7/28/2006

Incredible waste of OUR taxpayer money.


Another Incredible waste of taxpayer money -
to promote a private enterprise.

Begin the Circus Music!

The Freeway tolling CTRMA is rolling out a new ad campaign, thanks to your Central Texas TOLLERS, using your tax dollars, to tell us how great it'll be to pay a toll to drive on roads we’ve funded with our tax dollars (oh yeah, I forgot, they leave that part of the message out).

They've replaced the fact that they've gotten our tax dollars from our County Commissioners, TxDOT, City, our right of way and construction of some roads and replaced that with things that are much less depressing - like a catchy tag line called “Get Up To Speed”, cartoons and music!
Yeah, cartoons are much better than getting screwed sideways.

The bureaucratic unaccountable campaign begins...(see the email below).
From: mespinoza@ctrma.org Sent:
Thursday, July 27, 2006 11:22 AM

Subject: Get Up To Speed Campaign

Hi Everyone,

I am writing to let you know about a public outreach
campaign we have initiated here in Central Texas to introduce the community to the concept of tolling. The campaign is centered on the theme “Get Up To Speed” and features a series of animated spots that are being aired in local movie theatres and on network and cable television. You can also see the spots and learn more about our effort by visiting our campaign web site at www.getuptospeed.org.

I think you will
find the commercials to be entertaining and eye opening in regard to the issue of highway congestion and tolling. I encourage you to visit the Web site and to share the animated videos with your friends and colleagues.

Thanks!

Mario Espinoza
Director,
Community Development
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority
301 Congress Avenue,
Suite 650

Austin, TX 78701

(512) 996-9778(Office)

No. 1 Top 10 all-time worst job would be to work for TxDOT and travel across Texas conducting TTC community forums.

7/27/2006

It's Time for Chris Bell to Drop Out (Click here to read)

I like Chris Bell.

The fact is, it will take many millions of dollars to communicate to millions of Texans to even have a chance to beat Perry. Chris Bell doesn't have anything close to that amount of money. Read the article above to find out how Texas can be saved.

It would take a big man indeed.

Krusee opponent tells the "TTC BULL RUN" Story! (click here)

WORD NET DAILY: Trans-Texas Corridor paved with campaign contributions?

TEMPLE DAILY TELEGRAM: 1,500 show up at TTC hearing - all but 11 oppose (click here)

7/24/2006

How to HELP STOP Gov. Perry's TTC Boondoggle!

1. Go to these TTC Corridor Meetings.
2. Download, Print and get copies of this STOP Gov. PERRY's TTC flyer.
3. Hand out the flyer at TTC Meetings, or get stores to place them at counters to hand them out

El Paso News: Major RMA Battle Scheduled This Week

7/22/2006

Toller Dwight Thompson Arrested for trying to board a plane with a .38-caliber handgun.


Dwight Thompson, former Co-Chair of CAMPO and Westlake Hills Mayor was Arrested Friday for trying to board a plane with a handgun.

Police at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport arrested former mayor Dwight Thompson, Friday morning who had a LOADED .38-caliber handgun at a checkpoint, said Jim Halbrook, an airport spokesman.

Dwight Dallas Thompson, who lost his seat because of his vote to toll already funded roads, was charged with possession of a firearm, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Thompson was arrested at 5:27 a.m. while going through a checkpoint to board a plane, Halbrook said.

Thompson was release from Travis County Jail at lunchtime Friday after a bail bond was put forward.

Update: After this Blog article was published CBS news did this: HERE.

The Statesman ran this article yesterday, with the arrest photo, before they knew Thompson was a VIP.

After the Statesman was informed of Mayor Thompson's arrest the next day, they produced an article favoring the law breaker HERE. Any gun has weight to it and you'd know something was in the bag.


7/20/2006

7 of 12: State Rep. Dawnna Dukes Payolla Toll Vote Ignores Constituents and Federal Law


On 9/13/2004, at a public transportation hearing, I exposed the payola that State Representative Dawnna Dukes received for her YES vote, to toll hundreds of millions of dollars worth of our public highways (see VIDEO here).

