Category: RMA

RMA votes to spend $300,000 on PR Campaign to "Sell" Tolls

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Another display of sheer unbridled power today at the Alamo RMA (tolling authority appointed by Bexar County Commissioners). Business as usual for them, astounding display of total disregard for the public interest for us! The Board unanimously voted to allocate $300,000 of public money for a PR campaign to push tolls on San Antonians (who have made it clear that they don’t want them)! That’s against the law! Write to your legislator and have him/her ask the Attorney General Greg Abbott to stop it. The condescending tone we heard from Judge Wolff in his State of the County address continued today at the meeting as the RMA opined about how the public doesn’t understand the toll plans and how tolls will accelerate projects (which is a patently false, US 281 improvements have now been delayed by TxDOT for 3 years to turn it into a toll road PLUS bonds and pass through financing can accelerate projects without TOLLS). They spoke about San Antonians like they were sheepish school children who simply needed to be “educated” about their sinister scheme to DOUBLE TAX us to drive on our FREEways so that we’d drink their Kool-Aid, lay down, and accept our fate!

Here are some quotes I scribbled down during the meeting:
“That $300,000 won’t go far, clearly it’s only the beginning,” said Chair Bill Thornton as HNTB and Taylor-West, who were present, smiled as they get to drink from the public trough without limit, apparently (sure, Mr. Thornton, it’s always easier to spend other people’s money rather than your own). He had the audacity to quote from their push poll released on October 12 that was filled with falsehoods and misleading questions that claims 62% of Stone Oak residents want the tolling of 281! I told him we have more people in our database in those zip codes on record AGAINST the tolls than the total number of people they polled! I believe we have 8 times more people on record against tolls than they polled in that “survey.” That survey asked direct and very blatant political questions and it was paid for with public money See previous blog analyzing survey in detail here. Link to actual survey which is also on our home page. So now the RMA has twice misused public money for political purposes AGAINST THE LAW. Clearly, this agency believes its operating above the law which mirrors what Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn found in her investigation of the RMAs released in March like lax expenditure controls, favoritism and self-enrichment.See the report here.

“This is not a public meeting; it’s a Board Meeting,” said Bill Thornton as he and Commissioner Larson’s appointee, Bob Thompson, wouldn’t allow me to make my statement in one time segment (nor allow others to donate their time to me), but made me split my comments into 3 separate “speeches” under specific agenda items to dole out my 3 minute allotments in drips and drops (which is a change in format from last time. We’re seeing the same tactics at the MPO…changing the rules as they go to suit them and showing no deference to the public despite this being the ONLY time these appointees hear from the public about these multi-billion dollar life-altering decisions!). If this isn’t a public meeting then why are they subject to Open Meetings statutes? I always figure,if my tax dollars are paying their salaries and for their “perks,” then we have a right to have our voices heard in a coherent fashion!

“Judge Wolff has supported us and continues to; he’s one of the few who has backed us from the beginning…” said Bob Thompson, Commissioner Larson’s appointee, to his shocked constituents in attendance! Thompson is clearly not on the same page as the commissioner who appointed him since he said “us.” He sees himself as one in the same with his pro-toll appointees! He went on to defend the letting of the 281 project. Acknowledging they made a conscious decision to move forward with that toll project saying the user pays for improvements. I later challenged him on that since the December 1 Express-News article (See article here) clearly states the 281 project is paid for with gas tax money so it’s not the toll lane users paying for the improvements, it’s ALL of us and yet we can’t drive on it without paying a lifetime of tolls! I also pointed out how Commissioner Larson has been quoted in the paper and in other media as stating that’s one of his problems with the toll plans…the hefty amount of gas tax money going to fund them (not private money as we’ve been led to believe) .

“We’ve had some favorable press. Has anyone talked to Pat Driscoll (Express-News transportation reporter) about this? (the PR campaign and how to best get their message out to the public),” said General McBride, Commissioner Tommy Adkisson’s appointee. Note McBride, too, says “we”–he sees himself as being one with the pro-toll crowd though the commissioner who appointed him doesn’t agree with the RMA’s acquiesence to TxDOT’s tolling of existing freeways.

So there ya have it, a glimpse into your government working against your best interests and against your expressed will! We also found out 6 people have signed the non-disclosure and confidentiality statements required by the two foreign companies bidding to control our highways. Signing them allows them to see the contracts but they cannot disclose what’s in them to the public nor even discuss it with ANYONE who hasn’t also signed them (inclduing elected officials). See the Express-News article about it earlier this summer, and note Chip Haass’ quote against the CDAs yet he voted against transparency and accountability at the MPO.

