Weeks later, TxDOT and the RMA railroaded the Wurzbach Pkwy project through the Transportation Commission and removed Wurzbach Pkwy from the toll plans without even coming to the MPO for approval and without a word of public testimony asking for it. Contrast that to the 281 and 1604 amendments before the MPO on October 26 that would have made them non-toll projects and reduced the cost using the same arguments TxDOT used to get Wurzbach approved at reduced cost, that the MPO rejected despite more than 500 attendees and FIVE AND HALF HOURS of public testimony demanding the non-toll fix to these roadways. Something is seriously wrong with this picture!
The article below references a letter sent to Chairman Joe Pickett by MPO Chair Commissioner Tommy Adkisson but grossly misrepresents the intent of the letter. Read the letter. for yourself. What continues to fuel inaccurate assessments of all these letters flying around of late is that no one seems to be reading them. Adkisson was objecting to TxDOT’s claim that it had come to the MPOs to get an approved list of projects for Prop 12 funding when it had not.

TxDOT acted alone, so did the RMA by removing Wurzbach from its toll plans and passing a resolution to fix it non-toll with Prop 12 bonds. Adkisson was sticking-up for the MPO’s proper role in transportation decision-making, and from what I can tell, that’s been the reason for most of his letters. So that was the rub, yet the article makes it appear Adkisson was blocking money coming to our region when nothing could be further from the truth. Had TxDOT come to the MPO as they are supposed to do and as they told the legislature and Commission they had, there wouldn’t be any question about the MPO’s priorities because the board would have adopted an official list.

At the end of the day, it’s TxDOT who acted unilaterally to use-up the Prop 12 bonds on everything BUT a non-toll fix to our most congested roadways, 281 and 1604. TxDOT needs unbearable congestion in order to entice people to pay a toll to get out of it.  TxDOT just gave us another lesson in railroading 101.

Wurzbach Parkway funds OK’d

Read the rest of the story here.

Let’s issue pink slips to the elected officials and FAST!

Senator Jeff Wentworth
Commissioner Kevin Wolff

Commissioner Chico Rodriguez

Councilman John Clamp

Councilman Ray Lopez

Councilman (of Selma) William Weeper

Plus City appointees:

Mary Briseno (Via)

Rick Pych (Via)

Majed Al-Ghafrey

Mike Frisbie

(2) TxDOT votes

Joe Aceves (county employee)
______________________________________________________________________________

GOOD GUYS WHO VOTED AGAINST:

State Representative David Leibowitz

Commissioner Tommy Adkisson

Mayor of Leon Valley Chris Riley

Councilwoman Jennifer Ramos

Councilman Reed Williams

Let’s not forget that SAMCo is also supported by dues from the City of San Antonio and Bexar County. The County has contributed in excess of $250,000 since 2005. SAMCo is chaired by none other than pro-toll Terrell McCombs, with Jim Reed of the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA, the tolling authority) as an officer. Guess who else sits on the Executive Committee? Mayor Julian Castro and Councilman John Clamp (who also serves on the MPO). Good Guy Commissioner Adkisson is also on the Executive Committee since the MPO Chair has an automatic seat (I believe its the same for the Mayor and County Judge). But after you read SAMCo’s email, I don’t think you’d fault Commissioner Adkisson for not attending the meetings or supporting this organization.

SAMCo Members:

On October 19 and 26, the Bexar County/San Antonio MPO will host two special meetings to consider revisions to the project descriptions and funding sources for the US 281 North and Loop 1604 Projects.

Specifically, the MPO Policy Board will receive testimony on a proposal by Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson and Comal County resident Terri Hall to eliminate toll financing as an option for funding US 281, Loop 1604, or other projects in Bexar County.

Instead, the Commissioner and Ms. Hall have proposed a plan for US 281 and Loop 1604 that provides far less congestion relief for motorists,  eliminates two-thirds of new lanes along Loop 1604, truncates US 281, makes faulty funding assumptions, and risks losing San Antonio’s existing federal stimulus funding.

After considered review, we believe the MPO Policy Board should reject the Adkisson/Hall plan for the following reasons:

1)      The plan completely removes 16.33 miles of Loop 1604 improvements between Bandera Road and Redland Road, leaving motorists stuck in traffic near I-10, US 281, UTSA, and other key corridor segments.

2)      The plan will result in a substantial reduction in scope for the US 281 North by reducing funding from $475 to $200 million.  The plan does not address how the project would be re-engineered to reflect a funding reduction of 58 percent.

3)      The plan risks losing $216 million in Texas Mobility Fund (TMF) dollars that have been reserved by TxDOT for Loop 1604 and US 281 as leveraged (i.e. tolled) projects.  Because the Commission (TxDOT) has required projects in other urban regions to meet TMF  leveraging requirements, we believe it is extremely doubtful that the Commission would make an exception for San Antonio that would expose TxDOT to charges of favoritism and unfairness.

4)      The plan risks losing $140 million in federal stimulus (ARRA) and Prop 14 dollars awarded specifically for the US 281/Loop 1604 Interchange.  The plan unilaterally diverts $60 million in Prop 14 dollars from the Interchange to  US 281 North and attempts to substitute a similar amount of TMF dollars in its place – also likely to be rejected due to leverage requirements and other technical issues.  With the Interchange no longer fully funded, Commissioners would have little option but to transfer the $140 million to the next eligible “shovel ready” project on the statewide federal stimulus list developed by TxDOT last February.  This might not be in San Antonio.

5)      The plan assumes the Transportation Commission will allocate $200 million in Proposition 12 dollars to Loop 1604.  As of today’s date, the Commission has yet to determine how $1 billion available from Prop 12 dollars for the current biennium will be allocated.  Based on last month’s Commission workshop, it appears that much of this funding will be allocated to safety/maintenance projects and to statewide connectivity (for example I-35 north of Waco).   Whatever remains for  “urban mobility” will likely be awarded through a competitive call for projects.

6)      The plan is not geographically balanced and  fails to provide a system-wide solution for congestion, focusing only on small parts of US 281 and Loop 1604 and leaving little or no funding for transportation improvements in other part of San Antonio and Bexar County.

Since our inception in 2001, SAMCo has supported introduction of new and expanded funding tools and approaches – including tolling as a funding option of last resort – to address declining levels of traditional state and federal funding.