Rep. Dawnna Dukes expects her low income East Austin constituents to pay the steep cost of $1,000’s more a year, as the Dukes family receives freeway toll contracts, including a NO BID contract paid for with our tax dollars.


Dawnna Duke's sister, Stacy Dukes-Rhone, received a contract with the toll authority the morning after Dawnna Dukes voted YES for the Freeway tolls, after 93% of the public feedback opposed the plan

The nepotism revelation I made, and the TV news reports that followed, caused the Statesman to report the following on 9/18/04:

"Rhone (Stacey Dukes-Rhone), according to records and interviews with mobility authority officials, has been doing public relations work since February for the mobility authority under a contract with HNTB, the mobility authority's general engineering contractor for its first project, the U.S. 183-A toll road. That tollway, already under construction, was unrelated to her sister's vote in July.

But Rhone also worked on public outreach on the seven-road plan in the runup to the July 12 vote. Her contract allows her to receive as much as $44,400.

According to Richard Ridings with HNTB, the lead engineer on the project, she has been paid $26,000 so far and has billed an additional $6,000.

Her contract specifies her start date as Feb. 1 this year, and the agency, in a letter to Barrientos released Friday, said Rhone has worked for the authority since Feb. 18. But Rhone did not sign the contract with HNTB until July 7. Ridings signed on July 13, the morning after the toll road vote."
Rep. Dawnna Dukes vote included placing tolls on East Austin's 183 & 71 freeway expressways, which are already 100% fully funded with our gas tax dollars. These roads can open as free roads faster than if they were toll roads. The low income families that can’t afford to pay twice for freeway tolls get the shaft. Rep. Dukes also voted for freeway tolls again in 2005.

As expected, Stacey Dukes-Rhone has received additional contracts as well. Including a NO BID toll contract for tens of thousands of dollars as listed in the Special Investigation the Texas Comptroller produced in 2005.

Comptroller’s report also found that Rep. Dawnna Dukes approved tolls costing up to $1 a mile. Eleven (11) times the national average. The Comptroller’s investigation illustrates how freeway tolls are “Favoritism and Self-Enrichment” and “Double Taxation without Accountability”.

Dawnna Dukes, the daughter of Eastside power broker Ben Dukes Sr., even places her vote above our Federal Law.


This map shows how a number of West side freeway tolls have been stopped, unfunded or unlikely to be tolled (Yellow lines). The low income East Side of Austin currently has about six (6) times the double tax toll lane miles planned (Red lines). When you add in the 130 toll road, the disproportion is even more skewed, as Dukes constituents are boxed in by toll roads.

Federal law, Title VI
(Environmental Justice):

We must avoid
disproportionately
high
economic effects on
low-income populations.


Title VI also states that we must “prevent the denial of, reduction in, or significant delay in the receipt of benefits by minority populations and low-income populations.”

CAMPO recently removed large sections of its Environmental Justice website page. But, altering a web page doesn't not alter federal law.

Rep. Dawnna Dukes is unfazed by the recent reports of the dangers of toll roads and toll booths, as the disproportionate accidents and deaths of her constituents are on the line.

In contrast to Dukes, State Representative Eddie Rodriguez continues to take a stand against Double Tax Tolls by voting NO since 2004. Eddie Rodriguez wrote a Statesman editorial focusing on the economic disproportion earlier this month.

•••••YOU•••• CAN HELP STOP EAST SIDE DOUBLE TAX TOLLS by downloading this flyer, making copies, and passing them out in East Austin! Deliver door to door or ask East side stores to keep them on the counter and give them to customers.

This Rep. Dawnna Dukes article is part 7 of a 12 part series called “Circle of Parasites”. Freeways have never been tolled in the history of the U.S., but that doesn’t stop a close circle of self serving individuals with a long history of looking out for themselves at the expense of others.

