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A petition that would send nearly every decision about the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project to public vote is one step away from getting on a special election ballot in September.

Petitioner Ed Zumwalt‘s measure went unchallenged in the five days since it received a title last Tuesday, meaning the only hurtle left for Zumwalt is to get 1,724 resident signatures by late summer 鈥� a process, he said, that should be 鈥渘o big deal.鈥�

If the ballot is passed by voters, it would change the city charter to require a public vote before Milwaukie can spend any money to finance, design, construct or operate any public rail transit system, jeopardizing the city’s ability to pay the promised $5 million portion of the line’s cost. If Milwaukie fails to foot the bill, TriMet would also lose federal matching funds for that amount.

The measure is similar to one filed last December that would have required Clackamas County voter approval of the county’s $25 million pledge to the project. It was challenged, however, by a Lake Oswego resident, because it would include existing and future light rail lines, not just the $1.5 billion Orange Line expected to go through downtown Milwaukie.

Zumwalt said developers of the light rail do not comprehend the detrimental effects it will have on crime, parking and children’s safety.