TriMet sues Clackamas County over light rail delays
TriMet is suing Clackamas County to compel the county to stop delaying work necessary to complete the $1.49 billion Portland-to-Milwaukie light rail project.
The transit agency said Clackamas County has long been a partner in the project. The county commission voted three times in support of moving the project into the design and construction phases.
But Trimet, in a news release, said the county stopped cooperating after the November election, delaying final project acquisitions and $1.3 million in road and signal improvements required to move the project forward. Work on the 7.3-mile transit project is 35 percent complete.
A spokeswoman for Clackamas County couldn't immediately be reached Thursday afternoon.
Clackamas County voters last fall approved, by a wide margin, a measure that calls for a public vote whenever county resources are committed toward public rail projects.
TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said the agency understands that, based on last fall's vote, that county voters want a say in rail projects.
"But this does not affect the current Portland-Milwaukie project," she said in a news release. "Unfortunately, we have to take this action to prevent delays that could impact the overall cost and schedule of the Project."
TriMet filed the lawsuit in Clackamas County Circuit Court seeking a declaratory judgement, expedited consideration, and for the court to retain jurisdiction so it can supervise the county's participation until work is complete.
TriMet said it has made efforts to resolve the county's issues on the project, and has also sought alternative ways of resolving any disputes, including through mediation or a neutral third party. Those options remain on the table, the agency said.
"We continue to call on the County to follow through on their long- standing commitments," Fetsch said. "Our focus is to keep the project on time, on budget and create jobs as we build a more efficient transit system."
This will back fire on trimet. Â No one will trust them or want to work with them. Â This is the beginning of the down fall of trimet.
Government agency sues County government. There a wise use of taxpayer money and the court system. Only winners in this debacle..........lawyers that will bill tons of hours !
I hope that Clackamas County spends five times the cost of this light rail project defending a lawsuit. The new law is clearly not retroactive. The funds are approved and partially spent. If they didn't want light rail they should have stopped it BEFORE it's half built.......duh.
@campergeneral People have been trying to stop light rail for years.  It was only when certain people were voted out that the rebellion really took hold.
The next step in this ridiculous saga will be to see how Washington State will respond to Oregon trying to ram through light rail on the CRC project even though Vancouverites don't seem to want it. Â Â
Clackamas has made a deal with the devil in putting in Max.
The children (county) can buy all all the candy from the store (trimet) that mommy and daddy (clackamas tax payers) give the child. Â Appears jr. forgot to ask mommy and daddy. Â Unless verbal agreements of minors are legal contract, Â maybe the store should seek other customers or just close shop. Â
@Ramona .......what do you smoke? I gotta get some !
Since Tri-Met has been running Portland for about forty years, they will not accept no as an answer. Â Why? Â Because the so-called leaders of Portland will side with them on every issue. Â Shame on you, Clackamas county. Â This will not be tolerated. Â When it comes to Tri-Met, you have no rights.
Tri-Met should go south all the way to Mexico! Why not? It would bring more Democrat voters up here! Â
@jpk  Trimet doesn't need voters.....Â
Made my day! Suck on it tri met. We won the ability to vote on further spending. How does it feel to not be God for once, and actually have to follow the voters choice. Ha, freaking ha.
I impounded a car last night that had a bumper sticker that said "I'd rather be ridding the train". I was laughing about it........He also had one that said "turn off your T'V' and READ" The irony that he encouraged people to read, yet he couldn't read a giant sign 3 feet in front of his car that said DON'T PARK HERE NUMB-NUTS
@Jeepers Sounds like the 47 percent.  They parrot words but seldom comprehend.  Bird treats dont work for rewards though but obama phones do.
Go home Tri-Met, you're drunk.
OK People, Take your heads out of your face book page and look at the real world. Tri-Met & Metro has a very long history of financial problems. That's why Clackamas folks have voted "NO" to any more shady business that costs us all. Ask the business owners in Sherwood, Hillsboro, Washington County, Portland who pay a lot of additional tax every month per employee to Tri-Met to waste. Just LQQK at the trees that were cut to put in a $300,000.00 photovoltaic solar panel wing in downtown Portland that will never payback and when on the same day, they are saying they're broke and needs to raise rates again. Clackamas got a taste of LQQKing at the old growth trees they cut down in Milwaukie. For you old timers, you might remember the rusty Pineapple Buses that a Tri-Met manager bought from Hawaii and sold to Tri-Met to rebuild and use. Or for the middle aged folks, look at how Tri-Met changed there bus routes to force riders to the then new Gresham route. And my last comment is, Clackamas County does not want the increased police responses to the problems that light rail brings to where it travels. Just read the news in Portland and Gresham and stop feeling entitled!
OK Metro, I did not forget about you and your best effort with waste that costs the people in Portland to have there rates increase 5 fold because you couldn't find a better deal to keep you funded. Just another deep pocket cancer business you brought into Oregon, like light rail.
"We continue to call on the County to follow through on their long- standing commitments,"
AS we all call on the government to follow through with their commitments to use the money appropriately, and not for someone's "idea" of progress!
Tri mess has not even secured all of their funding yet. I believe they are still 135 million short. They could replace half of their bus fleet with brand new buses just with the shortfall. Incompetence and largess on a monumental scale.
