Will Kirk "TOLL ROAD KING" Watson be the New CAMPO Chair? And why did he divert Tens of Millions of Transportation Bond Dollars into Toll Roads?

Former Mayor Kirk Watson and his "Back Door Deal" Shrine

Meet the New Boss.
Worse than the Old Boss.

Numerous reliable sources say special interests are working hard behind the scenes to line up CAMPO votes for Senator Kirk Watson to be the new chair of CAMPO.

The politically ambitious Kirk Watson, Mayor of Austin from 1997 to 2001, and new State Senator replacing the retiring G. Barrientos, has a history of back room deals including eminent domain style takings and corporate welfare giveaways. Watson has diverted tens of millions of public dollars (intended for free roads) into Toll Roads.

Records show $67 million, to date of Watson's Prop 1. bond dollars (promised for freeways) has been diverted into SH 45 Tollway and SH 130 Tollway.

One of Kirk Watson's deals led to the destruction of Austin’s leading musical venue and landmark, “Liberty Lunch” so top defense contractor, CSC could build new corporate offices. That sweetheart deal also drastically limited the size of the neighboring City Hall, which an inside city hall source says should have held all city offices.

THE WATSON-INTEL SHRINE
Another Watson deal, this one with Intel, cost city taxpayers $7.5 million in subsidies and incentives. Intel abandoned the half built building, took the money, and left us with the “Intel shell” as a reminder of Watson’s popularity with big business.

Behind closed doors, special interests who profit from tolling roads we’ve already paid for have been meeting with future and current CAMPO board members to show them a predetermined CAMPO plan. The plans include Kirk Watson as CAMPO chair. All of this is taking place without any Public Open Meetings.

During his candidacy, Watson, said little about his position of tolling already tax funded freeways (Phase II tolls). When asked about his position of ‘tolling roads we’ve already paid for’ via email and in person, silence has always been the answer.

In a rare Oct, 20, 2006 speech about freeway toll roads, just days before his election, Watson presents himself as a new voice, a peacemaker, on the double tax issue:

“We can't afford what's happening, which is a contrived war between the "toll army" and the "no-toll army". These two fight each other without even clear objectives anymore, refusing to hear each other, hunkering down into bunkers they built with inadequate figures and empty slogans, and engaging in winner-take-all politics.”

WATSON: THE FATHER OF DOUBLE TAX TOLLS
Yet, when you look a little deeper, Kirk Watson is not such a fresh face in the tolling arena. Far from it. Kirk Watson is actually the father of diverting tax and bond dollars into tollways that permanently take public expressways away from Central Texans.

KIRK WATSON PUSHES CITY PROP 1 IN 2000
In 2000, Kirk Watson led the effort on the City of Austin $150 million transportation bond package that promised to spend $130 million on street improvements and public highway expansions (including $90 million for road matching funds to help attract TxDOT state money), with $20 million for bike and pedestrian projects. There was a battle between Watson and Thomas/Griffith in which the latter lost. Thomas/Griffith argued the $90 million that would go to the state was an unaccountable bribe or a slush fund.

"This is the transportation bond package assembled by Mayor Kirk Watson, the one designed to reassure voters that their present-day commuting miseries aren't being ignored"
– Austin Chronicle, October 2000 (just before bond election)

Kirk Watson’s Prop 1 Language (note “toll roads” are not mentioned):

PROPOSITION 1 - THE ISSUANCE OF $150,000,000 TAX SUPPORTED GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS TO IMPROVE ROADWAY INTERSECTIONS, ACQUIRE RIGHT-OF-WAY, PROVIDE FUNDS FOR HIGHWAY AND ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOP HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE LANES AND RELATED INFRASTRUCTURE, IMPROVE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE, CONSTRUCT RELATED DRAINAGE FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACQUIRE LAND AND OTHER PROPERTY INTERESTS FOR THESE PROJECTS; AND THE LEVY OF A TAX SUFFICIENT TO PAY THE BONDS - Ordinance #000821-01

A March 2006 letter from the city answering Councilman Raul Alvarez questions about the bonds says:

the “bonds are scheduled to be issued over 10 years; to date the City has appropriated $84 million”.