This process violates open, transparent government and ought to send chills down the spines of every freedom loving American! So only these 6 people know what’s in the proposed contracts and they alone have the authority to negotiate the non-compete agreements that allows these companies to neglect the free lanes for up to 20 years (to force people onto the tollway) and set the toll rate formula that, as I understand it, guarantees the private companies a certain percentage of profit. The non-compete agreements were what got Trey and Ricci Ware, father-son KTSA 550 AM radio talk show hosts, off the fence as they lambasted the toll plans as a sham on the air earlier this month.

Your County Commissioners & Legislators need to hear from you!

Call or email Lyle Larson at 210-335-2613 or lylelarson@bexar.organd Tommy Adkisson at 210-335-2614 or tadkisson@bexar.org and encourage them to have their appointees more accurately reflect their positions and tell your legislator (Find your legislator here) that you don’t want public money going to PR campaigns to push tolls on FREEways (ask them to get Attorney General Greg Abbott involved)! If they want to toll highways, do it on completely new roads and WITHOUT tax money, and leave our FREEways, FREE! Send any and/or all of your correspondence as a letter to the editor here: letters@express-news.net.

Alamo RMA Taps City Hall Insider As New Exec Director

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Well, it’s official. The Alamo RMA (Regional Mobility Authority–the tolling authority) has chosen a new Executive Director, city hall insider, former City Manager Terry Brechtel. She’s certainly a well-liked figure by many, but she doesn’t have transportation experience. Unfortunately, she’s being thrown into yet another cauldron of political heat. The voters have expressed their distrust of the RMAs loud and clear by defeating Prop 9 soundly in the Nov. 8 election. What the Brechtel selection reveals is the overtly political nature of the RMA. They tapped a political insider for the job. The RMA is supposed to represent and advocate for our local public interest which the RMA has clearly NOT been doing (tolling already funded highways). We fear we’ll be getting more of the same under Brechtel’s leadership…

Another foreign company throws hat in ring to build SA toll roads

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Note the name of another company vying to build and profit off of our toll roads in Friday’s Express-News article: Australian based Macquarie 1604 Partnership.

Local group takes title to area’s own toll lanes
State commission is to throw in $7.5 million
Express-News
10/28/2005
by Patrick Driscoll

CORPUS CHRISTI — Ready or not, San Antonio is officially in the toll-road business.

Alamo Regional Mobility Authority officials wheedled the Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday to get title to their first toll roads.

The commission handed over toll projects planned for Interstate 35, Bandera Road and Wurzbach Parkway and promised to lend the mobility authority up to $7.5 million in gas tax funds to get started.

“We will take this very seriously and do a good job,” authority Chairman Bill Thornton told commissioners.

Just a few months ago, local and state officials were trading barbs over how to be partners with private firms that want to build and operate toll roads. At Thursday’s meeting, everybody spoke softly and smiled.

“I’m pleased that we finally have arrived,” Commissioner Hope Andrade said.

Thornton said he was, too.

“Thank you for the way we’re being managed in this,” he said.

But the love fest is a darkening nightmare to toll critics.

“It’s really unfortunate because the constituency clearly doesn’t want toll roads,” said North Side activist Dave Ramos. “It’s really a sad day for the taxpayer.”

Pro-toll officials disagree, saying Thursday that people across the state have warmed up to the idea of toll roads.

“It’s almost overnight. People have opened their eyes,” commission Chairman Ric Williamson said.

Meanwhile, with three projects, the mobility authority is juggling a larger package of toll roads than those in Austin. But they’re a lot further behind.

That’s because $439 million in public money and $397 million in potential toll-backed bonds doesn’t even cover half of the $2.2 billion construction job, which is supposed to happen over the next 25 years.

No other money is earmarked. And there’s no specific timetable.

“We’ve got to find a way to do that, or build it in stages,” said Tom Griebel, director of the mobility authority.

Plans call for toll lanes to be added to Interstate 35 from downtown to Schertz and on Bandera Road between loops 410 and 1604. Also, a tolled interchange would be built at Wurzbach Parkway and U.S. 281.

The Transportation Commission is expected to approve the $7.5 million loan to kick off the work when it meets next month.

In other action Thursday, commissioners approved a $1 million loan so the mobility authority can help evaluate proposals from private companies that want to take over the city’s most profitable toll roads.