In an era of increasing uncertainty regarding future available funding and with more than $19 billion in unmet transportation needs for our region by 2030 (2006 MPO estimate), we would urge members of the Bexar County/San Antonio MPO Transportation Policy Board to:

1)      Retain all funding options in the MPO’s future plans for US 281, Loop 1604, and other added capacity projects;

2)      Support the ongoing Alamo RMA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) processes for US 281 and Loop 1604, which will include development of both toll and non-toll options.   With two or more years of intense study still ahead, there is no need at this time to pre-determine the outcome or eliminate any particular option;

3)      Reject any plan that does not provide a system-wide solution or that creates a significant geographic imbalance in how the MPO’s transportation funds are allocated.

4)      Continue to support local option legislation, federal and state motor fuels increases/indexing, and creation of other new revenue sources to provide potential new funding for San Antonio projects;

5)      Continue to support development of “Super Street” projects along both US 281 North and Loop 1604 (west) to provide some measure of temporary relief while the longer term studies are being completed.

How SAMCo members/partners can help:

1)      Attend the October 19 and 26 public meetings Click here for details and register to say a few brief words In support of keeping all funding options on the table.

2)      Strongly encourage your co-workers, employees, business associates, friends, neighbors, etc. to do the same.  It is important that the MPO Policy Board see that there is broad-based support for moving forward with these mobility projects and approaches. Consider car-pooling to the meetings, especially the evening of October 26.

3)      Send a brief one or two sentence email to the MPO Policy Board letting them know you support:
a.       Retaining all available options to fund US 281, Loop 1604, and future mobility projects
b.      A system wide solution, not just a solution that only addresses a few selected miles
c.       Moving forward with the Alamo RMA’s Environmental Processes for US 281 and Loop 1604
d.      Anything else you might want to add to personalize your email
e.      Just cut and paste the following email addresses for all voting and ex-officio (nonvoting) MPO members:  jaceves@bexar.org; tadkisson@bexar.org; mmedina@dot.state.tx.us; rpych@attcenter.com; John.Clamp@sanantonio.gov; jennifer.v.ramos@sanantonio.gov; reed.williams@sanantonio.gov; mayorriley@hotmail.com; weepersr@satxrr.com; Majed.Al-Ghafry@sanantonio.gov; garriaga@aacog.com; chico.rodriguez@co.bexar.tx.us; csmith1@dot.state.tx.us; david.leibowitz@house.state.tx.us; jeff.wentworth@senate.state.tx.us; susanfarris@bexar.org; ray.lopez@sanantonio.gov; mike.frisbie@sanantonio.gov; mary.briseno@viainfo.net; keith.parker@viainfo.net; vboyer@samcoinc.org; dlann@dot.state.tx.us; kirk.fauver@fhwa.dot.gov; jimrreed@swbell.net; ksb314@sbcglobal.net

4)      We will continue to provide updates as this issue evolves.

A small minority has dominated this issue for too long, with significant consequences for San Antonio’s quality of life and economic future.   It is time to change that.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this effort.

Vic
Victor M. Boyer
Executive Director
San Antonio Mobility Coalition, Inc. (SAMCo)
13526 George Road #107
San Antonio, TX 78230
(210) 688-4407 – Phone
(210) 688-4507 – Fax
vboyer@samcoinc.org
_______________________________________________________________________

Our response to this vitriolic email from SAMCo:
There are glaring inaccuracies in Vic Boyer’s email (above). First of all, the non-toll plan is not Commissioner Adkisson’s or my plan, it’s TxDOT’s plan promised to the public in hearings in 2001. It doesn’t risk stimulus money, and, in fact, the RMA seeking an environmental exemption on the interchange and it’s failure to coordinate with the City of Hollywood Park risks losing stimulus money far more than shifting pots of money ever could. They’ve been warned from day one that how ever they design the interchange will pre-determine what it connects to in the future (either a future toll road or non-toll lanes), and will prejudice both the 281 and 1604 environmental studies (that require all alternatives to be studied). The RMA’s vacillation on the promise to build the entire interchange non-toll, only to abandon the northbound ramps, makes their intent to impose tolls in the future on 281 abundantly clear.

The non-toll amendment before the MPO only affects 281 north and the west side of 1604 (by Braun Rd) and uses money already allocated to those roadways and DOES NOT take money from other projects. San Antonio can expect about 10% of the Prop 12 monies to come to our region. TxDOT is trying to advance Wurzbach Pkwy for that money, which is far less congested than both 281 and 1604 west. By TxDOT’s own admission, if a reasonable source of revenue can be identified (in this case Prop 12 and Texas Mobility Funds which have already been allocated to 281/1604), it’s sufficient to place it into the short range and long range plans at the MPO.

The eventual pot of money may change. In addition, the Texas Mobility Funds DO NOT REQUIRE leveraging or tolling. The Transportation Commission’s own Minute Order shows in black and white that Texas Mobility Funds can be used for FREEways and that it’s not necessary to toll a road to get access to them. It’s also possible to meet the bogus leveraging requirement for the Texas Mobility Funds with a different source of revenue (instead of Prop 14 bonds), which Commissioner Adkisson is working on (with next to no cooperation from any of the agencies).

By comparison, virtually every segment of the current toll plans are not funded either, and make financial assumptions that cannot be substantiated. To assume massive leveraged debt to fix the entire northside at one time is reckless. This proposed toll system is unsustainable and requires MULTI-BILLIONS to be sucked out of our local economy, money that now goes to support local restaurants, stores, hotels, movie theaters will now have to go to transportation costs that few in San Antonio can afford. If they could, the toll road would pay for itself and not need to be subsidized with public money!
San Antonio cannot afford the interest on $900 million of debt for the 1604 toll road and the $864 million in interest just for the 281 toll project (not counting the interest on the other loans proposed to subsidize the 281 project). I’ll be 90 years old when these tollways would be be paid off, if they’re EVER paid for before going into default (which just happened in South Carolina). What on earth are we doing? In addition, the non-compete agreements that prohibit or penalize the region for expanding or building any new free lanes surrounding the tollways for up to 50 years at a time is plain malfeasance. That means Stone Oak Pkwy, Bulverde Rd., Blanco Rd., Braun Rd., Shaenfield, Culebra, Bander, etc.

The MPO is an equal player in transportation decision-making along with the FHWA and Transportation Commission. Though under Rick Perry Transportation Commission decisions have become highly politicized and bullying and threats have ruled the day, ultimately, these roads cannot be tolled if the MPO votes to make them non-tolled. Let’s not forget Perry is a heated primary battle and has already retreated on the Trans Texas Corridor because “there was no political support for it.” Well, clearly there has been no political support for tolling our existing freeways in San Antonio either.

