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glorila nò (Obstruer____________________ December is. 2010
Focus is on Job Creation:
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
health care w orkers in this area, so
we need to step that up.
I still think we continue to have
capacity in the alternative energy
area w ith S olarW orld and V estas
here. 1 think we have the o p p o rtu
nity to attract additional com panies.
Each o f those com panies brings with
them a set o f suppliers that will also
b eef up the econom y.
I think that th e re ’s a trem endous
opportunity in som e o f the older
industries, the m etal cluster fo re x -
am ple. W e’re beginning to look at
alternative vehicles and alternative
transportation models. Oregon Iron
w orks is a m ajor streetcar m anufac
turer that could be an anch o r to a
cluster o f com panies around m etals
and m anufacturing that rely on O r
egon Steel to build the streetcars.
W e tend to be in the cross hairs
w here m ost o f the m anufacturers
w ant to try out their electric cars. I
think th e re ’s an opportunity for us
to look at the w hole battery and
storage technology. So a lot o f those
opportunities exist.
PO : A re there a couple things
yo u 're going to do w ithin the next
fe w m onths to indicate to businesses
that this is a g o o d p la c e to do
b u sin ess?
T H : W ell, I think that one o f the
things I did as m ayor o f H illsboro is
that I w ent out on recruitm ent trips.
I w ent out on w hat w as called T eam
O regon, and w ent to various trade
show s to try and sell that m y c o m
m unity is a good place to do b u si
ness. I w ant to do the sam e thing as
M etro president. I know that Team
O regon is looking at a couple trade
show s com ing up in the solar area
that I have som e know ledge of. So
1 w ant to begin to participate in
T eam O regon so that the region
gets prom oted, and I think the best
w ay to do that is for the c h ie f elected
official to com e forw ard and do that.
PO : To w hat e xten t d o yo u think
th e e le c tio n f o r M e tro C o u n c il
p resid en t w as a referendum on the
C olum bia R iver C rossing?
T H : W hen you win an election
by a thousand votes, you can point
to alm ost anything as the reason
w hy you got elected. I quite frankly
think that at the end o f the day that
w a s n ’t as sig n ific a n t as w e all
thought it w as going into the e lec
tion. I think that in the end, we cam e
to an understanding that we need to
m ove forw ard on the project. 1 think
my opponent and I w ere, to som e
extent, in agreem ent on that.
W e had som e difference o f o p in
ion on the size and the scope o f the
project, but I think at the end o f the
day it was h ard er for the voters to
discern the difference betw een the
tw o o f us than w ould have been
necessary for them to use that as a
m ajor factor for m aking a decision. I
certainly d o n 't m ove forw ard with
the idea that the voters have spo
ken, and w e need to m ove forw ard
on C RC . I think we need to m ove
forw ard on C R C for a variety o f
reasons, but I d o n ’t see the election
as a m andate.
PO : W here do yo u see it m oving
fo r w a r d ?
T H : I think the one thing w e ’ve
got to do in w orking w ith the tw o
D O TS (W ashington and O regon
D epartm ents o f T ransportation), is
to m ake sure we have an u n d er
standing o f w hat the governance
structure o f the project is going to
be. I think we need to develop a
structure that rem oves the direct
control o f the departm ents o f trans
portation and gives m ore authority,
or more opportunity perhaps, to local
issues to be addressed, as well as
sim ply the needs o f the state trans
portation departm ents.
PO: D o you see a consensus fo r m
ing a ro u n d the p ro ject?
T H : I th in k th at in the p ro c e ss
o f d e v e lo p in g a c o n se n su s, th e re
w ill a lw ay s be issu e s th a t w ill be
ra ise d , but 1 th in k that the n atu re
o f th e se p ro je c ts is th at y o u go
fo rw a rd and you m ak e the a d ju s t
m en ts in term s o f w h at the fu n d
ing is g o in g to lo o k like. G o v e r
n o r-e le c t K itz h a b e r has a lre ad y
sta rte d that p ro c e ss. W e n eed to
be b ack in W a sh in g to n m ak in g
su re w e can sec u re the fe d e ral
fu n d in g w e n eed to m o v e fo rw ard .
W e m o v e fo rw a rd as d e c isiv e ly as
w e c an , and w o rk o u t o u r d iffe r
e n c e s as w e go.
PO : In the g o v e r n o r ’s In d ep en
dent R eview P a n el report, one thing
that stuck out f o r m e w as it sa id that
the issue o f en viro n m en ta l ju stic e
has been rolled into o th er issues —
like n eig h b o rh o o d a n d com m unity
issues — a n d hasn ’t been seriously
assessed.
T H : I guess that as we discussed
the issue during the last year-and-a-
half, those issues have com e up,
and, in som e respects, neig h b o r
hoods are the issue. I m ean if y o u 're
talking about environm ental justice,
it’s a question o f w hich neig h b o r
hoods are going to be im pacted and
how they are going to be im pacted.
A nd one o f the things that is
intriguing to m e is that the people
w ho have represented that N orth
P ortland com m unity m ost directly
— w hich I think is the area w here
people w ould argue that the en v i
ronm ental ju stice issue should be
argued — have been pretty d eci
sively in favor o f m oving forw ard
w ith (recently reelected N orth Port
land D em ocratic State Rep.J T ina
K otek and now (C ounty C o m m is
sioner for N orth and N ortheast P ort
land) L oretta Sm ith being elected. I
know that L oretta w as a big sup
p o rter o f the bridge.
1 think the question is w hether
you believe the bridge w ill solve the
congestion problem or not. If you
believe the bridge will solve the
congestion problem , I think, quite
frankly, it w ill help resolve som e
problem s, so it ’ s a m ove forw ard for
environm ental ju stice.
PO : W hat do yo u base that on ?
T H : I think that if we m ove traffic
b etter through the area it w ill a ctu
ally reduce congestion, w hich will
reduce pollution.
P O : W hat is the b ig g est c h a l
lenge yo u see? W hat keep s yo u up
a t night?
T H : I think we ’ re at a critical point
in this region w here econom ic d e
v elopm ent is tied to the success o f
o u r eco n o m ic d e v elo p m en t p ro
gram , w hich is tied to all other deliv
ery o f public services. So the quality
o f our schools, the quality o f our
hum an services, and the quality o f
o u r transportation services in som e
respects, depends on o ur ability to
create rapid jo b grow th.
O ur ability to create rapid jo b
grow th depends on o u r quality o f
schools, our quality o f hum an re
sources, the quality o f o ur tran sp o r
tation system . So the cyclical nature
o f that allow s, in tim es like w e ’re
ex p eriencing now , a phenom enon
w here you begin to d evelop a w h irl
pool effect. It w inds dow n to w here
y o u g et fe w e r jo b s a n d w o rse
schools, w hich creates few er jo b s,
w hich creates w orse schools.
T h a t's a d angerous dynam ic for
us to get into. I think w e are in
d an g er o f doing that if w e d o n ’t put
in a H erculean effort to try and p ro
m ote the area as a good place to do
jo b creation.
In Loving
Memory
Laurie ‘Lo-Lo’Venable
Aug. 30,1973
- Dec. 15, 1995
It’s been 15 years that y o u 'v e
been gone. Y o u ’re too well loved
to be forgotten.
Love,
Y our Family
auumaU tftewd
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