(Newswire.net — January 8, 2015) Portland, OR — In clearly another thinly disguised government power grab, Portland is putting forth a weak attempt at gathering public information and support for the failed notion of a “street fee.”
The hair brained idea is that there will be an advisory vote in May 2015 with a variety of suggested measures on how Portland can collect it’s much desired street tax.
Mayor Hales stated “We will ask the voters to pick from the array of funding options, and we’ll adopt the one with the most ‘yes’ votes”. The funny thing is – there will NOT be a no vote available to voters.
The vote clearly is designed won’t actually decide anything — it’s nonbinding. Even if every option fails to get 50 percent of voter approval, Hales is prepared to take the most popular plan to the City Council for adoption later this year.
Councilman Novick said that “… under the advice from city attorneys, Portland will not place the options in a single ballot title.” Instead, each option will be listed separately, with voters asked to vote yes or no on each.
It should be important to note that Novick confirmed two options that will make the ballot are: a progressive income tax and a gas tax. He said the city may also refer some version of a user fee or a property tax.
Sandra McDonough, president and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance, “If they put six options on [the ballot] and no options gets 50 percent, what do they do?”
In this last ditch effort to raise up to $40 million, Hales said, “We have held 14 months of hearings. We’ve spent countless hours on this. The time to act is now.”
Excuse me? What was that again, Charlie?
You’ve wasted 14 months of your time (on our dime) and NOW you want to act!
And this what you call action?
Really Charlie. Come on Steve. Get a grip and don’t waste our time. It’s time to move on and figure out how to pay for street fixes with the money Portland already has.