It sure is amazing how this story gets twisted.
Over and over again the $5 dollars, or it’s near collapse, or the vital link, or who uses it, or that Multnomah County is stuck with a $19 fee obscures the real oppostion and problem.
Forget all of those. Here is why Clackamas County will not go along with this scheme.
1. Negligence. Portland and Multnomah County have neglected their bridge for decades as they diverted countless millions away from this “vital link” in the past.
2. Continued negligence. Nothing has changed. Portland, Multnomah County, Clackams County and the region are currently planning to divert 100s of millions more from other infrastructure needs to pay for Milwaukie Light Rail.
3. Conniving. Portland Mayor Sam Adams is planning on raiding $20 million from the Sellwood bridge funding for Milwaukie Light Rail.
4. Not a priority. Clackamas County residents do not want the $1.5 Billion Milwaukie Light Rail.
5. Commissioners wrong. Clackamas County commissioners are thumbing their noses at their own county as they misappropriate millions more.
6. The Sellwood Bridge replacement has never been dependent upon a Clackamas County fee. The bridge will get rebuilt without it while officials throw a tantrum.
7. Clackamas residents will pay a share anyway through the ODOT and fed shares.
8. Clackamas residents know the $5 fee will become permanent, increase to $40 and be misappropriated by their commissioners.
9. Portland can pay for their own design. They have selected a new bridge design with same 24 ft of travel lanes and 37 feet of ped/bike surface.
10.Clackamas County residents are rejecting their commissioner’s attempt to follow Multnomah County’s agenda.
However if the bridge fell down tomorrow it would be the fault of those you support who diverted billions into boondoggles over decades.
The Sellwood bridge replacement is long over due there is plenty of existing money to pay for it.
Sam Adams and Chair Lynn Peterson (former Metro employee) insist on spending 100s of millions on their agenda instead of the public’s priorities.
Instead of criticizing Clackamas County taxpayers, Multnomah County taxpayers should be grabbing their own pitch forks and fix their own county. Repeal your fee and demand the misappropriation stop.
Multnomah County residents are already paying the fee because they are Multnomah County and incapable of resistance. I wonder if there is any price that will anger them enough.
It’s a meaningless cannard but Clackamas County residents DONOT use the bridge more than Multnomah County and they already are paying out something toward the new bridge. Their gas taxes are going to the bridge through the Oregon Department of Transportation and federal shares.
econoline,
Yes it is very much like Clark County. They don’t want any of the costly Portland agenda either.
Not the outrageously expensive Light Rail or any of the subsidized development that Metro calls “smart” growth.
Good thing Clark County is rejecting the conniving agenda just like Clackamas County.
It appears Washington County may have had enough as well. Recognizing the waste of WES, big disputes over Metro’s urban/rural reserves sham and the halt to Beaverton’s big Portland-like Urban Renewal Plan are good signs.
That’s exactly what the county commissioners have been doing.
And lying like it’s the honorable thing to do.
Never did TriMet ever do anything but support and promote the project.
With guys like you delivering the ginned up crap and ignoring the real debate.
Even today TriMet is proud of WES and seek to expand it to Salem.
Why don’t you stick to real opposition?
But you aren’t paying attention. Otherwise you would realize Metro will be diverting $200 million from regional funds (more cc share) to Milwaukie Light Rail.
That’s exactly what the Clackamas County commissioners are trying to avoid.
Assumptions like a “four lane bridge would increase traffic 15% on the bridge. Followed by concluding that added traffic would “conflict with plans for more mixed use development on Tacoma Street”.
http://www.sellwoodbridge.org/ProjectLibrary/SouthWillametteRiverCrossingStudy-May1999.pdf
Travel Forecasting
Lynn Peterson, Transportation Modeling, Metro (Current Chair, Clackamas County Commission)
richard2 December 20, 2010 at 7:40AM
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Over and over again the $5 dollars, or it’s near collapse, or the vital link, or who uses it, or that Multnomah County is stuck with a $19 fee obscures the real oppostion and problem.
Forget all of those. Here is why Clackamas County will not go along with this scheme.
1. Negligence. Portland and Multnomah County have neglected their bridge for decades as they diverted countless millions away from this “vital link” in the past.
