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:

1 of 12: Deadbeat Mike Heiligenstein

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

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US Govt creates national toll roads by Bob Dacy (Host of The Simple Truth TV Show)

Upcoming Gubernatorial Election ---- Gov. Rick Perry has a dream, by Peter Stern

TTC-35 could displace nearly 1 million Texans

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.

The Daily Texan On Toll Roads by Eye on WilCo

Citizen to TxDOT: "We ought to re-name this project ‘bend over.' "

Freeway Tolling Authority Board Member Steps Down!

BREAKING NEWS!

After 4 years of conflict of interests,
and profiting off the system,
Johanna Zmud finally resigns.

Just weeks ago, I wrote a blog article (click here) about how two CTRMA board members had refused to step down a year after they were asked to resign.

About a year ago, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn called for the resignation of Chairman Robert Tesch and Johanna Zmud because of conflict of interest.

According to an Austin Business Journal article today, Johanna Zmud, has agreed to step down. Of course, her resignation came with the usual politico excuses. But we know the real story. Thanks to many of you, and your letters to her demanding she step down. She finally listened!

WE HAVE MORE WORK TO DO!
Public records show that Chairman Robert Tesch’s property valuation (less any improvements) of an 18-acre tract, which lies about 2,000 feet east of future US 183-A right of way, has already increased by 612% percent since the time of his appointment to the CTRMA board, another piece of land has increased 989%!

ASK Robert Tesch to Resign - CLICK HERE.

SA Express: Toll lane opponents call for alternatives at public meeting

SA Express: (TXDOT) Road funding raises disturbing questions.

Editorial: Road funding raises disturbing questions

San Antonio Express-News

The Texas Department of Transportation should re-allocate $305,000 earmarked for a river crossing on a county road with limited public use in the Hill Country town of Vanderpool.

Funding for the crossing suddenly appeared in the state's budget for expansion work on FM 187.

The appropriation was never mentioned at a May 30 public hearing on the project.

Bandera County officials are upset they were not consulted on the project, the Express-News reported. They say it's a waste of taxpayer money to spend funds on a road that leads to private property.

Midland gas and oil businessman Ferrell Davis, who will benefit directly from the project, told Express-News reporter Zeke MacCormack he did not ask the state for a river crossing on the road leading to his part-time home and full-time ranch.

If no one asked for the crossing, why did it end up as part of a $13 million state project to widen 14 miles of FM 187 between Garner State Park and Vanderpool?

Improvements to the county road are a significant part of a $735,000 budget the department will use to adjust and repair 112 roads and driveways that will be affected by the road-widening project.

The allocation for Bush Creek Road makes no fiscal sense. The dead-end caliche road runs for 1.6 miles across the Sabinal River bed to five homes.

In the past, Davis lobbied county commissioners to improve the road, but his request was rejected. Bandera County officials said they couldn't justify the expense.

Texas transportation officials deny being under political pressure or giving preferential treatment to Davis, who has friends in state and national political circles, MacCormack reported. However, they (TxDOT) have failed to provide an explanation justifying this project.

The funding raises questions about funding priorities in the Texas Department of Transportation. Better uses can be found for the limited transportation funds than projects with little, if any, public benefit.

STATESMAN: Vote on more toll roads delayed (Support for pay-to-drive plan may be eroding; decision not expected before fall elections.)

STATESMAN: State Rep. Rodriguez article on Robin Hood Tolls.

SA EXPRESS: TxDOT officials slap a muzzle on toll road talk at public meet (Click Here!)

Julia Whatley: Toll roads and coal plants

TxDOT resorts to gestapo-like tactics to forbid citizens from even bringing up or using the word “tolls” at public meeting

4 of 12: Convicted Criminal connected to TxDOT Freeway Tolling Scheme

Convicted criminal Amos "Pete" Peters, long known as a WilCo political strategist, is at the heart of the privatization and tolling of our freeways. Peters has helped elect most WilCo politicians, and they are known to return the favor by making sure he gets contracts.

Amos "Pete" Peters (02/07/1948) criminal record spans 20-years in Texas, it includes a dozen charges of check swindling, credit card abuse and criminal mischief. He's pleaded guilty or no contest to three felonies and three misdemeanors. He's been convicted of Larceny and DWI. Peters has been convicted of Fraud four different times.

At one point he was sent to prison for two years.

According to TxDOT District Engineer Bob Daigh's meeting calendar, convicted criminal Pete Peters has met with Bob Daigh a number of times in 2004, at times alone and other times with CTRMA toll Authority creator Mike Weaver of Prime Strategies, Inc., and Manuel Zarate of HBMG, Inc.

It is illegal for convicted criminals to lobby in the State of Texas.

A 2002 Statesman article “In Williamson, politics, roads and money mix” describes the conflicts of contractors and consultants. Pete Peters, Peters’ Roads Now PAC, Mike Weaver and others are the focus.

