The Columbian nails it: Remove the HOV

In Our View: Remove the HOV

Thursday, May 5, 2005
Columbian editorial writers

The Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council made the correct call on Tuesday when it voted 6-5 to remove Vancouver's only high-occupancy vehicles lane.

But it's only a recommendation. Federal and state transportation officials are urged to follow the recommendation. Don Wagner, regional manager for the state Department of Transportation, says that could take four to six months. He called the recommendation "a very significant piece of data for us."

The four-year-old, four-mile HOV lane on Interstate 5 extends south only from Northeast 99th Street to Mill Plain Boulevard. From 6 to 8 a.m. on weekdays, only car pools and buses may use it.

Well-intentioned as it was, the HOV lane simply has not been successful. After the lane, all traffic moves onto the I-5 Bridge, which has no emergency lanes and where the slightest difficulty causes lines back to Main Street or even Hazel Dell. Then, after picking up some speed on the bridge and Hayden Island, traffic slows again because of the two-lane bottleneck at Delta Park. So the HOV lane has become a monument to the hurry-up-and-wait concept.

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The start of a trend: state employees throw off the yoke of union domination.

It is an interesting day indeed when a state employee union suddenly fines itself "Trumped."

By "Trumped," I mean "fired."

In the second of many actions to come, bargaining units across the state are dumping the socialist labor unions "representing" them.

Taking this step was required to allow ALL employees the right to vote on the pay increases offered by the Legislature as required by law... Not just the dues-paying members of the unions that the WPEA requires.

These brave people are to be congratulated. The question is, how many more will have to ditch the union before they get the message?


Wednesday, May 4, 2005

Union hit with rejection at agency

ADAM WILSON
THE OLYMPIAN

State workers in the Department of Retirement Systems have voted against the Washington Public Employees Association, ending the union's role at the agency unless an appeal is made this week.

The 169-person bargaining unit is the first of significant size to remove its union since a wave of anti-union efforts spread across state government over the last six months.

"To give people a chance to vote -- that's the only motive I had when I started this thing," said Tom Dodson. "Nothing about good union, bad union, or anything like that."

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My sources tell me that Benton got the HOV lane killed!

Late this afternoon, the RTC met. Many, including our illustrious "whatever-Portland-wants-we-have-to-give-them" mayor, expected the usual slam-dunk of pro-social engineering bilge of nonsense... including a recommendation that the HOV lane move from "test" status to "permanent."

There was also a bunch of crap about using fees to manage lanes... you know, the usual Multnomian socialism.

And none of it will see the light of day.

Not only THAT, but Sen. Don Benton made a motion to get rid of the cursed HOV lane... and the motion passed!

Thanks go to all three of our county commissioners, Morris, Stuart and Boldt; Skamania's Commissioner, the C-Trans rep and the Battle Ground rep to the RTC... who's names, unfortunately, I cannot recall.

To the two Oregon members of the RTC who voted on this motion although they had no right to do so, screw you. To the mayor, the city manager and the port commissioner... it must really suck to be you.

The Columbian blows it on the Amphitheater: In Our View - Amphitheater Woes

In the sock-puppet world of The Columbian, up is down and down is up.

Q-Prime got hosed on the deal; an outcome Paul Allen apparently foresaw when he pulled out of the fairgrounds project.

Now, Q-Prime is sniveling about the deal they agreed to and they want it renegotiated.

I say, bull. As I stated here: The people in the area… who ARE important… who DO matter… don’t want the damned thing there anyway. If Q-Prime can’t live up to their contract terms, then the county gets a free Amphitheater. And then, hopefully, the message is sent out: when you make an agreement with the people of Clark County, you’d better expect to live by it. Because you do NOT get any do-overs.

The Columbian, BEING The Columbian, one of the organizations cheerleading FOR the Amphitheater, are now loath to admit how wrong they were… how bad this idea, in fact, was; how shortsighted their support was. You know, not unlike their idiotic support at the expense of the people of this county for the downtown hotel and convention center? Kind of like their idiotic support of loot rail? Support for public stupidity like that?

