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AT ISSUE:
Should
Waller County Build Toll Roads?
Dear Editor:
In the last several years citizens in
Waller County have had the worst kind of
civics lessons delivered without
fanfare. Elected state officials and
state agencies have taught us that some
new principles appear to have replace
some old ones we assumed were timeless.
Private property rights, free
enterprise, and sovereignty seem now to
be defined and dictated by corporations,
developers, and global thinkers. Most
citizens do not know when the seismic
shift took place; others seem unaware
that it has taken place. All will feel
the effects eventually. Most already
have had some previews.
As real information about the Trans
Texas Corridor masterplan has been
secured by "citizens turned researchers"
an unresponsive and unrepentant attitude
has solidified in the statehouse. We are
told that this is the stuff of legacies
and visions; nevermind the silly
requests for conventional assessments of
needs matched to locations and design.
Nevermind the state auditor's two
reports that offer real cautions. It is
not about transportation., it is about a
revenue stream. So says the chairman and
the governor's point man of the Texas
Transportation Commission. Everyone
agrees... that means money, a lot of
money.
As we anticipate "in warp speed fashion"
the prospects of trading the
transportation commission in Austin for
one here in Waller County, are we to
have any voice or any information for
consideration in the public sector about
it? Are we to expect to have input,
accountability, and transparency if a
Toll Road Authority takes shape here? Is
recent history to repeat itself with
most of the citizens caught unaware?
Will our rights again be prempted in
favor of a few serving their legacies
and visions?
Will the county be a better place to
live, go to school, to work, and to
church if we take some time to engage
its citizens in its future? Will it be
about transportation, or a revenue
stream? What do you think?
It seems to me that it should be up to
us. A vision of a citizen-centered
responsive government could be our
legacy. Let's change the outcome of that
civics lesson together. It's our county.
What do you think?
Sincerely,
Martha Estes
Hempstead |
Dear Editor:
Should Waller County Build Toll
Roads?
The national and statewide debate about
who builds and pays for toll roads has
now arrived in Waller County.
According to documents sent by Allen,
Boone, Humphries, Robinson, LLP to Judge
Owen Ralston on April 26, 2007, and
obtained by this writer under the
Freedom of Information Act, the Waller
County Commissioners' Court will soon be
taking up the issue of creating a Waller
County toll road corporation.
Waller County citizens should understand
that the toll road corporation being
proposed would not be a government
agency like the Harris County Toll Road
Authority. Instead it would be a public
corporation, a quasi-governmental entity
that would have the extraordinary powers
of the government (including the ability
to issue bonds and the ability to use
condemnation and eminent domain). And
Waller County Commissioners' Court would
be able to turn over local road building
projects to this corporation.
This is a major fundamental shift in how
transportation projects are built and
puts our open government rights and
processes in jeopardy. The decision to
have or not to have toll roads should be
made by the voters of Waller County.
Harris County allowed their voters to
decide whether they wanted toll roads.
Waller citizens deserve the same respect
and opportunity.
If toll roads are what the voters of
Waller County want, then the
commissioners' court should institute
these protections for the public.
1. Make all board meetings of the toll
road corporation open meetings with
public notification and all records open
for public inspection.
2. Directors on a toll road corporation
board should be elected by the citizens
of Waller County and should have
two-year term limits. Board members and
candidates for the board should be
prohibited from accepting campaign
donations from any business or employee
of any business that could engage in
business deals with the corporation.
3. Because the Texas Transportation Code
exempts local corporations (like a toll
road corporation) from competitive
bidding requirements, Waller County
should write into the articles of
incorporation that the toll road
corporation must use competitive bidding
in all its business deals.
4. All potential Waller County road
projects should be based on traffic
needs that are supported by traffic
studies and not on wishful economic
development promises.
5. Any road or road-related projects
built by a Waller toll road corporation
should use the same standards for
environmental approval (NEPA) as are
used for federal highway projects.
6. All road projects should allow for
public input through a public meeting
and public hearing process.
7. And last, and most importantly,
Waller County should explicitly prohibit
the toll road corporation from entering
into any Comprehensive Development
Agreement (CDA) or Public Private
Partnerships (PPPs). Because a Waller
County toll road corporation could have
the authority to enter into a contract
to build that segment of the Trans Texas
Corridor (TTC-69) that goes through
Waller County, and because local and
state governments are coming under
increased pressure and temptation from
powerful private entities to sell out
the public infrastructure, Waller County
can and should protect Waller County
citizens from such exploitation by
instituting a ban on PPPs.
If toll roads are the best direction for
Waller County to take, then let the
Waller County Commissioners' Court make
an open and honest case to the public.
This discussion to have or not to have
toll roads should be made in an open and
public forum, and the decision should
ultimately be made by the voters.
Many thanks,
Alice Sorsby McGuffie
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