So it’s pure hogwash to say the non-toll options will cause the sky to fall. This is pure politics. We can have an endless impasse and get nothing done, or we can move this community forward.
Contact your city, county, and state elected officials and MPO Board members NOW to tell them to VOTE NO TO TOLLS and fix our freeways without TOLLS!

This latest feeding frenzy will only come back to haunt us, but it never seems to haunt them since they will have already moved on to higher office by the time it all hits the fan! We’ll be the ones left holdiing the bag. Knowing their policies are TOTALLY unsustainable, we’re witnessing a wreckless neglect of their fiduciary duty to build and maintain a STATE highway system and to be guardian’s of the public interest.
SB 855 & SB 882
Senator John Carona’s menu of tax hikes

His bill could increase your gas tax every year, charge new residents an impact fee but not developers, a vehicle registration tax hike, driver’s license tax, an emissions tax, and even a tax on a parking space. Then, Carona tried to sneak in an increase in payments to LOSING BIDDERS on road projects into a bill on toll collection in SB 882! He raises the current cap of $250,000 to a payment solely at the discretion of the tolling authority. They say there’s no money for roads, and yet they’ve got money to pay road contractors even when they DON’T build the road! Only in transportation does it pay to be a “loser.”
SB 17
Private toll road nightmare!

Senator Robert Nichols claims this bill protects the public from privatized  toll roads (called CDAs, pure profit centers), when TxDOT has the option to waive the restrictions! It also allows non-compete agreements (which guarantees congestion on the free roads), payments for “future” loss of toll revenues to the private toll operator if the state buys back the road, removes the State Auditor’s review of these contracts, and the private operator would be paid “fair market value” if the state buys back the road (without stating how that value is calculated or who decides the final pricetag).

It’s supposed to “protect” the taxpayers from private roads and keep them in public hands, but if the local toll entity doesn’t have the bonding capacity to make it work and declines the project, TxDOT can then also “decline” the project giving it to the private operators by default (which we can rest assured, they’ll do). CDAs cost at least 50% more and they charge extremely high tolls (like the deal Cintra just got on 820 in Tarrant County; commuters will pay 75 cents a MILE to get to work). It’s unsustainable!

Even after hearing an example of how the State Auditor caught the Alamo RMA not properly factoring in gas prices in their projections for toll traffic on 281, Nichols actually insulted the intelligence of our State Auditor by saying they “didn’t understand” toll viability studies so he arbitrarily removed the Auditor from oversight on these deals, stripping the process of a needed layer of accountability, and transparency. Don’t we owe it to the taxpayers to subject these deals to every level of scrutiny possible before handing our highway system over to foreign companies for a half century?

It was only two years ago when Nichols championed this very clarion call. Where has that taxpayer warrior gone?

Then, the grandaddies of them all…
SB 404
Carona’s bill to extend PPPs rather than let them die their rightful death this fall

These Public-Private Partnership Toll contracts called PPPs or CDAs in Texas, are scheduled to sunset in September. They’re rife with problems, trample on the public interest, amount to government-sanctioned monopolies, and utilize massive risky leveraged debt that threatens the very solvency of this country. Please read our CDA Fact Sheet for the details here.

SB 942
Bill to charge a congestion tax, commuter tax, tax on every mile you drive!

Senator Jeff Wentworth’s, SB 942, would allow a county to impose any or all of these taxes WITHOUT A VOTE. The vote is optional. Taxes could also be hiked for “services” (not just transportation projects) without naming the services they can tax.

The bill calls for a menu of tax increases like:
- an impact fee for new residents BUT NOT an impact fee on developers
- a gas tax
- a tax on passenger vehicles but NOT commercial vehicles
- a commuter tax on those commuting into a county (with no limit whatsoever)
- a real estate transaction tax
- a vehicle registration tax
- a vehicle sales tax
- a sales tax
- a tax on every mile driven (with no limit)
- a congestion tax for “high congestion areas during peak hours” (in addition to their plan to toll those areas!)

The county could impose one or ALL of these all at once without a vote! Glaring problem number 1,561 is the “optional” vote is only on the table if the citizens gather signatures (with a very high bar to meet, 10% of the last gubernatorial general election!). All this while Wentworth is also advancing his bill, SB 690, to increase the number of signatures needed for local referendums!

None of these taxes should EVER be imposed without an automatic public vote, period. Lastly, the bill doesn’t mandate the tax be tied to a specific project or that it sunsets when the projects are paid for (this, too, is optional), and the county can increase the tax rate without a vote. It’s a taxation free-for-all!

Your emails and phone calls did help because he offered an amended version of the bill that would at least REQUIRE a public vote. Gee, thanks. Now we can look forward to them choosing the most ackward day on the calendar to call for an election, hold every road project hostage until we agree to the new taxes, and hold our breath that more of us turnout than all the road contractors and their employees.

Apparently us working stiffs and mere taxpayers don’t have the clout the real estate lobby does, because he stripped out their real estate transaction tax in the new version.

Needless to say, we oppose this bill outright. We think, after ending the diversions to the gas tax (and curbing tolling), that a fixed increase in the gas tax is a far better, more accountable, and transparent long-term solution.

******************************************

TURF testified against these bills. Here are some of the formal comments…

TURF’s Testimony on SB 17

We commend Senator Nichols’ efforts for working on this evaluation process that has been in the works for nearly a year. Protecting the public interest is PARAMOUNT! How we do that is the open question here today.

Here are some of our concerns with SB 17 as drafted. We overall support the idea of CDAs being the last resort (we’d prefer they go away completely). But knowing how TxDOT operates and how it has become an extension of private industry instead of the guardian of the public interest, we think there are some gaping holes through which TxDOT will gladly leap through using the language of this bill.

