Informational Question and Answer Session for the DEIS

[Chief]

The first of four opportunities to ask questions about the DEIS will be a week from today.

Thursday, May 15th
6-8:30 P.M.
Jantzen Beach SuperCenter
1405 N. Jantzen Beach Center
Portland, OR

I urge readers to pass this information along to your contacts, and start drawing up your list of specific questions about the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that was just released.

These sessions are for serious questions and answers about the DEIS itself. This is not the time for speeches, diatribes, personal agendas, or any of that. This is NOT a meeting of the Task Force. It is a Question and Answer session, and we shall have to see how this goes in order to decide how the rest of them will be conducted.

The second session will be at the Firstenberg Center in June, and I will put up a separate notice for that and each subsequent meeting.

This will be your only opportunity to get questions answered before the first Public Hearing on May 28th, so you'll need to have your questions well prepared...

[Waterbuffalo]

Like what the "EXACT cost of the rail line will be from the expo center in to its location in Vancouver?"

I added it to my list. Its only one week from today. And if your so inclined, you can take the #4 Fourth Plain from Vancouver over to Jantzen Beach.

[Chief]

That brings up a good point there WB....in between the Expo Center and Vancouver is Hayden Island. Where exactly does the Washington share of this stop, and the Oregon share begin??

[Waterbuffalo]

I expect the transit portion will be a wholed together instead of split apart in sections Chief.

[Chief]

Then please explain to me how you pay for Capital Assets in Oregon with Washington State funds??

[Waterbuffalo]

<deletes comments..>

Do you think Portland isn't going to try and stick us with as much of the Bill for this project as they can? You have been to all the of the hearings and backroom sides as I have.. Have you heard the portland side EVER say they would help pay for this project other than may be light rail to jantzen beach?

Who do you think they feel benefits (one sided and absent-minded I ABSOLUTELY SAY!) from this bridge the most?

[Chief]

There is no doubt that a large slice of Portland believes tha the CRCP benefits nobody except Clark County Commuters, and who don't think Oregon should pay a cent for anything on the Project. That view is about as intelligent as the Clark County CAVE Contingent's is, but it's out there.

[Chief]

bttt...

This is coming up tomorrow night, so make some plans now to be there.

[Chief]

bttt...

[Chief]

What an utter waste of time!

I showed up a little after six, signed in and looked around. there were people there from the staff, with little sticky nametags on, identifying what they were there to talk about: "TRAFFIC "TRANSIT" "etc...

I asked who was there to talk about "FINANCE", Chapter 4 of the DEIS specifically, and was told that the person who was supposed to talk about finance couldn't make it.

This is unacceptable! This is the only Q&A session before the first Public Hearing, and if they cannot (or simply will not) answer pertinent questions, how in hell is the public expected to support anything about this?

What really tightened my jaws was the young man I was quizzing said "Goodby Mr. Koski" as I was walking out. The rub is, I never introduced myself to him.

That means he knew who I was, and if he knew that then he also knew what I was coming there to talk about tonight.

Here are their stats for April...
columbiarivercrossing.org 76 298 887.20 KB 30 Apr 2008 - 09:01

And for May, so far...
columbiarivercrossing.org 35 182 776.39 KB 13 May 2008 - 09:14

The CRCP is here often enough to monitor every thread we put up about the Project, and they know what we are talking about here.

[Waterbuffalo]

;-0 But do they know us all by face and name?

Yeah, they could have been ready for you and had questions ready. Just like they would be ready for any big whig that they might suspect might be in town.

Well back to the Drawing Board I guess. Did you ask who was supposed to be there to talk about the Financial portion of the project?

[Waterbuffalo]

Another Question: Could that person have read your name off the list and put two and two together?

[Chief]

The attendance list was outside when I went into the space they were using, and the staff was not consulting it anyway.

I don't know who was supposed to be there, but nobody was prepared to discuss finance...

It was a colossal waste of time, energy, and gasoline, and I don't believe I'm being petty about this. I had Chapter Four of the DEIS in hand and several pages of notes. I was prepared to take advantage of a Q&A session and what I got was another Open House, only about half-baked. The Staff had an opportunity to live up to their responsibilities, or at least to finally answer some real questions about the project and failed yet again.

I'll try again at the next one on June 7th at the Firsenberg Center. At least I won't have to burn up so much gas to get there, and I should have a bunch more questions by then...

[Waterbuffalo]

Will you be joining the throngs from the CAVE-In Crowd? I'd bet you'll be seeing them there as they its just a hop to Firstenburg like it was for that Rep. Jim Dunn meeting in January.

When is the next meeting at the Firstenburg?

Wonder if any representatives, regional or state officials will be there to answer questions at firstenburg?

I some times see Steve and others at these events when I go..

[Chief]

Ya know WB, I am trying very hard to find something to like about this nonsense, and no matter how many times they piss me off, I always go back for more. Shame on me at some point, but I really am trying not to sound like CAVE, but it's hard and getting harder to do...

(CAVE= Citizens Against Virtually Everything for the un-initiated...)

[Waterbuffalo]

I'll add a second to that as well. I have tried myself to get educated about the facts, politics and commentary on many different issues related to many different subjects.

Repeatedly I have come away in some circles, I don't feel my ideas are being included or listened to. But that is the nature of politics and control.

I have come away from various other government entities and people who listened to what I have had to say, acknowledged but may be not had used the suggestion for many different reasons. Some of that may have been to my ignorance of the process, what had all ready been done OR my questions and commentary might have been all ready talked about and answered.

I will say that I have had positive experiences with government listening to what I have had to say once they seen my face around and have studied the issue. No, not many of our elected officials can make the connection between my online persona and my face. I've elected to do this for my own personal reasons and by choice.

And one of my main reasons why I have chose this is because of the exact reason you started off this thread.

The financial side of this has not been fully vetted in any process and politically might be pushed aside or under the rug so that no one can actually come up with a decent estimate of how much this whole project is going to cost when the waters seem to be obfuscated or muddied to prevent people from asking the hard questions.

I am not going to say this is or is not happening but after what has gone on and the amount of work both you and I have done, its 50/50 split chance to prevent any one from killing it in any form.

But I always try to remember, politics is a bloody sport and full contact. If you don't like getting into the ring to be bloodied by a subject, don't submit to thyself to the beating.

Chief, I am sorry you got screwed... But I can tell you that the more we holler about this subject with the latter paragraph, may be it will finally raise up the bells, whistle and alarms within the community that have been going off in certain NA for the past six months.

[Chief]

Part of the problem WB is that these people are not answerable to anyone in the Public. Nobody at the CRCP Project Office is subject to election, nor does the Public get any input on their performances.

The people down there are public employees, but with an independent chain of command. I have plenty of say via my vote over the performance of a City Council Critter, but Doug Ficco (the Project Director) doesn't have to give me the time of day because he doesn't work for me.

And the few people who do represent me, and will vote to approve or disapprove this project, wear different hats with overlapping responsibilities, and quite a few of them don't have a lot to say to anyone who has any problem with the CRCP...Mayor Pollard is an outstanding example. Look at how many advisory groups he is on, in addition to having a seat on the Task Force...

[Waterbuffalo]

<Bumps up to keep this thread up for a while longer..>

So Chief, what is the answer then? You have a long thread here.. What's next?

[Chief]

What's next are the two formal Public Hearings on the 28th and 29th of May.

[Waterbuffalo]

Ahh yes.. Hope you read my personal report on the glorious Light Rail disaster on the bridge this morning. So if you need more ammo for CRCP or Portland's finest politicians or our Mayor, please refer and time stamp today's day as to WHY we should NOT have light rail come into Vancouver..