Washington Transportation Task Force – Pierce County Left Out

For anyone paying attention to transportation in Washington State it should not come as a surprise that Governor Gregoire announced today the creation of a “Connecting Washington Task Force.”

Charged with developing a 10-year investing and funding plan for the state’s transportation system, the group will make recommendations to the Legislature for a package to send to the voters along with a project list, similar to previous efforts in 2003 and 2005.

Gas tax is unlike sales tax in that it is not set as a percentage of sales but rather a flat amount. This means as time goes on, inflation erodes its buying power. Combined with increased fuel efficiency in cars and the potential for greater use of electric vehicles, and the funding picture gets clear... or as clear as red ink can get. We don't have enough money to maintain what we have, let alone expand capacity.

All of this is fairly well known in political circles, but what caught my eye is that Pierce County appears to not be represented at all on the task force. Here's a list of the appointments:

• Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, Chair, Senate Transportation Committee
• Sen. Curtis King, Ranking Minority Member, Senate Transportation Committee
• Rep. Judy Clibborn, Chair, House Transportation Committee
• Rep. Mike Armstrong, Ranking Minority Member, House Transportation Committee
• Leo Bowman, Benton County Commissioner
• Charlotte Garrido, Kitsap County Commissioner
• Fred Jarrett, Deputy King County Executive
• Paul Roberts, Everett City Councilmember
• Tom Rasmussen, Seattle City Councilmember
• Tom Trulove, Mayor of Cheney
• Bill Bryant, Port of Seattle Commissioner
• Mike Frederickson, Port of Walla Walla Commissioner
• Paula Hammond, Secretary, Department of Transportation
• Richard Ford, Chair, Transportation Commission
• Bob Adams, Vice President, Guy F. Atkinson Construction
• Terry Brewer, Executive Director, Grant County Economic Development Council
• Rodney Brown, Board Chair, Washington Environmental Council
• David Johnson, Executive Secretary, Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council
• Jeff Johnson, President, Washington State Labor Council
• E. Susan Meyer, CEO, Spokane Transit/Incoming President of the Washington Transit Association
• Kirk Nelson, President and CEO, AAA Washington
• Laura Peterson, Vice President for State and Local Government Relations, Northwest Region, The Boeing Company
• Nick Rocchi, Managing Director Pacific Northwest District, Federal Express
• Tim Schauer, Chair-Elect, Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce
• DeLee Shoemaker, State Government Affairs Director, Microsoft Corporation
• Stan Vander Pole, President and CEO, Peninsula Truck Lines
• Barbara Wright, Board Member, Transportation Choices Coalition

It's understandable that the legislators on the task force would be the chair and ranking member from House and Senate rather than representing a specific geographic area. But there are also positions saved for local government representing Benton, Kitsap and King counties, as well as the cities of Everett, Seattle and Cheney. King County finds yet another seat from their port commission.

Even when you look through the list of representatives from labor, business, environmental and transit groups, they appear to all come from somewhere outside Pierce County.

Normally this wouldn't raise any red flags, but the project list they develop will be heavily influenced by where these task force members come from. When I serve on regional planning boards it becomes clear rather quickly that those who aren't sitting at the table, will find themselves begging for leftovers later.

I'm sure the Governor did her best to balance these often competing constituencies, but I think in the process a very important voice has been left out. I hope the Governor will add someone from Washington's second most populous county to make sure our interests are represented.

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