"What Perry was up to was not only big, but was achieved virtually under the radar at the time."

Transportation, Texas-style: Perry lays out super-corridors plan

2/1/02

by James A. Cooley

The Lone Star Report
Volume 6, Issue 20
Copyright 2002

Gov. Rick Perry had a rookie legislative session characterized by critics as lackluster and leaderless. Texas Monthly deemed the governor to have been mere “furniture” regarding his apparent lack of involvement.

However, Perry may have been a bit busier than was recognized at the time. It seems he was quietly and methodically pushing through the separate pieces of a package that – when assembled later – represented a fundamental shift in Texas transportation policy.

What Perry was up to was not only big, but was achieved virtually under the radar at the time. More significantly, the full details of the plan were not released as an election-year trial balloon by Perry, but presented as a done deal already moving towards implementation by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and its commissioners.

What Perry unveiled at a well-attended Jan. 28 press conference was the creation of a statewide system of what can best be described as super-corridors for transporting everything from vehicles to electricity.

These corridors would include six lanes of traffic; six rail lines carrying long and short-haul freight, as well as high-speed passenger traffic; and everything from petroleum pipelines to high-voltage power lines, thanks to utility easements.

The routes would connect all the state’s major metropolitan areas, but would not be constructed through them. The goal is to move the truck traffic, pollution, and hazardous materials out of Texas’ downtowns and densely populated areas.

Everything about the plan is massive. The right-of-ways needed would be anywhere from 1,000-1,200 feet wide. The cost of the entire system is projected to be $175 billion over the next 50 years. Once completed, roughly 4,000 miles of new corridors will be in place. The long-range plans call for being able to expand the corridors both into Mexico and neighboring states.

The key to the Perry plan is for the creation of public-private ventures that would construct these corridors as toll roads. The state would own the right-of-ways and might contribute a portion of the project’s costs under the new “toll equity” authorization approved by Texas voters last November. In exchange for putting up some money, limited to $500 million annually, the state would receive a percentage of the toll revenues.

Priority in construction would likely go to those corridors with the best cash-flow potential. One likely candidate for conversion is the SH 130 project in Central Texas.

Local government units would probably form partnerships as Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs) to construct these projects. These RMAs would be modeled after the successful Houston and Dallas toll road authorities.

Perry stressed that those constructing the projects would hold all of the debt for these project and the state would not expose itself in any way.

Despite this, both Texas Democratic Party Chairman Molly Beth Malcolm and gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez issued statements warning of higher taxes and huge debt.

Malcolm further said Perry was actually recycling ideas originally proposed by former Democratic Comptroller John Sharp . The hidden impetus for Perry’s corridors plan was, to Malcolm, “that Perry has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from contractors lobbying for highway contracts in Texas.”

Perry and the plan’s supporters counter that a higher long-term cost would be exacted from either doing nothing or merely doing more of the same. There was simply not enough room to expand existing roadbeds through the heart of densely populated areas.

TxDOT Commissioner Ric Williamson said that he just couldn’t do a 10 lane-wide IH-35 running through downtown Austin. “Do I tear up the State Cemetery or the Drum (Frank Erwin Center)?” he asked reporters.

More important, the corridor supporters argue that the state will be unable to attain compliance with federal clean air laws by continuing to funnel ever-growing traffic through urban areas. The long haul traffic needed to be kept separate as much as possible, especially the heavy trucks that came with the NAFTA treaty.

Williamson saw other environmental benefits. Pointing to Austin’s Longhorn pipeline controversy, he saw a time when these private pipelines through neighborhoods would be replaced by the safer alternative of the super-corridors.

The larger goal was eventually combining as much as possible of the scattered public and private right-of-ways and easements together into the new state-owned super-corridors right-of-ways.

Perry and the plan’s supporters were prepared with responses for the critics. While acknowledging that toll roads would be greatly expanded, Perry said the existing free alternatives would remain and be improved. Williamson pointed to motor fuels taxes as a revenue source facing long-term decline, thus making it imperative that the state move to other funding methods.

Team Perry noted that the corridors would be built only if those moving people and goods decided that having these express transportation routes was worth paying for directly via tolls. As such, it was a voluntary system.

Yes, rural landowners would face an intrusion. But, the tradeoff was the economic opportunities that improved access to transportation and other commodities moving through the corridors would bring. It was pointed out that water – a rural necessity – could also be moved along these same routes.

Perry urged the airline industry to look at partnering on the ground transportation options, such as high-speed rail, and making some money on it. However, his invitation received a cool response.

“It’s a losing proposition,” Southwest Airlines spokesman Ed Stewart told the Austin American-Statesman .

While critics got in their licks, the plan drew quick praise from others. The Texas Public Policy Foundation hailed it as both “ambitious and visionary.” Meanwhile, Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), who authored much of the plan’s enabling legislation, endorsed it as something that “meets the needs of tomorrow” through a “dynamic shift” in policy.

