By Terri Hall - TURF - Aug. 9, 2008 Alliance for I-69 is the biggest pro-TTC-69 lobby group in the state. Their chief lobbyist, Gary Bushell, is also the same lobbyist TxDOT illegally hired with taxpayer money to lobby elected officials in the path of the TTC-69. Bushell is also a notable campaign contributor to MANY politicians, Bexar County Rep. Frank Corte among them. Today, Alliance for I-69 teamed up with Zachry, who along with Spanish company ACS won the development rights to TTC-69 in June, hit Victoria with their dog and pony show, and they’ve been in Austin hitting up lawmakers, too. Their logo on the material they left with lawmakers even has a Canadian, Mexican, and U.S flag morphed together, yet TxDOT denies the Trans Texas Corridor is about NAFTA, international trade, the movement of freight/goods, or the economic integration of the three countries.
I-69 partners make presentation Victoria Advocate - August 05, 2008
The Alliance for I-69 Texas and U.S.-owned company Zachry American Infrastruture have partnered up and are traveling across the state giving presentations on I-69. On Tuesday, they stopped in Victoria.
During the short initial meeting, city leaders met with Gary Bushnell of the advocacy group and Gary Kuhn, senior project manager for Zachry, the firm awarded the contract for the superhighway.
The Interstate 69 corridor project is a proposed multi-use, statewide network of transportation routes in Texas that will incorporate existing and new highways, railways, utility right-of-ways and toll roads. Zachry was awarded the contract for the project in June by the Texas Transportation Commission.
The presentation focused on ways Victoria could use I-69 to their economic advantage and about the potential the corridor has in terms of new transportation technology.
According to Kuhn, Zachry is working on a master plan that takes into account local projects Texas communities want to do and how the company can help improve local economic development. Kuhn also discussed Zachry’s proposal for a freight shuttle that would go alongside the existing route of U.S. 77 in Victoria. According to Kuhn, the freight shuttle combines the best characteristics of the rail and truck transportation, but is more efficient, cheaper and causes less pollution. He added that it would run on electromagnetic pulses that create motion and a freight shuttle system across Texas could be up and running by as early as 2015.
“We’ve been working with the Alliance to visit all the communities involved in the I-69 Interstate. There is a lot of collaboration that needs to take place among these communities,” Kuhn said. “It’s a kind of one for all and all for one deal.”
The meeting included Mayor Will Armstrong, Dale Fowler of the Victoria Economic Development Corp. and Lee Swearingen of the Victoria County Navigation District.
TxDOT gets caught in DECEPTION on 281 toll project
In what amounts to a total victory for the grassroots, TxDOT has to ask the court for a 60 day delay in the 281 lawsuit so they can beg the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) NOT to yank their environmental clearance for the 281 toll project. Through the discovery process of our lawsuit, the Judge required TxDOT to hand over the complete administrative record for 281, including all the stuff from when the improvements were funded with gas taxes that would keep 281 a FREEway. It's been discovered that TxDOT withheld key documents not only from the public and our attorneys, but also the feds!
There are a heap of emails that show TxDOT tried to "fix" the environmental work for 281 to pre-determine a "Finding of No Significant Impact" (or FONSI) BEFORE the study even began. They rigged it! That is a DIRECT VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW! TxDOT then hired a company, HNTB, to do the so-called "independent" environmental study even though HNTB has a MAJOR conflict of interest, in that, the tolling authority (ARMA) also hired HNTB to do the preliminary engineering for all their toll projects! So HNTB had a vested interest in a "Finding of No Significant Impact" (or FONSI).
Then, it's also been discovered that TxDOT purposely withheld a key study from a geologist they hired that stated the potential harmful effects of the toll road on the Edwards Aquifer. Such a study didn't conclude what TxDOT wanted it to in order to get clearance from the feds, so they intentionally hid the report and failed to submit it to the FHWA who uses that crucial information in their decision on whether or not to give federal approval for the project. ! TxDOT, thanks to our lawsuit, now has to submit these documents to the feds who will completely re-consider their previous approval of the 281 toll road. It's likely the feds will yank their environmental clearance for the toll road in light of this deception by TxDOT. If they don't, the court is likely to do it for them. So TxDOT is in total damage control mode and released a statement about their motion for a 60 stay in our lawsuit that tries to minimize what the documents reveal and, of course, blames us for the delay instead of their own incompetence and deception. As usual, they seem to think they can wiggle out of their corruption without consequences simply by supplementing the record. They were FORCED to come clean through a lawsuit brought by concerned citizens, not by them being forthcoming.