The article states:

“Peters' company earns about $4,000 a month from Williamson County's bond budget, mainly for work promoting the roads project.”

and:

"WilCo 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.”

In 2002, Mike Weaver helped to create the freeway tolling authority (CTRMA) and hired his own company, Prime Strategies, as the first Toll Authority contractor. Comptroller Strayhorn’s report shows Weaver's company billed the CTRMA for well over $600,000 from 2002 to 2005. Weaver's company was paid with tax dollars for the NO BID contract he gave himself.

Also from the Comptrollers report:

“CTRMA’s first contractor was Prime Strategies, Inc., an Austin transportation consulting firm led by its principal, Mike Weaver. Prime Strategies is also Williamson County’s road bond manager for its multi-corridor transportation plan, which will build roads using $350 million in bonds approved by voters in 2000.”

The Comptrollers report also lists Pete Peters as “Primary Staff” for HBMG inc. According to the investigation, HBMG Inc’s NO BID contract with the CTRMA added up to well over $259,000 within just a matter of months.

Also from the Comptrollers report:

“Interestingly, Peters was considered so close to Williamson County officials that the state Attorney General’s Office joined a recent investigation of him. According to one report, “Peters has handled campaign work for almost every major office holder in the county.” The investigation focused on several meetings related to the Williamson County Road Bonds Program for which Williamson County paid Peters; some persons who were supposed to be at these meetings allege that they never took place."

In contrast, the Comptroller’s office requires that each proposer or bidder for a contract with the agency sign a “No Criminal Conviction” certification. The Comptroller’s office will not contract with anyone who has a felony conviction.”

Manual Zarate, the president and founder of HBMG altered the name of his company from “HB Media” to “HBMG inc” after Comptroller Strayhorn’s scathing investigation was released.

Austin Business Journal produced an article called “Road to Riches” with a focus on Manual Zarate’s HBMG inc. The article states how 70 percent of HBMG's business comes from the transportation sector.

HBMG’s client list include:

* Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority
* Fluor, Inc
* HNTB Engineering
* Pate Engineers
* PBS&J
* Pioneer Development Corporation
* Prime Strategies
* Texas Department of Transportation
* Texas Turnpike Authority Division
* Williamson County (Texas)
* Zachry Construction

HB Media (HBMG) subcontractor invoices for CTRMA work, from late 2003, show convicted criminal Pete Peters making over $11,000 a month at $145 per hour from the tax funded toll authority. I’ve also been told about Peters and Zarate working to get Trans Texas Corridor media work from the Spanish company Cintra.

In 2002, the Statesman wrote an article called, "In Williamson, politics, roads and money mix", read it HERE.

This article is part 4 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:

1 of 12: Deadbeat Mike Heiligenstein

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

3 of 12: Austin American Snakesman

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TOLLS: 'The fastest growing form of taxation in the U.S.'

UPDATE: Ghost Organization Voted to Toll Austin Freeways.

What is the "Alliance of Cities" and why
is its administrator part of "The Circle"?

Originally posted May 22, 2006, see update below.

In the election last week, Austin Toll Party’s campaign helped to remove another one of the stubborn representatives that ignored the super majority of the public and voted to toll roads we’ve already paid for.

This time it was WestLake Hills Mayor Dwight Thompson, Vice Chair of CAMPO, who paid the toll.

Dwight Thompson had a vote on CAMPO because he was the representative of a group called the "Alliance of Cities". I am told the Alliance is made up of 23 Mayors within Travis, Williamson and Hays Counties. I'm also told this organization was formed by representatives within Williamson County.

After many hours of research, I’ve found that the “Alliances of Cities” has NO website, almost nothing can be found out about the organization via google, it is NOT registered with the Texas Secretary of State, it is NOT registered with Travis County, it has never posted a meeting with the Texas Registry as most government organizations must to follow the Texas Open Meetings Act.

After calls into CAMPO and the City of Austin, I’ve found only one lead.

Peggy Croslin is the administrator of "Alliance of Cities".

After the City of Austin gave me Peggy Croslin's phone numbers, 338-1777 and 799-8759, I left respectful phone messages asking her to call me back so I could learn more about “Alliances of Cities”. Peggy Croslin has not called me back and, as I was told, will not call me back.

Since she failed to respond to my phone calls, I figured she had something to hide. So I started digging.

I've found that Peggy Croslin was listed as a vehicle and traffic lobbyist in past years with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Peggy "Peg" Croslin (also known as Peggy Smith Croslin) and her husband Charles "Chuck" W. Croslin have interests in Croslin and Associates, which turns out to be a pre certified contractor for TxDOT. Croslin and Associates also has a business partnership with PBS & J, a major contractor with TxDOT.

