‘Watch’ keeping eye on TTC

Waxahachie Daily Light ^ | September 16, 2006 | Anthony Trojan

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Is it me, or is Stall lying his kiester off?

Anyhow, moving right along, we have this from the Waco Tribune-Herald:

Editorial: Secrecy on TTC

Sunday, September 17, 2006

This is a fascinating concept.

The people of Texas have entered into an agreement with a foreign company to build a super highway financed by tolls. And get this: The people are told they can’t know what’s in that agreement.

The case for closed records is being made by the Texas Department of Transportation and Gov. Rick Perry in a suit that could be called Texas vs. Texas. So, taxpayers, what side are you on?

We trust that you are on the side of open government, and that our governor and his agencies are, too. But they aren’t acting that way.

The transportation agency has been named in a suit by Attorney General Greg Abbott for its refusal to disclose contractual matters on the Trans-Texas Corridor.

The function of building and managing the TTC has been awarded to a Spanish company, Cintra-Zachary.

The firm says that contract information is proprietary since it’s a private business. Unless Perry or the agency concedes that Abbott is right and they’re wrong, this will go to trial Oct. 10. That will be Texas dollars and attorneys defending secrecy and Texas dollars and attorneys pleading the case for openness.

The Houston Chronicle has filed an open records request under state public information laws. Cintra-Zachry asked a court to block release of its plans. Abbott has ruled they are public records.

This case shows a key pitfall of contracting government services out to private business. Because various concerns could be construed as proprietary, contractors often refuse to release information about what they are doing with tax dollars.

It’s outrageous that the people of Texas can be excluded from knowing exactly what they are purchasing with their tax dollars. This “just trust us” mode is what spawns scandals and the misallocation of funds.

It would seem beyond dispute that the terms of an agreement to build the biggest highway project in Texas history would be a public matter.

Gov. Perry may think he invented a new widget with his agreement with Cintra-Zachary to build the TTC, but it’s got to have the same old raw materials, and those include public disclosure.

Please, Governor, don’t waste another penny of our tax dollars defending secrecy that, if not outright illegal, runs directly counter to the essential principle of open government.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[Dog Gone]

Of course, the agreement is freely available on the web.

http://www.keeptexasmoving.com/pdfs/projects/ttc35/TTC-35cda_signed_version.pdf

But keeping the lie alive is important to the kook fringe.

[BobL]

"Of course, the agreement is freely available on the web."

So you're telling the truth (i.e., the entire agreement is out there for the public to read), and the Editorial staff at the Waco Tribune-Herald is lying through their teeth.

...and so is Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott lying for bring the lawsuit.


Let's put a bit of honesty into our postings, shall we.

We all are adults here.

[BobL]

"But keeping the lie alive is important to the kook fringe."

Oh yea, and the Houston Chronicle is part of the "kook fringe" for bringing the open-records request.

Even most of the TTC supporters don't go as far as denying that the key portions of the contract are SECRET.

But, I guess, some do.

[Dog Gone]

If you're too lazy to click on the link, I can't make you.

I don't think we ARE all adults here.

[BobL]

I'm waiting for your response to what the two newspapers have written the lawsuit that Mr. Abbott has filed.

As much as you may want me to be your enemy, it's those people that you need to address to have a shred of credibility on this thread.

In other words, anybody can post any garbage they want.

[basil]

Well, this member of your "kook fringe" who is totally opposed to this horrendous idea of dividing Texas right down the middle happens to have a computer and can read all of that (expcept the eyes glaze over with all the lelgaleese language). What of all the Texans who aren't on the internet? Do they not count as being worthy of this information?

Why can't our suave governor speak in plain language to the public? Does he not have access to tv and newspapers?

Personally, I'm not ready for a union between Canada, the US, and Mexico, ala the European Union.

Sorry--I plan to remain a "kook".

I'm sick and tired of the people who are thinking only of themselves, wanting to make it from say San Antonio to Dallas an hour faster.

[BobL]

"I'm sick and tired of the people who are thinking only of themselves, wanting to make it from say San Antonio to Dallas an hour faster."

I don't mind going an hour faster between SA and Dallas. I'd love to either expand I-35 or build a parallel FREEWAY.

But I do mind these SECRET agreements that almost certainly prevent the state from expanding parallel highways and give a private operator unlimited toll authority with monopoly protection.

In other words, I'm willing to pay a bit more in gas taxes to get traffic moving again, and I would never support this SELLOUT, no matter how desperate I was to get a sinking Governor Perry through an election.

[Dog Gone]

I haven't seen the lawsuits they filed. I'm not sure how I could, but I'll be damned if I automatically assume the side of the Houston Chronicle on ANYTHING.

[Dog Gone]

Good grief, basil. I-35, I-10, I-20, and every other interstate highway divides this state. We have workarounds called "overpasses".

[BobL]

"but I'll be damned if I automatically assume the side of the Houston Chronicle on ANYTHING."

No one can argue that. But, in this case, it's pretty clear that we are not getting the whole story on what was signed. Abbott could be spending a lot of time in jail if his lawsuit has absolutely no merit.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

MORETHORZINEPLEASE

Once again, Thorazine is spelled T-H-O-R-A-Z-I-N-E. Please make a note of it.

[BobL]

...I think what bothers him is the 10 to 20 miles between TTC crossings that will make life a bit more difficult for people on or near the route.

With a typical freeway, you hang a few I-Beams, lay an overpass, and you're done. In this case, it's more complicated. Also, we don't know how that dreaded non-compete clause will play in. If a new county-built overpass will make it easier to for local drivers to bypass the toll road in some way, the county will have to pay Cintra royalties for the next 50 years, to make up for Cintra's lost revenue.

As was mentioned to me a couple of days ago, "it's only fair, if we want Cintra to invest the billions necessary to build the road". Yes, it's fair to Cintra - but how about Texans?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

...I think what bothers him is the 10 to 20 miles between TTC crossings that will make life a bit more difficult for people on or near the route.

basil is a she.

[BobL]

It's ok Tol, we're getting near the election and Perry's biggest, BY FAR, weakness is this TTC Plan. So it's understandable that people would get fired up.

While I'm not crazy about the rest of what he's done as Gov, he still easily outclasses the opposition.

But this TTC Plan is a monster to this state and, I'm afraid, other states that try to imitate us. I want it stopped, and if it means voting the straight Dem ticket for Gov. and below, I'll do that (but I'll never vote for a Dem at the national level, unless that Dem is clearly more conservative than the Republican - which is very unlikely, given the nominating process).

If Perry would simply drop this plan and go back to a normal system of financing (albeit with higher gas taxes), I'll almost certainly vote the Republican ticket again. But I cannot with this plan being shoved down our throats.

[BobL]

Sorry Basil - the only one that I knew was a guy.

[Dog Gone]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Cintra doesn't even have a contract to build or operate the TTC. They have the contract to create the design study.

So there's no non-compete clause because the contract has yet to be signed.

[BobL]

I think that document is for the study - I noticed that also, but I'm almost sure that the build contract has been signed.

I saw one of Tol's postings giving a construction schedule - and it was to start soon (with land acquisition first, of course). I also don't think that Abbott could be suing for something that doesn't yet exist, but who knows. I'll take a quick look, but I'm not in the mood to do a thorough search.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

As far as start dates go, I got the impression that the building would start in 2009 or 2010. Jerome Corsi is going with 2007, which I think is too soon to be accurate.