Anyone who has read my meager effort here for any length of time is well aware of my thoughts towards the despicable scam being run against us without our say.
The Columbia River Crossing project is a leach, a snake with it's fangs firmly affixed to our local economic jugular, sucking our transportation dollars dry like a vampire.
This will be the largest, most colossal, longest waste of billions of dollars in the history of this planet, since the democrats scammed us with Fannie Mae.
The dirty little secret is that precisely NONE of this project is needed. As a result, one cent spent on this crap pile is one cent wasted.
Well, once again, Willamette Weekly is bringing the heat. Although an official recipient of the seal of disapproval by Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, the scumbag mayor of Vancouver, given the issues of relative credibility, I would believe the WW all day, every day and twice on Sunday over that slimeball; so here it is.
Home • Articles • News • News • All Aboard!
August 3rd, 2011 BRENT WALTH
News
All Aboard!
The CRC’s backers want to use an obscure law for light rail to win approval for the freeway.
Tags: Transportation
Related to:Transportation
Backers of the $3.6 billion Columbia River Crossing are working to keep the Interstate 5 bridge project from facing the same scrutiny other highway projects do under Oregon’s land-use laws. Instead, they’re hoping to push the massive freeway project through a narrow exemption that lawmakers carved out 15 years ago specifically to speed up the siting of light-rail lines.
The project as proposed does include a light-rail line between Portland and Vancouver. But lawmakers probably never contemplated that the light-rail bill would be stretched to allow for a car-centric freeway project on the scale of the Columbia River Crossing.
The scheduled Aug. 11 vote by Metro on the bridge’s sweeping land-use approval has received little attention, even though it’s one of the most important steps in the troubled story of the bridge project.
Supporters say it’s all perfectly legal: Because the bridge will have a light-rail line, it’s covered by the special law. And the remaining $2.7 billion, five-mile freeway expansion, including the bridge itself, are all covered by the law’s provisions for “highway improvements” that are associated with building light rail.
More:
"Supporters say it’s all perfectly legal: Because the bridge will have a light-rail line, it’s covered by the special law."
I've heard crap like that before.
In Germany, confiscating Jewish property was "all perfectly legal."
So was shooting them. So was gassing them. Look up the Nuremberg Laws.
And while even *I* know that these are not the same, the means ARE the same... it's just the mode that's different.
The fact that government cowers at the thought of the will of the people in this, or any other matter, is a sad commentary on the state of our clown-car government.
.
Kelly, you missed the central point of the article. Here is why I think its so shitty.
ReplyDelete"But opponents say Metro’s actions will sharply shorten the timelines and limit the grounds on which citizens can appeal. “The process cuts out the public debate that would ordinarily take place,” says Michael Lilly, an attorney for Plaid Pantries Inc., which opposes the project. “The whole thing is just being glossed over.”
and there are some other great comments within it.
And just two paragraphs down: (with ramrod sound effects.)
"Former 1000 Friends of Oregon director Bob Stacey says Metro’s action will give the Columbia River Crossing a giant “hall pass” by using a law that was intended for a specific purpose 15 years ago, and one never intended to approve freeway projects.
“This is a preposterous stretch,” Stacey says. “It’s a rush job.”