I created a blog to write about all that I do. Alas, I have been working so hard on other sites that this one gets neglected.

Right now I am busy volunteering to get NoColumbiaRiverCrossing.org up and running. I am very happy with how it is progressing and look forward to the site opening on Aug. 3, 2008.

The reason for volunteering with this site is to get citizens more involved in a project that will impact them and their children. I feel that ODOT and WDOT are not playing fair with the public process for the new bridge.

Now back to work!

Categories: Portland politics
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As I wait to give testimonies about the Columbia River Crossing, I ponder why people don’t people go to City Council meetings.

Could it be that as the commissioners take their seat one gets the feeling that they have already made up their minds to what they are going to vote. I have a feeling of despair not that my voice does not matter… but more so those that are not being heard because they can not get the time off of work to come Downtown on a weekday and wait hours to give a 2 minuet speech.

It is nice to see citizens speaking, though at the same time the lobbyist are out in full force with their well honed messages.

My time comes and I am nervous and I hear my voice quiver. Though I still look the commissioners in the eye and try as hard as I can to stick to what I want to relay:

Fish:

As a new commissioner I ask that you define yourself by voting to take more time to listen to the residents of Portland and hear their needs for affordable housing in this city, as this is one, if not the, main contributers to the congestion across the I-5 bridge. A larger bridge to affordable housing in another state is not my idea of solving this issue.

Leonard:

Please, more time for Portlanders to be well informed on this issue and preserve what makes our city special.

Saltzman:

Thank you for raising vital questions to this project and protecting our ability to express our concerns.

Mayor Potter:

Please give the the citizens more time for us to get current data so that we can discuss the implications of a project of this magnitude with our friends and neighbors.

More so, represent Portland as an Oregonian, who understands that at these uncertain times a new bridge is not the solution. Instead build a bridge with the rest of Oregon by allowing transportation funds to go to the rest of the state.

By voting “No to this Resolution” you will be able to do something very few Portland mayors have done… send a message to the rest of Oregon that we know they exist and we want to do what is best for the state as a whole.

All:

By creating something new… you destroy something old. Before you vote for a new bridge please take time to have an in depth dialog with residents the “old” Portland we have worked so hard to build is worth the cost of this bridge.

Though I do think Amy Ruiz of the Portland Mercury did a wonderful job summing up all those that testified and captured me pretty well

Categories: Portland politics
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