While John McCain is trying to sell his energy policy of “Drill here. Drill now. Drill. Drill. Drill…” those affected by the devastation of the Domestic Drilling Agenda are calling for a moratorium.
Fort Worth woke up just in time to discover the free money promised to them by Chesapeake Energy landmen comes with a high price. Chesapeake Energy wants to run high pressure—100 psi minimum—gas pipelines through Fort Worth Neighborhoods. The highly corrosive, raw, wet gas can eat through a new pipeline in 3 or 4 years and is unodorized, invisible and extremely explosive.
Chesapeake, a private company, is using eminent domain to take yards and sometimes the entire home for their profit. Eminent domain should be used only for public gain with no private stakeholders.
If you are in the Barnett Shale area, you should try to attend this rally and learn from the mistakes made by Fort Worth residents.
By JEFF MOSIER - The Dallas Morning News - Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Arguments took place this morning in a hearing to determine whether Democrat Wendy Davis can continue her campaign to try to unseat veteran Republican state Sen. Kim Brimer.
Mr. Brimer filed a lawsuit this month alleging that Ms. Davis was not eligible to run. The suit says that Ms. Davis was still technically a Fort Worth City Council member when she filed to run against Mr. Brimer.
The Texas Constitution’s “holdover” provision says that elected officials will continue to serve until they are replaced. Another part of the state Constitution said that individuals holding a “lucrative office” are not “eligible to the Legislature.”
Wendy Davis Matt Latham, Ms. Davis’s campaign manager, said that state district Judge Tom Lowe notified the parties that he expected to issue a ruling this afternoon.
Two major issues in dispute are when Ms. Davis’s successor, Joel Burns, took office and whether a council member has to leave office before running for the legislature or being elected.
The deadline for filing for the Democratic primary landed between the dates that Mr. Burns won his race and when he was scheduled to be sworn in at a council meeting. Breaking tradition, Mr. Burns held a private swearing-in ceremony at his home on Jan. 1, just a day before the primary filing deadline.
Ms. Davis’s campaign said she was relieved of her council seat after that New Year’s Day ceremony, and the Brimer campaign said that she wasn’t replaced until a swearing-in ceremony at the council meeting about a week later.
The lawsuit said that Mr. Burns wasn’t allowed to attended a closed executive session of the council until after his public swearing-in. Fort Worth city officials have not commented on when they believe that Mr. Burns officially became a council member.
The Brimer lawsuit also claims that Ms. Davis didn’t properly withdraw an earlier filing to run. She filed for the primary first in December and then withdrew that and filed again on Jan. 2.
Even if the Davis campaign loses the argument about when Mr. Burns took over her seat, they can still point to a ruling this month in a similar dispute in Midland. An Austin judge ruled that Democrat Bill Dingus could continue his campaign against Republican state Rep. Tom Craddick, the House speaker. Mr. Dingus continued to serve on the Midland City Council long after he filed to run for the state House seat.
However, a federal judge earlier ruled that Mr. Dingus was not eligible.
A similar argument about Ms. Davis’s eligibility went to the courts early this year when several voters sued to keep her off the ballot. An appeals court ruled that they didn’t have standing to litigate.
Mr. Brimer’s campaign said they had nothing to do with the earlier lawsuit. Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
TURF presented Sunset Commission never before seen footage of TxDOT admitting they broke the law & committed perjury!
TURF releases explosive footage of depositions from ad campaign/lobbying lawsuit to Sunset Commission By TURF - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Some very damaging footage of TxDOT’s top brass under oath was presented to the Sunset Advisory Commission at its hearing on the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) today (view here or go to www.TruthBeTolled.com to view). As part of TURF’s lawsuit against TxDOT to stop its illegal lobbying and ad campaign called Keep Texas Moving to promote toll roads and the Trans Texas Corridor in violation of Texas Government Code Chapter 556, several top officials of TxDOT were deposed under oath where they perjured themselves.
TURF gave each member of the Commission a DVD of a new documentary film, Truth Be Tolled TURF Special Edition, made about TxDOT’s Keep Texas Moving campaign that shows portions of legal depositions of TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz, Director of Government and Public Affairs Division Coby Chase, and Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton.