@Scotty9Â You are too nice. Â You say incompetence, I say corruption.
Although the more practical choice, there's not much money to be made with new buses.
Does anyone else see the irony in Tri Met suing another party for delaying them?
@Portlander29Â Irony is everywhere around Portland but your comment was well timed in my happy hour. Ha Ha Ha that was funny
Anyone else find this funny even at some level?
@portlandborn83Â I was wondering when this was going to catch up with them. Bwahahaha!
The people of clackamas want a say in how their money is spent.  However trimet doesnt care what the voters want. They are bulies who cry when someone stands up against them.  The commissoners who decided to give away money without a vote are criminals  Therefore the contract nil and void.
@sortbait I would pay for a wall to be built around Clackamas county, given the amount of whining that comes from the sticks.
@dynamited77 @sortbait I'd like that wall, too. I have always wanted to find a way to keep Portlanders out.
Enjoy your drive to Mount Hood.
@dynamited77 @sortbait The whole state of oregon would like a wall around the city of portland.
@sortbait @dynamited77 Not so much a wall, I say let Portland become it's own state. Im really interested to see how many days they could go before inevitable bankruptcy.
Clackamas County doesn't want the crime train here.
Finally border control
Your representatives signed a contract. You don't get to take a vote after the fact and get out of it. If you think that's OK, tell you credit card company your family voted and you're not paying any more interest, then let us know how that works out for you,
Ludlow spouts about following the law until he has to follow it and doesn't want to.
@ShallowEnder Thank goodness for the voter initiative process!
@ShallowEnder If your representative or employee buys from his  list not yours, with your money not his,  it is theft and their debt not yours.  A just judge will find against Trimet and Trimet can sue the board but taxpayers are NOT liable.
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@TheUglyTruth Don't forget, we live in a Republic, not a pure Democracy. Our elected officials are not required to get voter approval for each and every thing they do.Â
Clackamas County is going to get the Crime Train regardless if you want it or not. Sorry but you're dealing with Tri Met and all the contractors involved. That means there are Billions of Dollars involved, all taxpayer money and they want to spend it all.
@Billy Batts Did the Clackamas Townsquare shooter ride the bus to the mall?
@Billy Batts So glad the roads are in pristine shape.
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@Dr. Rawdog ...and, my personal favorite;
 "The difference between a good govt. system and its poor administration is easily explained; the chief administrators are not Bosses in the best sense."
-Henry Ford
@Dr. Rawdog"Public officials are all right if they stay in their proper sphere and perform their proper functions but when they get greedy for wider scope and more power and money they lose their value and become parasites."
-Henry Ford
@Dr. Rawdog"There can be no bosses in our country except the people. The job of the government is to serve, not to dominate." -Henry Ford
@Dr. Rawdog Â
 If Henry Ford saw how "fast" max was and learned how much it cost to build and operate, he would most likely say, "They deserve to go out of business."
@Scotty9 @Dr. Rawdog Henry Ford was a bit of a dictator
@Bert @Scotty9 @Dr. Rawdog   Not unlike Tri Met and Metro :^)
@Dr. Rawdog """"""âIf I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.â - Henry Ford""""""
Rather poor analogy........  Henry Ford did NOT COMPEL customers to purchase his cars  like Trimet is doing to the taxpayers.Â
@kramr @Dr. Rawdog Was it corporate welfare to build the roads that enable Ford to sell cars?
@dynamited77 @kramr @Dr. Rawdog  The model T was just fine on the same roads already there for  the horse and buggy.  Â
@Dr. Rawdog And younger women and more money
We don't care what you want, you silly little people.Â
We're Tri-Met. You will do it our way, we will use your money, and you will be happy that we give you the privledge of paying our salaries and PERS.Â
Deal with it.Â
@MarkKpic if they didn't want it, their representatives shouldn't have signed a contract guaranteeing the money. Sign the contract and pay up or breech the contract, get sued and pay up. Either way works.
@Ramsesthegreat @MarkKpic >'if they didn't want it, their representatives shouldn't have signed a contract guaranteeing the money.'
Tri Met apologists aside, it becomes pretty evident that the county commissioners did not act in accordance with the will of the majority of their citizens by the backlash it has created. So, one would think, a public entity (Tri-Met) would be sympathetic to what the actual residents (note:not the elected officials) wants and demands. Not the case. Instead, smelling taxpayer money in the water (municipal, state, and federal), Tri-Met sends good 'ol Mary Fetch out to say, tough poo to you all. We're doing it regardless of the majorities desires.Â
Now, another point to be made is that Tri-Met is also supposed to be a community representative organization, so I would expect that they also should give heed to public desires regarding the future of mass transit in any given community.Â
At this point, it's irrelevent. Tri-Met has the allmighty contract in place and will light rail on! They will exponentially increase the cost of the interstate bridge, too! If there's one thing I've discovered about the peoples republic of portland and it's surrounding communities again and again, it's that there is an awful lot of 'tail wagging the dog' syndrome going on.Â
@Ramsesthegreat @MarkKpic Â
They'd be miles ahead by going the law suit route.