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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, June 10, 2009
JoCo’s role in transit group in question
$960 million state transportation bill leaves county in the slow lane
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Recent legislative pas-
sage of a massive statewide
transportation bill has raised
questions as to whether or not
Josephine County is receiving
its fair share of project funds.
House Bill 2001 has
passed through the Oregon
House and Senate, and is
awaiting Gov. Kulongoski’s
signature. The $960 million
package contains funding for
multiple transportation pro-
jects statewide, including
Jackson County, but Jose-
phine County will not see
much of that.
Business As Usual
None of this comes as a
surprise to Merlin resident
Dick Smith. From 1999 until
January, Smith was a member
of the Rogue Valley Area
Commission on Transporta-
tion (RVACT). That body
consists of representatives
from Jackson and Josephine
counties. It makes decisions
and recommendations regard-
ing area transportation priori-
ties. Smith said he resigned
because, “I got tired of it.”
“It wasn’t getting any-
thing done,” Smith said. “I’m
a person who gets on a board
and wants to see results. I’m
not just there to fill space.”
Originally appointed to
RVACT by the city of Grants
Pass, Smith said that he was
selected because of his ex-
perience serving as chairman
of the county’s Rural Plan-
ning Commission. He later
represented Josephine County
on RVACT as a private citi-
zen, he said.
According to Smith,
RVACT used to consult with
a group consisting of planners
and public works profession-
als. Smith said that group
presented transportation pri-
orities to RVACT and
weighed them.
“Somewhere along the
line, the professionals started
to be ignored,” he said.
The Oregon Dept. of
Transportation (ODOT)
started becoming involved in
the process, Smith said,
which changed everything.
Best Intentions At Start
Former Josephine
County Commissioner Har-
old Haugen recalls having
some issues with RVACT.
Haugen served as commis-
sioner from 1981 to 1989 and
1991 to 2005. He said that
RVACT began as a “pilot
project.”
“The original intent of it
was good,” Haugen said.
“The theory at the time, the
goal, was to bring all the ju-
risdictions together in Jose-
phine and Jackson counties
and lay out what the plans
were in the way of transporta-
tion so everybody had an idea
what they were doing.”
Originally, Haugen said,
no formal votes were taken
regarding the prioritization of
projects, and RVACT was
staffed by the Rogue Valley
Council of Governments. But
the processes used by
RVACT began to become
more politicized, Haugen
said, causing him to question
if Josephine County was be-
ing duly represented by that
body.
“Part of the problem I
had was the way they wound
up structured; we were giving
up jurisdictional authority as
a county to all these other
people because we as a
county could not go before
the transportation board with
projects,” Haugen said. “We
‘ODOT is basically the ones really run-
ning the show. They are really the control-
ling factor there. They are in control, want
to stay in control and don’t want to give
up any control.’
- Harold Haugen
were basically giving up what
we should never give up,
which is our ability to make
decisions as a jurisdiction.”
Show Me The Money
Smith said that during his
tenure with RVACT, a provi-
sion was inserted into the
bylaws to ensure that Jose-
phine County received at
least 30 percent of the area’s
funding transportation.
But like Haugen, Smith
said that all changed after
ODOT became involved.
“Josephine County
should be getting at least 30
percent of the money used for
roads and projects, but we
weren’t getting it,” Smith
said. “It seemed like all the
money was going to Medford
and Jackson County.”
The number of votes
allotted for RVACT’s mem-
bers ensured that Jackson
County always had many
more votes than Josephine
County, Haugen said.
“The citizens of Grants
Pass and Josephine County
are at the whim of the citizens
of Jackson County and its
various cities,” he said.
“Basically, they outvote Jose-
phine County any time.”
A Way Out Noted
Haugen said that he was
bothered by the way that
RVACT’s structure forced
jurisdictions to surrender their
authority. As such, he began
examining ways for Jose-
phine County to withdraw
from RVACT.
“I was pretty much the
Lone Ranger trying to get us
out of it,” Haugen said.
“Nobody was willing to listen
to me at that point.”
Smith said that he felt
“ignored” on RVACT, and
that Josephine County’s
transportation funding needs
took a backseat to those of
Jackson County.