TxDOT will be releasing a report within 90 days that will contain a detailed action plan for implementing the super-corridors plan. This report is likely to be a popular read at the Capitol. O

The Lone Star Report: www.lonestarreport.org

For more on Perry's 2001 stealth Propositions [CLICK HERE]

A "malodorous arrangement."

Editorial

The line between 'legal' and 'ethical'

January 31, 2002

Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2002

The mutual back-scratching between Williamson County commissioners and favored consultant Pete Peters is cozy enough to constitute a serious breach of ethical
conduct, if not the law.

Through his firm, The Communicators, Peters has worked as a political consultant to every member of the commissioners court. When the commissioners proposed a bond package for highways in the fall of 2000, Peters formed a political action committee to promote it. The PAC then hired his firm as a consultant. After the bonds passed, Peters was hired as a $130-an-hour consultant to help oversee the road projects.

But the loop is even tighter than that, and more lucrative for Peters. His firm billed the PAC, Roads Now, for $18,000 in expenses, though there is no documentation that Peters' firm spent its own money. And his firm is being paid about $4,000 a month from the county road budget to promote the projects.

The contractors who contributed to Peters' PAC and the commissioners' election campaigns wound up getting most of the highway construction work under professional service agreements, which means there is no bid procedure to ensure cost savings.

Peters' activities may fall just inside the law, but this malodorous arrangement is beyond all ethical boundaries.

Peters overcame serious personal problems and a felonious past to build a circle of influence in Williamson County, one wherein he gets paid by the contributors, the consultants and the county, first to build interest then to promote the projects. It smells to high heaven, but Peters is only cashing in on an opportunity and the contractors are only paying to play, a longstanding Texas tradition.

It falls to Commissioners Mike Heiligenstein, Greg Boatright, David Hays and Frankie Limmer and County Judge John Doerfler to bring some integrity to bear on this ethically dubious scenario. However, they are unperturbed so far by Peters' actions, even his billing the county for three meetings with American-Statesman Editor Rich Oppel that never occurred.

The commissioners say they aren't troubled by Peters' revolving roles in their campaigns, the Roads Now PAC and the county's oversight of the projects. Nor are they concerned, they say, about the contractors who gave to them and Peters' PAC getting the construction contracts without a bid procedure.

They should be, because Peters' snug alliance with them may not sit as well with the Williamson County taxpayers, who foot the bills, and voters, who will have something to say about who represents them in Georgetown. Doerfler, Boatright and Limmer are running
for re-election this year.

© 2002 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

The Stretch

Pete Peters never did take me out to the ballgame

January 30, 2002

Rich Oppel, Editor
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2002

Newspaper types get the feeling that our names appear on expense accounts more often than "miscellaneous." But the expense claim I saw the other day was a doozy.

Filed by Republican political consultant Pete Peters, the statement said: "American Statesman Editor Rich Oppel to Express game about regional roads and Austin challenges to area plan."

Let's back up.

Carter Nelsen, a staffer in our Round Rock bureau, reported Tuesday (page A1) on how Peters, 53, has achieved influence in the Williamson County political community. Peters helped county commissioners get elected, raised money from contractors and others to build roads and claimed expenses to promote a road bond issue.

When the reporter checked county invoices, he found the reference to me in a document filed by Pete Peters.

Peters claimed that he took me to the June 16 Round Rock Express game. He billed for two hours of work, at a rate of $130 an hour, for a total of $260.

Had I lost my mind?

Had I spent two hours with Peters and couldn't remember a minute?

Did I consider the virtues of "regional roads and Austin challenges to area plan" instead of talking with Express fan Trey Salinas about the third baseman, and with part-owner Reid Ryan about what it's like to run a ball club?

No, the fact is that my wife and I never saw Peters.

Alerted by reporter Nelsen's questions about the entry, Peters sent me an e-mail, in which he said in part:

"I used about two hours to create some information and a map to deliver to you at the (Dell) Diamond. I ended up having to leave the information at the press room door and was not able to see you (according to my notes) though I did hang around for the full game, looking in at various times . . . I apologize."

I'm glad Peters saw the full game; I never saw the "information."

Last week, Austin lawyer Pike Powers called to request a meeting in behalf of Peters. Powers canceled, but joining Peters was Ed Shack. He is the Austin lawyer you call if you're a politician with an ethics problem. Shack said the problem was that Peters, who heads a company called The Communicators, had been "inarticulate" in filing his expense claims.

Four hours after the meeting, I received a hand-delivered letter from Shack.

Shack argued that Peters' money raising was usual and normal by Texas standards; Peters' expenditures were in line with Texas ethics law; Peters did not take county funds inappropriately; and there was no fraud.

"His employers in these matters are completely satisfied with his work performance and his
explanation of this misunderstanding involving shorthand notations referencing work on a project," wrote the lawyer.

Shack probably is right. Our reporting hasn't turned up anyone in Williamson County political offices who is upset with all of this.

