Page A 3
A u g u s t 12, 2 0 0 9
©bserumg
1-5 Bridge Tolls Debated
Divides mayoral
candidates
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
A p rim a ry e le c tio n fo r
Mayor of Vancouver on Tues
day, Aug. 18 might have im
plications for Portland and a
proposed new 1-5 bridge.
Mayor Royce Pollard faces a
serious challenge from Tim
Leavitt, a Vancouver City Coun
cil member and environmental
engineer, over a controversial
stance the mayor has taken on
tolls to help pay a share of the
$4.2 billion project and serve as
a brake to expanding traffic on
the bridge.
Pollard has joined Portland
Mayor Sam Adams and most
other state and regional gov
ernments in supporting tolls.
T h e is s u e h a s b e e n the
principle wedge defining the
m ayoral race, according to raked in $50,429 in contribu
V a n c o u v e r C ity C o u n c il tions and spent $34,895.
The final details of the m as
Member Larry Smith.
C u rren tly there has been siv e p u b lic w o rk s b rid g e
talk of charging drivers cross project are still being hashed
ing the bridge up to $8 during out, but whoever ends up as
suming the reigns of power in
peak rush hours.
Leavitt, who opposes toll Vancouver will have signifi
cant clout on the issue.
If funding doesn't trickle in
a n d a s o u rc e o f re v e n u e
doesn’t appear soon Pollard
worries that the project will be
delayed for years.
Leavitt did not respond to
a re q u e st for co m m ent by
press time.
Royce Pollard Tim Leavitt
Also running is a third can
didate,
Charles Stemper who
ing, has drawn an increasing
has raised little m oney and
amount o f support.
to
p re s e rv e
According to campaign fi w a n ts
nance records, Leavitt is run V ancouver’s status as a “bed
ning a serious campaign. The room com m unity.” Only the
la te st fig u re s show he has top tw o candidates in the pri
co llected $51,424 in d o n a mary election will advance to
tions for the cam paign and the general election in N o
spent $42,425. P ollard has vember.
Congressman Avoids Face Time
care reform. Such meet
The potential of hav
ings have become in
ing a town hall forum
creasingly explosive,
collapse into violence
with health care oppo
has p ro m p ted C o n
nents disrupting them
gressman Brian Baird, D-
and in at least one case,
V ancouver, to c o m
a fist fight broke out.
p letely forgo hav in g
Brian Baird
B aird
told
the
such a meeting, instead
opting for a "telephone town Columbian newspaper that op
ponents of health care reform
hall."
Across the country members who disrupt town hall forums
of Congress have been hold were using tactics akin to those
ing town hall forums during of the Nazis, and was concerned
their August recess to engage something similar would hap
their constituents on health pen if he held a public forum.
Telephone town halls allow
constituents to listen in and ask
their member of congress ques
tions if they are selected.
Neighboring Congressman
Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland,
also has no face-to-face town
halls scheduled, according to
spokesperson Erin Allweiss,
who wouldn't directly address
whether or not the decision was
rooted in concerns over poten
tial disruptions.
"He w ants to engage his
constituents more, and get a
better diversity of questions,"
said Allweiss.
C o u n ty F a ir in R id g efield
through Sunday, Aug. 16.
The special service begins
after 12:30 p.m. with the last bus
departing the fairgrounds at 11
p.m. each evening. The round
trip cost is $2 per person or $4
for groups up to six . Free for
age six and under. TriMet tick
ets and passes also accepted.
Opts for telephone ‘town hall’
Transit to Fair
Vancouver’s mass transit bus
system is providing special
shuttle service to the Clark
HELPFUL BANKING IS HERE.
(And the weather seems to be clearing up already.)
WELCOME TO CHASE BANKING.
It’s time to take control of your financial life
and Chase can help. We have lots of ways
to help you save more and spend smarter
— making it easy to stay on top of what
you have and where it's going. Welcome
to Chase. We're new to Oregon but not
to what matters in a bank.
Visit a branch or start at Chase.com/OR
CHASE
FDIC
O
2009 JPMo^gan Chase Bark, N.A Member FDIC
IP1MT MO UNTAIN
EUENT CENTER
Spirit Mountain's spectacular Event Center features heodliner concerts, comedy and live sporting events
DAVE KOZ, BRIAN CULBERTSON
"S ide By Side T o u r" fe a tu rin g PEABO BRYSON
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21 • T i c k e t s a r e $ 2 5 - $ 3 5
KEITH SWEAT, TEENA MARIE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
T ic k e ts a r e $ 3 0 - $ 4 0
Check Out Our Free
Weekly Entertainment On Line!
S P IB J T M O U N T A I N
For Tickets Call Star Tickets Plus a t 8 0 0 .5 8 5 .3 7 3 7
or visit SPIRITMOUNTAIN.COM
C A S IN O
The N o r th w e it'» P rem ier E n tertain m en t D estination
HWY 18 • GRAND RONDE, OR • SPIRITMOUNTAIN COM