They're more than a few steps removed from reality over there at the Mercury. Maybe they should go to work for Metro or the developer mafia.

The comments over there are on a wild ride. F bombs, charges of racism and a dig at bojack by EngineerScotty.
I thought about contributing but they're on a roll and BlueOregon is piling on with their "bagger" labels.

On task, Mercury author Denis misrepresented everything possible in order to cast aspersions at the Clackastanis and avoid
the real rebellion out there. The readers ate it up and piled on.

None of them touch the Democrat Sheriff's scathing rebuking of the county commissioners for their callous trading of voter supported public safety for light rail which voters don't support.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=133842040732138700

It appears many Portlanders are used to the devaluing of public safety.

Here is the Sheriff's complete statement should any of them visit here.
http://www.debunkingportland.com/clackamas_public_safety.html

Mercury readers trot out the lame Sellwood Bridge fee tale that castigates Clackamas voters for failing to understand Portland math.
Most of them haven't figured out that the Sellwood bridge fee was a swindle or that Clackamas already pays for regional projects with their gas taxes.
The Metro-JPACT Creep has been misappropriating the returning fed gas tax flex funds allocating nearly $200 million to MIlwaukie Light Rail and nothing to the Sellwood bridge. Portland also intended on using the Clack fee to shift even more money to Milwaukie light rail.

As for Light Rail. The county residents didn't want the Green Line and it's eating through $60 million in county property taxes taken from public safety and other essential services.

Regarding Milaukie Light rail. This segment of the North South light rail line had been withdrawn from previous processes because of 2 failed votes and widespread dissent in the community which had resulted in a successful recall of city councilors over their support for light rail.
Government connivers and their consultants fabricated a consensus to revive the project.

Yet the same touted benefits that didn't appear with the Green Line are now repeated for hyping Milwaukie Light Rail.

The Portland Creep of massive debts, gross misappropriation, dysfunction, crazed infill, irrational rail, subsidized development and high density schemes are a FAIL Clackamas County residents are rejecting. Some Portland residents resent this and are striking out with rhetoric oblivious to what the Creep really is.

Last November Clackamas voters killed Urban Renewal scheming by 70% and passed the Democrat Sheriff's Levy by 80%. There's nothing wrong with their priorities.

Now the county is trying to move forward and hand over $25 million to TriMet and rip off public safety to pay for it.
The Mercury and BlueOregon can't understand why that is a problem.

They also don't understand how Portland, TriMet and Milwaukie are also borrowing against their own essential services. No problem there?

All of this fiscal burden could be relieved if the project were scaled back to Tacoma to wait for a better economy, real funding and public support not currently available.

Whoever wrote that article failed to grasp the topic. Not sure if that is because the writer isn't smart enough to figure it out, or if it was because the article was supposed to be one-sided. My guess is the later. The Merc seems to be more of a PR machine for a certain point of view than actual journalism.

God, is Dave Hunt that tone-deaf? I'd like to think there is a amenable solution between rolling over for anything Portland wants and digging a moat around the county.

Then again I forgot about those XMAS eMails he sent out.

Somebody at the Mercury is auditioning for a PR job with a Portland politician....
Smith maybe ?

You all understand of course that the light rail will never go away, it will be returned as the only way forward, and any votes will be gone around, until it is built. The Portland Plan will be adopted, even if they have to infiltrate enough new voters to make it so. (That is why it is coming to Vancouver when the I-5 bridge is installed.) Vote your little hearts out, but it is coming.

I am sorry to tell you that though. But they are truly relentless.

I don't understand why John Williams and others think that asking for a vote, having legitimate questions concerning lightrail or urban renewal is a "conservative" position.

I know "progressives" have concerns about financial means to do projects. Why is asking for a vote "conservative"? I'm tired of labeling, and I think citizens are tired of it out too.

There is a lot of misreading in Mercury's article.

Clakistanis'?
Love the term and love the message.
How about MultNoDuhs to describe the sheep being lead to the slaughter there.

I can't prove it but it seems the dumbing down of the government schools/education/critical thinking skills is finally begining to pay off. Is everybody asleep there - or just critically unaware?