Pickett: "I do not support and won’t support an RMA.”
Transportation Turmoil When RMA Resolution Fails
June 26, 2006
by Sito Negron
Newspaper Tree
Copyright 2006
When U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes’ chief of staff finished reading a letter the congressman wrote opposing a resolution supporting the proposed Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, a look at the faces in the room at the Metropolitan Planning Organization Friday (June 23) told the story.
The resolution was not going to pass, and a new dynamic was introduced into the public discussion of the issue. Although the vote does not affect formation of the authority, which is in the hands of the state Transportation Commission, it was an embarrassing public setback for supporters.
The Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) is a concept promoted by the Texas Department of Transportation and many El Paso business and political leaders. The RMA would have the authority to build new roads and toll them, which supporters say would allow projects to get done quicker and help El Paso compete with other border ports of entry.
Voting against the resolution were most of the members of the MPO -- a regional transportation planning group -- who represent outlying towns, as well as two state representatives, Chente Quintanilla and Joe Pickett, who has waged a long battle against the RMA. Pickett has argued that the RMA would be a powerful and unaccountable entity that once created could not be undone, and he contends there are other ways to speed up key projects.
He also argues that TxDOT is using heavy-handed techniques to punish those who fail to conform; for example, within hours of the vote, he claims, Ted Houghton, an El Pasoan on the Texas Transportation Commission, threatened to derail the Inner Loop project. [npt background]
Houghton said Saturday the Inner Loop project has not been authorized -- the commission simply has opened the proposal up for additional bids -- and denied any retaliation. The Inner Loop project would use “pass-through” financing, in which the contractor sells bonds to pay for the project, and the state repays the bonds on a per-vehicle basis based on vehicle counts.
“We’re going to support communities that fully embrace all the tools that are made available to those communities by statute over the last several years,” he said. “We have tons of pass-through applications at the commission level from all over the state, very worthy projects, and El Paso is one of them.”
“All the tools” includes RMAs, and when asked whether that meant El Paso’s proposal would not pass muster, Houghton said, “I don’t know that. I have not seen the proposals, I don’t know what they say, I don’t know if they are too expensive. Those proposals will be evaluated and reviewed.”
He also said, in reference to the MPO vote, “unfortunately, people have to use political agendas instead of what’s best for the community.”
If that is so, the play before the MPO -- ironically, an unnecessary vote, since the state could act on El Paso’s petition without the MPO resolution -- only strengthened the agenda. The item to approve the city’s RMA application is on the Transportation Commission agenda for Thursday (June 29). [city rma petition]
Pickett said Houghton’s comment clearly was a veiled threat, and said that he and Cobos might by Monday issue a statement meant to contrast the lack of support from the MPO -- made up of members from the city of El Paso, local planning officials, and mayors from Sunland Park, Socorro, Vinton, Clint and Horizon City -- with the state’s impending action to approve the RMA. And, he said, to address the possibility that the Inner Loop project may not be funded.
“I’m going to go on the offensive and say ‘If you guys (TTC) don’t approve this it’s because you’re threatening us,’” Pickett said.
* * *
During the meeting, in introducing the item for discussion, El Paso Mayor John Cook compared the impending resolution on the RMA to the day the city created the Public Service Board, an entity created to manager water in El Paso. “Today I think is also going to be a historic day,” Cook said.
He said the RMA would allow money to be spent on projects in New Mexico and Mexico; painting a picture of the future, he said it could even help pay for a highway through Mexico to Guaymas, a deep water port on the Pacific coast hundreds of miles to the south that has been talked about as a Western state alternative to the California ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
But Pickett homed in on local issues, grilling District Engineer Chuck Berry about whether tolls would be added to new lanes on Interstate 10, and whether TxDOT would defer maintenance on non-toll roads. The answers are complex, because, for example, although only new lanes would be tolled on I-10, Pickett argued that since those are part of long-held plans, they ought to be paid for by TxDOT, instead of turned into toll projects.
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh attempted to refocus the discussion. Saying El Paso is the only large Texas city without a completed loop, he said the question was simple: “Do you want to get (major transportation projects) done in a lifetime, or in 10 years? ... Are we willing to vote to take destiny in our own hands?”
Quintanilla focused on tolls. He also said that he, like Pickett, voted in favor of a toll project to complete the Northeast bypass, but did not believe the project proposed for the first RMA-funded project, the Southern Relief Route to parallel I-10 along the Border Highway’s path, was the right project.