Then again, what do taxpayers think?

Have the politicians and the lawyers asked them?

They are the people we care about.

Rich Oppel EDITOR, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN

© 2002 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

A Big Payoff for Rick Perry's Patrons

Governor's contributors could win big in transportation plan

1/30/02

Associated Press
Copyright 2002

AUSTIN (AP) - A sweeping road and rail proposal put forth by Gov. Rick Perry could mean millions of dollars in new construction business for some of his biggest campaign contributors.

Highway contractors, chemical pipeline executives and financial bond firms that stand to benefit from the plan have contributed more than $300,000 to Perry, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.

Democrats critical of the transportation plan questioned whether the Republican governor was trying to curry favor with his backers.

In El Paso, where Perry pitched his transportation plan Tuesday, he said there will be no favoritism in awarding contracts for the ambitious highway construction plan.

"I don't award contracts," Perry said. "I have three incredibly capable (transportation) commissioners. We have a system that works well."

Perry said anyone who suggests there have been improprieties in awarding contracts is "wrong or they are working for a political purpose. If there is a problem, I suggest they go to the DA."

Executives of H.B. Zachry Co. of San Antonio, one of the state's largest highway contractors, contributed $47,000 to Perry over the past six months as Perry prepared his transportation initiative.

All told, Zachry executives have given him more than $80,000 since 1997, records show.

James Pitcock, chairman of Williams Brothers Construction Co. of Houston, has contributed at least $75,000 over that same period, according to records.

Williams Brothers and H.B. Zachry helped finance a public relations effort promoting a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that cleared the way for Perry's road plan.

Officials from these companies have said their contributions are designed to support good government policy, not to buy influence.

Perry unveiled his initiative Monday in Austin.

"This plan is as big as Texas and ambitious as our people," Perry said in El Paso. "This plan can't be finished overnight ... but we can get a good start on this concept today."

Perry's "Trans Texas Corridor" would create six-lane highways shooting across the state, north to south and east to west, that loop around the large population centers. He said the loops will reduce congestion and pollution, improve safety and speed up trade routes.

The plan includes six rail tracks that Perry said would enhance business opportunities under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Construction would be paid for with a variety of financing schemes involving a public and private money, including some toll roads, Perry said.

Democratic Party Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm said the big winners of the governor's transportation plan are his campaign contributors. She warned the proposal could lead to higher taxes and "runaway debt."

Texas voters approved an amendment in November to leverage more dollars for construction by allowing the state to use public and private toll-road revenue for projects as well as investment from private companies.

Among the amendment's active boosters were the Dannenbaum Construction Co. of Houston; Koch Industries of Wichita, Kan.; S&B Infrastructure of Houston; Vinson & Elkins law firm of Houston; J.D. Abrams Co. of Austin; the Dean Word Co. of Waco; and the Association of General Contractors political action committee.

According to campaign reports, Perry has received least $300,000 in contributions from scores of the amendment's boosters over the past five years.

The Association of General Contractors PAC has given $45,000. Others include $50,000 from James Dannenbaum, $53,000 from Koch Industries, $30,000 from Vinson & Elkins, $10,000 from S&B Infrastructure, $21,700 from Tim Word of the Dean Word Co. and $8,000 from James Abrams of the J.D. Abrams Construction Co.

The Associated Press: www.ap.org

For more on Perry's Patrons [CLICK HERE]

Perry Airs Transit Plan

Perry airs sweeping transit plan

January 29, 2002

BRYON OKADA Staff Writer
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Copyright 2002

Gov. Rick Perry wants Texas to build a $175 billion, 4,000-mile network of toll roads and rail corridors next to current interstates, a major shift in statewide transportation policy.

The proposed Trans Texas Corridor would roughly parallel major highways used for transporting influx of goods generated by the North American Free Trade Agreement. It would consist of six mostly toll lanes; high-speed passenger and freight rail; regional freight and commuter rail; and room underground for water, gas, electric, telecommunication and other utility lines.

Construction of such a network would refocus much of the state's transportation efforts toward travel between and around major cities. It could also be a unifying force between Perry and potential private users of the corridors , such as electric companies, pipeline companies, freight railroads and toll authorities.

"We need a transportation system that meets the needs of tomorrow, not one that struggles to keep up with the needs of yesterday," Perry said. "This plan is as big as Texas and as ambitious as our people, and I think Texans deserve nothing less."

But building a parallel transportation system is also a departure from earlier statements - by Perry and others - associated with new financial tools, such as the Texas Mobility Fund. The fund had been touted as a way to help close the gap between ongoing highway construction needs and funding shortfalls. Officials said they are unsure how much money placed in the Texas Mobility Fund would be devoted to the Trans Texas Corridor plan.

Democrats who are vying to face Perry in the November election suggested that his plan misses the mark.