“It was very evident we
weren’t going to get anything
done,” Smith said. “When
they started taking the money
away, it was Josephine
County’s money.”
Priorities Outlined
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As a Merlin resident,
Smith said he has become
quite familiar with the need
for improvements to Inter-
state 5 exit 61, which he re-
fers to as a “failing off-ramp.”
In fact, Smith said, he sees
traffic back up to the freeway
just about every morning.
He said that particular
project was a $750,000 fix 10
years ago, but now carries a
price tag of more than $7
million. Aside from that,
Smith said, I-5 exits 55 and
58 also need improvements.
Low
Prices
NEW
Clothes
And a project to fix the
“South Y” in Grants Pass —
where state highways 199, 99
and 238 meet — suddenly
fell apart. That was when
Smith said he started losing
interest in staying with
RVACT.
Haugen said that the
“South Y” project and the
Merlin interchange were long
ago identified as top transpor-
tation projects by Josephine
County and the city of Grants
Pass, along with construction
of a fourth bridge across the
Rogue River in Grants Pass.
“They were on a priority
list of RVACT, but somehow
got tossed off of there,”
Haugen said. “Somehow,
those projects got bounced
way out.”
From Here to There
Neither Smith nor
Haugen dispute that RVACT
began with the absolute best
of intentions. It was so suc-
cessful, Haugen said, that it
was used as a model for simi-
lar regional transportation
groups throughout Oregon.
“The Legislature made it
a law that there would be
ACTs all throughout the state
using RVACT as a poster
child,” said Haugen.
Smith states that RVACT
“for a long time, was one of
the best ACTs they had.”
But the prevailing politi-
cal winds have since shifted
statewide. Haugen said that in
those days, Josephine County
had much more clout regard-
ing such matters because the
late Eugene “Debbs” Potts
represented the area in the
Legislature. Portland Democ-
rats now dominate that body,
Haugen said, further dimin-
ishing any sway once held by
local representatives.
Perhaps most impor-
tantly, he added, ODOT has
grown much more powerful
during the past several years.
“ODOT is basically the
ones really running the show.
They are really the control-
ling factor there,” Haugen
said. “They are in control,
want to stay in control and
don’t want to give up any
control.”
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Equity Examined
Since being elected to the
Legislature in November,
2006, District 3 Rep. Ron
Maurer (R-Grants Pass) has
made inquiries at the state
level regarding the historic
adequacy of Josephine
County’s transportation fund-
ing. At this point, Maurer has
received no definitive an-
swers, but said that the pas-
sage of HB 2001 should not
be taken lightly by area offi-
cials and residents.
“I do think that out of
this transportation package,
with Jackson County getting
$170 million worth of pro-
jects, is going to embolden
Josephine County to revisit
RVACT,” Maurer said.
“Because, clearly, the funds,
in my view, are certainly not
equitable.”
Haugen said that part of
the problem may be the fact
that Jackson County has “just
done a better job as a county
of pushing projects.”
But there is some dis-
agreement involving the ease
with which Josephine County
can simply pull its participa-
tion in RVACT. Haugen said
he doubts that the county may
be able to do so, and that
walking away may actually
hurt the county.
“No matter what, if Jose-
phine County doesn’t partici-
pate, then we lose,” Haugen
said.
Maurer said that decision
is ultimately up to the local
jurisdictions.
“It comes down to
whether or not the local gov-
erning agencies want to con-
tinue being part of RVACT,”
he said. “They can vote them-
selves out of RVACT.
“It doesn’t mean they’re
going to get more projects,
but they’re certainly not go-
ing to get fewer,” Mauer con-
cluded.
Evergreen Elementary School students who read at least 15 books
during the school year were eligible to be entered in a drawing for
a new bike in a ‘Bikes For Books’ program, sponsored by the
AF&AM Masons of Kerby Belt Lodge #18. The presentation was
made on Friday, June 5. (Above, from left) Masons Randy Kent,
Max Holleman and Larry Stefanick with fourth-grader Sam Yost,
second-graders Joshua Medina and Jeremy Johann, and first-
grader Jill Luttrull. (Below, from left) Kent, Carl Jacobson, Holle-
man and Stefanick with fourth-grader Tristan Fiske and fifth-
grader Kurt Hertler. (Photos by Chuck Thomas)
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