It was after that, and a comment from Berry, that Philip LoPicollo of Reyes’ read the Reyes letter into the record. The gist of it dealt concern about the creation of a powerful agency that would be appointed by the city and then be relatively autonomous to issue bonds, set toll rates, and have the power of eminent domain. [reyes letter]
Sunland Park Mayor Ruben Segura then spoke, echoing those concerns, saying that the issue was not considering a project, but rather the creation of an unelected political subdivision.
Others spoke, the issue framed as the creation of a powerful and largely unaccountable agency, the vote was taken, and the resolution failed.
* * *
Pickett said after the meeting that if and when the Transportation Commission approves the RMA, “that's going to show how this whole thing from day one has not been up front. I guarantee this isn’t going to stop the RMA. All we did today in my mind is prove it's a bigger issue than people realize. What we did today sent a message to the public.”
Shapleigh said after the meeting: “If we want to finish the outer and inner loops that are so key to regional infrastructure during our lifetimes, the RMA is the way to go. We need to make the case to small town mayors that RMA money will free up other allocations for their regions.”
Houghton said Pickett doesn’t understand a fundamental fact: “Mr. Pickett believes you can build your transportation system on pass-through finance, and it’s important to understand we’re not going to do that. There is no new money in that program.”
He said the MPO can build the Inner Loop using other methods -- for example, essentially borrowing on future allocations. He said that TxDOT also could contract with a builder to create new toll roads: “So in essence you don’t need an RMA, but why would anyone want Austin to make the decision for you?”
The bottom line, Houghton said, is that communities have to show a willingness to contribute more. An RMA is a way to do that, and it provides more flexibility than TxDOT has, he said.
“(An RMA) can finance airports, ship channels, international bridges, projects in Mexico, in New Mexico. The opportunity in El Paso is a unique opportunity on the border, with our communities that ajoin us. An RMA can fund mass transit,” Houghton said.
Pickett said that funding is a red herring. He said the issue is that TxDOT is trying to force communities to adopt RMAs, an issue that increasingly is becoming of concern statewide. As for tolls, he said, “I think a plan for El Paso in our future includes tolls. I do not support and won’t support an RMA.”
Sito Negron can be reached at sito@newspapertree.com.
© 2006 Newspaper Tree: www.newspapertree.com
June 26, 2006
by Sito Negron
Newspaper Tree
Copyright 2006
When U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes’ chief of staff finished reading a letter the congressman wrote opposing a resolution supporting the proposed Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, a look at the faces in the room at the Metropolitan Planning Organization Friday (June 23) told the story.
The resolution was not going to pass, and a new dynamic was introduced into the public discussion of the issue. Although the vote does not affect formation of the authority, which is in the hands of the state Transportation Commission, it was an embarrassing public setback for supporters.
The Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) is a concept promoted by the Texas Department of Transportation and many El Paso business and political leaders. The RMA would have the authority to build new roads and toll them, which supporters say would allow projects to get done quicker and help El Paso compete with other border ports of entry.
Voting against the resolution were most of the members of the MPO -- a regional transportation planning group -- who represent outlying towns, as well as two state representatives, Chente Quintanilla and Joe Pickett, who has waged a long battle against the RMA. Pickett has argued that the RMA would be a powerful and unaccountable entity that once created could not be undone, and he contends there are other ways to speed up key projects.
He also argues that TxDOT is using heavy-handed techniques to punish those who fail to conform; for example, within hours of the vote, he claims, Ted Houghton, an El Pasoan on the Texas Transportation Commission, threatened to derail the Inner Loop project. [npt background]
Houghton said Saturday the Inner Loop project has not been authorized -- the commission simply has opened the proposal up for additional bids -- and denied any retaliation. The Inner Loop project would use “pass-through” financing, in which the contractor sells bonds to pay for the project, and the state repays the bonds on a per-vehicle basis based on vehicle counts.
“We’re going to support communities that fully embrace all the tools that are made available to those communities by statute over the last several years,” he said. “We have tons of pass-through applications at the commission level from all over the state, very worthy projects, and El Paso is one of them.”
“All the tools” includes RMAs, and when asked whether that meant El Paso’s proposal would not pass muster, Houghton said, “I don’t know that. I have not seen the proposals, I don’t know what they say, I don’t know if they are too expensive. Those proposals will be evaluated and reviewed.”
He also said, in reference to the MPO vote, “unfortunately, people have to use political agendas instead of what’s best for the community.”