TURF showed the Sunset Advisory Commission that TxDOT has made an unprecedented push to win public approval for its controversial toll road and Trans Texas Corridor project, using public money, which is not only illegal, it unfairly stacks the deck against citizens.
Houghton swore under oath that TxDOT had not hired registered lobbyists when these invoices show they have (as well as Houghton’s own admission during a Town Hall Meeting in Hempstead). State law prohibits state agencies from hiring lobbyists and prohibits them from using public money for a political purpose. State agencies are to implement policy, not shape it. Video clips from the Town Hall meeting in Hempstead, January 22, also show Houghton trying to sway the crowd in favor of the Trans Texas Corridor while under oath he was adamant that TxDOT and he had not done so.
PULL ANY ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS FROM TXDOT Keep Texas Moving advocates the Trans Texas Corridor, privatization of infrastructure, and tolling. The information in this campaign only extols the benefits of tolling and privatization (and never includes criticisms).
The stated goal of the campaign found in TxDOT documents is: "To shift perception among those who are opposed to or on the fence about the TTC" and to change the political environment to “make it less hostile to the TTC" and to promote the “benefits of TTC…and help inoculate it from negative attacks" as well as “increase support of TxDOT programs."
“This is no public information campaign. It’s a taxpayer-funded political ad campaign, which is not only illegal, but it also abuses the taxpayers in order to line TxDOT’s pockets with the MOST EXPENSIVE transportation tax,” says Terri Hall, TURF Founder who testified before the Sunset Commission
. TxDOT hired 5 registered lobbyists to the tune of $100,000/month to directly lobby Congress and other elected officials for more CDAs, the TTC, and tolling. Saenz, Chase, and Houghton all claimed ignorance of the law under oath, but Chapter 556.009 says all state officers and employees are given the law prior to taking a position with the State and a record of their acknowledgment of receipt is to be kept in writing.
“So any claim of ignorance of the law by the top brass is no get out jail free card,” Hall said.
This document shows TxDOT targeted County Judges in the path of the TTC-69. Houghton testified in the TURF lawsuit that lobbyist Gary Bushell is who arranged Houghton’s meetings with the County Judges. County Judges are key in appointing an arbitration committee between landowners and the State in eminent domain cases. So TxDOT’s lobbying effort was clearly to give the State an advantage in eminent domain proceedings for the Trans Texas Corridor.
Despite the TURF lawsuit and the suspension of hiring outside lobbyists, TxDOT recently hired an in-house lobbyist, Rebecca Reyes, to lobby Democrats in Congress through TxDOT’s Washington office and joined a lobby group named Transportation Transformation, or T2, with 4 other DOTs and private investors, like Goldman Sachs, to lobby Congress for more CDAs.
TxDOT also conducted push polls seeking to gain public approval of the TTC, which included asking overtly political questions like political party affiliation and if the respondent voted straight ticket in the last election.
In another document, it states TxDOT’s messages in the ad campaign would promote tolling over gas taxes with statements like, “tolls are better than gas taxes to fund roads”.
“The Sunset Commission needs to strongly recommend the repeal of Section 228.004 from the transportation code and remove from TxDOT any ability to promote toll roads. They’ve become an arm of private industry that cannot be trusted to expend funds in a way that protects the public interest,” insisted Hall.
END FREEWAY TO TOLLWAY CONVERSIONS TURF and many of its supporters addressed the reforms the citizens demand in order to restore trust in the agency, anywhere from replacing the unelected 5 member Transportation Commission with a single ELECTED commissioner to fixing how decisions to toll roads are made (and giving the public real veto power), to getting an accurate figure of road funding needs independently of TxDOT, as well as ending freeway to tollway conversions.
The complete conversion of US 281 from a freeway, already built and open to traffic for decades, to a toll road shocked the Commission and was a central part of the hearing. Representative Linda Harper-Brown questioned TxDOT’s perversion of a state law, HB 2702, that prohibits conversions without a public vote and requires them to leave as many non-toll lanes that exist before adding toll lanes. But TxDOT is tolling every single express lane (or main lane) on US 281 and downgrading the non-toll lanes to access roads with slower speed limits and permanent stop lights, an unfair replacement say critics.
Even worse, the 281 improvements have been funded with gas taxes starting in 2003 ($100 million plan total), but it was turned into a toll road simply to generate revenue for other area projects, clearly a discriminatory, targeted tax. Now as a toll road, the pricetag has ballooned to a whopping $1.3 billion!
