Posted on 07/15/2008 1:37:22 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Melissa mayor mailing resolutions to fellow mayors to stop state from using gas tax funds for non-road projects
BY DANNY GALLAGHER, McKinney Courier-Gazette
Melissa Mayor David Dorman said he sits in his office everyday and watches as cars zoom down State Highway 121, a road that will soon start collecting tolls from drivers who use it to get to Dallas, McKinney, Frisco or the Dallas North Tollway and back again.
Dorman said before that happens, he wants to know the roads his citizens and drivers are paying the state to use will be maintained and built with those funds.
“I sit here everyday and look at SH 121 with 7,000 cars on it, approximately 20,000 here on SH 121 merging onto U.S. 75,” Dorman said. “[The state] is getting funding to get these roads fixed knowing full well that that money is being diverted to other things that have nothing to do with roads.”
Dorman held a press conference Monday at Melissa City Hall to announce a new personal initiative to get the legislature to prevent the diversion of funds from the gasoline tax. He will mail 1,400 letters to mayors and county leaders across the state containing a resolution that implores the legislature to abolish additional diversions, which he said he will “hand-deliver” to the State Legislature’s Senate Subcommittee on Transportation prior to the start of the 2009 legislative session.
Dorman said the citizens of his city elected him to stand up for them on such matters and he felt obligated to answer that call by personally funding his initiative.
“I took an oath of office to serve the citizens of Melissa and this is for the citizens of Melissa,” Dorman said. “I’ve paid for this personally, so the city funds would not be utilized for this…I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do. Someone needs to step up to the plate and say this is the right thing to do. Someone needs to get the entire state on board.”
Dorman said everyone from local mayors and county leaders to state representatives and senators have expressed their “off-the-record” support of his initiative. His hope is that at least half of the people who receive his letter will return a signed resolution for him to bring to the State Capitol.
“There isn’t a mayor in the county who I’ve spoken to who is not for this,” Dorman said. “There isn’t an elected official in the county who is not for this….How can you deny something like this? How can you not say this is not the right thing to do?”
Collin County Judge Keith Self said he feels Dorman would have no trouble finding support for his initiative. He also said he would have no problem backing Dorman’s resolution and said the Commissioners Court will discuss their own resolution on the diversion of gas tax funds once they have completed their own legislative agenda.
“I believe the tide has already turned,” Self said. “This initiative is not new. It’s been discussed in every transportation forum that I’ve been at for the last two years. This initiative is just another voice in the chorus of voices. In fact, several of the state level legislators have said they are going to try and get this done.”
If the issue makes it to the floor of the legislature during the upcoming session, Self said it could be face some opposition from entities receiving the funds.
“Getting the legislature to change it is the difficult part,” Self said. “Most people agree it is necessary but the difficult part is getting the legislature to follow through on it because while we understand there is a dire need for transportation dollars, those getting the dollars that are being diverted will make their case as well.”
Special Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
BTTT
I hope they’re all looking for new jobs real soon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.