In today's Willamette Week, writer Cory Pein takes a long journey to ask whether our city needs to raise taxes to fund Sam Adams' Safe, Sound, and Green Streets proposal. Never mind that he leads with the run-of-the-mill "scary taxes" idea pushed by conservatives since Reagan's days, and never mind that he quickly points to others who call such maneuvers "political suicide" and enjoy a competition to see who can say "no" fastest and the most to any sort of government spending. The question, which he eventually gets to but not fully since another article already covered it, should be this: what's at the heart of this proposal that makes it necessary or unnecessary?

The answer takes a stroll through the idea of "what issues matter" and eventually land on this interesting point: off of a list of what priorities matter to Portlanders, Pein notes that, " And so, into this yawning issue vacuum comes Sam Adams with a long-planned transportation tax package. A tax to raise money for a problem most Portlanders don't think urgently needs addressing."

You know maybe I run in the wrong circles or listen to the wrong people, but it seems to me that we have a situation that needs taking care of. Or maybe there really is a problem, as nearly a quarter (22%) of respondents to a Portland survey noted that transportation is their top issue. If you count the deaths of the bikers and set those (and the money the proposal allocates for safer biking) aside, there's still a big chunk of change devoted to infrastructure. So, what's the old saying? If it ain't broke, then don't fix it?

Well, in my opinion, that saying is similar to the nation's ongoing healthcare crisis when it comes to our roads. If it ain't broke, don't fix it means that we need to wait till something breaks before we invest the time and money to repair it. How many roads will fall into utter disrepair and how many people will have to either die or be injured as a result of these streets before we decide to fix it? Or perhaps we just want to apply piecemeal band-aids until the problem is simply forgotten about? For me, the issue is like preventative medicine. Don't wait to go to the emergency room to treat the budding illness; get it taken care of right away and the right way. We can upgrade and fix our roads and bridges, or let them slowly fall apart. This is especially relevant when it comes to our bridges, and considering the recent disaster in Minnesota, I'd rather get the repairs done sooner than later.

Leading from that, Sam and his staff put the point well at his CommissionerSam website:

The asset value of Portland's transportation system is approximately $7.1 billion. The city owns an operates 3,949 lane miles of roads, 157 bridges, 992 traffic signals, eight million square yards of sidewalks, 37,352 improved corners and over 53,000 street lights.

Portland, like most Oregon cites, relies on the state gas tax as its primary source of funding to maintain and operate our local streets and bridges. The gas tax has steadily eroded as a funding source and has not been increased since 1993. As a result, many of our assets have fallen into disrepair and important services have been cut. Over the last seven years Portland Office of Transportation has had to make cuts in service totaling $42.4 million. These cuts have resulted in reductions in services, unaddressed safety needs and a growing percentage of the City's transportation infrastructure that is in poor and very poor condition.

To find a solution to this problem, which is expected to grow by $ 9 million this year and exponentially thereafter, Sam started a conversation with the community in June. Sam assembled an 89 person stakeholder committee to tackle the issue and make a recommendation to council. The ordinance that Sam filed today reflects the recommendations of the committee and a balanced solution to our transportation funding crisis.

So Sam and people on the ground saw a big-time problem and went after it. And with a representative community group at his side. And before it ballooned into a nightmare that our kids will have to take care of. Good for him. We need more leaders who are willing to tackle the tough issues and bring people together for a common good, even if politicos in San Diego say it's a bad idea. The last thing that I want is for Portland to become a new Los Angeles, where the roads are in utter chaos. Mayors run for office in L.A. promising to do something, and then pass the buck to the next Mayor.

Sam, running for Mayor of Portland, is taking this issue head-on. It's a wonky problem, and one that runs against argent Reagan-Bush talking points out of the 80s, but I think the WWeek gets it right when it says "Portland is different." We're a people that isn't going to sit by and let our roads (and schools) fall apart. We give our best effort to take care of our problems and our people. These are issues that need addressing. Sam's taking them on. He's not afraid to fight the tough fights, and that's what Portland needs in a Mayor.

So am I looking through rose-colored glasses as the article suggests? No. If we've got a budding, growing problem, let's take care of it. No need to slip on rosy glasses and ignore something that could be nightmarishly worse a decade from now.

If you want more info about the proposals, please visit his City website.

Disclaimer: I worked for Sam Adams' office in 2005 and I'm an ardent support, but I speak and write only for myself.