SB 395, sponsored by senator Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene), would increase the amount required to be spent in highway projects from 1% to 5% on bike and walking paths. The discussion needs to include and recognize that the review of projects seeking grant money may be too loose.

Recently, the Oregon Department of Transportation provided transportation grant dollars for a proposed bike path in Yamhill County before the project had a masterplan or the required permits. Farmers with land adjacent to the proposed trail were forced to defend their property rights by legal means. Land Use law requires the County to seek a Conditional Use permit before continuing the concept of a bike path in EFU zones. Senior County department heads deliberately defied Land Use law. They sought and obtained grant monies, they bought land and begin construction without regard for due process. Try doing that the next time you build something.

ODOT was happy to be complicit in their actions. The matter went to the land Use Board of Appeals several times. On all five occasions LUBA told the County to stop. Neither the County nor ODOT ceased in spite of all those red flags. As long as ODOT has a sugar daddy complex and County officials think of grants as gift certificates these unfortunate incidents can and will occur.

A 1787 quote from Scottish professor and historian foretold the experience of government grants:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

--Alexander Fraser Tytler

--Tom Hammer

Post Date: 2021-03-06 13:26:12