Clark County Commissioners weigh in on transportation
Clark County Commissioners Tom Mielke and David Madore did their part this week to convince lawmakers to vote against a statewide transportation revenue package.
Here’s how Mielke put it in an email to select lawmakers, “Get some balls or step down from your job!”
I guess we all know how he feels.
Madore was a bit more long-winded in his Facebook post. He listed specific Republican representatives and urged his dedicated readers to call each individual and persuade them to vote against the transportation package.
“The state Senate, including Senator Ann Rivers, already voted to rip off Clark County citizens today by voting for a 12.5 cent gas tax,” Madore wrote on Facebook.
By the way, it’s an 11.9-cent gas tax over the next two years. The plan would increase the tax in two phases, first on Aug. 1 by 7 cents and again on July 1, 2016 by 4.9 cents.
And Madore reiterated his now familiar refrain that money for upgrades around the Interstate-5 and Mill Plain Boulevard interchange included in the transportation package is to help the Columbia River Crossing.
By the way, the Columbia River Crossing is dead.
For more on that, visit the All Politics Is Local Post on May 22 by Kaitlin Gillespie.
In the end, Madore compared the transportation package to a fairy tale. (Seems fitting somehow.)
“The boy who sold the family cow for a few beans (Jack and the Beanstalk) at least had a promise that they were magic. But these beans are toxic for Clark County,” Madore wrote.
The House still needs to pass two key bills in order for the transportation package to become a reality.
Lawmakers are in the midst of a third special legislative session.
Lauren Dake
Lauren Dake covers politics for The Columbian. You can reach her at 360-735-4534 or lauren.dake@columbian.com. Follow her on Twitter .