefit at our expense.
That is what is envisioned to be forced upon you, Vancouver Citizens. Whether you want it or not, you are going to pay for it by increased taxes, lower paying jobs, if there will even be many jobs left and Democrats are laughing all the way to the bank at you.
In the meantime, much needed middle class jobs are being heavily opposed by both downtown special interests and Democrats who continue ignoring the truth of such a terminal, relying on pure hype and fearmongering while citizens struggle and are forced to seek employment in Portland, where they will soon also be forced to pay even more just to go to work.
Officials like Don Benton and Ann Rivers have led the way in protecting the middle class against wealthy special interests seeking to bury us under a concrete jungle and paying for Portland’s folly.
It is now up to you to do your part by supporting them and electing like-minded officials beholding to citizens instead of those downtown special interests.
It’s in your hands, Vancouver. Better stand up soon.
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