The state still controls the proposed 47-mile system that investors are eyeing, though ownership could be passed on to the mobility authority. Toll lanes would be built on Loop 410 and U.S. 281 on the North Side.

Two private consortiums submitted proposals by Thursday’s deadline: the Cintra Zachry Partnership and the Macquarie 1604 Partnership.

END

Feast your eyes on this information about Macquarie 1604 Partnership. Like Cintra, they’re known for keeping contracts secret from the public and sticking it to the taxpayer! Link to article in Sydney Morning News or read text below.
Also, link to article in Queensland Newspapers or read text below.

Open secrets
October 31, 2005
The Sydney Morning Herald

The Cross City Tunnel scandal should lead to more public scrutiny of private infrastructure deals, writes Matthew Moore.
FROM the political train smash the Cross City Tunnel is fast resembling, one lesson is increasingly clear: the days of secret government contracts are doomed.

The fury of motorists and taxpayers who find Bob Carr’s tunnel a long way short of the “visionary plan” the former premier promoted, has shocked not only the politicians in Macquarie Street but the investment banks, construction companies, the legions of law firms and former premiers on the lookout for a slice of future deals called public-private partnerships, or PPPs.

Politicians on both sides have always instinctively resisted publishing details of their contracts with private companies, insisting they are full of commercial-in-confidence material that must be kept secret.

But with the debacle of the Cross City Tunnel deal dragging on, just about all the players in NSW seem to favour full disclosure of contracts.

A new business lobby group set up by the Tourism and Transport Forum to push for public-private partnerships, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, says its members, which include companies in the Cross City Tunnel consortium, want all contracts to be public.

“We are in favour of disclosure,” said the group’s spokesman, Glenn Byres. “Disclosure serves everyone well … it tells the community why a project was done in a particular way.”

It’s the same with the Australian Council for Infrastructure Development, whose chief executive, Dennis O’Neill, has clearly sensed the dark public mood about the tunnel deal and says “transparent public scrutiny” is vital if public-private partnerships are to succeed.

Mark Bethwaite, chief executive of Australian Business Limited, is even more blunt: contracts such as the Cross City Tunnel should be on the public record.

The NSW Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, has pledged that in any government he heads, contracts will be published as a matter of course.

It happens routinely in the US and New Zealand and it’s happening in Victoria under the Bracks Government. With Morris Iemma’s Government forced to support the release of more than 2000 pages of tunnel documents once deemed too sensitive for public eyes, it seems it’s even happening in NSW.

Such is the sudden enthusiasm for full disclosure, the Roads Minister, Joe Tripodi, ousted the head of his Roads and Traffic Authority, Paul Forward, on the dubious grounds he failed to sufficiently disclose a recent agreement which added 15 cents to the tunnel toll.

But this new openness has limits. Contracts for the new M7 motorway in Western Sydney remain secret, as do those for the Lane Cove tunnel.

And the contracts for one of Sydney’s most controversial PPPs, the Harbour Tunnel, are no closer to being revealed than they ever were. When asked if the public could now see what arrangements they have long been tied to by the Harbour Tunnel documents, Iemma could only respond with a forced laugh and a limp line: “It’s a long time ago.”

Tripodi offered a different explanation for refusing them, claiming that if he let them go there was “a real prospect … of a financial penalty for NSW taxpayers”. What he meant by that cryptic warning he did not say.

Secrecy though is just one part of the PPP debate ignited by the tunnel. More fundamental is the question whether they are good value for anyone other than the politicians and the bankers. At about $3.60 a trip, many motorists have branded the tunnel a rip-off.

The reason the price is so high is buried in the more than 2000 pages of documents in which the consortium reveals it has budgeted for a return of 16 per cent on its investment each year for the next 30 years.

That fat return means the toll must climb ahead of inflation for years and will be well over $8 a trip by the time the tunnel consortium hands the project over to Government in 2035.

The president of the Australian Institute of Project Management, David Dombkins, reckons it’s absurd that governments are doing such deals. It’s like buying a house on a credit card instead of a housing loan, he says.

Governments are attracted to PPPs because it means the private sector borrows the money and state borrowing levels are not affected. But with NSW Government borrowings at virtually zero, Dombkins says the Government should be using its capacity to borrow money cheaply at close to 6 per cent, building the project itself and delivering tolls of about a third what the private sector wants.

“I just object to the community paying exorbitant deals for infrastructure,” he said. “It’s a highly profitable business where the returns they are getting are extraordinary.”

