Letter: Mayor’s apology is offensive

Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle thinks it appropriate to apologize to Oregon because Washington killed the Columbia River Crossing. That’s an outrage.

Do you apologize to someone who’s trying to pick your pocket? Or to someone who wants to use you as their piggy bank to pay for their transportation projects? Heck, no!

The CRC was an overpriced, mismanaged, pork-barrel-laden transportation project. An Oregon Supreme Court justice stated it was “a light rail project in search of a bridge.” Current talks about replacing the Interstate 5 Bridge are completely designed to bring light rail to Vancouver.

Included in the CRC was us paying for a new TriMet headquarters in Portland and an upgrade to their Steel Bridge. There was $50 million for TriMet’s Gresham maintenance facility, and even something for Hood River.

The initial contract with David Evans & Associates was “$50 million maximum,” which WSDOT somehow allowed to balloon to $200 million taxpayer dollars.

It was estimated that 60 percent of tolls (paying for borrowed money), would be borne by Southwest Washington residents. That’s $2 billion over 30 years. Finally, had Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber not demanded “no light rail, no bridge,” it might be under construction today.

An apology is an outrage.