Do we finally have a TriMet board member who’s actually willing to fight for better transit service?
At their meeting on Wednesday, TriMet Board Member JT Flowers spoke like someone who’s willing to push not just for better bus service on 82nd Avenue, but someone who’s willing to push his colleagues on the board to join him. This is a welcome change.
There’s been a fair amount of chatter in advocacy circles over the years about the fact that the TriMet board doesn’t represent riders and the people. The fact that it’s appointed by the governor has not sat well with folks, and there’s the fact that there have been a lot of board members historically who don’t actually ride transit every day. However, the current crop of board members is beginning to show some promise.
When 30-year old JT flowers was appointed about a year ago, I was really intrigued. Given that his work on the Albina Vision Project — where his sense of purpose and progress on that bold idea to re-establish a neighborhood for Black Portlanders around the Moda Center and I-5 has led to significant progress on that project — I’ve been waiting for flowers to flex his muscles on the TriMet board. And I think the issue of bus lanes on the 82nd Avenue Transit Project might be just the place when he starts to do so.
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Wow! That’s one impressive guy. He knows how to put the pressure on and speak up for the community! No surprise given he’s Oregon’s first black Rhodes Scholar, Truman Scholar, chairs a CDC board, and other things. Woah! This guy better be getting ready for a run for office. I can’t wait to vote for him.
Thanks for this, Jonathan. It is heartening to see JT Flowers speak up like this on the 82nd Avenue transit downgrade. I wish we would have had him fighting for Bus Rapid Transit with a dedicated lane on Powell Boulevard.