Read the other “Circle of Parasites” articles (just click below):

1 of 12: Deadbeat Mike Heiligenstein Runs Freeway Tolling Authority

2 of 12: Two Toll Authority Board Members Refuse to Resign

3 of 12: Austin American Snakesman

4 of 12: Convicted Criminal Connected to Freeway Tolls

5 of 12: Rep. Mike Krusee and Lobbyist Melinda Wheatley.

6 of 12: Ghost Organization Voted to Toll Austin Freeways.

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Herald-Banner: Frosty reception for proposed corridor

Report on Brewster's "Independent" Freeway toll road review July 19, By Mark Kilgard (Click Here)

CorridorWatch.org BULLETIN: TxDOT's "Myth Versus Reality" Press Release Misses the Mark

7/19/2006

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF TEXAS OPPOSES THE TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR ROUTE

Barbara Ann Radnofsky Takes a Stand Against Boondoggles.


Barbara Ann Radnofsky, Democrat for US Senate, is ready to fight to stop Double Tax Freeway tolls and the TTC Boondoogle. Radnofsky's People for Efficient Transportation PAC Questionnaire can be found HERE.

The June 2006 Rasmussen Poll shows Hutchison dropping 11 points from January to 53%.

Kay Baily Hutchison voted for Double Tax Tolls in 2005 (HR3: now Public Law 109-59) and has said and done nothing to oppose the Trans Texas Corridor.

7/18/2006

TxDOT's Chair Ric Williamson 2003 FINANCIAL STATEMENT shows he benefits from decisions that put transportation dollars into moving oil and gas

TIME magazine story on GOV. PERRY'S TOLLS, "The Next Wave in Superhighways, or a Big Fat Texas Boondoggle?" (Click hyperlink pages below cover)

"Since 1997, he (Perry) has received more than $1 million from highway
interests, according to reports filed with the Texas ethics commission."
– TIME magazine, "The next wave in superhighways, or a Big Fat Texas Boondoggle"
CLICK HERE to read page 1 & 2, CLICK HERE for page 3

"...Governor Rick Perry received $30,000 from California based Fluor Corp... less than a week before the corporation signed a $1.5 Billion state contract to build Texas I-30 toll road."
– Houston Chronicle, 8/02

Pro-toll group comes under fire for lack of transparency

7/17/2006

STATE REP. JOE C. PICKETT: TxDOT trampled on us

As printed in the Austin American Statesman 7/15:

TxDOT trampled on us

On June 29, a group of elected officials from the El
Paso area appeared before the Texas Transportation
Commission to oppose the creation of a Regional
Mobility Authority. Our regional Metropolitan Planning
Organization voted against creating a toll authority.

The Congress member in our area opposes creating a
mobility authority, as does the county judge-elect. Do
you think the Texas Department of Transportation
honored the decision of the local planning
organization? No way. It is the state's way or the
highway, I mean tollway. It gets worse, 30 minutes
after the vote was taken in El Paso against a mobility
authority, a TxDOT commissioner called a road
contractor and threatened to kill a pending project if
they didn't get the mobility authority in line. Then
TxDOT threatened the state of New Mexico by saying it
would kill a joint railroad relocation study because
some of our planning organization members who voted
against the mobility authority are from New Mexico.

STATE REP. JOE C. PICKETT
Chairman El Paso area
Metropolitan Planning Organization
El Paso

A Glimpse Into Our Future: Governor Campaigns Through $15k Highway Signs

7/14/2006

County Considers Assault Charges Against Mayor Will Wynn

I requested the Austin Police Department report from 3/17/06. Luke A. Johnson filed a Police report (# 2006-761976) against Mayor Will Wynn for "Assault by Contact". I wrote a blog article about the details of Mayor Wynn choking Luke A. Johnson HERE.

After several months, and many requests, the APD has yet to release the report. But, the letter I received today, dated 7/10/06, had this most interesting line in it:

"...the County Attorney is currently assessing
whether to file charges in the case at issue..."


I'll post updates here first...

The Blackland Coalition endorses Grandma Strayhorn!

Rising gas prices starting to hurt Australia's growing toll-road sector

7/13/2006

Freeway Tolls & Smart Solutions

Before I offer a few common sense solutions, we all need to know what unaccountable freeway tolls are. No city in the country has ever shifted a public highway to a tollway. That's just highway robbery.


