Belkot said ‘In the history of the Clark County Council, no commissioner or councilor has ever been removed from any assigned board or council that they’ve ever been assigned to’

Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today

During an interview on The Lars Larson Show, Clark County Councilor Michelle Belkot reiterated her belief that Southwest Washington residents should not be forced to subsidize TriMet’s financial losses and that road infrastructure should take priority in the region.

Belkot was removed Wednesday from the C-TRAN Board of Directors by her fellow Clark County councilors for vowing to vote against C-TRAN helping to fund the annual maintenance and operations of the extension of TriMet’s light rail into Vancouver as part of the I-5 Bridge replacement project. One day later, she joined Larson on his popular radio show to recap the volatile week of political maneuvering by Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, who also serves as chair of the C-TRAN Board of Directors.

At Tuesday’s C-TRAN board meeting, it became apparent that board members had enough votes to adopt a resolution proposed by Belkot to return to 2022 language that the transit agency would not be on the hook for funding of TriMet’s Yellow Line 1.9-mile extension, which comes with a $2 billion price tag and an estimated $7 million in annual maintenance and operations. 

At the last minute of Tuesday’s discussion, Clark County Council Chair Sue Marshall made a motion to table the vote. The motion was seconded by McEnerny-Ogle and supported in a vote of the board members. The next day, Belkot was removed from the C-TRAN board and replaced by Clark County Councilor Wil Fuentes. Belkot, citing prior public votes on the issue of light rail over the past three decades, said she was representing her constituents’ interests. 

“In the history of the Clark County Council, no commissioner or councilor has ever been removed from any assigned board or council that they’ve ever been assigned to,’’ said Belkot, who serves as the Clark County councilor for District 2, which includes Salmon Creek, Felida, Minnehaha, Hazel Dell, and part of the Five Corners area. 

Belkot criticized the bridge replacement project for prioritizing light rail over additional traffic lanes and highlighted declining transit ridership, high costs, and safety concerns with light rail. Larson and Belkot also discussed the project’s uncertain future, citing Coast Guard opposition, funding issues, and legislative resistance. Belkot argued that Southwest Washington should not subsidize TriMet’s financial losses and that road infrastructure should take priority.

Belkot reiterated to Larson that she had consulted with the Clark County legal team that county bylaws did not require her to vote in unison with Marshall, the other county councilor on the C-TRAN board.

“It indicates that they don’t care about the desires of the constituents who elected them to office,’’ Belkot told Larson about her fellow councilors. “They clearly don’t care. They want to do whatever they want to do to build this bridge and include light rail. That message is loud and clear to me. They don’t care about their constituents. I ran on opposing light rail and tolls, and I have followed through with almost everything.’’

Belkot said she is qualified to express her opinion on light rail.

“I’m the only county councilor that took light rail and C-TRAN into downtown Portland for decades, so I understand what my constituents are saying when they dislike light rail,’’ Belkot said. “The expense is one issue — just to operate light rail costs millions of dollars, which outweighs the current ridership, which is honestly in the toilet at this point. There’s also a major safety issue, which makes people not want to ride it.

“There are no police that police it,’’ she added. “From what I understand now, there’s not even enforcement to ensure that people are paying the fares to ride light rail. A recent study by the University of Washington last year reported fentanyl residue, heroin residue, drug paraphernalia, and crime associated with Seattle and Portland light rail. It’s an ongoing issue. That’s real. It’s a real concern.’’

Larson then asked if Belkot thought it makes sense to build a brand-new bridge to replace a bridge with three lanes north and three lanes south, with the new bridge also having three lanes north and three lanes south — but less space for cars and trucks, and the majority of the space allocated for bicycles, pedestrians, and trains?

“Absolutely not,’’ Belkot said. “Our population justifies additional lanes of traffic, not a large percentage of this new bridge dedicated to pedestrian traffic. That makes absolutely no sense at all. Give us additional lanes of traffic so we can also get freight through the I-5 corridor. My constituents deserve additional auxiliary lanes, not light rail that no one wants in Clark County — something we voted against in 1995, 2012, and 2013.  I don’t know how many times we have to vote against this, but we do support another bridge with additional lanes of traffic. It makes sense.’’

Larson stated that he thought “this bridge project is dead right now. The Coast Guard has not signed off, and that’s required. They don’t have the money to build it — not Oregon, not Washington, and not Washington, D.C. The money isn’t there. It’s a bad design, with 54 percent allocated to bicycles, pedestrians, and trains. Is this thing dead in the water at this point — and maybe dead for good?”

“Just recently, at the Regional Transportation Committee, Mayor Anne (McEnerny-Ogle) spoke about how she met with Secretary (Sean) Duffey, the Secretary of Transportation, and discussed how important this bridge project was,’’ Belkot said. “She stated that the Coast Guard was holding it up, which has been the case since June 2021. She made it sound like a done deal and that he was most certainly going to apply pressure on the Coast Guard.’’

Larson asked Belkot if she thought Secretary Duffey had a clear understanding of the issues involved in the I-5 Bridge replacement project.

“No, absolutely not,’’ Belkot said. “There’s no way. Not only at the federal level but also at the most recent C-TRAN meeting, the lobbyist for C-TRAN presented a slide stating that legislative discussions on state support for light rail had been negative. Joint Transportation Chair Jake Fey has expressed disinterest, and both the House and Senate are focused on figuring out how to pave Washington state roads rather than funding light rail.  We have a transportation issue for our roads in this state.’’

Larson asked Belkot if it was appropriate for Southwest Washington taxpayers to bail out TriMet, an agency that’s on track to lose $1 billion?

“Absolutely not. They just lost $11 million last year,’’ Belkot stated. “This was never a consideration. We supported light rail as long as TriMet was paying for the O&M expenses. I wasn’t personally on the C-TRAN board at the time, but I would have never supported light rail as the preferred transportation option on the IBR (replacement project) in the first place.’’