“With highway robbery of this scale, it’s no wonder the supposed funding gap for future roads swelled to $86 billion. This is insane! Rep. Joe Pickett once stated we can build 4 freeways for the price of one toll road. In the case of US 281, we can build 10 freeways for the price of one toll project!” notes an outraged Hall.
TURF also delivered disks of all the evidence in their lawsuit to the Travis County District Attorney’s office to press them to file criminal charges against guilty parties.
“Texans are tired of one legal standard for them and another for those in power. The Truth Be Tolled TURF Special Edition DVD (www.TruthBeTolled.com) is enough evidence to show TxDOT is guilty of lying under oath and prosecuting an illegal ad and lobbying campaign on the taxpayers’ dime. Blood’s in the water now, and the sharks are circling. The people demand justice,” Hall commented. Read more by TURF
This is the last reminder of the particulars of this IMPORTANT Hearing. The link below will allow you to watch the meeting on the internet if you cannot attend.
Scheduled Sunset TxDOT Meeting: July 15, 2008 – 9:00 am Room E1.030, Capitol Extension – House Appropriations Committee Room Questions: 512.463.1300
9:00 a.m. Call to Order Approval of Minutes Commission Decisions: Texas Racing Commission/Equine Research Account Advisory Committee Staff Presentation and Public Testimony: *Department of Transportation Other Business Adjourn
* Witness Affirmation Form. If you plan to testify, please submit your Witness Affirmation Form 30 minutes before the start of the meeting. If presenting written testimony, please provide 15 copies.
Notice of Assistance at Public Meetings Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need assistance, such as a sign language interpreter, are requested to contact Cee Hartley at 512.463.1300, 4 days prior to the meeting so appropriate arrangements can be made
By MATT FRAZIER - The Fort Worth Star Telegram - July 1, 2008
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — About 350 people signed up to speak Tuesday at a federally required public hearing on the planned expansion of Northeast Loop 820. But first they had to wait.
For the first hour of the hearing at the Richland Hills Church of Christ, officials presented plans to expand the highway from two to five lanes, including two toll lanes, in each direction from Texas 121 through North Richland Hills, Haltom City and north Fort Worth to Interstate 35W.
The second hour was taken up by public officials, including mayors, council members, a Tarrant County judge and a chamber of commerce member — all unanimously agreeing that the expansion plan is the correct way for Northeast Tarrant County to meet future transportation needs.
But the plan didn’t prove as popular with residents.
"Everybody is begging for help," said Pat Coyle of North Richland Hills. "You are going to help us by giving us one free lane."
Each person had three minutes to ask questions or make comments on the plans.
Officials didn’t respond to the public’s comments Tuesday. The Texas Department of Transportation is expected to respond in the project’s environmental impact statement, expected out by the end of the year.
Judith Anderson, a Transportation Department engineer, said the public’s input will be carefully considered during the end-stage design of the project.
Northeast Loop 820 expansion plan Some of the questions asked during Tuesday’s hearing:
Why build two toll lanes for the affluent but only one for regular traffic?
Why is a foreign company being paid to build a Texas road?
Why has it taken so long for the Texas Department of Transportation to put together plans to meet the transportation needs of Northeast Tarrant County?
Didn’t make the public hearing?
It’s not too late to have your say. Written comments may be submitted by mail and must be received on or before July 14 to become part of the official hearing record.
Address: Texas Department of Transportation Fort Worth District Office
After the overwhelming public feedback preferred the “no build” option and after the Legislature made it clear it wanted time to slow down this train of privatizing our public infrastructure, TxDOT’s selection, today, of a private partner to develop TTC-69 is a total slap in the face to the people of Texas.
This proposal awarded to ZAI/ACS (Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS, based in Spain) is chalk full of egregious taxpayer exploitation. For instance, it tolls loops around Riviera, Driscoll, Corpus Christi and other cities (7 loops total) to fund non-toll improvements to Hwy 77 in yet another Robin Hood scheme. The deal gives ZAI/ACS a guaranteed 12% rate of return on their investment, and it relies heavily on public funds, like federal taxpayer backed private activity bonds (PABs) and TIFIA loans to front the vast majority of the construction costs and then gives all the profit to Zachry & ACS!
