Mielke’s got light rail on the brain

Look at this logo for the grassroots branding campaign launched by local business boosters. What do you see?

When Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke looked at the logo on Wednesday, he asked why light rail is included.

The commissioners had been given a fact sheet on the campaign.

Mielke was joking, but no one else even thought of light rail when they looked at the logo.

Mielke opposes the Columbia River Crossing, which includes light rail. Maybe having to talk about it so much, including at a recent C-Tran meeting and a C-Tran retreat, is causing him to see light rail where it isn’t.

Commissioner Steve Stuart said when he looks at the logo, he sees Mount Hood and the Columbia River.

Maybe the subject of light rail put Mielke in a foul mood, because the real purpose of distributing the fact sheet was for commissioners to agree on how much money to give the economic development campaign.

The campaign asked for $10,000. Mielke said the county should just give them some staff time. Stuart and Commissioner Marc Boldt got Mielke to come around, and they agreed to give the campaign $5,000 plus staff time (meaning Economic Development Manager Kelly Sills will do some work for the group.)

The county settled on $5,000 and staff time because that’s what the City of Vancouver agreed to donate.