CAMPO UPDATE/BREAKING NEWS: Senator Kirk Watson Stacking the Deck

- CAMPO FINAL PUBLIC HEARING POSTPONED -
to Monday Jan 22nd at 6pm
NEW LOCATION! -10100 Burnet Road, Bldg. #137,
The Commons Building, UT Pickle Research Campus-Austin.
Read the latest report below about the toller's new detailed plan
to take our freeways - show up to keep our freeways free!

----BREAKING NEWS!----

Senator Kirk Watson Seeks to Stack the Deck!
Senator Kirk Watson, who has yet to sit on CAMPO as a board member for one meeting, already has numerous proposals submitted for the next CAMPO agenda. The changes Watson seeks will severely reduce accountability and further squelch public feedback on CAMPO. The power hungry Watson has been working behind the scenes for months to set himself up as CAMPO Chair.

CAMPO allocates Billions of our taxpayer dollars for regional transportation, therefore accountability is paramount, but Agenda Item #4 (http://www.campotexas.org/pdfs/item4Jan.pdf) proves Sen. Kirk Watson doesn’t care.

BRIEF KIRK WATSON HISTORY: Watson was Mayor of Austin from 1997 to 2001. Watson’s City of Austin Prop 1, of the year 2000, diverted a whopping $67.2 million of our bond dollars, intended for free roads, into toll roads! Watson’s back door deal with Intel cost city taxpayers $7.5 million in subsidies after they left us with the downtown Austin “Intel shell” eye sore (That Intel “shrine” should be a reminder to all of us of how Watson’s deals with special interests always costs the citizens more).

WATSON SEEKS TO SQUELCH PUBLIC FEEDBACK

Watson’s Agenda Item #4, places a separate committee, as a barrier, between the public and CAMPO board Voting Members. Watson's "talk-to-the-hand" plan reduces the efficiency of crucial community input. Direct public feedback to CAMPO board members has spurred valuable dialog in the past. Dialog with direct questions and answers are efficient and irreplaceable when a valuable community member takes the time to go to a CAMPO meeting.

WATSON WANTS TOLL AUTHORITY TO VOTE ON TOLLS!

Watson’s proposal to include an unelected board member of the CTRMA (the tolling authority), as a member of CAMPO board, to vote on it’s own toll plans, is simply absurd.

WATSON’S PROPOSAL IGNORES TEXAS CONSTITUTION SO HE CAN BENEFIT!

Watson's proposal fails to eliminate the current CAMPO Constitutional problem. The Texas Constitution does not allow members of the Legislative branch to exercise any power within an Executive board such as CAMPO. It is unconstitutional for State Representatives and State Senators (Legislative Branch) to sit on CAMPO. Only City and County officials (Executive Branch) are allowed to sit on CAMPO. TEXAS CONSTITUTION Article 2 states:

“THE POWERS OF GOVERNMENT, Section 1 - DIVISION OF POWERS; THREE SEPARATE DEPARTMENTS; EXERCISE OF POWER PROPERLY ATTACHED TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS The powers of the Government of the State of Texas shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of which shall be confided to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: Those which are Legislative to one; those which are Executive to another, and those which are Judicial to another; and no person, or collection of persons, being of one of these departments, shall exercise any power properly attached to either of the others, except in the instances herein expressly permitted.”

The constitution offers no allowance for members of the legislature to be part of an executive body like CAMPO.

Former State Representative/CAMPO board member Terry Keel and others feel Legislators who create the law, should also not be implementing the law. Published in In Fact Daily on 11/15/04:

“Keel said he supports eliminating House and Senate members from the Transportation Policy Board. Those who make law should not be implementing it, Keel said. The Transportation Policy Board is best left to city and county elected officials”

WATSON SEEKS TO STACK DECK WITH A PHONY ORGANIZATION!

Currently 3 of 23 CAMPO Voting Member seats, or 13%, are those of unelected individuals (1 TxDOT and 1 Cap Metro) and an organization that is not answerable to the public or Texas Open Government laws (1 Alliance of Cities).

Sen. Watson’s proposal offers even less accountability, as 6 of 18 CAMPO Voting Member seats, or 33%, are those of unelected individuals (1 TxDOT, 1 Cap Metro and 1 CTRMA) and 3 seats for a phony organization with NO transparency. Watson wants the secretive Alliance of Cities to increase it’s seats to three (3)!

ALLIANCE OF CITIES Operates Behind Closed Doors!

For more than 10 years, the Alliance of Cities, formed by representatives within Williamson County, has failed to register as a formal organization with any City, County or with the State of Texas. Therefore Alliance of Cities is able to sidestep all Texas Open Government laws. This organization of elected officials, sets agendas and takes action that effects citizens. Failing to follow Texas Open Government laws makes the Alliance an unlawful organization. The unaccountable Alliance, is administered by a former Williamson County road lobbyist, Peggy Croslin, for the past 10 plus years. Croslin has refused to respond to the simplest request for information. Croslin, and numerous Alliance of Cities Mayors have refused to share how Croslin’s salary is paid.

Alliance of Cities has never offered its members opposing views on tolls.

Peggy "Peg" Croslin (also known as Peggy Smith Croslin) and her husband, Charles "Chuck" W. Croslin, have interests in Croslin and Associates, which is pre certified contractor for TxDOT and a division of PBS&J.

Croslin and Associates is a division of PBS&J

Image found at www.Croslin.com on 1/18/07

PBS&J is a major contractor with TxDOT. PBS&J was found to have embezzled $36 million from more than a dozen states in 2006! The agendas for Alliance of Cities, going back over 10 years are filled with pro-toll speakers with one sided presentations, and at times, the Alliance of Cities has met at PBS&J offices.

Peggy Croslin also worked for Mike Weaver’s Prime Strategies, a provider of services for Williamson County road bonds for many years. Prime Strategies is known for helping to create the CTRMA. Prime Strategies awarded itself a NO BID contract as CTRMA’s 1st contractor!

Alliance of Cities:

• Fails to disclose information required of government agencies under Texas Open Government laws.
• Meetings, minutes and other records not accessible to the public.
• Administered by special interests who benefit from vote(s) on CAMPO.

SOLUTIONS - HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Go to the next CAMPO hearing (see location and date above) to say NO Phase II double tax tolls. AND, demand that Watson’s Agenda Item #4 is amended as follows: (copy and paste this into your message to all 23 board members, with the click of one button at www.AustinTollParty.com):

1) The unaccountable Alliance of Cities should not have any Voting Member seats on CAMPO.

2) Public feedback should be directed to all CAMPO Voting Members, not another committee to be used as a buffer. On another note, more than 10 citizens should have the right to speak during CAMPO's monthly "citizens comments" period - and signing up in advance should also be rescinded.

3) Legislators should not have any Voting Member seats on CAMPO. It’s Unconstitutional.

4) Tolling Authority (CTRMA) should not have any Voting Member seats on CAMPO.

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