"I support Gov. Perry's efforts to improve transportation in Texas ," said Democratic candidate Dan Morales, a former state attorney general. "However, any concept that calls for using broad swaths of new land should be of concern to all Texans. There are historic farms and ranches all across our state and any transportation plan should first respect the rights of property owners."

Glenn Smith, who heads the gubernatorial campaign of Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez, said, "His plan doesn't even address the potential $600 million shortfall in federal highway funds. We wish we had more faith that Mr. Perry fully understands his own $175 billion transportation proposal."

Regional transportation officials have been looking for some time at better NAFTA highways, including considering rail to as many routes as possible. At the same time, planners have been trying to devise a system of highways for transporting hazardous materials that avoided busy urban areas. But most of the discussion has focused on transporting freight, not people.

"I think it's a wakening of the state that they need to look out and pay as much attention to intercity travel as the metropolitan planning organizations have paid to urban centers," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. "Skeptics will say there's too much intercity in the proposal and not enough attention paid to the urban. The only way that will be answered is to see how this is all implemented."

Perry has asked the Texas Transportation Commission to develop an action plan by this summer.

The proposal builds on philosophical shifts within the Texas Department of Transportation, including a plan to eliminate frontage roads from future highway projects. Illustrations of the proposed corridors depict wide highway lanes - minus frontage roads - with rail lines in between. The state would own the right of way.

The pictures suggest that the corridors may be as wide as 1,000 feet. By comparison, Airport Freeway from Northeast Loop 820 through the Texas 183/ Texas 121 split is 350 feet across.

State transportation officials acknowledged that the proposal does not include a method to ensure that a private operator will not simply walk away if the investment proves unprofitable.

"My sense is that this is a very entrepreneurial state and a very entrepreneurial country, and we're going to figure out a way to make commerce work," said Johnny Johnson, chairman of the three-member Texas Transportation Commission. "The operator is going to have funding, probably from private sources from debt or equity or whatever. They're going to be responsible to their investors, and they're going to be compelled to perform."

Republican legislators said Perry's proposal should be given a chance, particularly because it encompasses the entire state and offers details on specific corridors , something state highway plans have never done. Also, they say, the plan will be implemented over 25 years, maybe twice that.

"It's going to take us into the next century," said Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth. "We're going to be prepared to move commerce and move people to develop Texas for the future."

Staff Writer John Moritz contributed to this report


Fort Worth Star-Telegram: www.dfw.com

"The smell test"

In Williamson, politics, roads and money mix

Some critics question circle linking contractors, consultant and county

January 29, 2002

By Carter Nelsen
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006

Few people work as close to the heart of Williamson County's political establishment as Pete Peters.

More than a dozen of the area's most powerful politicians have used his public relations company, The Communicators, to help run their election campaigns, including all four county commissioners and the county judge.

When the same commissioners asked voters to approve $350 million worth of road bonds in the fall 2000 election, Peters formed a political action committee to promote the idea.

The PAC, called Roads Now, raised more than $62,000, most of it from contractors. Roads Now, in turn, paid Peters' firm more than $28,000 for public relations work, fund raising and expenses.

Then, when the bond proposal passed by a 3-1 ratio and the commissioners hired a team of consultants to run the project, they included Peters at $130 an hour.

Commissioners, relying largely on the recommendations of the engineer who leads that team, have since awarded more than $25 million in road contracts. About $15 million worth has gone to companies that contributed to Roads Now.

That chain of events raises ethical concerns, said University of Texas law professor Charles Silver.

"That's exactly the kind of thing that you see over and over and over again, and the only thing that surprises me is how cheaply this sort of thing can be purchased," said Silver, who teaches legal ethics. "It just makes me fume when I see things like this happen."

All but one of the contracts awarded to the 15 companies are professional-services agreements. State law does not require competitive bidding for those agreements.

Unlike construction companies and suppliers, which usually must bid for contracts, professional-services companies -- including engineers, consultants, law firms and architects -- typically submit proposals outlining their qualifications. They do not need to offer the lowest price to win a job.

Peters said he has played no part in contract discussions and saw nothing unusual in the PAC's activities. Campaigns supporting municipal bond proposals frequently raise money from contractors, he said.

"These are the top engineering firms in the area," he said of several Roads Now contributors. "They would get work anyway. A lot of people who gave (to the PAC) didn't get work, and a lot who didn't give got work."

Lawyer Ed Shack, a campaign finance expert hired by Peters last week, said he didn't consider Peters' connections to the bond project out of the ordinary.

"He's not being paid to help select anybody or make judgments about who's the appropriate contractor," said Shack, who worked for the Texas secretary of state's office before entering private practice. "So I guess I don't see a real issue there."

`The smell test'

Austin engineer Mike Weaver, who heads the team of consultants supervising the roads projects, decides whether professional-services contractors are qualified to work for the county before commissioners vote to hire them. Among other tasks, he requests proposals from dozens of companies, then recommends who should get jobs based on their qualifications, he said.