Dombkins also rejects the claims that PPPs transfer the risk to the private sector and says that with the Harbour Tunnel, the airport rail link, the M2 and M4 and the Eastern Distributor, the risks have been borne by taxpayers who’ve paid more than they should.

He says the Government should go back to a version of the model used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where the government borrowed the money and set the toll at a level to pay the debt over a defined period; there was little need to vary it.

He also complains that governments are setting themselves up for a failure by signing 30-year contracts that do not have the flexibility to deal with a huge range of variables. What if the City of Sydney or the Government wants to charge people to bring cars into the city like London is doing, he asks. It would be better to have the tunnel owned and operated by the Government or with a flexible contract where government retains a high degree of control.

Gary Sturgess, the head of the cabinet office under the Greiner government, and now an advocate of PPPs in Britain, says while there are always some problems, the outcry over the tunnel contract has been “a little shrill”.

Handing over financing of projects to the private sector brings “a really sharp discipline”, collapsing construction times and making a host of cost savings the public sector would struggle to achieve.

Byres agrees taxpayers have got good value from the most common PPPs, toll roads, and reckons the new ones have trimmed returns for operators.

“Five to 10 years ago it was 19 per cent, now it’s down to 12 per cent and governments are working out how to drive it down further,” he says.

He said much of the criticism of the tunnel is confused. “You can’t say the tunnel is designed to pour money into the pockets of the developers and then say it’s a white elephant.”

Despite the beating he’s taken over the tunnel, Iemma is adamant PPPs are here to stay and there are no plans for government to start funding these projects.

To placate the critics, he has ordered a review of the way the Government handles PPPs, but it will look only at toll roads, and not other projects such as the desalination plant at Kurnell.

The Cross City Tunnel has shown how hard it is to predict traffic flows. Predicting Sydney’s weather over the next 20 or 30 years could be a lot harder still – one of the reasons Dombkins is so opposed to having the private sector building and running a desalination plant to sell drinking water the city might not need.

It would be far better for the Government to oversee the project itself, contracting out the various elements but retaining enough control to adapt when unforseen circumstances emerge.

“The last thing you would do is set up the desalination plant as a PPP project,” he says.

Copyright 2005
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Toll roads to sting drivers
Anthony Marx
thecouriermail.news.com
Queensland Newspapers
29oct05

BRISBANE’S North-South Bypass Tunnel could spawn the traffic restrictions, secret deals and multimillion-dollar taxpayer subsidies that have enraged Sydney motorists this month about their new Cross-City Tunnel.

Plans already call for the addition of two new T3 bus and transit lanes on the Story Bridge under the guise that they will promote public transport and car-pooling.

But RACQ economic and public policy manager Ken Willett argued this week that the lane restrictions would mainly encourage more drivers to use the planned $1.5 billion tunnel.

He said it amounted to a sweetener for whichever of the two private consortia wins the contract.

“Effectively, what we’ll have is people using the tunnel who will be paying for the provision of new bus lanes and those who don’t use the tunnel will suffer increased congestion,” Mr Willett said.

Transit lanes are also envisaged for the William Jolly and Captain Cook bridges and Lutwyche and Sandgate roads as part of future bridge or tunnel projects, he said.

Sydney drivers howled in protest when it was revealed that the New South Wales Government had secretly agreed to close key roads, worsening congestion and forcing traffic into the $680 million toll tunnel. Taxpayers also were slugged through sweetheart arrangements with the private operator, including payment of up to $45 million if public transport upgrades reduced the number of motorists using the tunnel.

Sydney’s tunnel debacle has fueled a growing concern about the value for money and transparency of public-private partnerships, which have been used across the country to build toll roads over the past decade. A public-private partnership will almost certainly be used in Brisbane for the 4.7km tunnel linking Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills.

In theory, PPPs allow governments to shift project risk and debt to efficient private interests.

But Sydney University traffic expert John Goldberg said that privately operated toll roads were not even viable without massive government assistance in the form of infrastructure bonds.

These financing mechanisms have delivered huge profits to corporate giants such as Transurban Group and Macquarie Bank, which is part of one of the bidding consortia in Brisbane.

“It is obvious that capital resources could be better allocated if state governments simply paid for the roads. Governments are less likely to default and consequently can obtain access to capital at lower interest rates than the private sector,” Dr Goldberg said.

A spokesman for Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said yesterday no road closures were planned and a PPP would only be used if it provided good value.

He rejected RACQ claims that the tunnel would worsen traffic congestion, stressing that some streets could see a 35 per cent reduction in vehicles.

