Belkot ousted from C-Tran board over vote on light rail

After a tense exchange Wednesday, Clark County councilors ousted fellow Councilor Michelle Belkot from her seat on C-Tran’s board of directors.

The councilors told Belkot she broke ranks the day before at a C-Tran board meeting when she objected to local taxpayer funding for light rail on a planned Interstate 5 Bridge replacement.

At the urging of Council Chair Sue Marshall, who is also a C-Tran board member, the discussion was tabled until the transit board’s April meeting. (In addition to two Clark County councilors, representatives from the county’s cities serve on C-Tran’s board.)

Marshall raised the issue during Wednesday’s county council meeting, noting that the council had spent a lot of time deliberating on the vote ahead of the C-Tran meeting. In February, the council voted 4-1 in support of the funding, with Belkot the lone dissenting vote.

“I don’t feel like the direction that was given by the council was actually followed by both of us,” Marshall said during Wednesday’s meeting, adding that she felt obligated to bring the issue back to the full council for further discussion.

Marshall said Belkot had misinterpreted what the C-Tran board was voting on.

“The vote was on whether or not to have permissive language related to (operations and maintenance). It was not to provide (operations and maintenance) funding,” Marshall said. “It was to allow C-Tran to be in a better negotiating position.”

Marshall said she believed Belkot’s vote should have reflected the entire council’s position, not her personal position.

Belkot defended her vote and her right to vote separately from the council’s position. In the two years she had been on the C-Tran board, she said, there have been several instances in which she voted differently than other county councilors.

“We don’t have anything in our bylaws or the C-Tran bylaws that preclude us from not having our own, individual vote. … That’s never been an issue,” Belkot said. “I think it’s pretty dangerous if you’re not able to represent your constituents in your districts.”

Belkot said a majority of residents in her district — District 2, encompassing Hazel Dell, Felida and Orchards — have made it clear they don’t support light rail.

“My particular district is not interested in footing the bill for an Oregon transportation system that’s having extreme financial difficulties,” she said. “County residents have voted in 1995, 2012, 2013 to oppose light rail. They want the bridge without the light rail.”

County attorney Chris Cook, from the prosecuting attorney’s office, said the county’s bylaws do not include language directing councilors to vote in line with the full council.

“I feel like I signed up for that protocol. I know other cities have that. A simple fix would be to include a provision in the bylaws,” Councilor Matt Little said.

Little asked that the council begin the process, which would include a public hearing, to have that language added.

“When you’re representing the whole council at that meeting, it’s very similar to a vote of the council at the dais,” Little said. “The result of a majority vote has implications, and you go with the majority even if you voted against it.”

The county council voted 4-1, with Belkot again the lone “no” vote, to remove her from the C-Tran board. Councilor Wil Fuentes was selected to replace Belkot on the board, and Little will serve as an alternate.

Shari Phiel: [email protected]; 360-562-6317; @Shari_Phiel