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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2008)
February 2008 The Southwest Portland Post. • 9 NeWS Adams’ street improvement plan (Continued from Page 8) gas tax increase, and noted, “There are some inherent unfairnesses when local jurisdictions raise taxes.” However, he said he understood Adams’ efforts in view of the legis- lature’s failure to act. Marianne Fitzgerald, SWNI Trans- portation Committee chair, gave the coalition’s support to the effort. She noted that southwest has 22 miles of arterial streets without sidewalks, representing 45 percent of the city’s arterials with this defi ciency, and more than 40 miles of unpaved streets. “The city has made many commitments to transportation im- provements over the last 15 years, but few of these commitments have been funded,” she said. She supported the Safe, Sound and Green program, but said its guarantees for public involvement needed to be strengthened. She also called for reinstatement of the Neighborhood Needs process by which neighborhoods can give the city their priorities for projects and spending. Hillsdale Neighborhood Asso- ciation chair Don Baack said he “strongly supports” the initiative. “It’s been vetted by a lot of people,” he said. Baack, who also heads the SWNI Trails Committee, suggested adding benefi ts to participants in “sweat equity” transportation im- provement programs. Critics of the proposal said they recognized the need for more fund- ing for transportation, but disagreed with the proposed method. Paul Romain, lobbyist for the Oregon Petroleum Association, noted that this year the city had a $34 million budget surplus. “Why not just allo- cate more money” from the General Fund, he asked. “If you think this is a good thing, send it out for a vote of the people,” he said. He also said that the proper route was an increase statewide gas tax. This caused Commissioner Randy Leonard, a former legislator, to remind Romain that his organi- zation had opposed such increases in the past. Romain replied that it hadn’t happened since 2001, when he went to work for them. Transit critic Terry Parker com- plained about money being spent on pedestrian and bicycle improve- ments. He charged that the Stake- holder Committee was “stacked” in favor of special interests. “Providing bicycle infrastructure is not a right and needs to be paid for by the us- ers,” he said. The proposed fees would increase housing costs and run counter to the city’s efforts to provide “affordable” housing, he said. Another speaker said that the business fees, added to others already in place, could cause businesses not to locate in Portland. The most moving testimony came from Dr. Susan Komoda, aunt of slain cyclist Tracy Sparrling. She attacked police and media sugges- tions that Sparrling contributed to her own death by “not being more careful” when passing a truck that was turning right across her path. A family waits at a crosswalk to cross a busy boulevard. Commissioner Adams’ street improvement program would provide more pedestrian facilities. (Photo courtesy of the Portland Offi ce of Transportation) “Law enforcement’s inability to protect this beautiful young woman should alarm every member of this community,” she said. “We need action, not just a warning to pe- destrians and bicyclists to be more careful.” At a subsequent hearing, Adams added an amendment that would end the program in the event the legislature passed a gas tax increase. A fi nal vote on the measure was scheduled for January 23. Based on comments made at the previous two sessions Adams appeared to have the votes. Editor’s Note: According to a story in The Oregonian, City Council, at a Janu- ary 23 hearing, approved amendments to the street fee ordinance, pushing a fi nal vote on the ordinance to Janu- ary 30. Convenience store owners had objected to the street fees, arguing that customers weren’t necessarily destined for the stores when they started out. Gas station owners objected because they viewed them similarly to gas taxes. Adams gained concessions from both groups by agreeing to drop the streets fees if the Oregon legislature passed a gas tax which brought the City of Portland more than $184 million over 15 years. The changes would reduce the amount of fees paid by gas stations and convenience stores from $500 per month to about $70 per month—a total reduction of approximately $500,000 per year in the $24 million raised an- nually by the fees. POST A TO Z BUSINeSS CARD DIReCTORY 503-244-6933 PRECISION HOME REPAIR & DRYWALL JON A. GOSCH Phone: 503-643-3517 Pager: 503-441-8940 website: http://users.myexcel.com/precision1 Quality work at affordable rates Licensed • Bonded • Insured • CCB #77073 Quality dentistry in a caring, relaxed environment. FAMILY & COSMETIC DENTISTRY 503-246-2564 7717SW34thAvenue•Portland,OR97219 (MultnomahVillage•SWCapitolHighway&34thAve.)