Posted on 10/07/2006 5:51:18 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The more William Molina heard about toll road plans, the more outraged he got, until finally he picked up his camera and did what he does best.
Molina spent the past several months shooting more than 40 hours of footage at public meetings in San Antonio and nearby towns, talked to activists, tried to talk to toll road advocates and spliced together a film documenting what he says is a nexus of tremendous change.
"I just wanted to capture history," the veteran filmmaker said. "One day we're going to look back at this and say, how did this happen."
"Truth Be Tolled," which debuted last week and is available for free showings, offers Molina's take on why this is happening, but mostly it's a series of people from all walks of life, shown up close to reveal every twitch of emotion as they voice fear, anger and confusion.
"The most powerful thing about the film were the individual voices," said Char Miller, director of urban studies at Trinity University, who sponsored a screening there Thursday.
The documentary, about and hour and 45 minutes long, treads quickly through massive state tolling laws passed in recent years, the new policies to toll every new highway lane possible with the help of private companies that would reap profits in return.
Now toll roads are planned in cities around Texas, including more than 70 miles in San Antonio. And work is under way to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 4,000-mile network of toll lanes, railways and utility lines in swaths up to a quarter-mile wide through rural areas.
State officials say that to solve traffic congestion it's better to use tolls rather than raise gas taxes to build more roads and complete them faster.
In the film, activists and elected officials bucking the shift to tolling said government has simply figured out a way to squeeze lots of money out of motorists, and they point out that traffic congestion is needed on free roads to make tollways profitable.
In public meetings throughout the state this summer, most speakers opposed toll plans.
"These are real people dealing with real issues, and the film just carries out their voices," Molina said.
Molina, a Trinity University graduate who spent 15 years shooting movies and television shows in Hollywood and has done films for the Discovery and History channels, said he tried to interview officials with several agencies as well as elected leaders who favor tolls.
None agreed, he said.
"From what he was giving me, he already had his answers," Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gaby Garcia explained. "He wasn't going to have a fair discussion or a balanced discussion on the issues."
Trinity students Fletcher Rhoads and Emily Bower said the film tweaked their interest.
"It was more emotionally driven," Bower said.
"Which is fine," Rhoads said.
"But," Bower added, "I feel like I need to do research on my own to form my own opinion."
To find out more about the documentary and where it's being shown, go to the Web at TruthBeTolled.com.
Comptroller says she's proud to have groups' support.
By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, October 06, 2006
Carole Keeton Strayhorn's campaign sent $25,000 in the last year to two groups that are no friends of Gov. Rick Perry, including an anti-toll-road committee that weighs in on Austin-area races, the governor's campaign said Thursday.
Guilty as charged, Strayhorn responded.
"Carole Keeton Strayhorn is proud to have the support of organizations fighting this governor's tolls across Texas, and she is proud to lend support to those organizations," said Mark Sanders, a spokesman for the independent gubernatorial candidate.
Strayhorn's campaign gave the People for Efficient Transportation committee $5,000 in February and another $5,000 in April. The committee, founded by anti-toll activist Sal Costello, runs a Web site that takes aim at, among other toll projects, the Trans-Texas Corridor. The corridor is Perry's vision for a wide swath of rights of way for toll roads, rail lines and pipelines running parallel to the state's major highways.
Strayhorn "is trying to wash her fingerprints off these negative attacks by moving campaign money through third-party front groups," said Perry spokesman Robert Black.
But Strayhorn hardly needs a front. While Costello's group takes some colorful shots at Perry, any Strayhorn speech drips with attacks on his record on taxes, education and transportation.
Costello said he is not paid by his political committee, and Strayhorn does not direct its operations. The group has spent much of its money this year to oust Travis County Commissioner Karen Sonleitner and former West Lake Hills Mayor Dwight Thompson.
Little is out of bounds for Costello's Web site, which not only accuses public officials of corruption and fraud in their business ties but sometimes divulges their cell phone numbers and attacks their personal lives.
Strayhorn's campaign also gave Independent Texans $15,000 in the last year. The group promoted protests of Perry's transportation plans in counties around the state last weekend and touts a new documentary highlighting opposition to the corridor.
Black noted that the newsletter Capitol Inside reported last month that the Strayhorn campaign denied rumors it wanted to launch a third-party attack against Perry. But that story came months after Strayhorn's contributions to the two anti-toll groups and amid rumors that she was looking to form a group on the scale of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which attacked Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
That makes sense to me.
Every so often I have occasion to drive into Mexico. On the way back, I have the choice of taking the "free" bridge or the toll bridge. I always take the toll bridge, because the crossing takes just ten or fifteen minutes. In contrast, the wait to cross the "free" bridge can be an hour or two. In my case, at least, the toll bridge is the cheaper alternative.
This is interesting to me because we go to Mexico frequently and no matter where we cross we have to pay a fee going into Mexico and a fee coming out of Mexico.
I have never heard the words 'free bridge' or 'toll bridge' used in south Texas.
It sounds depressing, having to see the results a governor who's been bought and is now selling out the state for the next 50 years.
There is so much wasted money in every level of our government. Why are we standing still for this and just assuming that it's the only way things can be.
One way to save plenty of money is to cut out all the waste in school spending. Cut out the numerous School superintendants, for starters, and the rest of that bunch. We don't need mulitmillion dollar sports complexes.
We have just gotten used to this being the way businsss is done in any government program. Time to take a deep breath and start demanding a pull back on a lot of this stuff.
I think Costello would endorse Hitler if he would take his side on tollroads.
Sorry.
L
BTTT
What does "almost certainly" mean?
"What does "almost certainly" mean?"
It means that no group of private investors is dumb enough to sink 7 billion dollars or so into highway without some assurance that the next (or future governor) won't expand parallel roads (or highways), just to wipe out that investment. It's also called monopoly protection.
But then you already know that.
Case closed!
Great post Basil. I agree.
I agree, basil. The people pushing toll roads are like lemmings: "Must have toll roads. Must have toll roads. Must have . . ."
We don't need toll roads, and they will be a bane--like HOV lanes, like light rail--sucking up money like vampires.
How much money was diverted/robbed/stolen out of the highway fund/taxes to pay for arts/culture projects?
Was the figure WOAI/San Antonio mentioned in the neighborhood of $2 Billion with a B? Do you think, a couple of Billion here, couple of Billion there, and pretty soon there would be enough nmoney to build roads?
Instead, there is certainty that there is a non-compete clause.
Since we have the internet now, we don't have to listen to the mis-info, exaggerations, and outright lies anymore.
Its real easy. First we go to Google, then to sdvanced search. In the "with all the words" box we type Cintra. In the "with the exact phrase" box we type non compete clause. Tho not neccessary, we can type BobL into the "without the words" box and our results won't be cluttered with all the mis-info posts you have made at FR and other websites.
Then, with a little click of the mouse on search, we are on our way. And what do we find?
More relevant, how much is diverted to education. Big, big chunk.
This is the primary reasons for not raising the gas tax to pay for major road projects. If you do, the money will start accumulating in Austin and the legislature won't be able to keep their hands out of it, using it for other thing like arts/culture projects.
Hahhahhah. You seem to have ignored that part about I 35 being excluded from the non compete clause.
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