KMTR --
A Proposal by Oregon's Ted "tax And Gouge Me" Kulongoski Proposal to Rename the Beltline Highway or otherwise known to Eugene residents as Beltline Road will soon be getting a new name "Randy Pape Beltline" in honor of Randy Pepe who died two years ago of a heart attack at the age of 58 has gotten approval today.
Randy Pape said on the Oregon Transportation Commission and led the Pepe group in Eugene. He also pushed the Connect Oregon Grant program which provided more than $3 billion to transit projects in the state.
The renaming and the replacement of 50 signs along the Beltline is estimated to cost about $250,000.
However, this is not the first time that beltline has been renamed since it was completed in the summer of 1968.
Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) made a name change to a "Oregon State Highway 569 in January 2007, {KVAl - TV }claiming that for years people have been getting the name "Beltline" confused with Interstate 105.
On a side note, changing the name to 569 only cost ODOT a few thousand dollars.
So the question is, especially in this recession where money is tight and we don't seem to have enough funds for essential projects about spending $250,000 on renaming a street?
Personally, I have no problem with honoring somebody who has been a contributor to our society, but when money is as tight as it is and we can't afford some of the essential services maybe we should come up with another way of honoring this individual.
Perhaps, we should put the idea on the ballot and let the people decide... after all, it's all OUR money.
4 comments:
how do we protest this action at a higher level?
Randy Pape put a lot of time, money and effort to help his state and local community. However, a quarter million dollars to design and install road signs is a total waste of tax dollars. When the state raises taxes and fees to balance the budget, this is a poor use of the citizen's money. Next, the state wants to steal our constitutionally protected kicker check so they can spend more. We have monetary problems in the near future that nobody is talking about. Remember all those state, county and local jobs that were added with money from the stimulus? In a year or two, the money from the stimulus will run out if it hasn't already. Are we going to lay off all those workers and increase our unemployment or will state taxes increase to pay for them? Just a thought.
If everyone is worried about the money to do this change why do they not use the Oregon Prisoners to do it. I think they should be used more often to help repay they bad choices.
It's a good thing Randy wasn't Black or everyone of this people protesting the cost would be labeled as racists. How much did it cost to rename Centennial Blvd?
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