"Mid County Memo" writes about the latest Trimet capital project

 The Highlights are as follows. As you can see from this blog post the "Trimet industrial complex" has made this decision to extend its tentacles without bothering to ask citizens what they think about it.  These are the technocrats I rant about. These are the un-elected  officials that ruin citizens lives with impunity. These are the people that keep feeding the monster known as the PORTLAND LIGHT RAIL MAFIA



The potential impacts of this short half-mile crossover are huge. New and established and recently renovated businesses may be shuttered. Bicyclists may have to detour to 7000- or 9000-block bike path alignments to the west or east of 82nd Avenue. Construction costs may increase by orders of magnitude.

 Real people, livelihoods, groups, budgets and interests within a major east Portland neighborhood will be impacted for the indefinite future.

 Soutavong asked the first brave question of Elizabeth Mros-O’Hara, Powell-Division Transit and Development Project Manager, about the impact of the decision on the Jade district supported by contract with Portland Development Commission since 2013 by Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon. Mros-O’Hara punted the question to Jade District manager Todd Struble who in turn passed it to the TriMet team in the corner, surrounded by artist’s renderings of chamfered, or angled inside-corner stations, articulated buses and yellow and white plats showing on two otherwise-identical bird’s eye views of the minimum (four) and maximum (27) “building” (read: business) targets subject to “purchase” (read: condemnation).
“It scares me. I thought Jade was something different,” said Soutavong. Early on, Soutavong was excited and proud to be involved in Jade and to help establish in Portland a “new Chinatown or international district.”
Soutavong’s Thai restaurant is one of 27 buildings targeted by the maximum impact changes that may be made along Southeast 82nd Avenue between Powell and Division streets.
But Soutavong doubts anyone at the meeting Monday night was there to listen to public input.
“Makes you feel like, oh wow, they are listening! [But then later you realize the decision is] already made,” said Soutavong. The open house is just “a feel good thing. [Their plan could take] away my business, our mom-and-pop restaurant of eight years.”

Richard Alhadoff, hands-on owner of 10-year old Tik Tok Restaurant & Bar at 3330 S.E. 82nd Ave., attended the open house with his son, Shawn. “They do pretty much what they want to do,” said Richard Alhadoff, noting that he would not have even known about the open house if it weren’t for a story he happened to see on television the day before.

Alhadoff worries that he might lose not only his real estate but also all the time and money he and his family and employees have invested in the business, building and property infrastructure, to say nothing of its customers and its good name.
Moreover, Alhadoff understands that Tik Tok’s condemnation would not even come close to his obtaining fair market value for Tik Tok.

The charts presented at the open house didn’t address where the money for this crossover project—at any cost—would come from.

Powell-Division Bus Rapid Transit crossover decision coming soon | Mid-county Memo