Clackamas County voters say 'yes' to light rail measure
PORTLAND, Ore. - Clackamas County voters have approved a measure that puts them in charge of any money that is spent on future light rail projects.
A special election for Tuesday, Sept. 18, asked folks to decide whether voter approval should be required before county leaders start spending money on those types of projects.
Voters decided that their approval should be required. That means there will now be an election before county resources are used for financing, design, construction or operation of any public transit rail system.
Measure 3-401 will take effect immediately but it will not affect the current Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project that is already under way.
all major projects should have voter approval to avoid corruption in government.
I agree thank god it passed! I couldnt not even afford my house.  Property taxes are way too high for all of us.. I will never use or ride on!  Its a crime train!
A bit of confusion in your KATU headline? Voters actually said NO to spending without a vote. While they voted YES to the measure, it actually amounts to a NO on any light rail measure without a vote! Couldn't you have phrased that a bit differently?
 @jpk Actually it is the ballot measure that was confusing. Wonder how many people voted opposite of what they really intended due to YES meaning NO and NO meaning YES. Not that it would have made a difference.
are you that stupid?  read the ballot before you vote!  Duh
If it was really that difficult to understand for some people to confuse the two, they should not be allowed to vote
Too many people tired of the endless dumping of money into the great black hole which is, light rail. But we need light rail to serve that (I think it's) 3% of the population which uses it.
@PDX Dave I'm sure you also begrudge the small percentage of our population who are handicapped and need handicapped parking spots and accessible-side walks. I guess if you don't need it, it simply isn't worth it!Â
It's a bit disheartening to me that such a measure even had to come to the ballot. But, once you put egos in charge and sprinkle in a healthy dose of self-riteousness, I guess sooner or later someone has to put elected representatives back in check.Â
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Of course, Tri Mets position is that irrelevent if residents want it or not, they will build it and you will pay for it.Â
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The tail wagging the dog is a way of life in Portland, it seems.Â
Every story about light rail numerous people complain about how it causes crime.
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Just to be sure I have it strait....
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Guns don't kill people. People kill people. However, people don't rob people. Trains rob people.
For you folks that live outside Clackamas (aka Curmudgeon) county. You will need to be careful driving there. Not only does the vote help stop light rail, it prevents work on any railroad related project without a vote. So if a hazardous situation develops where a county road crosses a railroad track, nothing can be done until there is an election to allow the county to plan and execute the repair work (assuming the voters change their stingy ways). Crossings cannot be improved or upgraded without an election. The no whistle zone that Canby had wanted is history. Unless the taxpayers want to pay the cost of a special election which holds no promise of approval. Oddly enough, Clackamas County will still pay County Commissioners as always, even though their ability to decide for the county diminishes with every similar to this one vote.
 @Nobody Whatever.  The taxpayers did the right thing.  We are tired of them shoving everything down our throat without caring about the will of the people.
This is what is called a 'Mandate'. This is to show the politicians that they work for US. We will be deciding how you will be voting. You are our employees.
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And most importantly, this vote foreshadows what the results will be in Novembers presidential election. We are tired of the radical left wing politicians forcing crap on us that we do not want. Obama will lose by the same margin. Â
@last boyscout Let's just do away with elected officials and put everything up for a public vote and require that at least 60% vote with a 51% majority to win. Let's just run government that. We could perhaps just put the issues up on the web and let people vote yeah or nay. We don't need highly paid politicians.
 @peckishpete Is that what this initiative says? Is anyone actually proposing what you suggest? This measure was passed because the majority of voters in the election felt that their County Commissioners were overspending on this type of project. Do they have the right to do that? Yes. Will this initiative work out well? I suppose time will tell.
 @last boyscout Boy I hope you are right or are country is doomed to be a Europe light and is aiming to be more like Greece at the moment.
@FreedomRocks @last boyscout Funny. Europe has been around a hell of a lot longer than than the United States and its still hanging in there.Â
 @peckishpete Europe has been around a lot longer as a major civilization, true. Yet they've had far more instability, far more massive wars and far more genocidal mass murders. While our Constitution has been reasonably stable for 200+ years, France is on it's fifth since it's revolution. Clearly Europe is not a model to follow blindly. Are the elements of European society that can teach us something? Yes. Are there elements of American society from which Europe should learn? Yes.
Clackamas County Commissioner Jamie Damon said that the reason the Orange Line is coming through to Oak Grove (1/4 mile South of Milwaukie city limits)... "â¦is to mitigate problems in Milwaukie." I thought the Line was a good thing? And, why is it called the "Portland to Milwaukie" line when it is ending in Oak Grove? Is Oak Grove that insignificant in the scheme of things? No! Just like the Elks Club is being looked at by Metro to build high density, low income property. Metro has been trying to find areas to move Portland's low income housing problems. I see the quarter miles radius that Metro has captured around the Park Street station as being a dumping ground for what Metro, Milwaukie and other surrounding cities do not want. And thank you to the promoters of 3-401 and the 60%ers that made their voices heard.