BOND DOLLARS DIVERTED TO TOLL ROADS
The Alvarez letter also reveals $67 million of the $84 million has been diverted to purchase right of way for SH 45 Tollway and SH 130 Tollway.

Transcripts of City Council meetings give insight to Watsons knowledge of Phase II tolls, and how the bond dollars will be diverted to right of way.

“..CAMPO has already voted not to go forward with phase 2 yet, until it has substantially more information available to it to it...So you are not preordaining anything by a vote today to purchase right-of-way for 45 because that will be considered as part of the process at a later point.”
– Kirk Watson, City of Austin transcript 8/23/2001

AUSTIN CITY BOND DOLLARS DIVERTED TO WILLIAMSON COUNTY TOLLS
Some of the $67 million City of Austin bond dollars was spent outside of the City of Austin limits.

In August of 2001, Kirk Watson with the help of Williamson County Commissioner Mike Heiliginstein, divert 2000 City of Austin bond dollars into Williamson County's portion of the toll roads, using city bond money pledges. This in order to let the Williamson County buyers do the deals fast, while Cap Metro agrees to slowly pay back the city at least part of the money, promising $3.5 million a year for twelve years.

“Mayor (Watson), I don’t know if I’ll get another chance, but thank you for everything you've done over the years...I think we'll make a good team going into the future.”
– Mike Heiliginstein addresses Kirk Watson and Council, City of Austin transcript 8/30/2001

POLITICAL BLACKMAIL
Some say the success of Prop 1, and the defeat of Capital Metro’s light rail then signaled the opportunity to raid the Prop. 1 bonds. Political opportunists such as Mike Krusee and Kirk Watson threatened to abolish the weak agency if they didn’t pay the $3.5 million a year to be spent on the toll roads. Some might call it blackmail or extortion.

Will Wynn’s 2001 comments from the transcripts:

“It was mentioned earlier about Representative Krusee being the person who called for Capital Metro to actually spend these funds regionally. I’d like to point out that it was Rep. Krusee who showed a lot of leadership in the legislature this year, when there were some pending Capital Metro bashing bills on the table. So it was Representative Krusee who stepped up, called for the regional funding, but then was the leader in essentially eliminating some wrong-minded, anti-Capital Metro legislation.”
– Council member Will Wynn, City of Austin transcript 8/30/2001

“Somebody might be asking, well, if it's Capital Metro money, why are we voting on it? And keep in mind, the reason we're voting on it is because Capital Metro was also willing in working with the city to be creative.”
– Kirk Watson, City of Austin transcript 8/23/2001

This article is part 1 of a new 10 part series called “Austin Needs an Enema”. Freeways have never been tolled in the history of the U.S., but that doesn’t stop politicos from diverting City, County and State tax and bond dollars for the benefit of themselves and pals.

Read the “Circle of Parasites” 1 thru 10 (just click below):

1 of 10: Deadbeat Mike Heiligenstein Runs Freeway Tolling Authority

2 of 10: Two Toll Authority Board Members Refuse to Resign

3 of 10: Austin American Snakesman

4 of 10: Convicted CRIMINAL, Pete Peters, Connected to Freeway Tolls

5 of 10: Rep. Mike Krusee and Lobbyist Melinda Wheatley.

6 of 10: Ghost Organization Voted to Toll Austin Freeways

7 of 10: Rep. Dawnna Dukes Payolla Toll Vote Ignores Federal Law

8 of 10: Commissioner Limmer and Convicted Criminal

9 of 10: TxDOT Engineer, Bob Daigh and a Convicted Criminal

10 of 10: KRUSEE Cohort, John Langmore, syphons tax dollars.

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