If that is so, the play before the MPO -- ironically, an unnecessary vote, since the state could act on El Paso’s petition without the MPO resolution -- only strengthened the agenda. The item to approve the city’s RMA application is on the Transportation Commission agenda for Thursday (June 29). [city rma petition]
Pickett said Houghton’s comment clearly was a veiled threat, and said that he and Cobos might by Monday issue a statement meant to contrast the lack of support from the MPO -- made up of members from the city of El Paso, local planning officials, and mayors from Sunland Park, Socorro, Vinton, Clint and Horizon City -- with the state’s impending action to approve the RMA. And, he said, to address the possibility that the Inner Loop project may not be funded.
“I’m going to go on the offensive and say ‘If you guys (TTC) don’t approve this it’s because you’re threatening us,’” Pickett said.
* * *
During the meeting, in introducing the item for discussion, El Paso Mayor John Cook compared the impending resolution on the RMA to the day the city created the Public Service Board, an entity created to manager water in El Paso. “Today I think is also going to be a historic day,” Cook said.
He said the RMA would allow money to be spent on projects in New Mexico and Mexico; painting a picture of the future, he said it could even help pay for a highway through Mexico to Guaymas, a deep water port on the Pacific coast hundreds of miles to the south that has been talked about as a Western state alternative to the California ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
But Pickett homed in on local issues, grilling District Engineer Chuck Berry about whether tolls would be added to new lanes on Interstate 10, and whether TxDOT would defer maintenance on non-toll roads. The answers are complex, because, for example, although only new lanes would be tolled on I-10, Pickett argued that since those are part of long-held plans, they ought to be paid for by TxDOT, instead of turned into toll projects.
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh attempted to refocus the discussion. Saying El Paso is the only large Texas city without a completed loop, he said the question was simple: “Do you want to get (major transportation projects) done in a lifetime, or in 10 years? ... Are we willing to vote to take destiny in our own hands?”
Quintanilla focused on tolls. He also said that he, like Pickett, voted in favor of a toll project to complete the Northeast bypass, but did not believe the project proposed for the first RMA-funded project, the Southern Relief Route to parallel I-10 along the Border Highway’s path, was the right project.
It was after that, and a comment from Berry, that Philip LoPicollo of Reyes’ read the Reyes letter into the record. The gist of it dealt concern about the creation of a powerful agency that would be appointed by the city and then be relatively autonomous to issue bonds, set toll rates, and have the power of eminent domain. [reyes letter]
Sunland Park Mayor Ruben Segura then spoke, echoing those concerns, saying that the issue was not considering a project, but rather the creation of an unelected political subdivision.
Others spoke, the issue framed as the creation of a powerful and largely unaccountable agency, the vote was taken, and the resolution failed.
* * *
Pickett said after the meeting that if and when the Transportation Commission approves the RMA, “that's going to show how this whole thing from day one has not been up front. I guarantee this isn’t going to stop the RMA. All we did today in my mind is prove it's a bigger issue than people realize. What we did today sent a message to the public.”
Shapleigh said after the meeting: “If we want to finish the outer and inner loops that are so key to regional infrastructure during our lifetimes, the RMA is the way to go. We need to make the case to small town mayors that RMA money will free up other allocations for their regions.”
Houghton said Pickett doesn’t understand a fundamental fact: “Mr. Pickett believes you can build your transportation system on pass-through finance, and it’s important to understand we’re not going to do that. There is no new money in that program.”
He said the MPO can build the Inner Loop using other methods -- for example, essentially borrowing on future allocations. He said that TxDOT also could contract with a builder to create new toll roads: “So in essence you don’t need an RMA, but why would anyone want Austin to make the decision for you?”
The bottom line, Houghton said, is that communities have to show a willingness to contribute more. An RMA is a way to do that, and it provides more flexibility than TxDOT has, he said.
“(An RMA) can finance airports, ship channels, international bridges, projects in Mexico, in New Mexico. The opportunity in El Paso is a unique opportunity on the border, with our communities that ajoin us. An RMA can fund mass transit,” Houghton said.
Pickett said that funding is a red herring. He said the issue is that TxDOT is trying to force communities to adopt RMAs, an issue that increasingly is becoming of concern statewide. As for tolls, he said, “I think a plan for El Paso in our future includes tolls. I do not support and won’t support an RMA.”
Sito Negron can be reached at sito@newspapertree.com.
© 2006 Newspaper Tree:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Monday, June 26, 2006
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