Paper wants Court challenge to Tigard vote
"For
this reason, we believe this measure should be challenged in court.
When a vote by those living within Tigard’s city limits directly affects
citizens in other communities, that could make this measure legally
suspect."
Of course the paper is also opposed to those other communities having any vote.
The paper tried to influence the Tigard measure.
The opposition to public votes on light rail is always fueled by those financially benefiting from the boondoggles.
The anti-voter cabal makes no bones about it.
“When this measure came up, and we realized the consequences of it, we did seek contributions from people and businesses that, in our view, have an enlightened self- interest in transit options, transit planning and high-capacity transit itself,” Murphy said. “Perhaps it would be more pure morally to only accept $5 contributions from individuals; however, that is not what we have done.”Murphy is blunt about contributions coming from people who stand to gain from expanding high-capacity transit to Tigard. He said the intention isn’t to put cash into the pockets of big businesses, but rather to plan for the city’s future.“There is little about a political campaign that is absolutely morally pure,” he said. “We have appealed to people who have a financial interest in this, but they are not telling us what to do.”
Transportation networks under fire on many fronts
Created on Friday, 21 March 2014 01:00 | Written by Hillsboro Tribune | 
Over
the past few days, we’ve seen a “perfect storm” of decisions related to
transportation. Three major developments — one national, one regional
and one local — are likely to have a chilling and possibly deeply
negative impact on transportation planning around the Portland
metropolitan area, the Northwest and nationwide.
In chronological order, here’s what has transpired: On March 7,
by failing to act, the Oregon Legislature effectively pulled the final
plug on the Columbia River Crossing, which means a modern, efficient
bridge in the Interstate 5 corridor between Washington and Oregon will
not be built in the forseeable future. The bridge had been on life
support ever since the Washington Legislature, in a stunningly obtuse
move last year, failed to provide the necessary funding for the new
bridge after years of planning and design work.
The
CRC project is dead, and the Northwest is left with an obsolete,
inefficient and unsafe bridge in arguably the single most important
transportation corridor in the Northwest. And there is no framework in
place now to do anything about it. It’s ridiculous.
Then,
seemingly out of nowhere on March 10, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a
ruling in Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States that could
have a serious impact on the nation’s network of trails created along
former railroad rights of way. With an 8-1 decision, the court
determined that government easements used to create railroad beds over
public and private land expired once the railroads went out of business
and the corridors were no longer being used for rail operations. Thus,
the land in question must revert to its previous owners.
Nationwide,
there are 21,768 miles of trails that were converted from old railroad
rights of way. In Oregon, there are currently 19 rail-trails that cover
291 miles. Another eight former railroad corridors — totaling 170 miles —
are in the process of being created. These trails may now be in
jeopardy.
The
court’s decision not only throws planning for new trails along unused
rail corridors into doubt, it could also serve to destroy a wonderful
network of existing trails — potentially including the Banks-Vernonia
State Trail, a popular jewel of a trail in which the state has invested
significantly to build and maintain. This 21-mile trail is used by
thousands of hikers, bikers and horseback riders, and contributes to the
economy of towns such as Vernonia and Banks as visitors come in to
access the trail and buy fuel, food, coffee or other goods while in the
area.
Recently,
residents and officials of Tillamook County and Washington County have
been considering creating a trail in the “Salmonberry Corridor” — a
railroad right of way that could be used for a trail from Banks to the
Oregon coast. This court decision from far away Washington, D.C., may
not doom this particular project, but at the very least it will
complicate it.
We
disagree with the court’s ruling. A key premise of “rails to trails”
includes the need to preserve transportation corridors, many of which
have been in place for a century or more, in the event conditions change
and a rail line needs to be renewed. If the land is handed to adjacent
landowners, those corridors are likely to be lost. And in today’s
litigious society, attempting to restore a right of way would be all but
impossible.
Beyond
that, these trails help to link neighboring communities. They provide
social, recreational and economic benefits that cannot be directly
measured. In short, this ruling rewards the few at the expense of the
many.
Finally, on
March 11, voters in the city of Tigard approved ballot measure 34-210,
which calls for a public vote before certain mass transit projects can
come into the city limits of Tigard.
This
vote could throw regional transit planning into chaos, because Tigard
is a key link in several possible linear routes radiating out from
Portland. Under this measure, if a bare majority of Tigard voters don’t
like the sound of a specific transit project, an entire transportation
system could be pulled down. As a result, the rights of citizens in
other communities are likely to be impacted.
For
this reason, we believe this measure should be challenged in court.
When a vote by those living within Tigard’s city limits directly affects
citizens in other communities, that could make this measure legally
suspect.
Taken as
a whole, it has been a terrible month for transportation systems in
Oregon. Uncertainty rules, with only one thing sure: This is not a good
time to be a transportation planner.
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