That's what the representative from the Portland State Sustainable Development Center (formerly Portland State University), Tommy Potiowsky, suggested last Thursday at an economics get-together in Vancouver, Washington:
"You need to get over the notion that light rail is a socialist scheme to undermine family values," Potiowsky quipped to the more than 400 members of Clark County's business and political establishment at the event.
Ha ha, ho ho, hee hee - clearly, the boy needs to get out of the development center and into the real world occasionally. As far as he's concerned, you have to be a commie-fearing hick to oppose something as inordinately expensive (and shiny) as light rail.
C-Tran area residents, however, voted down a local sales tax increase to pay for operating "their share" of the crime train, and the wider range of Clak County residents followed on by electing to their County commission a man who's made his objections to light rail abundantly clear. Taking her cue from the two votes, U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, supports the bridge project without rail transit.
Her views are important: Congress isn't keen on funding projects that lack the support of a local representatives, and Herrera Beutler sits on the House Appropriations Committee and its transportation subcommittee.
What Porklanders like Tommy fail to comprehend is that, unlike in Porkland, the political climate north of the Columbia River isn't all about building monuments to sustainable crime - and at any cost; elected representatives there actually listen to their constituents, and majorities have said time and again that they don't want Porkland's bad decisions foisted upon them. They'd be happy with a new bridge for vehicles, and wouldn't be averse to Bus Rapid Transit. They see no reason to spend an additional $1.3 to $1.5 billion purely to satisfy the arrogant "visions" of Porkland politicians.
Former Porkland mayor Sammy Adams did the process no favors with his repeated insistence that a new I-5 bridge be "iconic" and his declaration that the bridge would either carry a crime train into Vancouver or it wouldn't be built at all. Way to win friends and influence people, there, Sammy. Last week, Tommy merely reinforced the perception that Porkland's Leftists have delusions of superiority.
