C-Trans admits it! Rural areas were cut out due to their known "NO" vote!

As I've previously stated here, here and here, C-Trans bruised democracy by exacto-knife gerrymandering to get their tax increase passed.

As despicable as that act is, and as much as we're going to see it in the future (And, due to it's success, we WILL see it in the future... repeatedly...) I was stunned that they would actually admit it!

We were all told by the campaign that the whole point of the exercise was to only allow those areas that had C-Trans service to vote on it. That was, of course, an outright lie. And this article, from the Oregonian, of course, (How does that little saying go? "If it's important to the people of Clark County, they'll read about it in the Oregonian?") spells that out in graphic detail.


Cities deliver the votes to increase taxes for C-Tran Restoring routes
Thursday, October 06, 2005
BILL STEWART

VANCOUVER -- C-Tran took two gambles on Sept. 20.
The question had been whether to let residents of Clark County's smaller cities and rural areas vote on increasing a transit tax when they hadn't had full bus service in years.

So C-Tran officials decided to let small cities vote, and they decided that 51,393 residents of the county's rural areas would not get to vote again -- they were cut from the district in June because they had voted overwhelmingly against the bus tax in a similar election in November.

According to a computer analysis developed Wednesday by the county elections office, the strategy worked. In the primary election every city delivered: C-Tran received its strongest support from Washougal, where 73 percent of those voting endorsed the tax increase.

The "yes" vote topped 62 percent in LaCenter, Ridgefield, Battle Ground and Camas. The lowest "yes" vote was 59.6 percent in Yacolt, where community leaders debated remaining in the transit district earlier this year. Yacolt, with 52 percent turnout, topped all cities for participation.

More...

This "vote" represents government at its absolute worst. Under the guise of democracy, according to the article, the vote of 51,393 was disregarded and not allowed.

That isn't what I wore the uniform of the US Army for over 10 years to accomplish.

Those proud of this bastardization of the process shouldn't be. And every time they see one of the legion... one of the myriad of empty buses drive by, they should feel just a little ashamed of themselves... because I know I'm ashamed of them.