It appears that the City of Vancouver and Clark County will have seats added to the C-TRAN Board of Directors, at the expense of seats from the smaller cities after the state denied a compromise from the C-TRAN Board Composition Review Committee

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

It appears the smaller cities will have less representation on C-TRAN’s Board of Directors in the very near future.

The Washington State Department of Transportation has denied a proposal from the C-TRAN Board Composition Review Committee to go to a 3-3-3 format: With the City of Vancouver having three seats, Clark County getting three seats, and the rest of the cities sharing three seats.

“WSDOT does not believe the proposed 3-3-3 Board composition complies with the law,” wrote Molly Hughes, interim director, public transportation for WSDOT, in a letter dated Aug. 28 to the review committee.

Earlier this summer, WSDOT informed the C-TRAN Board of Directors that the board had been out of compliance with state law in regard to representation based on population. WSDOT said the board is currently underrepresented by the city and unincorporated portions of the county, and overrepresented by the smaller cities in the region.

The current board consists of three from Vancouver, two from the county, and four from the smaller cities.

On Aug. 12, the board composition review committee came up with a compromise, hoping the state would accept the 3-3-3 proposal. But on that night, several committee members noted that they were not optimistic about the state approving the proposal. So they also saved a date for a special meeting, in case the state did deny the compromise.

Sure enough, C-TRAN on Friday announced a review board committee meeting for Sept. 3. 

The letter noted that based on population numbers, the incorporated cities, other than Vancouver, represent 18 percent of the population in C-TRAN’s service area. Vancouver represents about 44 percent, and unincorporated Clark County represents about 38 percent.

“Applying a plain reading of the statute based on these population percentages, WSDOT does not believe that a 3-3-3 composition of the Board complies with the statute’s requirement for ‘proportional representation, based on population,’” Hughes wrote.

WSDOT had previously asked that C-TRAN get in compliance by October. That is why the review committee board penciled in Sept. 3 as a possible meeting date, to give the C-TRAN Board of Directors a plan to approve or disapprove. The C-TRAN board is next scheduled to meet Sept. 9. 

It is expected that the review committee will vote on a 4-3-2 format on Sept. 3, giving Vancouver a fourth seat, adding a seat to the county, and taking away two seats from the smaller cities. If C-TRAN does not get in compliance, the state has threatened to withhold millions of dollars from C-TRAN.

Going to a 4-3-2 composition would be yet another extraordinary event in the past 10 months for C-TRAN. 

In November of 2024, the board voted to change its language regarding the potential to pay for annual operating and maintenance expenses for Oregon’s light rail expansion into downtown Vancouver, should light rail be part of the proposed new Interstate Bridge.

Last winter, Michelle Belkot, a Clark County council member and a C-TRAN board member, attempted to revert to the older language, saying C-TRAN “shall not pay” for O&M. Just before that vote was to take place — and after it became clear that it was about to pass, protecting the taxpayers — a political move was made to delay the vote. Soon, three other Clark County council members voted to remove Belkot from the C-TRAN board. That has led to two lawsuits, which remain pending.

In the meantime, the vote on the proposal to revert to the older language continues to be paused.

According to John Ley, a Washington state representative who is on the transportation committee, TriMet is “demanding roughly $22 million per year in new taxes” for O&M, “of which an estimated $7.2 million would come from Clark County taxpayers. To see Ley’s full report, go to: https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-trimet-c-tran-who-pays-versus-who-gets-service/

If the C-TRAN Board does, indeed, move to a 4-3-2 format, it is likely that C-TRAN will go into business with TriMet and light rail, with C-TRAN taxpayers footing the bill … if, of course, light rail is part of the new bridge.

The prospect of C-TRAN partnering up with TriMet and getting less representation on the C-TRAN Board had already led to one of the smaller cities to openly discuss the possibility of leaving C-TRAN. Camas officials are set to ask for public feedback. If Camas opts out, will any of the other smaller cities follow suit?