For too long, Clark County has been dragged into Portland’s light rail failures. TriMet is broke, ridership is collapsing, and now it wants our taxpayers to fund its bailout.
Leading the charge is Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, who has twisted the C-TRAN Board of Directors to advance Vancouver’s agenda at everyone else’s expense.
This isn’t regional cooperation — it’s corruption. Small cities like Camas, Washougal, Ridgefield, La Center and Battle Ground have been stripped of fair representation on the C-TRAN board. Yet their residents are expected to pay millions every year for a light rail system they may never use.
That’s taxation without representation.
The rot goes back to 2013, when C-TRAN’s leadership secretly cut a binding deal with TriMet. That contract gave away local authority, tied Clark County to TriMet’s terms, and even included a $5 million penalty if C- TRAN refused to comply. It was rushed through with minimal oversight and has never been undone.
Instead of fixing this betrayal, McEnerny-Ogle has doubled down. By stacking the board in Vancouver’s favor, she guarantees her city gets the train and the power while smaller cities get stuck with the bill. Now TriMet wants $22 million annually for operations — $7.2 million from Clark County taxpayers — on top of a $2 billion price tag for a 1.83-mile rail extension.
As recently as a few months ago, public records and video footage from a local union meeting revealed Mayor Ann working behind the scenes with Sue Marshall and others to remove Michelle Belkot from the C-Tran board. Her “offense?” Voting independently — against the council’s lockstep agenda — in support of a resolution that would have offered taxpayers greater protection from financial ruin.
Camas Councilor Tim Hein said it best: “You don’t go into business with a partner that’s failing.” He’s right. The time has come for small cities to stop being bullied and walk away from this boondoggle.
If Vancouver wants light rail, let Vancouver pay for it. The message from Clark County’s small cities should be simple and united: “Not our train, not our debt, not our problem.”
Shauna Walters
Vancouver
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