Judge approves restraining order in C-Tran case

A Thurston County judge has given C-Tran some breathing room in its dispute with the state over the transit agency’s board composition.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said earlier this year that it believes C-Tran, Clark County’s public transit agency, is violating a state rule requiring population-based representation on transit agency boards.

The state has threatened to withhold millions of dollars in state grant funding if C-Tran doesn’t reconfigure its board makeup to better represent the city of Vancouver and unincorporated Clark County by Oct. 1.

On Tuesday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge John C. Skinder issued a temporary restraining order to prevent WSDOT from enforcing that Oct. 1 deadline.

“C-Tran has shown that this lawsuit immediately affects significant segments of the Clark County area and Clark County residents who rely on C-Tran for essential activities, such as traveling to work, grocery shopping and medical appointments,” Skinder said in his order.

4-3-2 vs. 3-3-3

The current C-Tran board consists of three representatives from the city of Vancouver, two representatives from unincorporated Clark County and four representatives from the county’s small cities, which include Battle Ground, Camas, La Center, Ridgefield and Washougal and the town of Yacolt. The board also has a nonvoting member representing C-Tran workers.

WSDOT has told C-Tran that it believes Clark County’s small cities, which represent about 18 percent of the population in the transit agency’s service district, are overrepresented on the board while the city of Vancouver and county are underrepresented.

The state has said a true population-based board would have four seats for Vancouver, three seats for the county and two seats for the smaller cities.

Last month, C-Tran’s Board Composition Review Committee rejected the state’s preferred board configuration and voted to push for a 3-3-3 plan that would give the city of Vancouver, unincorporated Clark County and the small cities three seats apiece.

In response, WSDOT said the 3-3-3 plan does not meet the state’s requirement and reiterated its Oct. 1 deadline.

‘Irreparable harm’

In a bid to preserve state grant funding, the composition review committee voted Sept. 9 to seek an immediate stay from the courts until the matter can be resolved.

The committee also voted to seek injunctive relief against WSDOT.

C-Tran hopes to pass the board configuration question to the courts and have a Superior Court judge determine the requirements of the state law dictating board representation and say how C-Tran can best comply with those requirements.

In its complaint against WSDOT, filed Monday in Thurston County Superior Court, C-Tran said it is in “an untenable position,” caught between the state’s orders and its board composition review committee’s desire to keep as much small-city representation as it can.

“WSDOT has threatened C-Tran with the loss of all future grant funding, including C-Tran’s ability to compete for, receive, and/or access any grant funding … which will inflict irreparable harm on taxpayers and transit users in Clark County,” C-Tran said in the complaint.

The transit agency told the court it is “powerless to stop this injustice and violation of its taxpayers’ and users’ due process rights, absent court intervention.”

C-Tran told the court it faces “significant and irreparable harm” and the potential loss of $8.4 million if the state enforces its Oct. 1 deadline.

According to the complaint, “the loss of this revenue would require C-Tran to significantly reduce its costs” and could lead to service reductions.

The transit agency also said the loss of grant funding would likely mean deferring its purchase of electric buses, which could negatively impact the agency’s goal of having a zero-emissions fleet by 2040.

A hearing to consider C-Tran’s injunctive relief request is set for Oct. 3 in Thurston County Superior Court.