About 55,000 vehicles a day are forecast to use the tunnel initially, with that number gradually rising to 95,000.

But Mr Willett predicted about 120,000 vehicles would use the tunnel every day if there was no $3.30 toll.

“When you have a PPP, you have a choice. You can have a profitable toll road or you can alleviate congestion. You can’t have both. There’s a trade-off,” Mr Willett said.

Transportation Commission gives Alamo RMA $7.5 million in gas taxes to build toll roads!

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Read the Express-News article.

Is Transportation Commissioner Ric Williamson nuts? He actually says we’re all warming up to the idea of his and the Governor’s freeway toll scheme. In fact, the more people know the truth behind these toll plans, the more incensed they become!

THEN in other news…

WHOPPING $661 million in taxpayer money to build SA toll roads!

As if it’s not bad enough that the Governor, Legislature, Transportation Commission, and RMAs are tolling already funded existing highways and right of way (DOUBLE TAXATION), they’re also using ENORMOUS amounts of gas tax money to build these behemoth projects we won’t be able to use without paying a toll, too! So should we call this TRIPLE TAXATION (tax to build original freeway, tax to build it as tollway, and tax to use it)?! Well, we finally found out the dollar figure. Are you sitting down? Approximately $661 million of YOUR money will build these roads all over town, yet you won’t be able to drive on them without a private company extorting toll taxes from you for your LIFETIME!

ANGRY? TAKE ACTION!
Write AND call the Governor (800) 252-9600 or by web mail and your State Representative to DEMAND this be STOPPED!

To find your representatives, click here.

If you live in the 281/1604 corridor, your State Reps are likely Rep. Frank Corte STREP123@aol.comor (210) 349-0320 or Joe Straus at joe.straus@house.state.tx.usor (210) 828-4411.

We’re tired of shell games, double talk, and outright LIES…it’s fix it or be removed from office. All of our State Reps are up for re-election with the primaries in March. We keep getting more of the same because these guys run unopposed. We need candidates to run against tollers to declare their candidacy very soon. Forward this email to everyone you know to STOP THIS RUNAWAY TAXATION!

TOLLING AUTHORITY ILLEGALLY CONDUCTS POLITICAL SURVEY WITH PUBLIC FUNDS!

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Skewed Results Leave Out the Most Pertinent Information Public Needs to Make Informed Decision About Toll Plan

San Antonio, TX, October 12, 2005 – By the Alamo RMA’s own press release revealing the results of a survey conducted by Baselice & Associates, they admit their toll plans are in trouble (though they probably don’t even know it). When asked the best way to pay for new construction, only 27% of Bexar County residents said toll lanes. That means 73% DO NOT WANT TOLL LANES. This is consistent with other polls that show 70% of Texans are opposed to tolls.

“What I find totally outrageous is that the Alamo RMA is surveying registered voters asking them party affiliation and how they vote (straight ticket or not) USING PUBLIC MONEY! IT’S AGAINST THE LAW for a state entity to conduct political polling (GOVERNMENT CODE – CHAPTER 556. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES BY CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTITIES AND INDIVIDUALS)!” says a shocked Terri Hall, San Antonio Director of a grassroots group opposed to freeway tolls called Texas Toll Party.com. “This is another example of how this toll proliferation isn’t about mobility, congestion, and economic well-being, it’s about politics! It only confirms what Comptroller Carole Strayhorn found in her study of RMAs which found self-enrichment, insider dealings, and conflicts of interest (View the report).”

“TxDOT and the AMRA know that the ONLY thing that stands in their way is public opinion. The Governor and Legislature have already re-written the law to allow them to double tax roads we’ve already for and to toll our existing highways, so now these corrupt state agencies are trying to manipulate public opinion to appear in favor of their toll scheme. Despite their best efforts to spin the results to make it appear as though people prefer tolls more than other funding options, the survey at the end of the day, no matter how skewed, still manages to reveal that 73% of respondents don’t want tolls to fund highway projects,” notices Hall. “Frankly, it’s really sad that our government has become so irresponsible that we no longer trust its public opinion polls. The RMA is using a predictable scheme in order to push the largest tax increase in Texas history, increase the cost of doing business, and grow the size of government in very difficult economic times.”

“The purpose of the survey is to push tolls. The TOLLING authority paid a company to manipulate the facts to get some positive numbers for tolls, which they got in some areas of the survey because the questions are clearly worded to produce the desired result in favor of tolls. In actuality, what the questions reveal is that people want congestion relief more quickly. Once respondents were given other options, the majority, 73%, didn’t favor tolls!