2. Continued negligence. Nothing has changed. Portland, Multnomah County, Clackams County and the region are currently planning to divert 100s of millions more from other infrastructure needs to pay for Milwaukie Light Rail.
3. Conniving. Portland Mayor Sam Adams is planning on raiding $20 million from the Sellwood bridge funding for Milwaukie Light Rail.
4. Not a priority. Clackamas County residents do not want the $1.5 Billion Milwaukie Light Rail.
5. Commissioners wrong. Clackamas County commissioners are thumbing their noses at their own county as they misappropriate millions more.
6. The Sellwood Bridge replacement has never been dependent upon a Clackamas County fee. The bridge will get rebuilt without it while officials throw a tantrum.
7. Clackamas residents will pay a share anyway through the ODOT and fed shares.
8. Clackamas residents know the $5 fee will become permanent, increase to $40 and be misappropriated by their commissioners.
9. Portland can pay for their own design. They have selected a new bridge design with same 24 ft of travel lanes and 37 feet of ped/bike surface.
10.Clackamas County residents are rejecting their commissioner’s attempt to follow Multnomah County’s agenda.
Anything but address the malfeascence that has angered the public.
Since they are the neglecters of infrastructure they could not be more hypocritical and insulting.
It’s bad enough the newspapers refused to report the poll of Clackamas County residents.
Pay for part of Sellwood Bridge 76% NO
New car registration tax 84% NO
Milwaukie Light Rail 71% NO
But they have no problem reporting anything cooked up by the County Commissioners.
After 185 people show up at one hearing, 175 at the second and a county poll showing overwhelming opposition to the county plan for a vehicle registration fee for Multnomah County’s Sellwood bridge County Chair Lynn Peterson comes up with this.
“The commission had heard from a vocal contingent of opposition to the fee increase during a three-part public hearing, but counted a larger number in support of the fee, including correspondence and phone calls.”
So how does Peterson come up with that?
She recruits her Metro/TriMet/Bike pals to stack the deck with emails.
http://www.metro-region.org/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=30925
Jonathan Nicholas has been elected chair of the newly-formed Executive Council for Active Transportation.
Metro and the Executive Council, working with local governments, will develop concept plans to allow people to get from one place to another without the need of a motor vehicle.
Nicholas is joined by Clackamas County Commissioner Lynn Peterson , Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, Dr. Christopher Achterman of Legacy Hospitals, and Randy Miller of the Moore Company, as new members of the Executive Council. Other members include:
Scott Bricker Executive Director Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Jay Graves, CEO The Bike Gallery
Rex Burkholder Councilor Metro Council
Metro’s Jonathan Nicholas, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance & BikePortland.org, nearly all of which are from Portland stuffed the hearing by e-mail.
Their call to action.
Wednesday’s hearing was the first reading of the proposed ordinance, and it’s slated to come back to the Commission for a potential vote on December 9th. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is urging their members to speak up in support of the new fee. Email your comments on the issue by December 8th to bcc@co.clackamas.or.us.
&
Action Alert for Clackamas County: Support Sellwood Bridge Funding
Posted by: Margaux
Nov 23 2010, 9:14 am
The new Sellwood bridge needs money from Clackamas County to fund the county’s 7% share of the $330 million project. This Wednesday, the County Commission will consider a dedicated $5-per-year vehicle registration fee to raise the money for a new bridge.
Do you live in Clackamas County? Tell your County Commissioners why you support the bridge and why they should vote in favor of the vehicle registration fee.
• The bridge must be replaced. The current one is insufficient, it is crumbling, and it cannot accommodate buses.
• You support the current design recommendation for two 6.5’ bike lanes, two 12’ sidewalks and two 12’ vehicle lanes.
• You support the use of vehicle registration fees to improve transportation facilities. We need to pay for the wear and tear our vehicles cause and we need a stable funding source to build this bridge soon. The BTA does not support a registration fee for bikes.
Email your support: bcc@co.clackamas.or.us
Speak up in support: Wednesday November 24th, 10:00 am, Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City, OR 97045
Are you an uninformed juvenile?
You can’t even read and comprehend the issues and comments.
You’re wrong and disingenuous.
Of course the bridge is directly tied into the light rail discussion.
As has been mentioned over and over again. Sam Adams will be taking $20 million form the bridge funding to use on the Milwaukie Light Rail.