Concerns with SB 17:

- Allows compensation to the private developer for the future loss of toll revenue (Sec. 301.103) in the form of a non-compete agreement for up to 30 years. Though you could argue the Dept. can still build anything in an MPO plan and for safety and maintenance, we’ve seen TxDOT strip out projects from the MPO plans in anticipation of selling bonds where the bond investor required a non-compete. So this will be manipulated in favor of the private investors placing the public interest at risk (by guaranteeing congestion on surrounding free roads for 30 years).
- We feel strongly that the State Auditor should still review these contracts. Even on a public toll project, US 281 in San Antonio, the Auditor reviewed the terms of the CDA and found the RMA had not properly factored the price of gas into their toll viability studies and recommended they re-do the study. The public deserves this extra protection.
- Allows the private developer to receive “fair market value” for a PUBLIC road without saying how this is to be calculated. It’s likely the private operator who will ultimately determine the price, so we’d like to see the bill require transparency on the debt owed (to avoid a self-reported figure) and have the calculation of “fair market value” scrutinized for soundness by the State Auditor or the public will, once again, be left holding the bag.
- TxDOT will naturally decline the project as a public project in favor of a private concession as they’ve already demonstrated when asking Harris County to sell their toll system to a private entity. The way this is structured, if the public toll entity like an NTTA cannot get the financing together (or the bonding capacity), they’d have to pass this to TxDOT and then TxDOT could hand it to the private developer, especially to use private funds to subsidize a toll project that can’t stand on its own feet (that isn’t 100% toll viable) (Sec 373.054). So this section ultimately doesn’t give the public protection, but shows TxDOT they can just wait it out, not provide any public subsidies (like TMF funds, other discretionary funds, etc) until they get possession of the project and then they can hand it to the private companies.
- Allows TxDOT & toll entity to waive these steps, which defeats the purpose of the bill (Sec 373.057) and allows them to jump precipitously into a CDA.

Ultimately, we’d like to see an honest, legitimate process to evaluate ALL road projects with a process that helps us determine FIRST between tolled and non-tolled, then go to a public or private toll road evaluation scenario. This assumes most projects will tolled. All these pots of public money being used to subsidize toll projects that can’t stand on their own two feet simply should NOT be built as toll projects if they’re not 100% toll sustainable. To do less is a DOUBLE and TRIPLE tax scenario unduly burdening our citizens for generations to come.

What it comes down to is, the citizens do not trust any process where the status quo Transportation Commission is still in place. As we described, TxDOT can quite easily hand over a massive portion of our highway system to private operators through CDAs (even using this process) that would cost 40% more than publicly owned projects and are faltering or failing all over the country. Not one PPP could even be held up as a model during the CDA Study Committee hearings, not even by the FHWA Administration who has been pushing this stuff.

We need fundamental, sweeping change by abolishing the Commission and replacing it with ELECTED leadership, whether it’s a single elected, or regionally elected commissioners, status quo is not an option for trust to be restored and to halt the legal and political wrangling that’s been keeping many projects from moving forward.

Instead of investing so much time and effort on how to cage the beast of CDAs unleashed by HB 3588 in the Williamson era, allow them to ride off into the sunset as scheduled and chart a new course. Modestly raise the statewide gas tax and get back to the business of building and maintaining a STATE highway system, instead of a slice and dice, hodge-podge separating rich from poor, urban and rural, and the city-state system you’re creating versus ONE unified and uniform system we can all easily access and be proud of again.

San Antonio, TX, February 23, 2009 – AGUA and TURF have concerns about the status of the 281/1604 interchange in light of the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) vote today to submit it as a “shovel ready” project for stimulus funds.

“While we welcome ANY non-toll funding to FINALLY complete these projects, we have to ask…what will this interchange connect with? Toll lanes or non-toll lanes? Will it only connect with what’s there now or what? How can they build an interchange without knowing what sort of lanes it’ll connect with?” Terri Hall, Founder of TURF, asks.

Enrique Valdivia, President of the Board of Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas (AGUA) wondered, ”We’re concerned that stimulus money is being used to fund projects within the scope of the issues we’ve raised in our lawsuit.”

Hall says the non-toll fix to 281 and1604 and the interchange should all be on the table. While the toll road clearance has been pulled, there are provisions in the law that would allow all these improvements to move forward as scaled down non-toll projects if the politicians would demand that TxDOT work with community groups to agree on a less invasive, more affordable plan.

“Until now, TxDOT and the RMA have REFUSED to negotiate. They want a massive toll road that steals our freeway and raids our wallets,” Hall said.

Citizens have been clamoring to get the original, non-toll freeway plan built on 281 for 4 years, and they have recently launched a campaign to pressure politicians in the area to get the job done. View it here. The freeway fix was promised in public hearings in 2001, had environmental clearance, no opposition, and it was funded with gas taxes in 2003. Then the Texas Legislature, including State Rep. Frank Corte and Sen. Jeff Wentworth, voted for Governor Rick Perry’s toll road plans. That’s when 281 FREEway improvements were turned into a toll plan instead.

“It’s all about the money. Our politicians want to tap the vein and charge 281 commuters an extra tax to get to work in order to fund their pet projects elsewhere. It’s highway robbery and citizens, rightly, went nuclear to stop it,” Hall declared.

Though the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA) and TxDOT stubbornly claim there is no money or environmental clearance to fix 281, [the money is still there in Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) documents], $425 million total, which is more than enough for the less invasive original plan AND the interchange at 281/1604 and the most congested areas of 1604.

“The stalemate over 281 isn’t about lack of money or lack of clearance, it’s about a lack of political will. It’s about rogue bureaucrats and unresponsive politicians who can magically produce $20 million for an overpass for wealthy campaign donors in the Dominion, yet they’d have us believe the same ‘can’t’ be done on 281. The pathway to a solution the taxpayers and environmental groups are happy with is ripe for the picking, but our politicians refuse to choose it. They want our money, and they don’t care about the environment or whose lives’ they’re wrecking to do it,” Hall noted.

San Antonio, TX, February 5, 2009 – Gene Dawson, President of Pape Dawson Engineers, saw a problem, unbelievable gridlock on 281 North of 1604, and he was just the guy who knew how to fix it. Pape Dawson has been briefing neighborhood groups on what many see as a workable interim solution to help get weary commuters on 281 N moving again.

What’s the best part about it? The fix is only $7.2 million, can clear environmental hurdles, boost traffic flow by 40%, and be done by the end of the year. See the schematic of the proposed J-turn intersections here. It’s called a superstreet, and they’ve been successfully implemented in North Carolina, Michigan, and Ohio and could be an affordable solution applied to other parts of Bexar County, like 1604 and Braun Rd. area and on Bandera Rd.

