The folks behind the short-lived attempt to refer the street fee to the ballot have issued a statement about Commissioner Sam Adams’ decision to ask the council to put it on the November ballot directly. Guess what? Mayor Tom Potter is the hero of the Oregon Taxpayers’ Association and the Oregon Petroleum Association.

Voters’ Voices Will be Heard on Adams’ Street Tax: Taxpayers Applaud Potter’s Defense of Voter Rights

A coalition of small business owners and Portland taxpayers commend Mayor Potter for demanding that Commissioner Sam Adams send his street tax measure to the Portland voters.

Lila Leathers, owner of Leathers Fuels in Portland and Chief Petitioner on the Street Tax Referendum made the following statement:

“I would like to thank Mayor Potter for convincing the Portland City Council to refer to street tax measure to the voters of the city,” said Leathers.

“The Oregon Petroleum Association consists of local business people who live and work in Portland. We are not ‘big oil’, and assertions by some Council members to the contrary are merely political statements designed to rally support for their position. Many of our members have been in business in this city for over 100 years. Others are newcomers to our country and have bought a stake in the future. They work long hours for little money with the hope of expanding their business that they own into something that they can be proud of. They have to question every penny that they spend, and they expect their elected officials to do the same,” said Leathers.

Jason Williams of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon made the following statement:

“Commissioner Sam Adams took every action to prevent the people of the City of Portland from voting on this significant tax, showing an absolute lack of respect for the Portland voters. Thankfully, Mayor Potter stepped in to demand a vote. Contrary to some assertions at the Portland City Council, the referendum process enshrined in the Oregon Constitution is an essential part of our government, giving the People a way to question the actions of their elected officials,” said Williams.

To make it clear, the street fee hasn’t been sent to the ballot yet. Adams tentatively set February 27 as the day the council would vote to do that. That’s three weeks that I’m sure will see more twists and turns. Leonard certainly would prefer to enact it, which raises the question of whether Adams would be willing to send it to the ballot on a 4-1 vote, when it won’t enact it without a unanimous one.

To that end, I’ve asked the BTA—which sent out an action alert to its members this morning, urging them to “please email or call Portland Mayor Tom Potter to ask that he vote to enact Portland’s Safe, Sound, and Green Streets program.”—if they’ll continue to push for enactment. It’s possible that Adams’ 89-member stakeholder committee (of which the BTA is just one), most of whom he hasn’t had a chance to check in with about this change in plans—will push back or not. They’ve already worked hard on this plan. Will they be upset that they’re now going to be called on to devote resources to a campaign to pass the plan?