“The poll actually tells respondents that tolls won’t add to the tax burden! A toll is a tax and even when people choose NOT to pay it, they do pay the tax, BIG TIME, through the higher costs of goods. Many of the questions are based on such bogus statements, therefore most of this poll yields bogus results. When asking opinions about specific toll plans, it states new toll lanes would be added on specific freeways leaving the existing lanes non-tolled. That’s patently untrue and they know it!

“This poll is rife with falsehoods and half truths like: it’s tolls or a 25 cent regional gas tax hike (the Central Texas MPO found it would only take 1.5-2 cents gas tax hike for needed improvements), it’s tolls or we don’t get our highway improvements for 20 years (TxDOT has admitted on camera to a local reporter that they have the funds for the improvements on 281 AND we have in our possession TxDOT’s own documents stating the funds exist and will be used to build US 281 as a toll road instead), that the people who use the toll lanes pay for the construction and operation of the toll lanes (not true $100 million in gas tax money is being used to re-build existing freeways into tollways), and every question about adding toll lanes leads the respondent to believe tolls would only be placed on NEW lanes (the Federal Highway Administration states any lanes built within existing right of way whether new pavement or not is an existing lane). These are verifiably false and misleading statements and the RMA needs to be held to account,” states Hall.

What they didn’t tell respondents is they’re converting existing lanes into toll lanes leaving only frontage road as the “non-toll alternative,” that they’re handing our highways over to a private company to set the toll rates as high as they want using secret contracts for up to 50 years, that taxpayer money not just private money is being used to build the toll roads, that bonds and pass through financing are among the options that can accelerate highway projects without using tolls, and a host of other vital information upon which people need in order to make an educated decision about the toll plans.

“I’d say this is key information that would glean vastly different answers. I KNOW it would because we’re on the ground every week educating people about TxDOT’s toll plans, and once folks find out they’re tolling an existing road we’ve already paid for, and in some cases that the improvements are paid for as well, it’s universally opposed! People aren’t just opposed; they’re incensed! TxDOT’s own survey conducted by UT Austin found that over 70% of Texans are against tolling existing roads, so of course, they have to lie in order to get numbers that make it appear Texans are for tolls.

“This slanted survey claims that support on the northside increased to 62% when given details about the plan, but nowhere do they tell those residents that the improvement plan for 281 is ALREADY FUNDED. Why don’t they ask northside residents this question: do you support paying tolls for improvements that are already paid for on highways that are already paid for? Did the pollster inform these residents that bonds can provide funding for other highway improvements without increasing the tax burden?” asks Hall.

Toll roads cost 40-100% more to build than free roads, they cost more to maintain, less than half of motorists can afford to use them, it drives up the cost of goods for everyone regardless of whether or not they personally choose to drive in the toll lanes, and it’s an inefficient tax where most of the money goes into collecting tolls and catching violators.

“To build these as traditional freeways it’s less expensive, less invasive, less maintenance, with more control and accountability to voters, allows business to maintain its cost of goods, and EVERYONE can use them. Who would choose tolls given that set of facts?” concludes Hall.

“Let’s see a true independent survey conducted….put the toll plan to a vote and the RMA will see definitively what voters think about their toll tax scheme,” challenged Hall. “The fact is TxDOT and the RMA are afraid of a genuine public debate on these issues. The facts are not on their side so they have to hide them or push a deceptive message in order to cram their toll plan down the taxpayers’ throats!”

END

City Gives Illegal Loan to Alamo RMA

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One of our stellar members, Niki Kuhns, took the Mayor and City Council to task at today’s City Council meeting over their $500,000 loan to the Alamo RMA. See her article in today’s SA Current. She thought, “Where in the City’s charter does it allow them to give loans much less to a state established entity?” It begs the question, did Bexar County Commissioners do the same thing when it loaned the Alamo RMA $750,000 two years in a row? Then add to that the Alamo RMA was just awarded a $1 million toll equity grant for the purpose of “reviewing” a contract to build our toll starter system for the next year, and you have to ask: what does an all volunteer Board with 2 employees need with $2.25 million in operating expenses just to “evaluate” a contract (FOR ONE YEAR!!!)?