Click to view demo

“The grassroots are thrilled at the truly innovative solution Pape Dawson has brought to the table. It shows how we don’t need a 20 lane toll road plan to get traffic moving again. It also shows that there’s plenty of talent in this community to get the long-term fix on 281 when we all work together toward a sensible, speedy solution. While we believe the long-term solution to the county line can commence in months not years if the politicians would insist TxDOT work with community groups to agree on a less invasive, more affordable plan, this superstreet will at least stop the bleeding,” Terri Hall, Founder of TURF and the Toll Party, relates.

Citizens have been clamoring to get the original, non-toll freeway plan built on 281 for 4 years, and they have recently launched a campaign to pressure politicians in the area to get the job done. View it here. The freeway fix was promised in public hearings in 2001, had environmental clearance, no opposition, and it was funded with gas taxes in 2003. Then the Texas Legislature, including State Rep. Frank Corte and Sen. Jeff Wentworth, voted for Governor Rick Perry’s toll road plans. That’s when 281 FREEway improvements were turned into a toll plan instead.

“It’s all about the money. Our politicians want to tap the vein and charge 281 commuters an extra tax to get to work in order to fund their pet projects elsewhere. It’s highway robbery and citizens, rightly, went nuclear to stop it,” Hall declared.

Though the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA) and TxDOT stubbornly claim there is no money or environmental clearance to fix 281, the money is still there in Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) documents, $425 million total, which is more than enough for the less invasive original plan AND the interchange at 281/1604.

“There are provisions in the law that would allow the project to commence with environmental clearance, and these agencies know it. They vehemently deny it because their jobs depend on it.

“The stalemate over 281 isn’t about lack of money or lack of clearance, it’s about a lack of political will. It’s about rogue bureaucrats and unresponsive politicians who can magically produce $20 million for an overpass for wealthy campaign donors in the Dominion, yet they’d have us believe the same ‘can’t’ be done on 281. The pathway to a solution the taxpayers and environmental groups are happy with is ripe for the picking, but our politicians refuse to choose it. They want our money, and they don’t care about the environment or whose lives’ they’re wrecking to do it,” Hall noted.

By contrast, State Representative Frank Corte is up for re-election in just days…where is he on this? He voted to toll every chance he got in the legislature and has done NOTHING to prevent the freeway to tollway conversion on 281 and on parts of Loop 1604. Maybe its because he doesn’t even live in the district and has deceptively claimed a vacant lot as a residence. He doesn’t feel our pain or the urgency of the situation because he doesn’t LIVE in this congestion day in and day out like we do.

Send him a message at the ballot box…you vote to increase our taxes and let 281 motorists languish for 5 years when the gas tax fix has been paid for, you don’t deserve to be re-elected November 4.

Of the nine committee members, 6 showed up: Kim Brimer, John Carona, Robert Nichols, Florence Shapiro, Kirk Watson, and Tommy Williams. Notably absent, as usual, was San Antonio & Hill County Senator Jeff Wentworth. Our favorite comments came from Senator Williams who told TxDOT that it’ll be “over my dead body” before TxDOT takes toll revenues from Houston to fund northern or southern segments of the Trans Texas Corridor. His message: keep your mitts off our region’s money.

This discussion occurred during the CDA panel where the Committee trotted out Jose Maria Lopez of Cintra, David Zachry of Zachry Construction (Cintra’s partner on many toll projects and the Trans Texas Corridor), the Associated General Contractors, and an attorney who represents the public sector on public-private deals who said the decision on the maximum toll rate and escalation formula cannot be left to the private sector. Amen!

Lopez and Zachry agreed that:

1) It’s difficult to determine a “market price” for a toll road without a previous sale price (like a home)

2) That the private sector can offer more up-front cash than the public sector despite its tax-free, low interest loans

3) That there is no single market value for any given toll project since competitors would use varying formulas and criteria and would naturally arrive at different numbers.

Senator Nichols, former Transportation Commissioner, had offered up a new way to do buyback provisions in CDAs that would give the State a guaranteed not to exceed buyout price in the contract so there’s no guesswork or court battle over the pricetag of a toll road should the State need to buy it back from a private entity.

MARKET VALUATION CHALLENGED

Then TxDOT hinted they could raid “excess toll revenues” (code for profit) to fund non-toll viable segments illiciting Williams’ ultimatum. “Once you redistribute money it’s no longer a user fee; it’s a tax,” Williams said. We’d argue that ANY money forcibly taken from taxpayers and given to the government is a TAX, not a fee to begin with, but his point is well taken.

In TURF’s testimony, we addressed that aspect of the new “market valuation” scheme, which the Governor injected into his counterfeit moratorium bill SB 792, calling a spade a spade. Market valuation is nothing more than a Robin Hood scheme to milk taxes from one set of motorists to pay for other projects elsewhere, which is horrific public policy and smacks of a slush fund for politicians to raid for any number of projects without accountability or a direct path to track the tax collected to the tax spent.

It was clear that “market valuation” and the words “financial terms” (to be agreed upon) had any number of definitions even among lawmakers who voted for the bill. Senator Nichols expressed concern that 3 bidders could give 3 totally different market values to the same toll road making TxDOT’s insistence on locking local toll authorities into a single market value pricetag for the life of a contract was as foolish as it was impractical. There was much debate over TxDOT’s interpretation of the market valuation language in SB 792 versus lawmakers’ and local entities’ definition.

In fact, the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) revealed new details in the prolonged Hwy 161 market value fight with TxDOT showing TxDOT tried to force the NTTA to agree on no less than 200 different financial terms before agreement could be reached so the project could move forward. And the 200 items delved into insignificant minutiae like grass-cutting measures and requiring no more than 20 pieces of litter on the roadside.

WASTE AND ABUSE

This is what our hard-earned tax dollars have been wasted on…more than 60 meetings of taxpayer-paid bureaucrats fighting over the amount to gouge motorists to use a public highway. In the end, TxDOT believes they could have extracted an additional half BILLION out of our pockets in up-front cash on the project (that the taxpayers would then have to pay back with INTEREST if TxDOT had had its way).

Williams rightly agreed that pulling the “excess revenue” out of a toll project on the front end carries interest and debt (versus extracting excess revenue when and if the toll road produces the cash at a later date), not to mention higher toll rates (though TxDOT insisted it wouldn’t increase the toll rate…yeah right!). He repeatedly said they (the authors of the bill) didn’t want the market valuation language in the bill (inserted by Dictator Perry, but they certainly could have stood up to the Governor and told him NO), and that he’d be more than happy to see it go away next session. Here, here!