@Ken Wells You need a bit of a history lesson Ken Wells. Clackamas County's first comprehensive plan (c.1980s) had five major intersections along McLoughlin Boulevard between Park Avenue and Glen Echo Avenue hosting "activity centers" consisting of 500-700 living units (apartments) and retail. None ever got built. Why? Builders don't build projects that don't make money.Â
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Planners can try to socially engineer all they want but it is money that governs development. And Oak Grove has its own share of low income housing (actually more than its share) as well as high density development dating back to the 60s. Check out the Park Entrance development with its 2500 to 5000 square foot lots (built in the late 50s, early 60s) and the economically depressed areas around Park Avenue and other places in "Oak Grove" that are eligible for "community development block grants" (only available to areas that meet the federal definition of low income/economically depressed).Â
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Metro is not trying to move Portland's low income housing problem but I am sure it makes you and others feel better to have a "common enemy." Few people understand that without Metro (whose government is regionally elected and whose committee memberships are regionally appointed) the region would be entirely driven by Portland. Metro gives Clackamas County and the cities in Clackamas County's metro area a voice.Â
 @Ken WellsÂ
"Is Oak Grove that insignificant in the scheme of things?"
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Yes
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LOL Sorry man YOU ASKED! ROFL
Everyone here knows this is going to be built right? You can vote and vote, but it's coming, they already started building it.
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What happens next is that people vote to stop Clackamas County from funding the project.
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What happens after that?
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Portland City commissioners, Multnomah County and the State will then fund it.
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It's coming, whether you like it or not. Metro has already decided and started to build it.
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And I don't have a problem if Portland, Multnomah County, or the State funds and pays for it. If they are idiots and want to give us in Clackamas a "free" present, I am all for it.  I am one of the ones that really don't support light rail coming all the way out to Molalla to pick up that one passenger and having to pay for it. If somebody else pays for it, great.
It appears that at least *some* of Clackamas County voters are awake and paying attention! Well done! Now, when it hits the ballot, GET OUT AND VOTE IT DOWN!
@Gravity Works! It cannot hit the ballot, at least not by the commissioners. It clearly states that NO county resources are allowed to be used for public rail, INCLUDING staff time. Therefore, how in the world would the county possibly think about trying to put this on the ballot, if they couldn't even use their time to get it there?
 @OSUx2 I take your point.  In that case, the rail will still go through.  The show must go on until it reaches Eugene, at the very least, right?
Good job citizens.
Nicely done!
The yes vote was a vote against crime and run away spending.
The voters should have had a voice in this from the begining. Too late now...
Another article actually has more than 4 paragraphs... and it's quite revealing as to how the mind of a commissioner works!
http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/Clackamas-Co-measure-requiring-voter-approval-for/rrRCMAtTZEeQycIyi6tf9g.cspx
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âThey wanted to catch the $20 million and what theyâre going to do is catch all these little fish, and thatâs the irony of this ballot measure,â Swanson said.
HaHa, you didn't catch us too bad boo hoo!  What an arrogant ass!
"Swanson said that certain decisions such as public transportation are best left in the hands of elected officials who have the best interests of all their constituents at heart."
Swanson embodies the exact attitude that so many people have come to HATE about government in general... Don't get in our way, don't ask us questions, don't try to take your money back!!! Â Just let us spend spend spend.
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âIf you read the Declaration of Independence youâll see that the founders had respect for government as a solution to protect the rights of citizens to pursue happiness and prosperity,â Swanson said
Actually, Swanson - you are dead wrong. Â The Founders FEARED the government stripping our rights, that's why they went to so much trouble to set up checks and balances -Â
'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'
That most famous sentence speaks to the likes of Swanson - Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness *without fear of a government taxing us without representation!* Â
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Swanson - you embody all that the founding fathers feared, you have no regard for your countrymen, you have no respect for your position. Â
Step down now.Â
That's a start. Now they need to file for an injunction to stop the current project that has been forced upon us by crooked politicians. Then, come this November, vote the monsters out.Â
Good for Clackamas County. But, look what it takes to get it to this point. Voters should be determining money issues since the elected can't seem to understand "it is not free money".
It's sad that it had to come to this, but this is what you get when you have elected representatives that flagrantly ignore the will of their constituents and spend the city into debt.
This is great!  It is about time we stop spending federal money on the tweekers and bagged lettuce eaters in the East side.  I am all for all the money going to the West side.  Better yet lets cut off the existing lines to the East.  That way once the gas prices make it imposible for them to get to work they can go on federal disability where they belong.
tweakers
 @Mechanic http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tweeker
 @strikingcover I like all of that, we don't want to associate with all you arrogant sissy's on the West side anyway. I have no reason to go to downtown Portland unless the IRS calls.
 @strikingcover ummm...whaaaat? Bagged lettuce eaters? WTF is that about?
 @whirledworld OMG!  You eat lettuce from a bag?
 @whirledworld I may smoke pot from a bag but it has never been recalled. Google 'Bagged Lettuce' for clarification.
 @strikingcover just how much pot did you smoke before posting...?
Nice work. We need some of that control in Multnomah county.
Well that's perfect, now we can have a real voice in how our money is spent , was it really that hard to understand that voting is still the American way?