April 23, 2015: Liz Pike’s Bi-State Bridge Coalition Q & A
Annette Cleveland, Democrat 49th Legislative District State Senator once again fires and misses the target! In an op-ed published by the Lazy C, pertaining to renewed efforts to engage Oregon in discussions on alleviating traffic congestion on the overcrowded I-5 corridor, she once again spews her misguided view.
“As we consider any renewed effort to come up with a plan to replace the dangerous Interstate 5 Bridge, it is imperative that we apply the lessons of the more than 10-year effort to build the Columbia River Crossing,” Cleveland writes.
She continues, “First, we learned that a decade-long process of designs, plans and public meetings can be derailed at the 11th hour, wasting millions of dollars already spent and leaving hundreds of millions of federal dollars on the table. We can’t afford to squander taxpayer dollars like that.”
How odd to see her mentioning squandering of taxpayer dollars when she was one jumping to the head of the line of those ignoring the taxpayers voices over many years that we did not want Portland’s financially troubled light rail extended in our community, defeating every single funding measure put before us since 1995.
Where she cries about the bloated CRC light rail bridge project being “derailed at the 11th hour,” was in reality legislators FINALLY paying attention to the people in the county instead of downtown special interests.
Cleveland, who boasts of strong allegiance to unions, mostly the Longshoreman’s apparently feels once elected, she is more like a union boss, ordering people around instead representing the voice of the people.
She complains, “Senate Republicans declined to hold a hearing on my bill, denying us a common-sense path forward. Their unwillingness to consider this legislation leaves me questioning what the goal is,” which was in my opinion, the right thing to do as her bill, SB 5118 was nothing more than a craftily conceived measure to prevent the voice of the people from prevailing against downtown special interests.
Not one to miss out on the chance to stomp on the voices of the citizens of the county, it is comes as no surprise to see that bombastic former Lazy C editorial page editor and morally blind leftist, John Laird chimes in on the C3G2 hate site, ” Cleveland hits a home run. Until Clark County’s non-Vancouver Republicans finally realize that the Benton/Rivers Bridge connects us to another state, it will not be replaced. Doing nothing while screaming “No!” and “Stop!” to neighbors across the river is the local GOP mantra, but it’s no way to govern.”
Laird confuses a foul ball with a home run.
Yes, it is time we had a real discussion addressing the needs of the community. An honest discussion wherein we in Clark County are treated as equal partners and not just a bunch of hicks with available revenues to shore up Portland’s ongoing folly, receiving nothing in return other that fattening the bank accounts of special interests that own Annette Cleveland.
It has been said that there will be the need of rebuilding trusts with Portland, but what about the trust of the people of Clark County?
When do we matter, Ms. Cleveland?
The people must matter, Mr. Laird.
