forced a compromise.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)
Whew. A lot has transpired with the Safe, Sound, and Green Streets Proposal in recent weeks.
First, some background…
The monumental proposal will look to raise over $400 million for transportation system maintenance and safety projects by way of a new fee charged to city residents and businesses. Some of the funding in the proposal would go toward creation of a network of streets that are safe and convenient for bikes (more info here).
After hearing opposition and the threat of a referral effort from lobbyist Paul Romain at its first reading at City Council back on January 9th, Commissioner Sam Adams re-worked the proposal.
Adams reported on his blog that those revisions were meant, in part, to thwart any legal challenges to the proposal. The local media pounced on one change in particular; Adams split the proposal up into three parts, which would have made a referral attempt much more difficult (three times the amount of signatures would have be collected).
While Adams said he was just strengthening the proposal from legal challenges, the other side saw this as nothing more than political maneuvering and Romain, representing convenience stores who opposed their fee level, made sure to get his point across.
Even Mayor Potter expressed his misgivings about how Adams’ move might be perceived by the public.
Set on a clear collision course, (and with implications for the mayoral race) Adams and Romain struck a compromise early yesterday. As reported in the Willamette Week,
“The compromise entails creating a new classification for convenience and small grocery stores which will be billed at a lower rate…and gasoline distributors will be first in line to have their street maintenance fees lowered if the State Legislature passes a gas tax increase.”
According to Commissioner Adams’ office, this compromise will cut an estimated $500,000 $75,000 from the $24 million a year income the city expects to get from the fees.
City Council will vote on the proposal next week (1/30) and it is widely expected to pass.