Commissioners hired Weaver's company, Prime Strategies Inc., in 1998 to plan the bond package. In December 2000, after voters approved the proposal, the county put Weaver in charge of the project and let him hire a group of consultants, including Peters' company, to help him oversee it.

Weaver said he cleared many of the companies for contracts in the weeks before commissioners let him hire a consultant team. And contractors are routinely the most generous contributors to PACs that support bond projects, he said.

But Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the consumer and government watchdog group Texas Public Citizen, said Peters' connections to both the PAC and the consultant team create an "inappropriately complete circle" linking contractors to county officials.

"It doesn't pass the smell test," Smith said. "There ought to be distance between people who are in decision-making positions and people who are raising funds for these kinds of elections."

Over the past decade, Peters has worked for almost every major candidate in local Republican politics -- in a county where Republicans hold every elective office. His involvement in Central Texas elections spans more than 30 years. He has worked for Round Rock City Council members, Williamson County Sheriff John Maspero and former District Attorney Ken Anderson, now a judge, and he recently joined the campaign team of Temple-area congressional candidate Ramsey Farley.

County-contractor link

Peters helped form Roads Now in early October 2000 by lending the group about $2,000. Over the next three months, the PAC raised $40,000 from 15 companies that since have won county bond contracts.

Almost all those contracts, worth about $15 million, stem from the road bond package, although at least $700,000 worth fall under a $25 million parks project approved in the same election. The companies range from a Round Rock architecture firm to a Florida company with projects around the country.

Roads Now started raising money on Oct. 12, 2000, just four weeks before the bond election. The PAC raised more than $54,000 before the election and $8,000 afterward.

Former Round Rock Mayor Mike Robinson served as the group's treasurer, and area developer Jim Mills was assistant treasurer. But Peters said he created the PAC.

"I've done elections in Williamson County for over 14 years," he said. "I helped with that campaign. I masterminded it. I did it."

By state law, any effort to promote a county bond proposal must rely on private contributions.

Most of the PAC's money paid for obvious road bond promotions: yard signs, opinion polls, tickets to political meetings, a mass-mailed brochure. Peters' firm, The Communicators, was the second-largest beneficiary of Roads Now.

In December 2000, the PAC paid Peters' company $10,000 for public relations work and fund raising.

A month earlier, Roads Now had issued a check to reimburse the firm for more than $18,000 in expenses. Peters provided the Austin American-Statesman with copies of receipts accounting for the $18,000. But aside from the $2,000 loan, the PAC's disclosure documents never indicated that Peters' firm was spending its own money for PAC purposes.

State law requires that a PAC report any money used on its behalf as a loan or contribution, said Karen Lundquist, general counsel for the Texas State Ethics Commission.

"If a member of a PAC was making an expenditure for the PAC, then really either they're making a contribution to the PAC or they're acting as the PAC's agent," said Lundquist, who did not comment on Roads Now in particular. "You can't just lump-sum everything as a reimbursement."

Shack, the lawyer and campaign finance expert hired by Peters, said such reimbursements are common in politics -- if not the best practice.

"What he did was kind of the normal and usual business," Shack said. "I don't think it's the right way that political consultants around the state have done, but I think it's certainly not unusual."

The commissioners and county judge said they saw nothing troubling in the awarding of contracts to Roads Now contributors.

"I know for sure he never contacted me and said, 'Hey, you need to hire this guy because they gave to the PAC,' " said Commissioner David Hays. "We sat down and looked at all the different engineers and contractors and made the determination as to who we thought was capable to handle the work."

Along with the contributions to Roads Now, at least 23 companies with county contracts gave more than $25,000 last year to the campaigns of Commissioners Greg Boatright and Frankie Limmer and County Judge John Doerfler, who are running for re-election this year. Those contributions make up more than 30 percent of each official's fund-raising total for 2001.

Limmer said he had removed more than one engineering firm from projects in his precinct because of their campaign contributions, though he declined to name them. Boatright said contractors gave to his campaign organization because they care about local issues.

"They are involved with helping shape the future of Williamson County," Boatright said. "So the normal, everyday citizen that lives in Williamson County does not have what I would call an everyday, close working relationship with their elected officials. And so when it comes to fund raising, the people that you work closely with and work with professionally are going to be the ones that help you and support you in your campaign."

Doerfler, who has raised significantly less money than Limmer or Boatright, said the contributions would have no effect on his votes.

"From any kind of donations I get, I'm not obligated to anyone on anything," Doerfler said. "And if they don't understand that, they ought to."

A criminal history

Amos "Pete" Peters III, 53, began his career as a political consultant in the 1970s, when he worked mainly for Austin Democrats.

When the area's conservative Democrats became Republicans in the early 1990s, Peters followed suit, offering his services to GOP candidates in Williamson County.

But years before he became one of the most influential nonelected officials in the county, Peters racked up a 20-year criminal record in Central Texas, including a dozen charges of check swindling, credit card abuse and criminal mischief. He pleaded guilty or no contest to three felonies and three misdemeanors between 1969 and 1989.