Not only is our Transportation Department a bloated bureaucracy, the Legislature and the Governor have brought us yet another bloated bureaucracy whose frittering away our essential highway funds for bureaucratic pay-offs to their special interest corporate friends: RMAs. Enough is enough, we need to stop these illegal loans and abuse of taxpayer money! Go Niki, she had the Mayor and the City Attorney scrambling for cover…ask the State Auditor, John Keel, to investigate TxDOT, the City, and the County, and “to report fraud, waste, and/or abuse occurring at a Texas State agency” (exact wording from his web site): go to State Auditor’s site or call the SAO Hotline at 1-800-TX-AUDIT.

Tolling Authority Failed to Do the RIGHT Thing

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Below you’ll see my comments to the RMA today. We had several other eloquent speakers who stated the facts and gave it their all to appeal to what’s good, and true, and right in these appointees. However, once again, the people called to serve the public interest failed to step-up and do the right thing. The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA), with the willing acquiescence of the Governor, Legislature, and most of local government as well, made it clear they will NOT stand in the way of TxDOT converting an existing highway into a tollway.

In fact, their General Counsel, David Cassidy, actually interpreted the statute HB 2702 as saying as long as the improvements have as many non-toll lanes as exist today, it’s not considered a conversion. His emphasis was number of lanes not the nature or function of those lanes. In other words, never mind that the non-toll lane will now be a frontage road instead of a highway, TxDOT can tear up an existing highway, lay new asphault down, slap a toll on a paid for “free”way, and get away with it. If they can do it on US 281, they can do it on ANY existing highway. Just like Governor-appointed Chair of the Transportation Commission, Ric Williamson, said in October of 2004, “In your lifetime, most EXISTING roads will have tolls.”

TxDOT’s own study conducted by UT Austin states that an overwhelming consensus of Texans, over 70%, are against the tolling of existing roads (even higher in San Antonio), and a majority don’t like them in general either.

Yet TxDOT marches on with impunity! The MPO could have reigned them in, the RMA could have reigned them in, the Bexar County Commissioners, the City Council, the Legislature, and yes, the Governor can reign them in….but onward they march. The reason? As stated below, the reason is courageous leaders are hard to find. We have a few, and Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson is one of them. Be sure to call (210) 335-2614 or write him an email tadkisson@bexar.org to thank him for his continuing efforts to defend the people from a corporate oligarchy! We need to be just as good at thanking and supporting the good guys as we are at admonsishing the bad guys!

Also, the Alamo RMA is desperate for more permanent funding. You’ll be glad to know that they’re asking for $1 million to “review” the private bids for the next year. Though the Board is volunteer, their consultants and analysts will get paid a hefty sum of taxpayer money from the Toll Equity Fund to “review” and give their opinions on the details of the contract the public will pay for but not be allowed to see! Then, they slipped in a little noticed statement that they NEED a public information person. Note below that an advertising and marketing firm was in attendance. Expect them to spend some of that $1 million on waging a public information campaign to combat our media efforts. Talk this up on talk radio, folks….the war is about to begin!

Bob Thompson, Commissioner Lyle Larson’s appointee, actually had the audacity to try to defend the RMA by saying they had considered every other alternative plan and financing. Hah! What about TxDOT’s own already funded plan for the critical stretch of US 281 that’s less invasive, cheaper, and more efficient? Contact Commissioner Larson lylelarson@bexar.org if you take issue with Mr. Thompson’s assessment.

In case you’re wondering what I wondered, the contract to build 281 has already been let and awarded to Cintra-Zachry, but is under a traditional contract in TxDOT’s control for now in order to slap tolls on there without delay. BUT TxDOT plans to hand over that cash cow stretch of 281 to Cintra-Zachry once the final “procurement process” is completed (in other words, once the terms of the final private bid “CDA” contract is signed, it’ll privatize our public roadways handing control over to a private company for up to 50 years).

Here’s some of the names of special interests who attended the RMA meeting today:
Estrada Hinojosa (Financial services)
Parsons Brinkerhoff (Engineering firm)
RJ Rivera Associates (Engineering & Transportation Consulting firm)
Taylor West (Advertising Firm)
Citigroup (Financial services)
HNTB (Engineering firm)
AG Edwards (Lisa Vanderbeek)

TOLL PARTY RMA MEETING STATEMENT

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to speak before you today.

Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Board, I am here representing the Texas Toll Party and the grassroots citizens opposed to this toll plan.

At the last meeting, Mr. Diaz promised he would not approve a contract converting an existing highway into a tollway. I believe other Board members chimed in to agree. Well, here we are, at a crossroads for this Board, for Bexar County, and even our country. The Bexar County Commissioners have not once but twice resolved that NO EXISTING roads be tolled. Clearly, there is a legal question here that must be resolved.

