I caught Commissioner Nick Fish heading into this morning's city council session (during which the council will get an earful on the imminent eviction of Peterson's convenience store--more on that later from Matt Davis, who's here covering the pile of protesters, a surprising number of whom are gray-haired little old ladies). I've been trying to reach Fish for two days, to get his thoughts on the Columbia River Crossing before this afternoon's 2 pm hearing and vote. (Get here early, and bring snacks, suggests city council candidate--and CRC critic--Amanda Fritz.)

He says that Commissioner Sam Adams' op-ed in today's Oregonian largely summed up how Fish feels about the project. That said, he was proud to say he's met with every group critical of the project who's requested a meeting--something he didn't think the entire council was doing--and they raised questions for which he doesn't have the answers. He'll be listening carefully to today's testimony and asking more questions before casting his vote.

Highlights from Adams' op-ed:

We need a replacement. But it must be the right kind of new bridge. It must be a bridge Portland can be proud of in terms of design, construction, funding and operations. It must:

Reduce automobile reliance. The new crossing must permanently reduce vehicle miles traveled, which is Oregon's primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. We need congestion-priced electronic tolling on both the new I-5 and existing I-205 bridges paired with new options such as light rail. Tolls should be collected in perpetuity, in part to help fund needed improvements south of the bridge on I-5 and I-205....

I thank the governors of Oregon and Washington, each state's congressional delegation and local stakeholders for being responsive so far to Portland's concerns and goals for this project. I appreciate the assurance these decision-makers have provided us that Portland's concerns for planning the remainder of the project details will be addressed to our satisfaction.

But to avoid any surprises in the future, let me be crystal clear at this milestone: I will strongly oppose a final Columbia River Crossing project proposal that fails to address Portland's goals. I would rather miss this round of federal funding and live with the challenges and vulnerabilities of the current bridge for the next 10 or 20 years than build a bad bridge that would punish Portland for perhaps another 100 years.

Read the rest here.

And I'm still trying to track down that ODOT letter, which reportedly landed at city hall yesterday. Adams' staff didn't return my calls all afternoon, and when I ran into him at the Milepost 5 panel last night, he promised to get them to me this morning...

Finally, here's a sneak peek at the "oil derrick" that'll be employed for this afternoon's anti-CRC street theater, starting at 1 pm.