TRADITIONAL TOLLS
vs.
FREEWAY TOLLS


Traditional toll roads are designed and built as whole new routes or highways. Freeway Tolls privatize and toll our public highways.

Traditional toll roads are financed with investor dollars while freeway Tolls are financed with our tax dollars.

Traditional toll roads are an ALTERNATIVE to our public expressways while freeway Tolls PERMANENTLY take public expressways away from drivers.

Traditional toll roads are promised to be free roads after the road is paid for while Austin's Freeway Tolls will never be removed.

Traditional toll roads cost 9 cents a mile while freeway tolling authority (CTRMA) documents show a cost of our freeway tolls at 44-64 cents per mile. The Comptroller's report found one toll at the rate of $1.00 a mile.

Revenue from traditional toll roads pay for the road you are driving on. Revenue from a freeway toll in Austin will go into a slush fund controlled by Williamson County.

Smart Solutions

1) Use our gas tax dollars to finish building the roads we've already paid for, and open them up as freeways NOT tollways. Tolling roads we've already paid for with gas tax dollars is immoral. Sending Austin's toll revenue to Williamson County is obscene. Stop the Double Tax.

When our freeways are tolled, the enormous cost of maintaining those roads will shift from being paid with state gas tax to us locally - forever.

2) Consider pass through financing (www.dot.state.tx.us/publications/tta/pass_through.pdf), as dozens of other cities in Texas are doing, for key sections of highways that are not already funded with our tax dollars.

3) Texas has more sprawl than any other state in the country. Zone for denser development in urban and suburban areas so people don't have to drive as far for needs. Texas passed a law to STOP building wasteful frontage roads that only Texas has produced. Freeway tolls force the frontage roads waste to continue.

4) Build more arterial road lane miles and less highway lane miles. Phoenix, AZ produces more arterial lane miles that usually cost 70 - 90% less than highway lane miles.

5) Just like our families learn to live within a budget, TxDOT needs to get a hold of it's expenditures. And, we need to get rid of the TxDOT good old boy network and graft that causes our roads to cost much more than other states. The General Accounting Office report of state highway construction shows the median cost of a road lane mile in the US to be $1.6 million per lane mile. Tollway 130, east of Austin, the most expensive road project in the country, will cost a whopping $7.6 million per lane mile.

6) Some states realized that the smartest way to stop the political blame game of considering to raise the gas tax every two or four years (to keep up with inflation) is to index our gas tax. Texas needs to index the gas tax.

7)
Reversing the flow of traffic in one or more lanes during peak periods.

8) Variable speed limits can help move traffic and
cut serious accidents by 10-20%

9) Stop Secret Deals! Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDAs) are road and land development contracts that hand over our tax dollars, our public highways, our right of way, and our private property to private corporations for profit. These wastefull NO BID, Secret, Corporate Welfare contracts must be stopped.

10) Remove Special Interest Politicians who ignored the 93% of the public feedback that opposed the freeway toll plan.

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Gov Perry's Highway Robbery Lies

Dear Dallas News Editor,

Governor Perry can’t tell the truth about his double tax toll plans.

In a Dallas Morning News article with columnist William McKenzie and readers, Re: Candidate chat: Rick Perry, 7/13/06, Perry just can’t seem to own up to the reality he created.

Perry said, “...we will not put a toll on lanes that are toll-free today, unless local people want that.”

That is hogwash. Perry’s TxDOT is privatizing and tolling public highways for the first time in the United States.

In Austin, there are people driving on taxpayer funded Hwy 71 and US 183 lanes today, that are planned to be tolled roads. 121 in Dallas will also open as a taxpayer funded freeway, then months later, it too will be tolled.

And here in Austin, we don’t want our freeways tolled. In 2004, 93% of the public feedback, that our MPO asked for in 2004, opposed Perrys double tax toll plan.

Sal Costello
Founder of People for Efficient Transportation
Austin, TX

Employees of one of the largest toll road contractors in Texas plead guilty to charges of fraud.

