This article from Friday's Oregonian has a lot to say about who is behind the push to get light rail (or BRT) going in Washington County.
Money and jobs for the developers, consultants and unions, ideology and power for the politicians. It is shameful that elected officials are opposing a measure that gives the public a vote over what happens in their own town. Anti-Democratic. As an example, look up Craig Dirksen's bio on the Metro website - talk about a conflict of interest! The web of politicians, money and influence is very tangled and very deep.
But what does the PUBLIC want?
The monied and powerful must be afraid that the public does not want what they are serving. Tigard and Metro are doing their best to "inform" citizens and let them know what a good thing light rail is, and/or what a bad deal the citizen-led initiative is, and they are putting their combined efforts and dollars toward their cause.
Read this excellent piece of reporting and look at the chart of cash contributions going to the campaigns - complete with the name, relationship to the transit project and dollar amount. If ANYONE thought that this Plan is what the community wants, well, you haven't been paying attention. The system is rigged, until it gets to a public vote, and they try to control that too.
One other thing - not wanting to out all their eggs into one basket, some of the anti-measure players have contributed to a brand new PAC called "Move Oregon". The group has only been in existence for a few weeks, but the roster of the Board of Directors will tell one what the organization is all about.
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