Inside:
MEETING NOTICES
See
Page 6
Volume 115
Number 3
February 7, 2014
Portland, Oregon
Kitzhaber sets March deadline to decide future of I-5 bridge
SALEM — Oregon Gov. John
Kitzhaber set a March 9 deadline for
Oregon lawmakers to re-authorize the
state’s financial commitment to replace
the Interstate 5 bridge connecting Port-
land, Oregon and Vancouver, Washing-
ton over the Columbia River.
The Oregon Legislature is in a 35-
day short session that began Feb. 3.
The Interstate Bridge seen from Vancouver, Washington, looking south toward Hayden Island in north Portland,
Oregon, where Interstate 5 crosses the Columbia River. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
ATU #757 not happy with TriMet audit
Leaders of Amalgamated Transit
Union (ATU) Local 757 are unhappy
with the results of a comprehensive au-
dit of TriMet by the Oregon secretary
of state.
The audit, released to the public Jan.
29, made 23 recommendations for
change, from safety and scheduling to
labor-management relations and un-
funded liabilities. The audit was ordered
by the Oregon Legislature last year after
the Oregonian exposed secret pay raises
for TriMet managers and shift schedul-
ing practices that left bus drivers so
sleep-deprived as to be potentially un-
safe on the road.
Since then, TriMet general manager
Neil McFarlane has promised more
transparency, and a policy was worked
out by union and management that re-
quires at least 10 hours off between
shifts for drivers.
The audit concluded that strained re-
lations between management and ATU,
low morale and employee mistrust of
management, are adversely affecting
TriMet and its operations. Its recom-
mendations include:
• A waste, fraud and abuse hotline
for employees to report concerns;
• Formal meetings with the union
outside of contract negotiations in order
to repair a contentious relationship;
• Addressing the adequacy of bath-
room facilities;
• Ensuring adequate time for opera-
tor breaks;
• Reducing the complexity and cost
of bus operator signups;
• Allowing hiring of maintenance
employees with prior training or expe-
rience;
• A formal evaluation process for all
frontline employees that includes writ-
ten constructive and positive feedback
when warranted; and
• Following up with operators about
whether their suggestions can be imple-
mented.
“TriMet must work to improve a
contentious labor-management rela-
tionship in order to solve its fiscal chal-
lenges and continue to provide critical
services to Multnomah, Washington
and Clackamas County residents,” said
Secretary of State Kate Brown in a
press statement accompanying release
of the audit report. Brown said TriMet’s
$1.1 billion in health care and pension
liabilities are its most significant chal-
lenge.
But Local 757 President Bruce
Hansen, in a press statement respond-
ing to the audit, said he felt disheartened
on reading the report. Union represen-
tatives met with the auditors and pro-
vided them a list of 25 concerns about
(Turn to Page 12)
In addition to re-authorizing $450
million to the project — better known
as the Columbia River Crossing —
Kitzhaber also wants the Legislature to
adopt the necessary statutory changes
to ensure appropriate tolling enforce-
ment.
Moving the project forward also
will require an executed intergovern-
mental agreement between the Wash-
ington Department of Transportation
and the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation (ODOT) for bi-state con-
struction.
In a letter to legislative leaders in
Oregon, and to Washington Gov. Jay
Inslee (D), Kitzhaber said that without
decisive action by the Oregon Legisla-
ture (by March 9) and the State of
Washington by March 15, he will di-
rect the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation to close the project.
“We’ll try to roll this rock up the hill
one more time,” said John Mohlis, ex-
ecutive secretary of the Oregon State
Building and Construction Trades
Council, a staunch advocate of the
bridge replacement project.
Union officials lobbied Oregon law-
makers to pass HB 2800 in the 2013
legislative session. The bill funded the
state’s portion of the $3.5 billion proj-
ect, which calls for improving high-
way interchanges, replacing the bridge
and extending Portland’s light-rail to
Vancouver.
HB 2800 included a provision that
required the Washington Legislature to
contribute an equal $450 million before
any money could be authorized. Wash-
ington lawmakers failed to act on a
transportation package last year that
would have included the money. (Re-
publican leaders in the Senate refused
to move the transportation package to
a vote.)
When that happened, Kitzhaber and
Inslee declared the Columbia River
Crossing dead.
A month later, Kitzhaber put forth a
scaled down “Oregon-led project.” The
$2.8 billion plan relies heavily on
bridge tolls, but still includes an $850
million grant from the federal govern-
ment.
Over the last decade, Oregon and
Washington have spent more than $180
million on planning, designing and per-
mitting for the replacement bridge.
Substantial local and federal resources,
and thousands of hours of public and
community participation are also in-
vested in the project.
“For Oregon there is no alternative
plan that is less complicated or less ex-
pensive,” Mohlis said.
In his letter to legislative leaders,
Kitzhaber wrote, “Although this is an
Oregon-led project, it certainly is not
an Oregon-only project. All of our proj-
ect partners —TriMet, C-Tran, the City
of Vancouver, the Washington State
Department of Transportation, the Fed-
eral Transit Administration and the
Federal Highway Administration —
are still part of the Oregon-led project,
some with modified responsibilities to
reflect the state of Washington’s post-
poned funding of the Washington inter-
changes.
“Importantly, our federal and local
partners concur that the Oregon-led
project continues to meet the safety and
mobility benefits required in the federal
Record of Decision, and they stand
ready to move forward.”
But support has been shaky, espe-
cially in the Oregon Senate, where Sen-
ate President Peter Courtney (D-
Salem), is opposed. Courtney has
repeatedly told the media that Oregon
lawmakers did their job last year when
they approved the $450 million. He
says Washington needs to step up and
do its part.
“I’ve done my duty,” Courtney told
the Oregonian. “It’s time for them
(Washington) to do their duty.”
Mohlis encourages union members
to contact their state legislators and
urge them to again support funding for
the Columbia River Crossing.
“We’re another 10 years away if we
don’t do this now,” Mohlis said.