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A bid to require a public vote for nearly every decision about the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail project is one step away from becoming a special election ballot measure for Milwaukie voters.

Petitioner Ed Zumwalt‘s initiative went unchallenged in the five days after it received a title on Feb. 7, meaning that he needs only to gather 1,724 signatures from residents by late summer 鈥� a process, he said, that should be 鈥渘o big deal.鈥�

鈥淚t’s time (for city councilors) to take care of the neighborhoods they vowed to protect when they took an oath in office,鈥� Zumwalt said.

He said light-rail developers do not comprehend the detrimental effects it will have on traffic, crime prevention and children’s safety. The planned orange line will 鈥渃ut the town in two,鈥� he said, and clog main intersections during busy travel times.

Zumwalt also pointed out that TriMet has already reduced the number of park-and-ride garages promised originally 鈥� a result of less federal financial support than expected 鈥� so some riders may have to park in surrounding neighborhoods.

As for safety concerns, he said the line will be close to four schools, including Milwaukie High. TriMet has stated that part of the development process will include educating students in the area and adding strict security, but Zumwalt said he needs more reassurance.

鈥淭hey haven’t gotten their arms around crime in 25 years on this light rail,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ilwaukie won’t have any bad people come in unless you invite them in.

鈥淭hey say they’ll educate (students), but I say, 鈥楬ow?’ I want something concrete.鈥�

If voters were to pass the measure in September, 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.

Milwaukie and TriMet officials claim the measure would not jeopardize the city’s ability to pay the promised $5 million portion of the orange line’s cost, however, because breaking the contract the city has with TriMet is not allowed by the state’s constitution.

鈥淭he city of Milwaukie voted twice to approve the project and then the funding,鈥� TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said. 鈥淭riMet is proceeding in good faith and is counting on our partner jurisdictions to do the same.鈥�

City Council President Greg Chaimov said the ballot measure would instead hinder the city’s ability to make necessary adjustments to the line, because most of them cannot wait for public approval.

鈥淟ast December, we had our Design and Landmarks (Committee) work really hard with our planning staff to make sure the bridge that’s crossing along Milwaukie Boulevard was safe,鈥� Chaimov said. 鈥淚f the measure had been in place, we wouldn’t have been able to do that, because we only had a small window of time.鈥�

He added that the measure would prevent the city from operating the rail without public approval, which could hinder the city from providing security on the trains.

鈥淚 just wish Mr. Zumwalt would go about his effort to stop the light rail in a way that wasn’t so counterproductive to what he’s trying to achieve,鈥� Chaimov said. 鈥淎ll it’s going to do is make sure we end up with a line that won’t be a good neighbor as we want it to be.鈥�

The effort is similar to one last December that would have required voters to approve Clackamas County’s $25 million pledge to the project. It was challenged, however, by a Lake Oswego resident, because it would have affected existing and future light-rail lines and not only the $1.5 billion orange line.