Erik Sten: You Have No Wiggle Room on City Money for the Tram

The trouble with the tram project is the transparency in government. Sam Adams loves to use that phrase, which means the citizens know what’s going on, but truth be told, it would be a lot easier if the citizens didn’t have a clue. Recently, Erik Sten has been using language that seems to indicate some drift in his positions. He likes the way things are trending in the tram budget discussions. The old affordable-housing cover story is being dragged out for extra duty. All this implies that Erik Sten is getting ready to okay more city money for the tram. The question then becomes: Would he be that big of a weasel?
Look, Erik, we know it’s been a tough couple of weeks. We know this Clean Money baby of yours is not exactly cooing with joy. It's possible that some positions you clarified last month might have slipped your mind.
Fortunately, the crack reporters at the Oregonian have recorded them for all time. Here’s what you said about the tram: “We just got to a point now where we’ve said that’s it. If it’s not worth the money to OHSU and the developers, than it doesn’t get built.”
"It doesn't get built." Key phrase, Erik. Strong. Decisive. I’ve linked to the entire article below. Perhaps your campaign advisors are hoping the voters will forget what you said. We won’t. This is transparency in government. If you go back and vote more city money for the tram, even if it is buried in the form of a convoluted affordable housing deal, we will take that into account when assessing your integrity and your value to us as a leader. There is no wiggle room here. The tram is not worth your political career.
Sten rules out more city cash for tram