If you called your councilmember once already about this Chair race, you’ve heard these excuses. Allow me to tell you why they’re bogus.
BOGUS CITY TALKING POINTS
The City claims that since County Commissioner Lyle Larson held the Chair position for two terms (4 years) therefore the City is then entitled to 2 more years as Chair. If the City had a problem with Larson’s second term, they should have objected then and voted accordingly. There is NOTHING in the bylaws of the MPO that says the City is entitled to two more years, they’re simply on a mission to maintain control of the MPO and thwart the will of the people on toll roads and the direction we’ve asked the MPO to take.
The City says “this is about leadership and the City getting fair representation,” when in actuality, they have 6 appointees to the MPO compared with the County’s 4, AND they held the Chair position for the last two years! Since the County is bigger than the CIty, it ought to have greater or at least equal representation and votes on the Board as the City does. The City trying to railroad this Chair issue only demonstrates our point…the City has TOO MUCH POWER over the Board not a lack of it!
Why Chair is Vital…CONTROL!
The City will argue that the vote for who is Chair has NOTHING to do with toll roads. Wanna bet? Your fellow citizens have faithfully attended these meetings for over 2 years and personally witnessed how the City’s former Chair, Richard Perez, BLOCKED our items from the agenda, cut off debate, rushed votes, made citizens to be heard DEAD last (Larson made it first), used the position to intimidate appointees and shore up pro-toll votes by threatening a member’s other projects, and changed the bylaws to illegally allow his own re-appointment to the MPO.
DON’T THINK FOR ONE MINUTE that who is Chair has no effect on the agenda of that body! That’s like saying House Transportation Committee Chair Mike Krusee didn’t matter to Governor Perry’s toll agenda. WRONG! In fact, he was the key to Perry blocking ANYTHING that could have STOPPED the tolls.
Who Chairs the MPO is absolutely VITAL to our future success in STOPPING TOLLS ON EXISTING ROADS FOR GOOD and to having your voices HEARD and HEEDED!
Commissioner Adkisson has the track record of invaluable loyalty to our cause. He not only has earned the position of Chair in his 9 years tenure on the Board versus Sheila McNeil who has ZERO experience on the Board, he believes ONLY ELECTED OFFICIALS should have voting powers on the MPO, versus the City who wants the tolling authority to have a vote (Councilwoman Diane Cibrian advocated this at the last meeting). That’s right, the City wants MORE UN-ELECTED appointees on the Board than ELECTED officials who answer DIRECTLY to the PEOPLE! That’s been our greatest hurdle at the MPO is the fact that San Antonio’s MPO has more appointees than elected officials making multi-billion dollar tax decisions! It’s taxation without representation that birthed our movement!
So on the merits, Commissioner Adkisson is by far the best choice. He’s the vote FOR ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE TAXPAYERS while the City is promoting LESS ACCOUNTABILITY! He’s against tolling existing roads, while Sheila McNeil, the City’s choice for Chair, who has NO EXPERIENCE ON THE MPO and who would not go on the record against tolls in her campaign (she avoided us like the plague), had pro-toll Richard Perez at her fundraisers and is cozy with Zachry (the biggest road builder in town).