Moreover the behind the scenes scheming to advance light rail and the Portland way has planned to hijack $200 million in Metro flex fund for MLR that could go to the bridge. That same approach has happened over and over again for years. These future flex funds are needed for future infrastructure projects.
So the pattern continues with the current Mult Commissioners and JPACT partners are ignoring infrastructure just as they did the Sellwood bridge for decades.
Not only that other MLR financing pieces will raid schools, public safety and other essential services.
Your crackpot suggestion about “old clackamas county commissioners” is completely irrational.
And Dan Holladay was never a County Commissioner. He was an Oregon City city councilor.
You can’t even grasp who has been “responsible for doing nothing” about the Sellwood bridge for so many years? FAIL
As for the conniving politicians using Nicholas and Portland bike groups to rig phony Clackamas County support for the new fee, that’s exactly what it is. And it’s unethical. Something these politicians no nothing about.
As for my “side of the discussion” it’s been county wide grass roots with many groups and individuals, along with a poll showing overwhelming opposition to the agenda.
Your side can’t stand being rejected by the populous so you conspire to avoid public votes.
It was 185 in one hearing and 175 in another who actually showed up to oppose what the County is imposing.
The fee will go to the ballot and be defeated by a wider margin than the recent TriMet levy 60%-40% loss in Clack Co.
The Commissioners and you et al can’t even have a normal discussion on what the exact problems are.
Instead you try and sabotage and defeat the opposition by distorting the objections and smearing the messengers.
Your losing message on the streets will be no more than it is here. Dishonest and laughable.
From Mollala to Lake Oswego to Canby to Boring, Oregon City, Damascus and Wilsonville the voters
will reject Portland’s Peterson led assault on their county.
It’s not just the voters either. There is also widespread opposition to Peterson throughout the County agencies.
Never mind her unethical attempt to take control of the elections office and to silence the Sheriff and Fire Chief from speaking out about crime and her Urban Renewal schemes. The rank and file throughout the county bureaus have big problems with the Board of Commissioners.
The Peace officers assoc and fire fighters unions supporting conservative Paul Savas’ election to the board is another huge indicator. Many other loses for the agenda folks county wide make the trend clear and unavoidable.
But Peterson and the sitting commissioners are tone deaf and I suspect the unethical stunts will continue leading to eventual but inevitable successful recall efforts.
Now do you have anything at all that addresses reality?
No one is arguing the bridge doesn’t get used by everyone in one way or the other.
Because misguided and dishonest politicians have been selfishly and zealously deciding to push a reckless agenda that misappropriates countless millions from legitimate needs and priorities.
Sellwood bridge being so neglected that buses and trucks can’t use it are hopeless.
Not a word.
I’m glad you agree that PDX city hall has wasted huge sums on frivolous, agenda-driven projects. But you seem to be under the impression that was then. It continues today with all the region’s partners and it’s never been worse.
The $1.6 Billion Milwaukie Light Rail is the ultimate misappropriation. At least half of which will be recklessly taken from essential services and other long neglected infrastructure needs with the identical disregard as the decades of Sellwood bridge neglect.
You cannot demand they fund it first then simply give them a pass by hoping the “Next election provides a clean sweep” That is precisely the status quo. Procrastination.
But in reality many of these critics are as reckless and disregarding as the politicians. They want the fantasy of more light rail and the Metro plans at any and all costs.
None of them address the real problems either. Even when they are listed and numbered.
There is a reason people do not respond to things. They want to respond to things they find easier to attack.
Like, “those selfish people are whining about $5”.
They have agreed to divert the county’s share of $200 million in regional flex funds away from their own countywide infrastructure for MLR. Again more neglect for frivolous boondoggles. Peterson, on JPACT, was one of the loudest voices pushing for the Metro Flex funds to be taken.
The only reason there are these new fees for the bridge is to sustain the practice of misappropriating other millions.
The 10 main ones I already posted.
And you don’t outweigh them with meaningless rhetoric about “Multi-source funding is a stop-gap” until we can move the bridge to Metro or the State”.
I doubt you can you even explain what that lipstick on a pig means?:)
If you demonstrated anyting like you knew what you were talking about, you wouldn’t appear to be simply helping the deceit.
of the agenda Peterson pushes is advanced. She long ago adopted unethical manipulation as an acceptable method of operation.
