Friday, July 04, 2014

Ley v. Vick editorial board.

I am disappointed that Brandon Vick met every one of my expectations as an abysmal state representative: He wasted our time in Olympia during the entirety of his first year in office, accomplishing next to nothing save for the avoidance of work.

Of that, he excelled.

I am not persuaded, based on my 6+ years on legislative staff, that he accomplished anything a trained ape could not have also achieved: no effort on the CRC Scam, no effort on killing light rail, not even a passing glance at regulatory reform... his entire tenure summed up in one minor achievement: a technical bill concerning forest products... or something.

He does not engender anything approaching confidence, vision or fire.  He has no clue where we're going simply because he has no idea what that looks like.

His mish-mash approach on the CRC, for example:
When it came to the topic of the now-defunct Columbia River Crossing project, Vick said it might be the only time in his career where he wished the federal government got more involved. The CRC would have replaced the Interstate 5 Bridge and extended Portland's light rail system to Vancouver. 
"This is the one project I wish the feds would step in and do their job," Vick said, calling the federal government's $800 million in funding "insulting." 
"This should be a federal project. … For me, that's how this thing gets solved the quickest, the need isn't going away," Vick said.
As clueless as Mussolini Mikey Briggs, Vick doesn't seem to understand that  the need is for ADDITIONAL bridges over the I-5, in OTHER locations.  And, of note, Vick didn't mention loot rail, arguably the poison that killed this most recent effort.

This isn't a matter of the Fed coming in and compounding this stupidity by writing bigger checks:yoking the people of the 18th District to decades-long tolls of an ever-increasing size for a project that would accomplish absolutely nothing in terms of congestion relief, freight mobility or safety is the thing.  Brandon's wine that the fed didn't pay enough would change none of that had they paid for ALL of it: the commute times would have been essentially the same and we would have had the camel's-nose-under-the-tent-flap approach of the start of billions more dollars wasted on loot rail.

That Vick can't seem to grasp this simple, obvious fact is more gamesmanship from Brandon, who wants the democratian endorsement... reason enough to vote against him.

John Ley, on the other hand, made his position, which matches that of the people of then 18th District closely, much more clear: he would represent US on this matter, listening to the voices of the people.
Ley, a vocal critic of the CRC, said the process was hijacked by those in favor of light rail and believes it's time to start back at square one, having open discussions and considering alternative routes across the river. 
"I think the easiest, cheapest alternative would be an eastside bridge," he said. 
Regardless of one's position on the issue of the CRC, John Ley is the only one of the 3 candidates who offered up ANY alternative to the CRC Scam, killed by the others who did the heavy lifting... which excludes, of course, Brandon Vick.

And this is where I remind the rag... and Vick... and Briggs... that every single precinct within the 18th District voted to oppose light rail.

Every.
Single
One.

Ley's position on arming qualified teachers also closely dovetails with my own.

These elements make John Ley the best choice.  I urge you to support him, and I urge John to do much more to get his name and positions out there so you can.

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