As one of his last acts on the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, Port of Vancouver Commissioner Jerry Oliver is pushing his colleagues to take a strong stance on Oregon’s idea to toll metro-area freeways beginning at the state line.
“I just felt somebody needed to stand up for the taxpayers and didn’t feel RTC was doing it,” he said.
Oliver brought forth two different but substantively similar letters to the November and December board of directors meetings. He urged his colleagues to sign and send them to the Oregon Transportation Commission on behalf of RTC.
But the board postponed any action until its January meeting, citing among other reasons the need to further discuss it with their own delegations. The RTC is the metropolitan planning organization for Clark County as well as the state-designated regional transportation planning organization for Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties. It also represents the Washington portion of the Portland-Vancouver Transportation Management Area.
Its 14 rotating board members — who represent local governments, special purpose districts, government agencies — oversee the organization’s business affairs, adopt a regional transportation plan, select and program transportation grant funds and perform other duties.
Oliver said he now considers the anti-tolling letter “a dead issue” since he won’t be on the board in January. He’ll be replaced by Port of Ridgefield Commissioner Scott Hughes, and so he “doesn’t think the letter is going to happen.”
“I was just trying to put a stake in the ground and say this isn’t a positive way forward,” he said.
Oliver’s most recent proposed letter, addressed to Oregon Transportation Commission Chair Tammy Baney, addresses Oregon’s plans to study tolling on Interstates 5 and 205 around the Portland metro area. It describes tolls as “an unfair financial burden on the 70,000 citizens of Clark County who cross the Columbia River to work in Oregon every day” and urged the board to consider alternatives.
Letter lacks backing
That letter’s language is softer in tone than the one Oliver presented to RTC in November in which he likened Southwest Washington’s three-person delegation on the 24-member Portland Region Value Pricing Policy Advisory Committee (the board that provides guidance on the toll implementation plan) to “121 wolves and three lambs voting on what is for supper.”
The RTC board didn’t put the first letter onto its meeting agenda. But at the Dec. 5 meeting, Oliver tried to bring up his second, less strident letter. When some of his colleagues balked, Oliver became defensive and claimed he had more support from his port constituency than he appears to have actually had.
“I represent two cities, neither of which has seen this before,” said Paul Greenlee, who represents the cities of Camas and Washougal. “I’d also ask Commissioner Oliver (if he has) heard from his other ports whom he represents.”
“Yes, the support is unanimous. We had a three-port meeting last evening,” Oliver said.
“But how about the Port of Camas-Washougal or (the Port of) Ridgefield?” Greenlee asked.
“They were there. You weren’t,” Oliver retorted.
But it appears Oliver was acting unilaterally. The letter wasn’t presented or discussed at the all-ports meeting the night before. In fact, officials from all three ports independently confirmed to the Columbian that their ports haven’t taken a position on Oregon’s tolling plans.
Oliver circulated letter
About three weeks before the Dec. 5 meeting, Oliver used his personal email address to circulate the latest version of his letter to all the commissioners and CEOs at the ports of Vancouver, Ridgefield and Camas-Washougal.
“The letter is intended to express the concern the RTC has for the interests of our citizens and how the proposed tolling scheme of the State of Oregon would impact them,” Oliver wrote, explaining that he intended to present it to RTC board members in December. “It thus complements a similar letter sent on behalf of the Clark County council.”
After Port of Camas-Washougal Commissioners John Spencer and Bill Ward replied to everyone in Oliver’s original email, Port of Vancouver CEO Juliana Marler stepped in.
“Commissioners, Just a friendly reminder to not ‘reply all’ to this email as it is communication to all board members. If you are from another port you can communicate directly with Commissioner Oliver,” she wrote.
Four days later, Oliver responded: “First, to all commissioners: do not ‘reply all’ in order to avoid a violation of the Open Public Meetings law.”
On Dec. 6 outgoing Vancouver Councilman Jack Burkman wrote a letter to the Port of Vancouver asking if Oliver misrepresented the three ports’ support of his letter. If so, Burkman requested the port send a letter of correction to clarify that Oliver was representing his own views and not that of the other ports.
“This letter is needed before the Jan. 2 RTC meeting so the tabled decision to act on the letter will be made with accurate information,” he wrote.
Port of Vancouver spokeswoman Abbi Russell said the port plans to send a letter of clarification in the next couple of days.
