Residents of Lake Oswego, a wealthy suburb of Portland (genuflect when you say that), have organized a non-profit group to oppose a proposed streetcar extension to their neighborhood. Calling it a "flawed project" that they "don't need" and "can't afford," the group hired high-powered lawyers and lobbyists to fight Portland's (bow when you say that) transit agency. One of the organizers is the wife of disgraced former RINO senator Bob Packwood.
"It just doesn’t make sense to buy a $360 million transit project that puts Lake Oswego taxpayers at risk. Not when our schools and other priorities are suffering from continuous budget cuts. Because of budget constraints, we are cutting real services that we need right now. Schools all around us are cutting days because they are running out of funding.Sound familiar?
Our town has other priorities:
We can’t allow our schools and community to suffer further to buy a $360 million dollar transit project we don’t need."
- Water and sewer projects.
- Paying for the West End Building.
- Library and public safety needs.
- Finding funds for road repair and parks maintenance.
Your allegations are not true. Mayor Mallory told me that modern streetcars are always successful and people always want more of them. No matter how much it costs, this streetcar plan will be very successful.
ReplyDeleteB-Man Tomas
If the residents of Lake Oswego want to keep the streetcar extension from happening, they should organize a charter amendment. Start labeling it as a "trolley" and not a "streetcar "(except on their campaign signs, call it a streetcar there). Exaggerate and maybe flat out lie about the facts concerning the project and get an older local, well respected, senior politician who is still extremely articulate, bright, sharp as a tack, relevant and realizes what the aforementioned signs are ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muwA5wtVu4E ) to be the "face" of the campaign.
ReplyDeleteThat should work.
Lake Oswego is an affluent suburb south of Portland that isn't part of Portland, but feels like they know what is best for the region in terms of public transportation. Sound familiar? Odd, it reminds me of why there are no metro stops in Georgetown in Washington DC, they didn't want 'undesireable elements' just showing up in their neighborhood. Sound familiar?
ReplyDeleteYeah it does sound familiar. One of the pro-streetcar campaign co-chairs was Kentucky resident Bobby Maly. Now one of their co-chairs is Kentucky's Kandace Klein. What is it with all these Kentucky residents telling us that we need a streetcar?
ReplyDeleteBoth Candace Klein and Bobby Maly live in Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteSince when, last night?
ReplyDelete^ Since last year for Candace. Read her piece about life in OTR here.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about Maly, but he had been planning to move into the city throughout the Issue 9 campaign.
Why does this matter to anybody? Is the city proper destined to become a walled enclave that excludes Norwoodians, Saint Bernarders, and all townshippers? Not much of a future in that.
We all have a stake in the health of our urban core, regardless of which governmental bureauacracy collects our taxes. Maly & Klein's voices were just as relevant when they lived south of the river as they are now that they're north of it. Same goes for folks in West Chester and Mason.
Quit pushing away people who care about the city. We need more of that, not less.
I'm for regionalism, unless I'm against it.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, cuz in 2002 Kentucky's Kandace Klein announced she was running for Governor of Kentucky in the year 2027. One has to be a Kentucky resident to run for Kentucky Governor. Even if she is living in OTR now, it's a short-term slumming trip before she gets back to her 25-year campaign for Governor.
ReplyDelete"As a junior at NKU, she called a press conference to launch her 25-year goal for the Kentucky governorship. That would have her running for the office in 2027. It was a gutsy, precocious move, and Candace took some flak for it. She did it because, one, no one does 25-year campaigns and, two, it was her way to holding herself accountable to her ultimate goal."