My wife has bad dreams about the SB falling down, and won't let me drive across with her in the car. Maybe Cogan is having the same dream.

I don’t care what Cogan’s motive is. Any criticism and flack that Sam the pervert gets from any credible source is music to my ears.

I hope Cogan runs for mayor. he may not be perfect, but he has a better chance than another Sho Dozono.

I like that one of the mayor's demand is an immediate transfer of all Willamette River bridges to the city. Heaven help us.

And demand number one is that the new Sellwood Bridge be "streetcar ready." I wonder when they'll give this up?

Cogen not Cogan.........sorry I started that

One can only hope this will expose the Tramwhore for what he is......

Sounds like bad work habits on someone's part. What could cause that? Alcoholism? Maybe some kind of prescription drugs? I am left to guess the cause but it is surely there.

Cogen sleeps with the fishes

Yesterday I received a piece of mail about traffic plans to finish the Denver project. Mine eyes glazed over, and I forthwith placed paper in recycling. Then the next day there was another paper in the mail, saying there were errors on the first paper and to consult the map on the back of the second piece of mail just to clarify.

I think somewhere in one of those two pieces of paper the word streetcar was glimpsed.

I shuddered.

But anon, good news hails from distant shores, our friends the French overwhelmingly banned the burka today. Allahu akbar.

If Adams wants the bridges, I'd recommend that Cogen make it happen. TODAY. Call an emergency commission meeting and make it happen. Wash the county's hands of the bridges, and let Mayor Disaster deal with it.

Then one of two things will happen:

1. He'll realize that by having the bridges, he can't have what he wants, or:

2. He'll do what he wants, and shut down the bridges to cars. ODOT will strip transportation funding the city, forcing the city to use property tax revenues for PDOT. The bicyclists will claim "victory" because right now PDOT doesn't get any non-user fee revenues for roadway maintenance. In the end, the 80% of Portlanders will finally get so fed up with his ignorance that the vast, vast, VAST majority of Portlanders do not bike and many have no interest in it...that the city will self-destruct under his weight.

Cogen said Adams’ delays and Miller’s threats marked a significant departure from the mayor’s previous position. In May 2009, Adams said in a letter to the county that the city would commit $8 million per year for up to 20 years. The commitment was contingent on the city receiving additional state funding.

Adams declined to comment, referring questions to his spokesman, Roy Kaufmann. Kaufmann did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wouldn't be surprised that Sam has run out of the $8 million he wanted to commit. He may have had to ask the state for funding for something else.

Please No! Now he wants to control all the bridges!! Would not feel safe crossing any of them with Sam and the rest in charge!!

I'm sure he's just stonewalling any attempts to replace it just as he has with the I-5 Interstate Bridge.

If it does fall down as in Minneapolis a few years ago, people will get hurt and probably killed. There will be an NTSC investigation and his efforts to block safety and capacity upgrades will receive negative attention from Congress and the national media.

I am no fan of Cogen but I can't see how the rest of the state outside of the city of Portland puts up with all the subsidies the state sends to Portland cityhall. This whole Portland cityhall regime is a leftover from the Goldschimdt days although Blumenhauer continues to milk it. Vote Dudley and we might stand a chance at breaking the city of Portland's strangle hold over the rest of the state.

The Milwaukee light rail project is mostly for the benefit of Portland cityhall. So, if cityhall wants to act like monopolists over other local and regional governments, it might be a very good move by the state to kill this project, just to rein in Adams and his cohorts.

Adams can't even manage his own checkbook. Why the heck is he in charge of millions?

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/09/portland_mayor_sam_adams_defau.html

Sam can play all the jurisdictional games he wants, but when the Sellwood Bridge falls into the river with Portland citizens being hurt or worse, killed, it's not the county the national media is going to go after -- after all, the county is on record as at least trying. Sam's games will make him the bad guy -- and that will be his legacy.

Regardless, anyone who uses the Sellwood bridge knows it's a time bomb. Get your head out of your arse and get it done, Sam. It's on your watch.

Oops, I meant NTSB, not NTSC.

So there is commentary on this going on elsewhere on the interwebs.

A few points made there, the state constitution would apparently have to be modified for the CoP to get ownership of any bridges and the city charter would have to be ammended to allow the city to own bridges.

The Tramwhore's grasp on how things work is well limited.

And the larger issue is that the state of Oregon gives gas tax revenues for bridge maintenance so Mayor Trammy sees this as an opp for $$ grabbing.

The Milwaukee light rail project is mostly for the benefit of Portland cityhall...

We're paying for light rail in Wisconsin too?

What Milwaukie guy... you down't think PDX's press is edumacated enuf to be riting on lokel izus?

I am shocked!

The way Sam is "bulking" up since his mayorly victory, we need to see that he is invited to events where he has to use the Sellwood crossing. That would certainly be a good test of the structual integrity of the span.

"I am no fan of Cogen but I can't see how the rest of the state outside of the city of Portland puts up with all the subsidies the state sends to Portland cityhall."

Bob, you got it backward. The taxpayers of Portland subsidize the rest of the state. For public education alone, Portland sends out $400 million more in taxes than it gets back.