Metro should really be called Retro.  That's a far better term for their "vision".  Let's turn back the clock, and pretend that cars were never invented.  Burpholder and Braggart Burkholder and Bragdon are "in charge", and they hate roads.  And so what you get from them is an emphasis upon fixed-rail and bicycles.  They've made it very clear that they "plan" to herd people into high-rise condos and force them into trains and streetcars.  How very Retro, Metro!

That's not leadership, and it certainly isn't "vision".  It's pining for the good old days of the 19th century.  Even the feds - certainly no paragon of "visioning" - understand that Bragdon and his boys have completely lost touch with reality.  That's why they slapped their so-called "transportation funding" request right back at them, noting “It is difficult to find the transportation focus in this opening chapter of (the) Regional Transportation Plan.” Instead, the plan focuses on bike trails, light rail, and expensive skyline transport.

You gotta love it.  Sam's really not got a lot going for him, so he's suing the state over the Public Employee Retirement System.  PERS, he claims, discriminates against same-sex couples.  Well, that's just terrible.

Of course, he's not suing the folks who set the standards (the federal government) - FlexCard, for example - a federal thing, specifically denies benefits to same-sex "partners".  But this is why Sam's never been a particularly good selection for public office.  He's so busy dealing with his sexual issues in public that he really can't serve effectively as a representative for the vast majority of constituents who don't go through their lives day after day dwelling upon issues of sexual orientation.

You just don't see most folks parading through the streets yelling about their heterosexuality and how "proud" they are about it.  We just don't care.  It's not a big deal.  Yet for a small group of people, Sam among them, sex seems to be the be-and-end-all.  These folks need to buy a clue.