STAR-TELEGRAM: Council opposes planned corridor route

To date, well over 30 counties and the Republican Party platform have formally opposed the TTC.

"Because there are issues of confiscation of private land, State and National sovereignty and other similar concerns, the Party urges the repeal of HB 3588 authorizing the Trans-Texas Corridor. Further, we urge the removal of all authorization and powers granted the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation for the construction and operation of the Trans-Texas Corridor."

– Republican Party of Texas Platform

7/11/2006

$afety for Sale in Texas.

Just like everything else that isn’t bolted down,
safety is now for sale in Texas with
Gov. Perry at the helm.


The Statesman did an article today about TxDOT's possible plan to get more money by raising the speed limit on the new south SH 130 called “Money could create need for speed on Texas 130”. TollRoadsNews.com broke the story first HERE.

TollRoadsNews.com states:
The open embrace of a financial approach to setting speeds on a tollroad may be judged either bold or foolhardy.
The Statesman article states:
With a higher allowable speed, logic dictates that more drivers would choose the toll road, which will run east of Austin, as an alternative to Interstate 35. And more vehicles equals more toll revenue, boosting Cintra-Zachry's income.

Under that scenario, the state would be irresponsible if it did not try to recoup more revenue for taxpayers, said Phil Russell, director of the Texas Department of Transportation's turnpike division. As for the safety questions raised by that higher speed, Russell said the agency is working on design standards for the Trans-Texas Corridor, a proposed 4,000-mile network of toll roads, that would make them as safe at 85 mph as interstates are at 70 mph.
And Perry’s TxDOT keeps on shoveling:
"Whatever the speed limit is, we're going to make sure our design standards can accommodate it," Russell said Monday.
In this LA Times article on 80 mph speed limits Texas, TxDOT officials say fuel efficiency and accidents are not thier concern:
Texas transportation officials say concerns about fuel efficiency or the possibility of increased accidents are not their department.

"I can't speak to fuel economy," TxDOT's Mark Cross said. "I'm sure it will have some impact, but it's not really our department to consider it…. We do not forecast accidents or fatality increases — that is not something we routinely look at."

Engineers calculate that drivers burn 7% more gas per mile for every 5-mph increase in speed above 60 mph.
So what exactly is their department? It amazes me that the Texas Dept. of Transportation takes such a myopic view of their job. Certainly when they design highways, safety measures are a prime concern and speed has to be one of those.

So you might ask, how much more money does Gov. Perry's toll happy TxDOT get? This from the Statesman's article:
The contract contemplates that Cintra-Zachry would pay the state an upfront concession fee of $25 million and 4.65 percent of toll revenue until total revenue reaches certain thresholds in any given year. Then the portion for the state would grow to 9.3 percent until a second revenue threshold is reached, jumping to 50 percent after that.

But that is only if the speed limit is 70 mph.

The contract says that if the speed limit is 80 mph, the upfront payment would be $92 million. At 85 mph, the payment would be $125 million.
What will the higher speed limit COST US? (Just some lives and more of our money)

Set aside the fact that Texas infrastructure is being sold off to a Spanish corporation with a secret deal. Let’s get down to brass tacks. What are you and your family worth to Gov. Perry and his highway henchmen?...The following statement was NOT in the Statesman article. I found this in a recent Safe Roads press release:
"Nearly 40 percent of the 3,600 people killed on Texas roads in 2004 were speed-related crashes," said Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety President Judie Stone. "With these types of crashes costing Texas nearly $3.5 billion annually, raising speed limits to 80mph (or 85 mpg) is a deadly, dangerous and irresponsible act."





Statesman Letter to Editor

The Spanish conquest

Texas won its independence in 1836, and this year we have lost it.

Gov. Rick Perry and his followers in the Legislature have given part of our state to Spain. The giveaway is covered up with pretty words, but the state has signed a contract with Spain giving absolute control over 30 miles of Texas 130, another toll road.