Senator Carona also dispelled the myth that private operators take the risk from the State on public-private toll projects therefore justifying the guaranteed profit in these contracts. He said: “Private investors don’t want the risk either, only the most profitable, low-risk projects like we do.”

TxDOT’s TWO-STEP

Senators Carona and Shapiro were flabbergasted that Houston’s Grand Parkway negotiations with TxDOT allowed a non-CDA approach when TxDOT FORCED the NTTA into an up front cash payment in competition with the private sector (Cintra) for Hwy 121. The Harris County Toll Authority attorney then explained their approach, “we weren’t trying to milk this project.” It’s clear TxDOT milked North Texas, though. TxDOT apparently backed-off in Houston, but stuck it to the taxpayers insisting on $3 billion in quick cash (in borrowed cash, no less, based upon future profits) from the Hwy 121 deal in North Texas.

TRANS TEXAS CORRIDOR

All of these revelations preceded the Trans Texas Corridor discussion where Senator Shapiro asked the burning question: why 1,200 feet wide and why not expand existing highways instead of building the Trans Texas Corridor? Of course TxDOT gave it’s usual convoluted ramblings trying to convince the senators they may not use that much right of way and “assured” them they’d expand existing right of way first wherever possible. Who are they kidding? Their environmental documents submitted to the feds will clearly authorize 1,200 feet of right of way regardless of what TxDOT tells the senators in some hearing. The same is true of utilizing existing right of way first. That alternative isn’t even on the table in the current draft environmental study for TTC-69. TxDOT can do a dance for the senators today and steal our land and livelihoods tomorrow.

A suggested solution: Make it law to limit the right of way to 400 feet (the standard for a fully built-out interstate highway) and make it law to force TxDOT to expand existing right of way before embarking on ANY new corridor ventures.

TxDOT also tried to assure Senator Nichols that it will listen to and heed the advice given to it by the TTC Advisory Committees and Working Groups, but then said that tomorrow the Transportation Commission would vote on policy changes to the Trans Texas Corridor regarding use of existing right of way, bisecting land, and converting non-tolled highways into tolled highways (ie – SH 59 and SH 77) among other things, WITHOUT hearing word-one from these Advisory Committees!

Also of note, the counties who had representatives before the Committee today singing the praises of the TTC and toll roads all have goodies being granted to them in tomorrow’s Transportation Commissioner Meeting. Quid Pro Quo? Sure looks like it.

That was the most appalling aspect to today’s meeting, overall. Listening to elected officials and bureaucrats alike promote the Trans Texas Corridor, knowing the destruction it’ll bring. Senator Williams said he supported the TTC-69 despite the farmers with pitchforks! The Lufkin Mayor Jack Gorden said the TTC-69 would increase the standard of living in East Texas. Oh really, Sir, how does increasing one’s taxes and stealing one’s land and livelihood increase someone’s standard of living? Then, Bowie County Judge James Carlow welcomed the TTC to his community saying: “we’re ready to give the land right now. Come build it.” It’s not YOUR land to give, Mr. Carlow. What a slap in the face to his constituents. This deplorable behavior is easy to explain however. These officials have been heavily lobbied USING OUR OWN TAXPAYER DOLLARS by registered LOBBYISTS and TxDOT, and no doubt promised the moon to get on board. Just look at the goodies the Commission is doling out at their meeting tomorrow.

Let the taxpayer revolt kick it up a notch. Let these elected officials hear from you with your thoughts on their “representation” of YOU before this committee.

Citizens call for gas tax funded improvements be installed immediately

San Antonio, TX, February 26, 2008 – Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), a grassroots group defending citizens from tolls on existing roads, and Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas (AGUA), advocates for protection of the Edwards Aquifer, have joined together to file a lawsuit in federal court today asking that plans to convert US 281 to a toll road be stopped pending full compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit alleges TxDOT failed to do a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this massive project over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, the sole source of water for over 1.2 million people as well as failed to study the cumulative effects of the combined 281 and Loop 1604 projects on the region’s economy, property values, tax revenues, businesses, residents, neighborhoods, and motorists.

“The controversy is indisputable. The overwhelming majority of citizens do NOT want their freeways converted into toll roads. This practice is now against the law without a public vote (HB 2702), but that hasn’t stopped our politicians from continuing this highway robbery,” Terri Hall, founder of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), fumed.

SMOKING GUN
PROOF THEY’RE TOLLING EXISTING ROADS

TURF posted a video on YouTube of State Representative David Leibowitz asking Alamo RMA Executive Director Terry Brechtel if, in fact, they are tolling existing roads/right of way already paid for by the taxpayers, and she answers, “That is correct.”

Together the highway expansions and toll projects of US 281 and Loop 1604 will cost well over $1 billion (US 281 is now up to $475 million, and Loop 1604 is approximately $1 billion). Yet TxDOT’s environmental assessment claims there is “no significant impact” to residents, motorists, and businesses who will now be charged a toll to use what today is toll-free.

Hall pointed out that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) forced TxDOT to do a full EIS on the Bandera Road toll project citing the toll controversy as the reason. She noted the obvious contradiction of FHWA’s own policy of recommending a full EIS on controversial projects by its approval of 281 without an EIS compared to its mandate forcing an EIS on Bandera Road.

Hall thinks the only difference is that the politicians near Bandera Road are reflecting the citizen opposition against the toll road (Helotes, Grey Forest, and Leon Valley have all passed resolutions against the Bandera Rd toll project) while the politicians in the 281/1604 area, Frank Corte and Jeff Wentworth, are not.

“The politicians representing this area are pro-toll even though over 90% of the public feedback is opposed to the toll projects. It’s that stubborn refusal to step in and stop this double taxation that lands us in court today,” Hall concluded.

“Charging a toll will only hurt local businesses and residents who have invested in the 281 corridor. This is clearly taxation without representation. School boards and municipalities have to come to the voters to approve massive bond measures, and yet the Alamo RMA is about to sell $1 billion in toll revenue bonds without voter approval. What a horrific injustice to taxpayers!” said Hall.

Hall continued, “Special interests will profit from these tolls, since road contractors stand to make four times the money ($475 million) for converting 281 into a toll road instead of making the promised freeway improvements that have been funded with our gas tax money since 2003 (total freeway plan cost: $100 million). TxDOT and our politicians who enable them have continued to jam this down the taxpayers’ throats over the public’s opposition. It’s time to install the gas tax funded overpass & expansion plan now.”