They also plan to use taxable zero coupon fixed rate bonds issued by the Corpus Christi Regional Mobility Authority and controversial Transportation Reinvestment Zone (TMZ) funds, which will essentially heist property taxes. The deal also gives ZAI/ACS cherry-picking rights (or right of first refusal) on multiple segments for the TTC-69 without being subjected to a competitive bidding process. The sham of an announcement pandering to landowners promising to use existing highways for TTC-69 wasn’t a concession at all. The private “partners” informed them the new corridor route wasn’t toll viable so they reverted back to using existing freeways (which would have been the tollway’s biggest revenue “competitor”) so as to capture more toll revenue. It was Cintra and Zachry who determined the re-route, not TxDOT being responsive to an outraged public!
“If this isn’t a wake-up call to the Legislature that it’s business as usual at TxDOT until they forcibly restrain them via state law, we don’t know what is. This removes any requirement for competitive bidding, which on its face is an absolute failure of the State's fiduciary duty to protect the taxpayers from monopolistic sweetheart deals and what's certain to be inflated costs. We must make Legislators pay at the ballot box for their malfeasance in granting the authority for such no-bid contracts and for failing to rein-in TxDOT with a GENUINE moratorium last year BEFORE this next private sweetheart deal got signed. If they don’t completely clean house at TxDOT and end this public fleecing, there won’t be enough political cover for the consequences at the ballot box. Enough is enough. End this now!” notes Terri Hall, TURF Founder.
“At today’s Transportation Commission meeting, it was a lovefest between David Zachry and the South Texas politicos pushing this nonsense. TxDOT and their buddies at Zachry/ACS found a way to follow the bare minimum of the law to sign this CDA and continue to steamroll a plan the majority of Texans don’t want. It was also evident the Transportation Commission is desperate to come up with their own alternative reforms since they’re facing an angry public demanding TxDOT be scrapped, a discontented Legislature, and scathing Sunset Commission recommendations,” observed Hank Gilbert, TURF Board member and acting President of the Piney Woods Subregional Planning Commission who attended and testified at today's meeting.
For more detailed analysis of how TxDOT can legally award a Comprehensive Development Agreement (CDA) outside the moratorium (SB 792), go to TURF’s web site here.
Notice of a meeting July 1 The issue is not just tolls but letting a foreign country control Texas land in perpetuity.
Focus on Local Issue - *TOLL ROADS ACTION ALERT* You might have seen the article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Friday about the North Loop 820 expansion, and how it will be paid for through very expensive toll roads, to be constructed by CINTRA, Rick Perry's special-interest Spanish corporation that courted the Trans Texas Corridor. In a nutshell, Bud Kennedy is reporting that the proposed toll for EACH WAY in the new toll lanes will be $4.00 for a total of $8.00 roundtrip. Republican County Commissioner Gary Fickes is very much responsible for this situation as he was the one who led the cheerleading effort on the Regional Transit council to get this plan passed.
TXDOT is holding a Public Hearing in Richland Hills to get community input. Let's get out there and show them what kind of "input" we have for them.
Public Hearing for Loop 820 Toll Road Tues., July 1, 6:30pm Richland Hills Church of Christ 6300 North East Loop 820 Richland Hills, Texas Click here for a map
Bud Kennedy: Worst bottlenecks in North Texas? Right here in Tarrant By Bud Kennedy - Fort Worth Star Telegram - June 20, 2008 We’re No. 1.
But not in a good way.
Northeast Loop 820 in Hurst is the worst bottleneck in all of North Texas, according to a new study that ranks the region’s roads among America’s most choked, behind only Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Washington.
There’s more bad news.
Not only is the 820-Airport Freeway interchange the No. 1 bottleneck — worse than anyplace in Dallas— but the Loop 820 exits at Denton Highway and Rufe Snow Drive are Nos. 2 and 3.
Overall, Northeast Tarrant County drivers face worse traffic than anyone in Dallas or Houston, according to a study of truck GPS data compiled by INRIX Inc. of Seattle.
Only Austin — where Interstate 35 amounts to a 5-mile-long elevated parking lot — has a freeway as crowded as Loop 820, and that city’s traffic overall is nowhere near as bad as Fort Worth’s.
What’s more, the region’s No. 4 worst bottleneck is Interstate 35W north of downtown Fort Worth. It’s congested an average of 7 hours a day.
Basically, Houston and Dallas already fixed their roads. We’re waiting for state money.
I would like to assure you that every county and city official is working on the problem.
