Posted by: Terry Parker - August 20, 2007 07:59 PM

What Multnomah County Needs:

Road maintenance and bridge repair/replacement dollars from lottery funds. (Reduces the costs of congestion on the economy)

Establishing a bicycle tax and license eliminating the 1% of the gas tax for bicycle infrastructure thereby making bicyclists responsible for paying for their specialized/exclusive infrastructure luxury. (A user pays tax fairness principal)

Require the TriMet board to be elected instead of appointed thereby becoming accountable to the people instead of just the Governor,

Require that transit and biking alternatives not displace motor vehicle infrastructure and capacity, and set standards that transit and pay a far greater share of their own way. (A common sense reality check)

Require that curb extensions can not be constructed for use as transit stops and require busses pull out of motor vehicle travel lanes when stopping for passengers when ever possible. (an environmental friendly fuel saver for motorists)

Require that true multiple route options be fully studied when planning for fixed transit routes, including routes that bypass downtowns and CBDs, including that at least one of one route fully studied not be located on high traffic volume arterials streets. (Reduces preconceive agenda planning and approvals)

Require adequate parking with infill development within urban areas so that residents are not forced to park their vehicles on the street and in front of other people’s residences. (A neighborhood livability issue that will reduce major complaints from the public)

Recognizing that allowing a rental car company (FlexCar) to have reserved parking spaces on public streets is in violation of the special privileges and immunities clause in the Oregon Constitution.

Less social engineering.

Posted by: Jenni Simonis - August 21, 2007 09:23 AM

Commissioner Cogen-

I'm glad you're asking the community what they think. I believe it's something that should happen more often. It's something I'm running on in my bid for a Gresham City Council seat.

If you have some free time soon, I'd love to have the opportunity to sit down and discuss with you some of the needs I see for the county.

I think some of our biggest problems are lack of affordable housing (both rental and purchase), crime and public safety (while Portland's numbers are going down, east county is seeing a surge in crime), and transportation needs (both public transportation and roads) in east county.

Posted by: Jeff Cogen - August 21, 2007 10:27 AM

Thanks Jenni. That would be great.

Posted by: Pete Forsyth - September 20, 2007 01:13 AM

A little late to this discussion, sorry. Hopefully those meetings are still going on.

We need help with our bridges and the courthouse, for sure. But the one thing that (I believe) is determined by state law is judicial salaries.

Our judges have some of the lowest wages of all states. This means that the best and brightest legal minds have very little incentive to enter the judiciary. Multnomah County, with the highest cost of living and busiest courts, pays the price disproportionately.

People interact with courts at the most trying times in their lives. Divorce, or dealing with a friend or relative who has gone off the deep end, etc - we need to be assured that the person hearing our case has the proper qualifications to see through the complexities, lies, deceptions, legal precedents, etc. and lead the case to the proper conclusion.

Judicial salaries should be increased to preserve public safety, the right to a fair trial, etc.