In public hearings in 2001, TxDOT promised improvements to 281 would be begin in 2003, but then did a bait and switch and decided to convert the entire 281 freeway into a toll road. Prominent businessmen auto dealer Ernesto Ancira and Tetco President Tom Turner both sent letters asking the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to revert back to the gas tax improvement plan in January of 2007 to no avail. The citizens have done the same.

Concerned citizens through TURF feel TxDOT and elected officials have forced them to go to court just to get them to comply with the law and to halt the toll project. Once the toll project is on hold, the citizens are demanding the gas tax FUNDED plan for overpasses be installed immediately.

“Most people believe TxDOT and the RMA’s lies that the ONLY way to get congestion relief is toll roads, which is patently false. They’ve had the cash in hand to fix 281 for 5 years, but they’ve hijacked our freeway simply to raid our wallets,” says Hall.

“This lawsuit is really about common-sense. It is ridiculous to say there is no significant impact from adding $1 billion worth of infrastructure over the recharge and contributing zones.” said Enrique Valdivia, President of AGUA. “TxDOT and US Fish & Wildlife issued a ‘Finding of No Significant Impact’ (FONSI) for highway 281, and a ‘not likely to adversely affect’ finding for endangered karst invertebrate species and the golden-cheeked warbler. Obviously,we think paving over 300 acres of recharge is pretty significant to everyone who depends on the aquifer.”

The Edwards Aquifer is a karst aquifer that is highly vulnerable to water pollution because surface water quickly enters the aquifer through recharge features without significant filtration. Many toxic pollutants, such as benzene, are being found in aquifer wells and are common components of highway and parking lot run-off.

The plaintiffs are represented by Save Our Springs Alliance. SOS Alliance’s litigation docket and information on the adverse affects of highways can be found at www.sosalliance.org.

TURF also has a lawsuit pending against TXDOT for its misuse of taxpayer funds to “sell” the public toll roads and the Trans Texas Corridor and for lobbying using taxpayer money. Read more here.

Read TURF’s lawsuit filed in court today.

AGUA’s website is www.aquiferguardians.org

TURF’s website is www.TexasTURF.org

____________________________________________________________________

Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), a grassroots group defending citizens from tolls on existing roads, and Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas (AGUA), advocates for protection of the Edwards Aquifer, have joined together to file a lawsuit in federal court today asking that plans to convert US 281 to a toll road be stopped pending full compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit alleges TxDOT failed to do a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this massive project over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, the sole source of water for over 1.2 million people as well as failed to study the cumulative effects of the combined 281/1604 projects on the region’s economy, property values, tax revenues, businesses, residents, neighborhoods, and motorists.

The controversy is indisputable. The overwhelming majority of citizens do want their freeways converted into toll roads. This practice is now against the law without a public vote (HB 2702), but that hasn’t stopped our politicians from continuing this highway robbery.

PROOF THEY’RE TOLLING EXISTING ROADS
TURF has posted a video on YouTube with proof that TxDOT and the Alamo RMA are, in fact, converting this existing freeway into a toll road. We posted an exchange between State Representative and MPO Board member David Leibowitz asking Alamo RMA Executive Director Terry Brechtel if they are tolling existing roads already paid for by the taxpayers, and she answers, “That is correct.”

Together the highway expansions and toll projects of US 281 and Loop 1604 will cost well over $1 billion (US 281 is now up to $475 million, and Loop 1604 is approximately $1 billion). Yet TxDOT’s environmental assessment claims there is “no significant impact” to residents, motorists, and businesses who will now be charged a toll to use what today is toll-free.

Allow me to point out that he Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) forced TxDOT to do a full EIS on the Bandera Road toll project citing the toll controversy as the reason. That’s an obvious contradiction of FHWA’s own policy of recommending a full EIS on controversial projects when it approved 281 without an EIS but forced an EIS on Bandera Road.

Why the inconsistency? The politicians near Bandera Road are reflecting the citizen opposition against the toll road (Helotes, Grey Forest, and Leon Valley have all passed resolutions against the Bandera Rd toll project) while the politicians in the 281/1604 area, Frank Corte and Jeff Wentworth, are not.

The politicians representing this area are pro-toll even though over 90% of the public feedback is opposed to the toll projects. It’s that stubborn refusal to step in and stop this double taxation that lands us in court today.

Charging a toll will only hurt local businesses and residents who have invested in the 281 corridor. This is clearly taxation without representation. School boards and municipalities have to come to the voters to approve massive bond measures, and yet the Alamo RMA is about to sell $1 billion in toll revenue bonds without voter approval. What a horrific injustice to taxpayers!

Special interests will profit from these tolls, since road contractors stand to make four times the money ($475 million) for converting 281 into a toll road instead of making the promised freeway improvements that have been funded with our gas tax money since 2003 (total freeway plan cost: $100 million). TxDOT and our politicians who enable them have continued to jam this down the taxpayers’ throats over the public’s opposition. It’s past time to install the gas tax funded overpass & expansion plan now.

In public hearings in 2001, TxDOT promised improvements to 281 would be begin in 2003, but then did a bait and switch and decided to convert the entire 281 freeway into a toll road. Prominent businessmen auto dealer Ernesto Ancira and Tetco President Tom Turner both sent letters asking the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to revert back to the gas tax improvement plan in January of 2007 to no avail. The citizens have done the same.

Concerned citizens through TURF feel TxDOT and elected officials have forced them to go to court just to get them to comply with the law and to halt the toll project. Once the toll project is on hold, the citizens are demanding the gas tax FUNDED plan for overpasses be installed immediately.

Most people believe TxDOT and the RMA’s lies that the ONLY way to get congestion relief is toll roads, which is patently false. They’ve had the cash in hand to fix 281 for 5 years, but they’ve hijacked our freeway simply to raid our wallets. Our message: stop holding commuters hostage, stop manipulating our lives by tinkering with the stop light times, and stop stealing time from our families. Install the overpass plan NOW and keep our FREEway FREE!

Considering Larson stood before a crowd of more than 600 at AlzafarShrineTemple at the final 281 public hearing proclaiming that he’s adamantly opposed to ANY toll roads, his behavior in the last few months casts doubt about the credibility of his position. Case in point, Larson’s appointee to the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (tolling authority) is former City Councilman Bob Thompson, who is pro-toll and in favor of toll-taxing 281 users in Larson’s precinct to fund mass transit projects his constituents may never use.

