Bickering between state and local officials on both sides of the Columbia River has reached a fever pitch as planners finalize plans for a new Interstate 5 bridge.
What’s the public make of all this?
Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke wants to find out with an advisory vote, at least on the Washington side of the river. Mielke has persistently criticized the crossing project for its multibillion-dollar price tag, its reliance on tolling to generate the local financial share, and its inclusion of Portland’s light-rail transit system to downtown Vancouver.
Mielke thinks the public agrees with him, especially with planning now consuming more than $1 million a month.
“It’s not just pennies that we’re spending here,” he said. “It’s not supported by the populace. If it went to a vote today, it would be voted down and yet we continue to spend this outrageous amount of money. To me, it’s just crazy that we would continue to do this and keep it from the people.”
Mielke, a Republican former state legislator, has failed to generate support for the advisory vote among fellow county commissioners, C-Tran’s board of directors, or the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.
Mielke’s latest request fizzled during a regional transportation council meeting Tuesday in Vancouver.
Dean Lookingbill, the multiagency group’s executive director, reported that the transportation council’s attorney informed him that the agency doesn’t have the authority to proceed with such a vote. The attorney, Clark County chief civil deputy Bronson Potter, separately provided the same advice to Mielke and the other two county commissioners.
“You can have an advisory vote as a means of getting input from your citizenry as to issues that you have some authority over,” Potter said in a subsequent interview. “So, for example, the county could not have an advisory vote over whether or not to build a road that is entirely within a city.”
In the case of the Columbia River Crossing, both the Regional Transportation Council and C-Tran actually do have some direct influence.
Even though it’s primarily an interstate freeway with heavy state and federal influence, the transportation council will be required to amend its metropolitan transportation plan to include the crossing.
C-Tran, as the transit operator, expects it will have to pony up roughly $2 million a year to operate and maintain light rail on the Vancouver side of the river — money it expects to generated through a sales tax increase, to be decided by voters in 2011.
County Commissioner Marc Boldt, a fellow Republican who previously served with Mielke in the state Legislature, said he’s not inclined to support an advisory vote now.
“Once you go down that path, your ballot could be full of advisory votes,” Boldt said.
Bolstering his case for an advisory vote, Mielke noted that local residents probably will have to pay tolls to generate the local share of funding on a project expected to cost between $2.6 billion and $3.6 billion. The tolls could cost more than $1,000 annually for Washingtonians commuting to jobs south of the river.
“I’m going to keep pushing it,” Mielke said. “The people want a voice. This is not a vote on health care — it’s an advisory vote. You’d think anybody would be willing to do that.”
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said the cost of including an advisory vote on this year’s primary or general election ballot would be relatively small, probably in the range of about $3,000.
State law does not explicitly prohibit advisory votes, according to state elections officials.
“There’s nothing that says they couldn’t,” said Katie Blinn, assistant director of elections for Secretary of State Sam Reed. “This whole animal of advisory votes is simply advisory. The process is not spelled out in state law, so there aren’t black and white parameters around it.”
Fellow county Commissioner Steve Stuart, a Democrat who represents the regional transportation council on a crossing advisory committee formed by Gov. Chris Gregoire and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, has been pushing for a scientifically valid survey to probe residents’ willingness to support the project.
Stuart envisions the survey will probe residents’ support based upon the costs in terms of tolling rates and benefits in terms of time saved in commuting. Officials with the bistate crossing office have pledged to conduct a survey, probably before the federal government publishes a formal record of decision by the end of this year.
Erik Robinson: 360-735-4551, or erik.robinson@columbian.com.
