Mailer for Tigard ballot measure

Opponents of Ballot Measure 34-210 say this mailer is misleading, as light rail is not planned to go down Pacific Highway in Tigard. But supporters point out that Portland is planning to use its own stretch of Highway 99W -- Barbur Boulevard -- for high-capacity transit.

(Courtesy of VotersFirst)

This week, supporters of Tigard's Ballot Measure 34-210 sent out the mailer pictured above in an effort to get residents to vote "yes" before the polls close next week.

If the ballot measure passes, Tigard would have to amend its city charter to officially oppose high-capacity transit and would not be able to amend its comprehensive plan to site high-capacity transit projects without obtaining voter approval first.

“Light Rail on 99W?” the mailer asks, with a picture of Tigard’s Pacific Highway in the background. “Demand your right to vote!”

But the Southwest Corridor Plan – a Metro-led effort that could bring light rail or bus rapid transit from Portland to Tigard and Tualatin in the coming decades – already stipulates that any high-capacity transit project will not go down Pacific Highway in Tigard.

Opponents of the ballot measure have criticized the mailer, saying it is misleading.

"Light rail on 99W is NOT up for consideration – at all," wrote Jennifer Vasicek of the group Tigard First!, which opposes the measure, in an email. "This mailer is an example of the deceptive tactics being used to get votes for this measure."

But the measure’s supporters point out that a high-capacity transit project such as light rail could indeed go down 99W – just not in Tigard. Portland has indicated the willingness to site high-capacity transit on its own stretch of the highway: Barbur Boulevard.

“It’s intended to get attention so that people read it. … Although the picture is of Pacific Highway, we’re not saying that it goes on Pacific Highway,” said Tim Esau, one of the ballot measure’s co-petitioners.

Esau said that high-capacity transit on Barbur would affect Tigard and increase congestion on Pacific Highway. If the ballot measure passes, he has said, it puts Tigard in a position of power – all of the other regional partners would have to convince Tigard voters that the Southwest Corridor Plan is good for them.

Measure supporters, who include the Cascade Policy Institute and Oregon Transformation Project, have also pointed out that light-rail interests have funded the opposition: Pennsylvania-based LTK Engineering Services, a light-rail consulting firm, donated $3,000, and James Abramson and John Bollier, executives at light-rail builder Stacy and Witbeck, gave $2,500 each.

“The plans that I’ve seen and that you’ve seen show it on Highway 99,” Esau said.

So: fair or foul? What do you think of the mailer?

-- Luke Hammill