Seen a Rogue on the loose? Get in touch with our Roguemeister: JOHN SCHRAG jschrag@wweek.com (503) 243-2122 FAX: (503) 243-1115 A lot of people like to take shots at Metro Executive Mike Burton. We normally aren't among them, but Burton ends up in our Rogue's Gallery this week after suggesting his fellow councilors were being disingenuous--when in fact he's the one who was guilty of that. For months, the hot topic at Metro has been what to do with $60 million in savings from renegotiating the regional planning agency's trash-disposal contract with Waste Management Inc. On Oct. 13, the day before a public meeting on how that money should be spent, Burton wrote a letter to his council saying that half the money should be used to lower disposal fees at Metro landfills, allowing local governments to pass on the savings to consumers. "In my original position I felt it would be prudent public policy" to spend half the money on lowering fees, "and I stand by that position today," Burton wrote. Giving back any less, he continued, would seem "very disingenuous." Burton's Oct. 13 letter makes it sound like he'd always favored returning half the money. In fact, Burton had previously been an outspoken advocate for the idea that Metro keep all the money. That sentiment is found in his public statements as well as his memos to the Metro Policy Advisory Committee. Several councilors say he advocated that position right up until writing the Oct. 13 letter. At the Oct. 14 meeting, councilors David Bragdon, Rod Park and Jon Kvistad laid into Burton. Park chided Burton for pushing "a position that quite frankly I have never heard before." Kvistad, hardly an ally of Bragdon or Park, agreed, saying of Burton's implication that his position had not changed, "Not only do I feel it's disingenuous--it's not true." Although Burton denies it, it's hard not to believe that his switch in positions was prompted by a discussion he had with Jill Thompson, an editorial writer for The Oregonian. The O published a strong editorial the morning of the meeting urging Metro to return the garbage savings to taxpayers. Burton doesn't deny that he has changed his position but dismisses the hoopla over the letter as "semantics." Perhaps, but Burton's sloppy use of semantics makes it look like he's rewriting history. Metro has enough outside enemies without its exec causing needless internal rifts. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published October 20, 1999