But I couldn’t find many of them yesterday. For all I know, they were stalled in traffic at Holiday Lane.
When North Richland Hills Mayor Oscar Trevino called back, he was weaving down neighborhood streets to escape U.S. 377.
He described Loop 820 as "just ugly."
"The people who have to drive that every day don’t say nice things," he said. "It’s bad for our city. Businesses want to come, but they see the traffic and say, 'Why would I get into this?’ "
County Judge Glen Whitley is very familiar with the time-waste potential of Loop 820. He lives in Hurst.
"It’s a big drawback to the whole county," he said. "The traffic north of Fort Worth is so unreliable that nobody can predict how long it’ll take to get to work."
There’s a solution in the making. But lots of Texans won’t like it.
Three Spanish-owned companies are in the running for a $1 billion contract to widen Loop 820 and operate two private toll lanes. The toll would be $4 each way.
The project is part of the North Tarrant Express, a new tollway network slow off the drawing board in Austin.
"We can’t get Austin to move forward," Whitley said. "It’s ridiculous that this is the last part of Loop 820 to be improved."
A public hearing July 1 at 7 p.m. at Richland Hills Church of Christ will give both residents and tollway-haters a chance to vent about both the slow plans and high tolls.
Terri Hall of San Antonio leads an anti-tollway group, Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom (TURF). She said she opposes any private tollway.
"The bottom line is, this the most expensive way to expand that road," she said. "It means the highest possible cost to taxpayers and drivers, and hands over money to foreign companies. When the state has a record budget surplus, it’s hard to see how there’s not money for that road."
The Regional Transportation Council is the independent transportation policy body of the Metropolitan Planning Organization. The RTC, which meets the second Thursday of each month, is comprised of 40 members: 33 local elected or appointed officials representing cities and counties, and seven transportation provider representatives. The RTC is responsible for overseeing the metropolitan transportation planning process. Primary activities include:
Providing guidance regarding the development of multimodal transportation plans and programs, Programming federal and State funds for the implementation of transportation improvements, Selecting specific federally funded projects and programs, Assuring the coordination of services among transportation providers, and Ensuring compliance with federal and State laws and regulations pertaining to metropolitan transportation and air quality planning. SOURCE: NCTCOG WEBSITE
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER - The Dallas Morning News - Thursday, June 12, 2008
If North Texans are going to see a new 251-mile network of suburban rail lines by 2030 – an idea that remains a cherished goal of elected officials and regional transportation leaders – they are going to have to pay for it, and pay steeply.
The project will cost about $9 billion – an amount that would be funded almost entirely by new fees and taxes
The question of what those fees should be took center stage Thursday as the Regional Transportation Council voted to authorize a plan that will cobble together a menu of possible tax increases to pay for what is being called Rail North Texas.
Among the fees that the staff has proposed are higher property taxes, higher vehicle registration fees, a new sales tax on gasoline and a new tax on new car purchases, a new resident impact fee, among others.
Between now and August, council members will meet with Texas lawmakers to find support for a menu that will produce the hundreds of millions of dollars needed each year while drawing the lowest possible amount of opposition from lawmakers and voters alike.
Several elected officials who spoke Thursday said public support for the rail idea has only increased in the wake of worsening traffic and soaring gas prices. But as always, the question came down to how to pay for it.
Plans had initially called for the rail expansion to be paid for by sales tax increases, a funding source that would require legislative approval. That idea – which would allow cities to hold sales tax elections to raise rates above the state cap of 8.25 percent – has failed in each of the past two sessions of the Legislature.
And while the sales tax idea remains officially a possibility, Thursday's action – which followed only cursory discussion – made clear council members have all but given up on winning lawmaker support.
"We've walked into several buzz saws with the sales tax idea, and we have been told that that is not the panacea that is going to get us through Austin," said Fort Worth Councilman Jungus Jordan, who led the planning group behind the idea to request a series of smaller tax increases instead of the sales tax hike.
The decision to seek a menu of easier-to-digest tax or fee increases is smart politics, said Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley. "It's a higher-odds proposition," said Mr. Whitley, who was elected vice-chairman of the RTC Thursday. Dallas City Council members Linda Koop and Ron Natinsky were elected chairwoman and secretary, respectively.
Still, each of the new fees will have their own and in some cases just-as-determined opponents who will have to be outfoxed in Austin, a prospect that has worried even some of the initiative's strongest advocates.