A Travis County judge in 1983 sentenced Peters to two years in state prison for writing a worthless check, although Peters was released on parole five months later. He landed in the Travis County Jail at least twice, including an 80-day stint in 1970 and eight days in 1989, each time for writing bad checks. He spent more than a decade on probation.

But his criminal record ended with the 1989 conviction. He said he regrets his behavior during those years and has been a successful recovering alcoholic since July 1985.

"I realize everybody has had problems," Peters said. "I should have stopped before I did, but I didn't."

The county commissioners said they trust Peters fully in his position on the road bond team and have no problems with his past.

"He really has made a complete turnaround," Limmer said. "I'm really proud of Pete. He just got into bad circumstances in the late '70s and early '80s."

And the law enforcement officials who have hired Peters' services said his history didn't pose a problem for them. Maspero said he wasn't aware of Peters' criminal record until recently, but said it didn't worry him. Anderson, who first hired Peters in 1994, said he knew but felt it was no longer relevant.

"It's just never been an issue, and it's just something I'm not horribly proud of," Peters said.

Peters' company earns about $4,000 a month from Williamson County's bond budget, mainly for work promoting the roads project. He bills the county for meeting with the media, for preparing news conferences and press releases and for discussing the project with state politicians, among other tasks.

But he is so closely tied to county Republican politics that he sometimes seems to wear two hats at the same time. A brochure Peters crafted at county expense last year displayed the names of every commissioner and included quotes from each touting his involvement in the roads project.

Last summer, the county paid Peters more than $600 for three meetings with American-Statesman Editor Rich Oppel -- meetings Oppel said didn't happen.

In June, Peters billed the county $260 for what he described in his monthly invoice as "American Statesman Editor Rich Oppel to (Round Rock) Express game about regional roads and Austin challenges to area plan." His July invoice included $227.50 for "Editor Oppel of American Statesman on road challenges in region." And in August, Peters charged the county $130 for a "TTA (Texas Turnpike Authority) meeting with Editor Oppel on Williamson County projects."

Oppel said he did not see Peters at the Express game and had never met or talked with him about Williamson County's roads projects until a meeting last week that included Peters, Shack and American-Statesman editors.

Peters and Shack described the three billing entries as incomplete and said Peters in fact billed the county for time spent preparing materials he tried to deliver to Oppel and for time spent talking about roads with others who did meet with Oppel.

You may contact Carter Nelsen at cnelsen@statesman.com or 246-0008.


© 2002 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

"Mr. Perry has emphasized transportation during his re-election campaign."

Road plan goes beyond pavement

Rails and pipelines accompany highways in governor's proposal

January 29, 2002

TONY HARTZEL Transportation Writer

The Dallas Morning News Copyright 2002

Gov. Rick Perry announced a $175 billion blueprint for Texas transportation Monday, calling for 4,000 miles of new toll roads, high-speed rail lines and pipelines to complement the state's aging and congested transportation network.

"This plan is as big as Texas. It's as ambitious as our people," Mr. Perry said, noting that without changes, Texas roads will choke as the state is expected to double its population in 20 years. "I say nothing is too big for Texas when economic security and quality of life are at stake."

His plan, the Trans Texas Corridor , would put an intrastate rail system alongside highways and underground pipelines.

Mr. Perry has emphasized transportation during his re-election campaign. The leading candidates for the Democratic nomination quickly criticized parts of the plan.

Former Attorney General Dan Morales said it could jeopardize the rights of private property owners. "Any concept that calls for using broad swaths of new land should be of concern to all Texans," he said.

Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez said that transportation is critical to Texas but that "we need to be careful not to build new roads over a mountain of debt."

Texas' transportation scenery would change dramatically within 50 years under Mr. Perry's plan, which has limited funding at this point.

The governor said Texas should use an array of recently approved funding methods to pay for the corridor - and not raise taxes. Those methods include public-private toll partnerships, exclusive development agreements and state bond revenue to cover the costs of building roads in undeveloped areas.

Perry aides said that current state plans call for $100 billion in road construction in the next 50 to 75 years. He wants to add $75 billion in new projects.

Texas voters in November approved a constitutional amendment creating the Texas Mobility Fund, which can issue bonds for road projects. That fund cannot be filled with existing federal highway money, so state legislators must dedicate money to it from elsewhere in the state's lean budget.

Transportation policymakers have hoped to be able to set aside $100 million from the state's general fund, an amount that would net $1 billion in bond revenue.

Another funding option allows the state to set aside about $500 million in federal highway funds to spend on joint toll road projects with regional agencies. That option, however, also has not been used. All federal funds for the next few years have been allocated for non-toll road projects.

"The most important angle to view this is not what it's going to cost us, but what is it going to cost us if we don't do it," said State Rep. Clyde Alexander, D-Athens, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "What we have now ain't working."

