Map
of the Proposed Interstate Max
Six months ago Ted Piccolo looked like a musketeer. Leading
a small cadre of outnumbered critics, the conservative
North Portlander played a key role in defeating the $1.6
billion south-north light-rail project at the ballot box.
When Tri-Met unveiled a shorter, cheaper version of
the rail line in March, Piccolo--and his Ayn Rand-inspired
political action committee, Atlas Oregon--geared up
for another fight. The former newspaper publisher quickly
cranked out 20,000 fliers and 7,000 postcards that asked,
"What Part of 'No' Don't They Understand?"
But now Piccolo is poised to surrender.
What happened?
After three unsuccessful attempts, Tri-Met officials
finally figured out a winning strategy: While they didn't
eliminate public participation in the new project, they
did keep it from going to a popular vote. How? By imitating
the famed knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
who keeps fighting even when one limb after another
is lopped off in battle.
In 1995, rail advocates were pushing for a 21-mile
line from Clackamas County in Oregon across the Columbia
to Clark County in Washington. Washington voters rejected
the idea, so Tri-Met opted for a shorter, 16-mile, Oregon-only
line. When Oregon voters rejected that, too, it was
back to the drawing board.
Now the proposed Portland-only line is just 5.6 miles
long--extending from the Rose Garden to the Expo Center,
right up the middle of Interstate Avenue. At $350 million,
it's much cheaper than the original proposal. And since
the feds are picking up 69 percent of the tab, no property
tax increases are needed to foot the bill, allowing
Tri-Met to bypass the ballot box.
Without a public vote, Piccolo had hoped to derail
the new line at City Hall. He saw the Portland City
Council as the most vulnerable link in the rail chain.
His logic? Tri-Met is counting on the council to contribute
$30 million to the project, and the majority of the
council will be hitting the campaign trail in just a
few months.
"Three of the five are up for re-election next year,"
Piccolo says. "The goal is to ask them, 'Do you want
this issue to define you for the next four years?'"
But Piccolo's campaign has failed to stop the council
from supporting the North Portland line. All Piccolo
can do at this point is grumble, as he did in an opinion
piece in The Oregonian. In the article he complained
that local officials "are preparing to build this new
line by fiat."
One of Piccolo's key complaints is that council members
are saying the line can be built without a tax increase.
Though the $30 million city contribution is not coming
from increased property taxes, he says it is still $30
million that won't be spent on streets, sidewalks and
neighborhood beautification.
"My argument is that this is a giant shell game," Piccolo
says. "They're saying it's not a tax increase. I'm saying
it's one waiting to happen because it's money that could
be going to something else like parks."
His second gripe is that voters won't get the chance
to approve--or scuttle--the project.
Mayor Vera Katz and Charlie Hales, the city's transportation
commissioner, flat-out reject Piccolo's rallying cry
that voters have already said "no" to Interstate MAX.
Katz and Hales maintain that this project is radically
different from its predecessors because it does not
rely on property taxes. Even if it did require a big
tax increase, Hales adds, that doesn't mean the council
should stop trying.
"According to Ted Piccolo," Hales says, "we wouldn't
build any more new schools because people had voted
against some bond measures. Look at Beaverton--they
failed three times with a bond measure before finally
passing one to build a new high school."
Katz also sees no reason to take the issue back to
voters. She notes that a majority of Portlanders have
voted for light rail, even when the region and the state
as a whole have said "no" to ballot measures in 1996
and 1998.
"Polling shows the support is still there," the mayor
says.
Hales and Katz don't sound worried about a voter backlash.
"I am going to be running for re-election next year,"
says Hales. "I'll be happy to remind voters of the things
I've worked on--airport light rail, the first streetcar
line in 50 years and a less expensive version of light
rail in North and Northeast Portland. I'm not going
to be hiding my record--I'll be relying on it."
Katz adds that the council is elected to make spending
decisions, not to refer the tough calls to voters. "Hold
us accountable," she says.
Although Piccolo is ready to concede this battle, he
vows to fight another day--on different fronts.
Lots of them.
Piccolo says he might use the council's support for
light rail to fuel a local term-limits measure he hopes
to put on the ballot in November 2000. Or he might use
the light-rail issue to argue against future city tax
increases. Or he might take the city to court, arguing
that it can't use urban-renewal funds for a light-rail
line that runs beyond the urban-renewal district boundaries.
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Willamette Week | originally
published May 26, 1999