Larson got an earful after Thompson’s remarks as he did after several other meetings where Thompson didn’t seem to square with Larson’s public position on toll roads. So naturally now that Bob Thompson’s two-year appointment is up, his constituents are asking for a toll opponent to replace Thompson on the ARMA. Larson nor his office has returned phone calls requesting a meeting to discuss possible replacements.

Over the years, Larson has also repeatedly blamed the Legislature for diverting gas tax revenues away from transportation creating the need for toll roads, and for their insistence on making local government pick-up the tab for building and maintaining STATE highways. He’s essentially asked angry taxpayers to take out their rage on the Legislature. Well, this year his constituents have a choice to vote out a pro-toll incumbent, Frank Corte, and replace him with toll opponent, Tony Kosub (www.TaxpayersforTony.com) in the Republican primary. Yet who is Larson siding with? The gas tax raiding incumbent who got us all in this mess.

They say politics makes strange bedfellows, but it sure looks like more of the same good ol’ boy club to voters when the man who they once thought was their hero promotes business as usual instead of democracy in action.

___________________________________________

Below is Lyle Larson’s response to this article:

On Toll Roads and Transportation Infrastructure…

As a long-serving member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Transportation Policy Board, I am convinced that transportation congestion affecting this region can be addressed without the use of toll roads. Previously, the MPO approved a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that provided for the construction of three overpasses at major intersections along US 281, north of 1604. These overpasses would alleviate the congestion, eliminating the need for a toll road. I intended to follow through with this plan, however, in December 2003, TxDOT passed a minute order indicating that all future capacity added to the state highway system would be tolled, if proven viable.

As former Chairman of the MPO, I take exception to the toll plan. I have a history of cooperating with TxDOT to ensure that our community’s transportation needs are fulfilled. During my tenure as an MPO board member and former Chairman, TxDOT approached me numerous times in an effort to garner additional funding and I worked actively to see that their requests were satisfied.

I worked on behalf of TxDOT to set aside 25% of the community’s portion of the Metro Mobility Fund and voted with TxDOT to make this a reality. I was one of three individuals to work closely with late State Senator Frank Madla to develop the Advanced Transportation District legislation. I have consistently been supportive of TxDOT while serving on the MPO and as if to punish me, they placed the entire starter toll system in Precinct 3.

I have worked diligently to provide local funding for this community, and in return, my constituents are being forced to pay tolls in order to subsidize other transportation projects countywide. For this reason, I will never be supportive of the toll project in my precinct.

Where I Stand…

Since the inception of the of the Texas Department of Transportation’s starter toll plan for Bexar County, I have been one of its most outspoken opponents. My stance on this issue is widely known throughout the community as I have actively promoted an alternative to the toll plan, prior to the existence of the San Antonio Toll Party.

In addition to consistently voting against all toll projects that have come before the MPO Transportation Policy Board, I also worked to get a bill filed in the state legislature which intended to prohibit legislators from diverting funds from the Fund Six, the State Gas Tax Fund. Furthermore, I have repeatedly approached legislators on both the state and federal level to assist in whatever way possible to use overpasses, instead of tolls, to alleviate congestion on 281.

Despite the fact that many members of the business community have disagreed with my opposition to toll roads, I have consistently represented the interests of my constituents.

Prior to making an appointment to any County board or commission, I evaluate each candidate based on several factors including attendance, possible conflicts of interests, rationale for decisions and motive for serving. Several people have indicated an interest in serving on the RMA Board and I will interview all applicants for appointment and plan to evaluate each one thoroughly.

Separately, as Chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board, I worked to ensure that the IH-10/Loop 410 Interchange and the I-37/Loop 410 Interchange projects were made possible.

Clearly, transportation is a paramount issue for all levels of government and, as your Congressman, I will be committed to making transportation issues a top priority, ensuring that we invest federal money in infrastructure so we can avoid catastrophes like the collapse of the I-35 W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota last year.

On Political Debate…

It is unfortunate that Terri Hall has chosen to attack the individual who has led the charge to prevent toll roads in Bexar County. I have actively and dutifully worked to address this community’s transportation needs and have never wavered in my opposition to toll roads in my precinct. Long before the founding of the San Antonio Toll Party, prior to Terri Hall’s move to Texas, I have attempted, from every angle, to address traffic congestion without the use of tolls.

It is also unfortunate that Mrs. Hall has elected to criticize my relationships with other public servants in Bexar County. In response to my relationship with Frank Corte, we disagree on the issue of tolls roads; however, we have worked together on a number of other issues throughout the years. I consider Frank a personal friend and have a great respect for his military and public service, as well as his Christian values. I don’t believe in disposing of friends over a single issue.

I also work closely with Sheila McNeil, as we are both Co-Chairs of the Bexar County Military Transformation Task Force. In order to work with other elected officials to achieve great things for a community, it is not prudent to burn bridges over one issue. Although Sheila and I disagree on some issues, I respect her commitment to public service.

I respectfully request that Mrs. Hall refrain from making any additional derogatory and disparaging comments about me. I believe that this debate should be continue to be held in a respectful manner, without personal attacks and allegations.

______________________________

Can someone please point out what was disrespectful, disparaging, or derogatory about my comments? There is no bigger issue in Larson’s precinct than toll roads. Many neighborhoods will be completely landlocked by toll roads. How does he achieve “no toll roads” by supporting the very people who repeatedly vote to toll his precinct? Also, how does he achieve “no toll roads” with a pro-toll appointee to the RMA who advocates a Robin Hood scheme of charging taxpayers twice for the same stretch of road in order to fund mass transit? How is that logical or good public policy?

I factually stated observations not only made by me, but by many of his constituents. Throw Jeff Wentworth in the mix, and Larson is supporting three politicians who have repeatedly voted to toll his precinct. Wentworth is doing radio ads for Larson…let’s remember that every time we got our roads in the toll moratorium bills (HB 1892 & SB 792), Wentworth stripped them out. Wentworth has taken a heap of cash from the highway lobby and has worked off and on for the law firm that represents Zachry and road contractors.

Who’s attacking whom here? It’s fine to do one’s best to get along with friends and work with colleagues, but when they repeatedly stab your constituents in the back (on an issue you claim to champion) and then you line-up with politicians instead of one’s constituents, there is a HUGE disconnect. The voters may just remedy that March 4.