Priorities for the 2003 legislative session probably will include transportation funding, even in a lean budget cycle. After that debate, dirt could begin flying within three to four years, said State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano.

"The current system is in crisis," said Ms. Shapiro, who believes that the Legislature should look at redistributing its gasoline tax revenue from areas like the Texas Department of Public Safety so that more construction projects are funded. Progress could be seen as early as summer, when the Texas Department of Transportation must offer its initial assessment of the plan. The department also must offer details on how to design and finance the corridors. According to concept drawings, the state would buy 1,000-foot-wide swaths of land that parallel many major highways, offering relief routes around many congested urban areas.

Those swaths would feature three vehicle lanes in each direction, high-speed freight and passenger rail lines, regional commuter and freight lines, and underground pipelines that could carry water, electricity, fiber-optic cables, oil and natural gas.

The pipelines could boost economic development in the state's more rural areas by guaranteeing delivery of utilities to growing areas, according to some supporters.

Rail and pipeline operations could be built, operated and maintained by private groups, but the state would own the land and charge fees to pipeline companies.

Toll roads will be a featured component, but no estimated tolls have been announced. In general, toll roads are funded by investors who buy bonds based on traffic estimates showing the road will generate enough revenue.

Mr. Perry's plan calls for corridors to extend into sparsely populated West Texas and the Panhandle, where traffic is not as intense as in urban areas.

"The high-use corridors will subsidize expansion throughout the state," said Texas Transportation Commissioner Ric Williamson, who noted that contractors, bankers and road designers already have expressed an interest in Mr. Perry's initiative.

To many transportation experts, Mr. Perry's plan offers a chance for Texas to focus on more than rush-hour traffic in its urban areas.

"This, I think, is the first time Texas has developed an inter-city, statewide focus," said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. "Clearly, we can't have an incremental, piecemeal approach."


Dallas Morning News: www.dallasnews.com

"Plan is skewed toward 'special-interest contributors' in the road-building business."

Toll roads, rail drive Perry's transportation plan


Ken Herman American-Statesman Staff

January 29, 2002
Austin American-Statesman Copyright 2002

Gov. Rick Perry, eager to find a signature issue to ride into the November election, on Monday proposed a massive statewide transportation project that would use a network of toll roads, rails and utility lines to keep Texas moving over the next 50 years.

The " Trans -Texas Corridor " plan, which includes state acquisition of more than 4,000 miles of right of way as wide as 1,200 feet -- or four football fields -- carries a projected price tag of about $175 billion.

Current, more traditional plans -- for highways only -- call for spending as much as $100 billion over the next 75 years.

One of the first corridors would be Texas 130, the planned $1 billion alternative route to Interstate 35 in Central Texas .

Perry insisted the corridor plan, leaning heavily on private investment and tolls, could be completed without tax increases.

"The more important question for all of us in this state is how much it is going to cost us if we do nothing and we continue to build on the same corridors and expand those same corridors and continue to transport hazardous materials through our city centers," he said.

Perry, who became governor in 2000 when George W. Bush resigned to become president, faces election to a full four-year term in November. In focusing on transportation, Perry believes he is hitting an issue that touches all Texans.

The ambitious plan would ride on financing through a variety of public-private partnership options already approved by lawmakers, including public or private entities that want to develop portions of the corridor system, state money leveraged by tolls and regional authorities. Perry also said money from the newly created Texas Mobility Fund could be used. The Legislature and voters approved that concept last year, but lawmakers put no money into it, something Perry hopes they will take care of in 2003.

Perry gave the Texas Department of Transportation until this summer to flesh out specific proposals.

The governor offered the financing options as bullet-proof, leaning heavily on private investment from companies that see potentially profitable ventures in which they would operate highways, rail lines and pipelines and other utility lines on state-owned land.

But Perry quickly drew political fire. Texas Democratic Party Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm said the plan is skewed toward "special-interest contributors" in the road-building business.

"Perry's intentions sound good on the surface, but the road he's paving could lead to more fiscal troubles, higher taxes and runaway debt," she said.

Perry said the financial risks would be borne by the private entities that get involved in the projects. He said the state would not back any debt incurred by private developers.

The major Democratic gubernatorial candidates moved quickly to cast doubt on the plan. Former Attorney General Dan Morales said it's a worthy effort gone bad.

"Any concept that calls for using broad swaths of new land should be of concern to all Texans," he said. "There are historic farms and ranches all across our state, and any transportation plan should first respect the rights of property owners."

Morales said the first effort should be to "increase the capacity of existing roadbeds" and build high-speed rail along interstate highway corridors .

Perry said he is "always sensitive to the concerns of rural property owners" but said the corridor system would be welcomed as "a new lifeline for our more rural communities." Under the plan, the state could use its eminent-domain power to acquire land needed for the projects. Private entities involved in the projects would not have that power, Perry said.

Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez, the other major Democratic gubernatorial contender, raised a red flag about building new roads "over a mountain of debt."