Car dealers, for instance, are hardly eager to support new taxes on vehicle purchases, Mr. Morris and Mr. Whitley each noted.
In the meantime, Mr. Whitley and others said, voters are ready to spend more on transportation – not just in spite of the higher gas prices and worsening traffic, but because of them. "If we don't have transit here eventually, there won't be any economic development," said Collin County Commissioner Joe Jaynes.
Mr. Morris added, "Four-dollar gasoline is really going to require all of us to look at our world in a different way. We may not need to have three or four cars in a single household. It just requires seeing our way forward."
Click on link above to see: Corridor Watch site for articles about: Sunset Review Commission's May 29, 2008 Recommendations for TxDOT International assessment of risk in PPP's (Private Public Partnership toll projects) Other information about TTC-69 and other projects
Texas Transportation Commission - Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 9:00 A.M. 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701-2483 See full draft agenda at: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/publications/commission/2008_meetings/jun26_agenda.pdf
Toll Road Projects
Various Counties
- Act on the recommendation of department staff concerning: (1) the selection of the best value proposal for the planning, development, acquisition, design, construction, financing, maintenance, and operation of the Texarkana/Shreveport to Mexico element of the Trans-Texas Corridor system (I-69/TTC), and (2) the execution of a comprehensive development agreement for I-69/TTC (MO). Transportation Planning
Various Counties
- Approve projects in the competitive portion of the Border Colonias Access Program (MO).
By LOWELL BROWN - Denton Record-Chronicle - Sat., May 31, 2008
Denton mayoral candidate Mark Burroughs asked a judge Friday to stop a vocal critic from printing more ads attacking his campaign.
A state district judge granted Mr. Burroughs a temporary restraining order against the Watchdog Society of Denton and its leader, political activist Bob Clifton. A hearing to consider extending the order was set for June 12 – two days before the runoff election between Mr. Burroughs and incumbent Perry McNeill.
Mr. Clifton, who lost a mayoral bid in 2006, denied any wrongdoing.
He also criticized the restraining order, signed by visiting Judge Monte Lawlis.
"It's such a blatant violation of First Amendment rights it's unbelievable," Mr. Clifton said. "This is political desperation, because what he is doing is trying to stifle the truth."
The Watchdog Society funded two mailers before the May 10 election questioning Mr. Burroughs for alleged conflicts of interest. Mr. Burroughs, 50, a lawyer and former City Council member, said the mailers violated state laws that govern reporting of campaign spending.
"The intent [of the restraining order] is to prevent similar flaunting of the election laws," Mr. Burroughs said.
The Watchdog Society had not registered a campaign treasurer with the city secretary's office as of Friday afternoon. The state election code prevents political committees from spending or accepting more than $500 unless they file a campaign treasurer appointment.
Mr. McNeill, 72, a retired professor and engineer seeking a second term as mayor, said he was unaware of Mr. Burroughs' lawsuit and couldn't comment in detail.
Mr. Clifton has been working against Mr. Burroughs for months as part of a campaign against officials backed by former Mayor Euline Brock, Mr. McNeill's predecessor.
In April, Mr. Clifton sued unsuccessfully to keep Mr. Burroughs, Mr. McNeill and another candidate off the ballot for alleged violations of the city's term limits. A judge allowed the candidates to stay on the ballot, but the lawsuit over their eligibility is pending.
Later, the Watchdog Society funded two mailers questioning Mr. Burroughs over his law firm's government contracts. His firm, Sawko & Burroughs, collects delinquent taxes for many local governments, including the city of Denton, which some called a potential conflict of interest.
Mr. Burroughs has repeatedly said the contracts aren't a conflict because of how his firm is paid. The money comes from fees levied on taxpayers' past-due amounts, not from government coffers.
The judge's order Friday prevents the Watchdog Society from raising funds or distributing any materials related to the mayoral race. It also bars Mr. Clifton from collecting money or distributing political materials "without first complying with all applicable election laws." Read more in the Dallas Morning News
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DFW Regional Concerned Citizens attempts to examine issues from all directions. When a story says "By Faith Chatham" it contains my viewpoint. When it is by others, but posted by Faith Chatham, it is from someone else's viewpoint. When I discover contents which is on topic for this site, I frequently link to other sites. Usually those sites contain content which differs from my viewpoint (and frequently that of other members of DFW-RCC).