There is only ONE way this contract can be renegotiated, and that is AGAINST the best interests of the people of this county generally and the Fairgrounds Neighborhood specifically.

The County has already reneged on their “no-traffic-through-the-neighborhoods” promise. ANYTHING else they give up can only hurt the people of that neighborhood further… all in the name of enriching a few out-of-area owners.

The neighborhood association was RIGHT, the Columbian and the commissioners were WRONG and the only remaining question is this: can they be adults and admit it?

The County has shown their incompetence in the Cowlitz MOU, the County has shown what great managers they are by having the foresight to take the Ridgefield golf course off that city’s hands… so the County can lose $600,000 per year running it.

When it comes to the County running or negotiating with business, they’ve shown a remarkable capacity for, well, bad juju. And this case is no different.

Q-Prime agreed to the terms of the contract. That they were stupid enough to do so isn’t our problem. And the Commissioners have no need to MAKE it our problem.



In Our View - Amphitheater Woes
Tuesday, May 3, 2005Columbian editorial writers

After learning how bad things have been for The Amphitheater at Clark County, it's tempting to say, "Tough luck. But you made your bed, now sleep in it."

After all, the amphitheater is a private, for-profit business owned by New York City-based Q Prime. No one held a gun to anyone's head forcing the company to enter the bidding war when Clark County wanted someone to build and operate a first-class venue at the fairgrounds one that would attract patrons from at least five counties in two states to see and hear big-name national entertainers.

But the bubble never really formed before it burst. Last year, the first full season for the amphitheater, was "a complete disaster," its chief executive officer, Dan Braun, said. He told reporter Brett Oppegaard for an eye-opening story in Sunday's Columbian that 2004 "was as bad as bad can be. Less strong people would be out of business."

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The double-edged sword of ethics: In going after DeLay, democrats expose themselves to ethics charges.

We all know the democrats would eat their own young to get DeLay, who bears most of the credit for ripping 7 or so House seats away from the d's in their little soap opera AKA Texas redistricting.

Following their success in emasculating Speaker Newt, the d's have used many of the same bogus, nonsensical tactics to go after DeLay. Character assassination, whisper campaigns... allegations (but no CHARGES or INDICTMENTS, you understand) are the order of the day, as they set about to engage in pay back.

The problem here is that the main route the democrats have chosen to follow this time... the ethics route... appears to be ready to blow up in their collective face.

Initially, democrats salivated at the allegation that DeLay accepted travel from a lobbyist. That may or may not be true... and, if it is true and it is a violation, then DeLay should suffer the consequences for that, whatever those may be.

But now, the spit's starting to dry up.

As it turns out, several DEMOCRATS have done PRECISELY THE SAME THING DEMOCRATS ARE ALLEGING AGAINST DELAY. (Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA6) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC6) immediately come to mind.

Do the democrats REALLY want to go there? How many of their own are they willing to turn into road kill in the process?

Tip o' da hat to Captain's Quarters

May 03, 2005
House Ethics Violations: Not Just For GOP Any More

The attempt to ensnare House Majority Whip Tom DeLay in ethics violations may be backfiring on House Democrats, whose own ethical closets have a skeleton or two making an appearance. Two Democratic Congressmen have accepted travel money from the same lobbyist that involved one of DeLay's aides, and now Democratic outrage has given way to a series of rationalizations:

At least two aides to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two Democratic congressmen received travel expenses initially paid by lobbyist Jack Abramoff on his credit card or by his firm, internal records of the lobbying firm show.

Longtime House ethics rules that applied to the 1996 and 1997 trips to the Northern Mariana Islands have strictly prohibited lawmakers and their staffs from accepting any congressional trips from lobbyists or their firms.

DeLay's office and one of the lawmakers, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said they had no knowledge that Abramoff or his firm paid the expenses. The office of Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., did not return several calls seeking comment.

Abramoff, whose lobbying is under criminal investigation, pressed his clients, the Northern Marianas government, to reimburse him for the travel because of concerns the payments might draw scrutiny from the House committee that investigates lawmakers' conduct, the documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

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