Sneak Peek On My Rather... Abstract... Board Meeting Speech (Pre-Approval)

Hello, I am Cameron Johnson, 16 year old represneting OPAL Bus Riders Unite and to some extent the Mt. Scott Community Center Teen Volunteer Corps. And I brought with me some perturbing news.

Based off of blog commenters, something I observe very often, I have a feeling that the TriMet bond measure is going to be shot down, and not just shot down, but shot down by those with a vengeance.

I'm going to quote a blogger's comment who I will not name who said something that made me want to punch in a wall. He said, and I quote "Like to help you out TriMet, but you kind of lost your chance when you cut my bus line. Funny how it comes around, isn't it?"

Now while this absolutely disgusts me for two reasons, one being that vengeance is a stupid and useless thing, and two being that this guy's childish vengeance is part of what is costing me, someone unable to vote, new buses and bus stops, it shows a sign. It shows that you're changing the public's view of you into negative, and that is going to cost you.

Three things have been ticking riders off lately. The first is the service cuts and fare increasements, the second is the union situation which I know very little about, and third, the focus on light rail. And before you say "Oh this is only one commenter, how bad could it be?" Oh, it's bad. It's really bad. I read about 50 similar comments on ONE news article that read the same. There were 78 commenters. 50 is more than half of 78. If this is a sample, I'd recommend you fish out the white flag out of the basement.

People have been giving you reasons to stop service cuts because it impacts them. To be critical of you, you frankly haven't listened to those reasons. So I'm giving you a reason for yourselves to stop service cuts. People are your backbone, and when you hurt them, they're inclined to hurt you back. And thus begins a vicious cycle.

So how do you react? Some people, including me, fear that you will simply see this as a sign that bus service does not matter and when funding gets low, bus service will be first in line for the guillotine. I urge you, for all that is sane, do not do that. If you do that, you're no better than these vengeful commenters, and the vicious cycle will rage on until there is nothing left for either party. When you recover the body of the TriMet bond measure, learn from this loss. Learn that if you fire the first shot, you have started a war. If you are the first to make peace, you have not only ended the war, but unskewed the view of those on you. It's only beneficial to everyone.

Besides, I was never one to like war anyways, well, outside of video games. But that's another story...

What I Really Hate About When Voters Say No About The TriMet Bond Measure

Yeah, as you can tell, the TriMet Bond Measure is gonna fall flat on its face. Mostly because the Oregonian, but another fact that really bugs the crap out of me has come into play.

TriMet has screwed bus riders over before, so some bus riders are taking revenge and saying No.

Uhm, I've got a really good question, hold onto your seat cause this is a really good- WHAT KIND OF SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?!

Seriously, take a second. Picture yourself as a kid. Your mom said she was going to get you the newest edition of Halo in a few days. (I'm don't even like Halo, but hey, I was short on examples.) She doesn't buy it for awhile, and you get frustrated and start saving up. When you get some money together, you go to buy it. To your surprise she covers most of the funds with what she has. Sure, you had to use some of your money and your mom was late on her promise, but, hey, she came through, and you've got Halo.

Now imagine if you told your mom "No, you don't cover it. I don't even want it anymore, and it's all your fault." when she went to help you pay for it. You'd have no halo and your mom would be pretty upset. She might even ground you for embarassing her.

Not take that in account to TriMet. If you vote no out of vengeance, you'll have nothing to show for it, you'll punish others because of your decision, and you'll be watching TriMet cutting bus service because of your no votes saying "Hey, they don't really care about Bus, let's cut it all!" So really, vengeance begets vengeance.

If you vote no, vote no because you think the measure is a bad idea. Because you can't afford it. Or vote yes. I wish I could. But I'm a teen. Therefore I don't count.

So, watch your reasoning behind your no vote.