"We wish we had more faith that Mr. Perry fully understands his own $175 billion transportation proposal," said Glenn Smith, Sanchez's campaign manager.

A key part of Perry's plan -- intercity and commuter rail along the corridor -- got an immediate thumbs-down from Southwest Airlines, which mounted a courthouse battle in the early 1990s against a previous high-speed rail plan that could have competed with the Dallas-based airline.

Perry said Texas -based airlines might be interested in getting into the rail business.

"These are business people who understand how to make money," he said. "I think they will seize the opportunity to come and be a partner. They are in the people-moving business."

But Southwest Airlines spokesman Ed Stewart said the plan is a non-starter for his company.

"It's a losing proposition," he said, adding that Southwest would battle any plan that offers government money to a competitor. "We just don't want to compete against the government." Ric Williamson, a Perry appointee to the Texas Transportation Commission, defied opponents to come up with another way to meet the state's mobility needs.

"How many more 10-lane (highways) do you want in downtown Austin? What do you want me to tear up, the State Cemetery or the (Erwin Center)?" he said.

You may contact Ken Herman at kherman@statesman.com or (512) 445-1718.

Trans -Texas Corrdor plan

Gov. Rick Perryis proposing building 4,000 miles of roads, rails and utility lines in Texas . The plan, estimated to cost $175 million, would take up a wide swath of land to allow for construction of the highway as well as high-speed freight and passengre rail and a regional commuter rail. Land would be set aside in the corridor for utility lines to carry anything from telecommunications infrastructure to gas and oil pipelines.

Financing options:

* Exclusive development agreements:

Private companies would contract with the state to construct, operate, maintain and/or finance a project. Competing groups would submit proposals to the Texas Transportation Commission.

* Toll equity

State highway money can be combined with other services to construct toll roads. The state would get a negotiated portion of the toll payments.

* Regional mobility authorities:

Entities initiated on the local level could build, operate and maintain toll projects.

*Texas Mobility Fund:

Approved last year by Texas lawmakers and voters. The fund allows the Texas Transportation Commission to issue bonds. The Legislature has not appropriated any money for the fund.

Source: Texas Department of Transportation


Copyright (c) 2002 Austin American-Statesman

Austin American-Statesman: http://www.statesman.com/

TTC Plan Announced by Perry

Trans Texas Corridor Plan Announced By Texas Governor Perry

AUSTIN, TX, Jan. 29, 2002 - An article in the Dallas Morning News reported that on January 28, Gov. Rick Perry announced a $175 billion blueprint for Texas transportation, calling for 4,000 miles of new toll roads, high-speed rail lines and pipelines to complement the state's aging and congested transportation network.

Governor Perry noted in the article that without changes, Texas roads will choke as the state is expected to double its population in 20 years. "I say nothing is too big for Texas when economic security and quality of life are at stake."

According to the article, Perry's plan, the Trans Texas Corridor, would put an intrastate rail system alongside highways and underground pipelines, dramatically changing Texas' transportation scenery within 50 years. At this point the plan apparently has limited funding.

In the article, the governor said Texas should use an array of recently approved funding methods to pay for the corridor - and not raise taxes. Those methods include public-private toll partnerships, exclusive development agreements and state bond revenue to cover the costs of building roads in undeveloped areas. Perry aides said that current state plans call for $100 billion in road construction in the next 50 to 75 years. He wants to add $75 billion in new projects.

According to the article, Texas voters in November approved a constitutional amendment creating the Texas Mobility Fund, which can issue bonds for road projects. That fund cannot be filled with existing federal highway money, so state legislators must dedicate money to it from elsewhere in the state's lean budget. Transportation policymakers have hoped to be able to set aside $100 million from the state's general fund, an amount that would net $1 billion in bond revenue. Another funding option allows the state to set aside about $500 million in federal highway funds to spend on joint toll road projects with regional agencies. That option, however, also has not been used. All federal funds for the next few years have been allocated for non-toll road projects.

The article goes on to say that progress could be seen as early as summer, when the Texas Department of Transportation must offer its initial assessment of the plan, along with details on how to design and finance the corridors. According to concept drawings, the state would buy 1,000-foot-wide swaths of land that parallel many major highways, offering relief routes around many congested urban areas.

Those swaths would feature three vehicle lanes in each direction, high-speed freight and passenger rail lines, regional commuter and freight lines, and underground pipelines that could carry water, electricity, fiber-optic cables, oil and natural gas. The pipelines could boost economic development in the state's more rural areas by guaranteeing delivery of utilities to growing areas, according to some supporters. As reported in the article, rail and pipeline operations could be built, operated and maintained by private groups, but the state would own the land and charge fees to pipeline companies. Toll roads will be a featured component, but no estimated tolls have been announced.

Mr. Perry's plan also calls for corridors to extend into sparsely populated West Texas and the Panhandle.

Dallas Morning News: www.dallasnews.com