Common sense suggests that Vancouver will be a much different place by the time mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle leaves office. So, as we look ahead to the newly installed mayor’s time at the helm of the city council, we ponder what changes might be coming.
From our perspective, two items seem to be preeminent: A lingering and growing homeless problem, and the need for a long-range vision for transportation in the area. While no one person can provide all the answers, we trust that McEnerny-Ogle possesses the skills to shepherd the city toward a prosperous future.
The homeless issue has been festering for years both here and elsewhere, fueled by factors ranging from income inequality to an opioid crisis to mental health issues to a lack of affordable housing. In 2016, Vancouver voters demonstrated their concern over homelessness by approving a new tax to help build and preserve affordable housing, and McEnerny-Ogle must demonstrate deft leadership of the seven-member council in effectively spending the expected $6 million a year provided by the tax.
In addition to offering dignity for some of our most vulnerable citizens, addressing homelessness will help ensure that Vancouver is welcoming and attractive for businesses, residents, and visitors.
On Monday, during McEnerny-Ogle’s first meeting as mayor, the city council approved purchase of a former state Fish and Wildlife building to provide a new day center for the homeless. As The Columbian wrote editorially in November, “Creating a location that provides meals, shower and laundry services and access to transit is an essential part of being a full-service city.” But while the plan has benefits, it does not mitigate the need for overnight shelters and permanent housing for vulnerable people. Work remains to be done.
Homelessness is an issue that confronts local residents each time they visit the downtown core or drive past freeway underpasses. Transportation, on the other hand, speaks to the Vancouver of the future. Officials are pleased with the C-Tran bus rapid transit system built to serve Fourth Plain Boulevard, noting increased ridership and reduced costs, and McEnerny-Ogle is advocating for a similar system along Mill Plain Boulevard. “We’re really happy that it came in on time, under budget, and we can prove a higher ridership,” she said of the Fourth Plain project.
Bus rapid transit might well help Vancouver prepare for the future, but the most pressing transportation issue continues to be getting back and forth across the Columbia River.
Importantly, McEnerny-Ogle sits on a newly formed Oregon committee that is examining the prospect of tolls along Interstate 5 and Interstate 205, with some proposals including tolls beginning at the state line. Tolls that start at the Oregon end of the bridges but provide miniscule benefits for Washington drivers (i.e. no new bridges) would be an affront to Clark County residents.
We hope the contacts and insight McEnerny-Ogle gleans from the committee will help trigger talks about a new Interstate 5 bridge and, eventually, additional bridges across the Columbia. The long-term prosperity of the region depends upon it.
Of course, governing a city of more than 170,000 people inevitably will include unforeseen problems and unanticipated successes. But, for now, the issues of homelessness and transportation should top McEnerny-Ogle’s agenda as she takes the helm in Vancouver.
