Link to WOAI article here.
Apparently, the nearly 14,000 Texans who sacrificed their time and traveled many miles on their dime with high gas prices to give public input on the Trans Texas Corridor don’t represent the majority of Texans and their opinions won’t make a difference in whether or not the corridor gets built, according to Rick Perry. So why have public hearings, Governor? If you want to know what the MAJORITY of Texans think about your corridor, why don’t you put it to a vote and we’ll gladly demonstrate WE’RE the majority! Your special interest elitist mindset will be your downfall on November 7. The PEOPLE are fed-up and determined to take their government back from “the few” and return it to the PEOPLE once again!
Perry Rejects TTC Opposition
Perry says toll road plans will go forward despite opposition voiced at public hearings
By Jim Forsyth
WOAI.com August 15, 2006
Hundreds of people showed up at three dozen public hearings over the past month to speak out on the proposed Trans Texas Corridor, the $175 billion system of toll roads Governor Perry has proposed for Texas.
The vast majority of the people who showed up at the hearings, by one estimate by a ratio of twenty to one, spoke out against the superhighways, claiming they would bisect farms and ranches, would be a giveaway to big construction companies, and would allow private companies, in some cases headquartered out of the country, to determine how much money Texas have to pay to drive.
Now, Governor Perry has spoken out on what he thinks of the public hearing process, and it’s not much.
“I happen to think that the great majority of people in the state of Texas who did not go to those hearings, want to see traffic moving, they want to see an end to congestion, and they want hazardous materials kept out of our cities,” Perry told 1200 WOAI news.
The purpose of the hearings was to solicit public input on the Trans Texas Corridor, but now Perry says the purpose was actually something else entirely.
“If anyone has a better plan, those hearings were the place to lay them out,” Perry said, adding that he didn’t hear any ‘better plans’ specified.
Perry says he remains fully committed to moving forward with the Trans Texas Corridor. The SR-130 Bypass currently under construction from Seguin to Georgetown may become a port of TTC-35, the Trans Texas Corridor route running from Sherman to Laredo.