Chief
12-26-2006, 07:45 AM
I also took the liberty last night of drafting an e-mail to my good friend, Councilman Tim Leavitt. Here is the text of that message...
QUOTE
Good Morning Councilman Leavitt;
I hope you had a pleaseant Christmas. I know I did, mainly in deference to my wife, who requested I hold off addressing this subject until after our Christmas celebrations.
In short, here is the text of what I just faxed to Gramor Development in Tualatin:
Dear Sirs;
I have read the reports in the Business Section of the Oregonian, and on the front page of the Columbian, concerning your involvement in the ongoing development at the Boise Cascade property across the railroad tracks from downtown Vancouver. I thought it might benefit your deliberations with the City if you heard from a real taxpayer in America’s Vancouver, one of the people whose money is about to be used to try and benefit your development.
Know this:
As a taxpayer and a homeowner in the City of Vancouver, I will publicly and loudly oppose any and every attempt to spend any public money on this project. The City cannot find a way to finance even 10% of the projects it has on books right now, as per the City’s own TIP, so we have no business even discussing a project of the magnitude that some City leaders appear to be quite willing to back.
Tell your investors that there is no consensus or agreement whatsoever from the taxpayers, to spend anything on this project. And despite what the City of Vancouver wants to believe, I don’t think that the Railroad is going to contribute anything to this, because their only interest in this project is to ensure nothing delays any of those 45 trains that go past there every single day.
I operate a private blog at www.clarkblog.org, and this subject will be a frequent and well-documented topic there in the coming weeks and months. This message isn’t about the blog, it’s about spending my money wisely. This project ain’t it. Feel free to come to the site and try to convince me and my friends (and fellow taxpayers) that this is a good idea.
Tim you and I discussed this very topic not long ago via e-mail, and you told me there was nothing on the City's agenda to spend money on this project. Then I read the story last week about how it will cost a minimum of $31 Million just to access the site. That sum, along with the rumored $20 to $25 Million you people want to spend on streets and such, all adds up to some $55 Million more dollars that you don't have, and I am not going to pay for either.
Tell the Mayor that this one has as much chance of passing as his fantasies about Light Rail.
On a strictly serious note Councilman, I do not like lying by admission, and I will not tolerate it from you again. The Columbian is not your friend, and is incompetent enough to dime you out every now and then in the print editions; and the Oregonian is actually interested in doing some inverstigative reporting on the use of public money in Vancouver. I'm getting irritated enough to seriously step up the agitation on ths and other issues, to see if it is possible to get your attention downtown.
So keep on playing fast and loose with public money, at your own political peril. You and your peers on City Council may be able to ignore Taxpayers like me, but I'll bet the investors in that project might just be willing to give people like me a listen.
UNQUOTE
I normally do not reveal the contents of e-mail, but this one is a communication with the City that I want shared as widely as possible.
The bottom line on this is that we simply cannot afford Mayor Pollard's vision for this "investment" either.
Developing...
Chief
ON EDIT: EDITED TO HIGHLIGHT IN RED AN INCORRECTLY SELECTED WORD IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT.
QUOTE
Good Morning Councilman Leavitt;
I hope you had a pleaseant Christmas. I know I did, mainly in deference to my wife, who requested I hold off addressing this subject until after our Christmas celebrations.
In short, here is the text of what I just faxed to Gramor Development in Tualatin:
Dear Sirs;
I have read the reports in the Business Section of the Oregonian, and on the front page of the Columbian, concerning your involvement in the ongoing development at the Boise Cascade property across the railroad tracks from downtown Vancouver. I thought it might benefit your deliberations with the City if you heard from a real taxpayer in America’s Vancouver, one of the people whose money is about to be used to try and benefit your development.
Know this:
As a taxpayer and a homeowner in the City of Vancouver, I will publicly and loudly oppose any and every attempt to spend any public money on this project. The City cannot find a way to finance even 10% of the projects it has on books right now, as per the City’s own TIP, so we have no business even discussing a project of the magnitude that some City leaders appear to be quite willing to back.
Tell your investors that there is no consensus or agreement whatsoever from the taxpayers, to spend anything on this project. And despite what the City of Vancouver wants to believe, I don’t think that the Railroad is going to contribute anything to this, because their only interest in this project is to ensure nothing delays any of those 45 trains that go past there every single day.
I operate a private blog at www.clarkblog.org, and this subject will be a frequent and well-documented topic there in the coming weeks and months. This message isn’t about the blog, it’s about spending my money wisely. This project ain’t it. Feel free to come to the site and try to convince me and my friends (and fellow taxpayers) that this is a good idea.
Tim you and I discussed this very topic not long ago via e-mail, and you told me there was nothing on the City's agenda to spend money on this project. Then I read the story last week about how it will cost a minimum of $31 Million just to access the site. That sum, along with the rumored $20 to $25 Million you people want to spend on streets and such, all adds up to some $55 Million more dollars that you don't have, and I am not going to pay for either.
Tell the Mayor that this one has as much chance of passing as his fantasies about Light Rail.
On a strictly serious note Councilman, I do not like lying by admission, and I will not tolerate it from you again. The Columbian is not your friend, and is incompetent enough to dime you out every now and then in the print editions; and the Oregonian is actually interested in doing some inverstigative reporting on the use of public money in Vancouver. I'm getting irritated enough to seriously step up the agitation on ths and other issues, to see if it is possible to get your attention downtown.
So keep on playing fast and loose with public money, at your own political peril. You and your peers on City Council may be able to ignore Taxpayers like me, but I'll bet the investors in that project might just be willing to give people like me a listen.
UNQUOTE
I normally do not reveal the contents of e-mail, but this one is a communication with the City that I want shared as widely as possible.
The bottom line on this is that we simply cannot afford Mayor Pollard's vision for this "investment" either.
Developing...
Chief
ON EDIT: EDITED TO HIGHLIGHT IN RED AN INCORRECTLY SELECTED WORD IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT.