Urban-rural divide

It would be refreshing to hear leaders talk about how spending on transit and bike and 

pedestrian planning, infrastructure, maintenance, and labor.  When "wants" exceed the 

ability to pay for them, something's got to give.  Instead of deciding whose projects get top 

priority, leaders should examine what essential transportation infrastructure is, not what they 

want it to be.  

High-stakes debate looks at urban-rural divide in transportation funding

By Nick Christensen. 

Bylined writers are Metro staff.  Stories with a byline do not necessarily represent
The opinions of Metro or the Metro Council.  Metro news* is committed to
Transparency, fairness and accuracy. 

A high-stakes battle over transportation is brewing in the northern Willamette Valley, with implications for every commuter in the Portland region.

Matt Garrett, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, has convened a group of leaders from Mulino to the Port of Portland, Hood River to Beaverton, to discuss how transportation funding is handed out in ODOT’s Region 1.

That ODOT region includes Clackamas, Hood River and Multnomah counties and most of Washington County.

It’s the only part of ODOT’s portfolio that doesn’t have an Area Commission on Transportation, a powerful board that plays a key role in deciding what projects in a given area receive state transportation money.

Hales calls for more revenue

Where Garrett sees a need for coordination and prioritization, leaders within the Metro region see a different problem – it’s not that there aren’t enough slices of the funding pie being handed out, it’s that the pie just isn’t big enough.

Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette, at the same May 5 meeting, agreed with Hales.

“The big issue here is not whether or not you get a say in how much your community gets, but that there is not enough money period,” she said.

Hales said the conversation about transportation funding needs to be explicit, citing the push in his city for a transportation fee** – one that will charge the poor the same as the wealthy.

“We’re going to start charging poor people to pave their streets because we have to. And it’s regressive, and I’m sorry it’s regressive,” Hales said. “You have to be that explicit, and that clear, or people will stay in denial and we’ll be having these euphemistic conversations with multi-syllabic words, instead of saying ‘Our streets are falling apart we need to fix them now.’

“We have to be that clear with people because it’s so much easier to stay in denial and hope we can go another couple years without having to raise taxes,” Hales said.

See more at: http://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/high-stakes-debate-looks-urban-rural-divide-transportation-funding#sthash.H6OdRBWG.dpuf

*  Can any organization fairly report on itself?  This is why real, objective, outside reporting is so essential to keeping citizens informed about government activities.
** Who is pushing for a new transportation "fee" besides Hales, Novick and Treat?