I can foresee Spanish policemen stopping citizens of Texas demanding to see their IDs and passports. I guess that Spain will have its own courts and punishments. I wonder if burning at the stake will become popular again.

By the way, Texans will have to pay for the right-of-way through their taxes, including their property taxes.

JOHN M. FINLEY
Austin

7/06/2006

5 of 12: State Rep. Krusee's Close Associate Violates Texas Law and Drives Multimillion Dollar Toll Road Contracts.


THE MOST WANTED LOBBYIST IN THE STATE OF TEXAS HAS UNIQUE INFLUENCE WITH THE HOUSE TRANSPORTATION CHAIR MIKE KRUSEE.

For years, the married republican State Rep. Mike Krusee, the chair of the House Transportation committee, and lobbyist Melinda Wheatley’s have had an intimate relationship.

A reliable inside source confirms today that Krusee and Wheatley are still “an item” and that Wheatley is now lobbying at one of Austin's most influential lobby firms, HillCo Partners, under the guise of a “public relations specialist” (so she can try and side-step filing more legally required lobbyist reports).

According to reports, HillCo’s J. McCartt, a former aide to Gov. Perry, has paid for many of Krusee’s travel bills. McCartt’s clients included TTC contractor Fluor Corp., Texas toll road investor Goldman Sachs (who plays all angles of tolling and selling our freeways) and the scandalous PBS&J—an engineering firm that has worked on several Texas toll road projects. McCartt flew Krusee to Washington in 2005 to address a conference on public-private partnerships. McCartt also flew Krusee to Las Vegas to deliver the keynote address at a PBS&J toll summit a week after the 2005 regular session ended.

About ten (10) months ago, I filed a formal “sworn complaint” with the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) on Melinda Wheatley’s failure to file legally required lobbying reports for many months and years.

I fully expected Wheatley to pay off her chronically delinquent TEC fines soon after I filed the complaint. But she did not.

KRUSEE'S MISTRESS WHEATLEY IS THE MOST WANTED LOBBYIST IN TEXAS TODAY!

Shockingly, after 10 months, the brazen Wheatley has NOT paid any of the past delinquent fines with the TEC. Not only that, but according to the TEC’s own website, she is the most wanted lobbyist in the state of Texas today! Maybe that should not be a surprise.

AG’S OFFICE SUED WHEATLEY. WHEATLEY REFUSES TO PAY DEFAULT JUDGMENT AFTER 7 YEARS.

In 1999, the Attorney General’s office sued Melinda Wheatley for failing to pay yet another TEC delinquent account from the 1990’s. The Bankruptcy and Collections division of the AG’s office won a Travis County Court judgment that includes attorney’s fees and court costs. Wheatley has refused to pay the default judgment as well as the 10% annual interest that continues to mount each year. The AG’s office tells me a personal lien is also in place but Wheatley has not reported any ownership of property in the past seven years.

The formal complaint I filed 10 months ago was finally presented to the TEC on April 13th, 2007. The complaint has yet to be resolved or dismissed and a TEC attorney says the hearing could take place soon.

HISTORY OF KRUSEE AND WHEATLEY

Melinda Wheatley and Rep. Mike Krusee began working together on education issues in the late 90’s. In 2003 Krusee became the Chair of the House Transportation Committee after former chair Joe Pickett refused to go along with the unaccountable transportation legislation Gov. Perry wanted pushed. That same year, records show Wheatley began to lobby on Transportation issues.

Over the years, the Wheatley (12/6/1967) has kept many of the details of who she works for, and how much she gets paid, a secret.

WHEATLEY’S UNIQUE INFLUENCE WITH KRUSEE EQUALS MULTI MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACTS FOR HER TOLL ROAD CLIENTS.

Limited state records show Wheatley earned between $70k and $150k in the first two months 2005. Wheatley listed TransCore, Texas Council of Engineering Companies, Outdoor Advertising Association of Texas and City of Austin as her transportation clients.

TransCore, one of Wheatley’s many transportation clients received a multimillion dollar contract with TxDOT in Sept. 2005. The contract for eGo Plus RFID tags, branded locally as TxTag, is for 2 million tags over two years.

