Mayor Charlie Hales Says He Supports a Gas Tax

Ted Wheeler had previously announced his support for the gas tax.

By Beth Slovic

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales told OPB's Think Out Loud on Friday afternoon that he supports Commissioner Steve Novick's idea for a local gas tax to support road repairs.

“I’ll vote for it,” he said, “because a lousy ten cents, when the gas prices have fallen by a dollar, it seems like a reasonable thing to do if we want to take care of our streets.”

A spokesman for the mayor, Dana Haynes, said 10 days ago that the mayor was not prepared to support the tax.
Haynes, though, says the mayor’s announcement is not a reversal. In response to a request for a phone interview, Haynes responded by email:

“He didn’t reverse his position. That would have required him to oppose the gas tax proposal, and he did not. But he also didn’t commit to it either way. He went to the City Club meeting and watched the debate. He read the City Club report. And this morning he met with the Transpo Commissioner to talk about the proposal. Out of that meeting, the mayor announced his position. Which is to support Steve Novick on a gas tax.”

The announcement comes as mayoral challenger Ted Wheeler, Oregon state treasurer, has continued to blast Hales for his failure to address Portland’s huge backlog of street repairs.

At his Sept. 9 announcement that he would run for Portland mayor, Wheeler also said he supported a gas tax.

Novick, through his chief of staff, sent an emailed statement to WW: “I very much appreciate the Mayor’s statement. Before I ask anyone else on the council to make a commitment, I think I’ve still got to do some more work to demonstrate broad community support.”
Commissioner Amanda Fritz previously told WW she was open to the idea if it went to a public vote after a good public process.

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