The recent tragic train derailment has brought a couple of issues to the forefront. Several weeks ago I wrote to Sens. Steven Hobbs and John McCoy and Reps. Mike Sells and June Robinson inquiring why the state Department of Transportation had purchased locomotives for Amtrak. One of those locomotives was in the derailment. None of those elected officials even responded. My question was why were our state transportation dollars being used for Amtrak, a private entity. And a further question is since the Amtrak Cascades goes from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, B.C., did Oregon and British Columbia contribute to the cost of the locomotives? Or is Washington state the “pigeon?”
A second issue is why does Sound Transit own those tracks. How many millions of our tax dollars went into constructing those tracks which were south of Sound Transit’s border of Lakewood? Does Sound Transit plan on providing service to Olympia? Will they try the same “flim flam” ballot issue they used for passage of ST3?
Our County Executive, Dave Somers, who I have supported, is now the chairman of Sound Transit. One would think he would be “beating on the table” to get Sound Transit to use legitimate car values on which to tax his Snohomish County constituents from Everett south for the ST3 program. Thankfully I live in Marysville and am not in the Sound Transit taxing area.
If the state has all these transportation dollars to spend on railroad tracks and locomotives why do they continue to cry for more transportation dollars?
Don Wlazlak
Marysville
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.