Another transportation client of Wheatley, the Texas Council of Engineering Companies (TCEC) included URS, HNTB, PBS&J & Carter & Burgess, Inc. All of which have received numerous multimillion dollar toll contracts.

WHEATLEY GETS NO BID CONTRACT FROM TOLL AUTHORITY

Comptroller Strayhorn’s investigative report on the freeway tolling authority shows Wheatley’s Informative Efforts, LLC, now defunct, was given a NO BID contract (see app. #5) for freeway toll road work. It was Mike Krusee’s legislation that created the freeway tolling authority.

Wheatley ignored Texas law and additional conflicts of interests when she failed to list J.P. Morgan as one of her clients in 2004. The Comptroller’s Report states:
“Informative Efforts: The principals of this public relations firm are Cathy Howell and Melinda Wheatley, who are subcontractors for Nancy Ledbetter Associates, which in turn contracts with HNTB. Their relationship with the transportation industry may represent a potential conflict of interest. Informative Efforts had a consulting arrangement with JP Morgan Securities Inc., a CTRMA contractor, and was paid a retainer fee of $7,000 per month plus expenses. The Austin office of JP Morgan Securities indicated that Informative Efforts performed lobbying work and that it was a short-term contract terminated around March 2004. Melinda Wheatley was Informative Efforts’ primary contact with JP Morgan Securities. Wheatley was listed on the 2004 Texas Ethics Commission lobby list for only one client, TransCore, a sponsor of Team Texas. This company provides services and products that enable toll authorities to manage transactions using toll tags. As such, TransCore is a potential CTRMA contractor.”
How has J.P. Morgan been fairing in Krusee’s Toll Road Deals?

In 2005 the CTRMA invested $284 million in a J.P. Morgan Money Market. J.P. Morgan Securities is also part of the Cintra Trans Texas Corridor Team.

Up to $1 billion dollars of TxDOT Fund 6 bonds is controlled by J.P. Morgan Securities, which acts as the senior manager for the initial issuance. Fund 6 revenue bonds are backed by state highway revenues and anticipated federal transportation appropriations.

Wheatley continues to work the system and not report her lobbying clients. On November 2, 2005, she attended the Department of State Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) event for lobbyists to meet face to face with the decision-makers and purchasing agents from over 15 OBO departments (pg 52). Transportation companies H.B. Zachry and Brown and Root (a division of Halliburton) are among the few Texas contractors listed for the U.S. Department of State point of contact list.

Since the Austin American Statesman and Chronicle endorsed the freeway tolling plan in 2004 they have failed to investigate the corruption of the freeway tolling scheme.

If Melinda Wheatley will not comply with the rules of the Texas Ethics Commission, why is she permitted to continue as a lobbyist in Texas? Is Melinda Wheatley in partnership with Mike Krusee? Should Mike Krusee and Melinda Wheatley be investigated by the District Attorney?

This article is part 5 of a 12 part series called “Circle of Parasites”. Freeways have never been tolled in the history of the U.S., but that doesn’t stop a close circle of mostly Williamson County characters with a long history of looking out for themselves at the expense of others.

Read the other “Circle of Parasites” articles:


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7/02/2006

Another Letter about Gov. Perry's TTC Secret Cintra Deal

Dear Mr. Costello,
I only heard of the Trans Texas Corridor last night, when I took my parents out to dinner. They live in one of the myriad small towns that will be affected: Collinsville, a wide spot in the road on Highway 377 that currently has between 1,000-1,500 people. From what they told me, it sounds as though the entire town is scheduled for demolition in order to make space for this monstrosity! They were surprisingly calm about the issue, despite the fact that their 100-year-old-plus house will be in the pathway, along with numerous other historical homes and at least one late-1800s-era church.
It's not just the taxation that infuriates me, it's the notion that all these small towns, this farmland, this way of life, really, are so insignificant that they can just be plowed under in order to make room for a road.
THANK YOU for spreading the word about this abomination.
Sincerely,
Noelle W.