EDITORIAL: No Time to Be Timid

By The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

Jan. 25–Vancouver’s chief cheerleader cranks it up with State of the City Address

Tuesday’s State of the City Address by Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard can be summed up in two words: quintessential Pollard. Vancouver’s chief cheerleader as usual spared no energy in aggressively and unabashedly boasting about the city he loves as he addressed 400 people for 63 minutes in the Hilton Vancouver Washington ballroom.

Pollard had plenty of fuel for enthusiasm. It was his 10th State of the City speech, and it fell on the city’s 150th birthday. He accurately portrayed the city’s progress in those 150 years, while acknowledging the stark budget difficulties of the present. Pollard knows his city’s transportation challenges but sees great potential, for example envisioning the development of the Boise Cascade site as “nothing short of first-class.”

Pollard repeated his unqualified support for extending Portland’s light rail system into Vancouver. We have editorially supported such a concept, but before taking an official stance on putting light rail on any new Interstate 5 bridge, we’re waiting for the Columbia River Crossing project to finish its research.

Two possible mass transit solutions remain on the CRC table: Light rail and bus rapid transit. The latter could combine buses with any of a variety of options including separate roadways or specially designated lanes. Until CRC elevates one plan above the other, any solid embrace of a plan seems premature at this point.

Pollard said, “Vancouver and Clark County residents have the cheapest buy-in to one of the most successful light-rail systems in the world. There is over $5 billion invested in light rail across the river. We can tap into that system at a very minimal cost. We’d be foolish not to.” Perhaps, but for now, the best outlook is that of Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart, who was quoted in The Columbian: “Until we have an actual analysis of alternatives it seems premature to judge the outcomes.” Commissioner Betty Sue Morris, has taken no stance but lauds bus rapid transit as “extremely nimble and costs a lot less to build.”

Of course, all of that remains to be seen. Until the Columbia River Crossing research is finalized and financial details are fleshed out, it’s difficult for any observer to take a strong stance.

To his credit, Pollard shows a growing acceptance of the benefits Vancouver has available as a neighbor of Portland. This is the same mayor who in 2004 boasted that he had never been to Portland’s Pearl District, and who in 2005 defended his beloved city by smashing Portland coffee mugs at a local Starbucks. Now, though, he’s pushing the advantages of our proximity to the bigger city, at least in the issue of mass transit. That higher-altitude mayoral perspective is encouraging.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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