Your legal counsel and whoever represents the Transportation Commission will try to argue the semantics and state their plans for 281 and Loop 1604 do not violate the law. But the people you represent know TxDOT is taking the existing 4-6 lanes of “free”way that exists today and are converting it to a tollway on US 281. On Loop 1604, they’re taking existing right of way purchased with our hard earned tax dollars and are converting it into toll lanes. No matter how the pavement is re-arranged, the PEOPLE know this violates the law.

We label roads by their function for a reason. Frontage road is not equivalent to a highway. TxDOT will say that when they’re done bulldozing a perfectly good highway that the non-toll frontage lanes are equivalent to what we drive on today citing average speed in rush hour. But what we have today is unacceptable congestion caused by traffic lights in the middle of a highway. Our solution is overpasses at the lights (TxDOT knows it because their own already funded plan will solve it). Their new solution is to make that congestion permanent by changing what we drive on today to frontage roads with permanent traffic lights and reduced speed limits. Frontage roads serve a different function than highways. I can and do drive 60 MPH between those traffic signals on US 281 today. If you allow TxDOT to toll existing roads based on average speeds during rush hour, then almost every freeway in the country would qualify. Today, we have 4-6 lanes of non-toll FREEWAY main lanes, when they’re done, we’ll have NOT ONE non-toll main lane as we have today!

Can you seriously sit there and expect the PEOPLE to allow you to trample on the rule of law? Frankly, the PEOPLE have grown tired of the bending and twisting of the plain meaning of words to manipulate the law for self-interest, or in this case, corporate interest. We’ve seen it all before with the likes of Enron and WorldCom, and even in the White House, “like it all depends on what the definition of is, is.”

Those who stand against the public interest, who threaten to permanently open the floodgate to threaten our freedom of mobility, our way of life in Texas and around this country, must be stopped, and this momentous decision lies at your feet. The tolling of existing, paid for, freeways has NEVER, I repeat, NEVER been done in the history of our country. The voters by LAW are supposed to have a vote on this enormous decision to turn our highways from an efficient means of travel everyone can drive on into tollways only the few can afford and that largely sit idle outside of rush hour. TxDOT’s own study conducted by UT Austin states that there is OVERWHELMING consensus, over 70% of the people, against tolling existing roads. So why are they marching ahead with impunity? Because courageous civic leaders willing to stand up to outside interests are hard to come by, leaving the voters no choice but to take their plight into court to settle what is a clear violation of the law and a usurpation of the public interest. The people have spoken, and TxDOT is fully aware of the opposition to this, but they continue to trample our rights and sell us out by handing over our public highways to the lowest bidder.

Why add new capacity we can’t all use? Studies show highways with tolls only create permanent, unbearable congestion on surrounding lanes and surface streets. This doesn’t bring us congestion relief, which is the purpose of adding new capacity. Can THE VOTERS levy a tax on TxDOT for a congestion index since they’re so bent on charging us a toll to drive on freeways we’ve already paid for?

TxDOT’s own original plan was funded through March of 2005 and this solution can be implemented in less time, using less money, with less construction time, and less development over the aquifer. Federal court precedent through NEPA, requires that you and TxDOT consider EVERY alternative. But clearly this alternative option is not being considered. It’s toll it or do nothing by TxDOT’s own admission. This is unacceptable and unlawful and the taxpayers WILL NOT allow this flagrant disregard of the law nor this malfeasance to stand.

Clearly there are multiple problems with converting US 281 into a tollway. It violates the conversion statute, fails to consider and implement a funded, viable, less invasive, more cost effective and efficient alternative plan, smacks of fiscal irresponsibility, double taxes the public for roadways already paid for, poses environmental and health risks, lacks efficiency (which is the goal of highway travel), is based on implausible assumptions, and its overall economic damage to the region has not been properly studied, accepted, or justified to the public or Bexar and Comal Counties whose property values and tax revenues stand to be adversely affected by a toll corridor.

You have fought for and rightly earned VETO power over these projects. Taxpayers have plenty of objections to this toll plan. You recall all too clearly what it feels like to have no say and no voice in a process that’s been corrupted by outside interests instead of following the rule of law and serving the public interest. You cannot let this stand. The voters have risen and we’re asking you to help us take back what is ours. This is about doing what’s right or doing what’s wrong. May we appeal to you, today, to do what is right by the people?

We’re asking you to call for an independent review of this toll plan and not to approve this contract until one is completed and these questions are settled in a way the taxpayers trust is objective and sound.

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