The day after bicyclist Tracey Sparling died while riding through
downtown (see story this page), I found myself sitting in Commissioner
Sam Adams’ office, listening to Adams and the transportation staff give
a spiel about raising taxes to pay for street safety and
maintenance. It was, as one person in the meeting said,
“unfortunate.”
That is, Tracey’s death was unfortunate, as was the timing since,
conceivably, engineers will be using all that extra money to make
Portland’s streets safer for bikes and cars. Had Tracey been
riding on SW 14th and Burnside a few years from now, after Adams’ Safe
and Sound Streets initiative went into effect, perhaps she wouldn’t
have died.
At least, that’s the argument I’d use if I was a cynical political
consultant trying to get the initiative passed.
Currently, though, Adams still jokes that it’s political
stupidity for someone who’s running for mayor to propose an
increase in gas taxes and property fees in order to raise hundreds of
millions of dollars, even if it’s for road safety. Consider Walter
Mondale, who suffered a dream-crushing defeat in the 1984
presidential race (he lost 49 states) after pledging to raise taxes.
The promise of higher taxes doesn’t often lead to electoral
success.
But Adams knows what he’s doing. Months in the making, the
transportation funding package has seen more public process and input
than perhaps any other city decision in the past year combined. There’s
been more than one public opinion survey, plus multiple rounds of town
halls, all designed to identify what levels of funding Portlanders will
agree to, and what messages they’re most likely to agree with.
Plus, the proposal has had a large steering committee, including
members of the Portland Business Alliance (PBA) and the Bicycle
Transportation Alliance—all but ensuring their organizations’
endorsements. The PBA has gotten a pledge that money will go to
businesses that are affected by road construction, and bicycle projects
will get $24 million.
On top of all that, all seven neighborhood coalitions in the city
will receive a chunk of money—$4.6 million total—which will
fund transportation projects that they get to choose, all but
assuring neighborhood sign-off on the package. And if that’s not
enough, the initiative also provides money to expand the “Green
Streets” program, which uses vegetation to keep contaminated storm
water from running into the river, which should please enviros.
Far from being politically stupid, Adams has lined up a tax measure
that simultaneously has broad support and helps him say he’s
“tackling tough, unpopular issues”—his unofficial campaign
motto.
Mondale could learn a thing or two.