"Wrest authority from the county?" Where did you read that? If you have already "partnered" with them on the bridge, are you at liberty to say how much money the City of Portland may be willing to contribute to solving the problem?

I blieve the County is in desperate need of financial assistance and shuttle diplomacy to help heal the wounds of dysfunctional leadership and King Solomon's Sword school of budget cutting.

When the "County Jail" is matrixing bad guys due to lack of jail space, they aren't transporting them to the county line. In fact, most of the perps are walking out of the Justice Center into the heart of downtown Portland. A "county problem" becomes a "city problem" at the sidewalk's edge. But for more than two years, we have sat idly by while a brand new jail sits vacant. It's still vacant: there is still no grand opening in the works. At what point should we believe the City that Works just isn't working anymore?

We have known for more than a decade that the Sellwood Bridge is overutilized and (quite literally) falling apart. Despite the critical role it plays in the regional transportation grid (and regional economy), there IS STILL NO PLAN OR BUDGET TO REPLACE IT. Enough is enough: it's time for the city to buy themselves a seat at the table. How much should that cost? I don't know: but if you ask Ted, Jeff, Lisa, Lonnie, and Maria I'm sure they can provide you with some guidance.

It would be a crying shame to replace the most overworked two lane bridge in the state with another two lane bridge that will be outdated before it's even built. Especially when you realize the new bridge may not be replaced for another 100 years!

My advice: if the county is going to take your $5 to $20 million dollars of CoP taxpayer funds, let them know (in advance) that any solution that doesn't include at least 4 lanes of vehicular traffic is a non-starter.

Rather than partnering with the County to address these issues, the City of Portland is spending too much time and too many resources on visioning, politicking, and grandstanding on the polemics of the day. Trans-fats? Ethanol mandates? Foreign policy? Relocating PIR? ARE YOU JOKING?

We have a brand new jail that's never been slept in and a bridge that is falling into the water with traffic lined up in two directions.

As Lee Iaccoca famously said, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."