The Columbia River Crossing Light Rail Tolling backers continue to propagate known misleading statements exposed long ago as false. In an article just published in the Battle Ground Reflector ironically titled “Setting the records straight on the CRC,” Mayor Tim Leavitt continues to mislead citizens by making statements known to be grossly exaggerated.

He writes: “We cannot afford to lose the 20,000 jobs this construction project will create, when we are facing an unemployment rate in Clark County of over 10 percent.”

It turns out that the Leavitt’s numbers were inflated by a factor of 10.

Rather than correct gross exaggerations, proponents of the CRC, like Leavitt, continue to propagate as truth miscalculated projections on toll revenue even after the Treasurer of Oregon exposed those projections to be off by $500 million. This was widely reported in the media, including King 5 in Seattle and Willamette Week in Portland, Ore.

Any project should be able to stand on its own merits without understating the cost and overstating the benefits.

Don’t the citizens deserve to know the truth?