Peggy Croslin also worked for Mike Weaver’s Prime Strategies, who was hired to help Williamson County with road bonds. More importantly, Prime Strategies helped create the toll authority (CTRMA). Prime Strategies was the CTRMA’s 1st contractor, and had numerous NO BID contracts with the Williamson County heavy toll authority.

If "Alliance of Cities" is allowed to send a representative to vote to toll our Austin freeways I think we have a right to know what and who they are.

I'd like to know who is on the Alliance, have they kept minutes, are the meetings open to the public and if the public can speak. How are these Alliance Mayors supposed to get balanced information from a closed organization run by those who profit off working with the people that want to toll our freeways?

I spoke to Peggy's husband Chuck Croslin on Friday morning. I asked him if he knew what the "Alliance of Cities" was. He told me "Yes, I do." I asked him if he could tell me about the Alliance, and he told me, "I don't want to talk with you."

Who has been paying Peggy Croslin for her work to administer the "Alliance of Cities"?

The Comptroller's investigative report refers to the tight knit group of Williamson County special interests, with the strangle hold on tolling our Austin Freeways as "The Circle". The Circle is tight, and the robin hood toll plan is under their secretive grasp.

Read "Austin Toll Roads to fund Williamson County Freeways".

UPDATE:
I've received documents from a City of Round Rock information request. "Legislative Consultant" is listed at the top of all Invoices from Peggy Smith Croslin to RR in 2000 and 2001. My request was only for 2000 to 2006. "Big 4 Toll Road Projects" is listed as some of the lobby work she did. Most of the 2001 invoces mention 130 ROW as her focus of lobby work as well as toll road discussions with Mike Weaver (use the search engine at the top of this blog for more about Mike Weaver).

I was also surprised to see invoices from Croslin & Associates. Round Rock hired and paid Croslin & Associates over $95,000 for the design of Fire Station #2 in 2004.

So who pays Peggy Croslin today for the administrative work for "Alliance of Cities"? If you know, email me at Sal@TexasTollParty.com.

The Circle sure takes care of it's own.

Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway (CLICK HERE)

Star-Telegram: A Trans-Texas tussle

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief: 'We are opposed to TxDOT's vision'

El Paso's Rep Pickett takes on Gov. Perry's Toll Roads

TxDOT chair Ric Williamson refused to shake mayor's hand?

Email about Tesch printed with permission

Sal,

What do you hear on the scum bag Robert Tesch (CTRMA toll authority)? I see his name and my blood runs cold. The way he ripped off old people at his property in Plano, not to mention his 48 employees he ran out on and let us all work for 8 days, running his business, racking in the rental fees of $2500 a month & UP, and didn't pay us.

Many of his employees at the assisted living facility in Plano, worked for barely above minimum wage--and then the multi-millionaire, crook, schister, left all of us holding the bag and no pay checks.

Gov. Perry has appointed Tesch as his director of the highway mobility team, which will include Tesch's property when the highway is built, thus making him all the richer...and he won't even pay his employees. Many of us have filed with the Labor Board, but as I talk with them they tell me they have a "process" that takes some time. They tell me they are trying to freeze his assets. I keep telling the State of Texas Labor Board--THIS MAN IS A MILLIONAIRE IN AUSTIN--GO FIND HIM--WE NEED OUR MONEY.

As I read the article on him, he and his wife Sandra, are listed as creditors and paid as he files bankruptcy..What a crock...and the Oakmont Services, that is racking in all that money, has one employee --the poor schmuck--and pays him $36k. The guy is his "yes" man, Randy was a schmuck as well.

I just want my money..he owes me a little over $2000 which is a drop in the bucket to a millionaire, but means alot to me..Is there NO justice in this great State? Come on Aggie Perry--I was at A&M when you were yell leader...show some compassion and oust out Tesche..

JJ

CAMPO meeting update here

LA Times: Powerful Lawmaker's Relative Linked Financially to Contractor

CLICK HERE for KLRU's Video of Austin Toll Roads

HOUSTON CHRON: Harris County toll roads: "Not for sale. Not for lease."

Toller Congressman Lamar Smith Gives himself a $3,300 Pay Raise

See his Toll Vote HERE.

WilCo Cons Travis again

Mike Weaver told the Travis County Commissioners all about Pass through financing this week.

Mike Weaver helped create CTRMA and was the first Toll Authority contractor.

Weaver's company Prime Strategies billed the CTRMA well over $600,000 from 2002 to 2005. Weavers company was paid with our tax dollars for his NO BID contracts that he gave to himself.

According to Weaver, Pass through is not right for Travis County, even though about 20 counties and cities have already applied. Travis is the only county in Texas seeking to toll most of it's freeways. That is cool with Weaver since the CTRMA he helped create is controlled by Williamson County. What a scheme - and the Travis County Commissioners keep buying it hook line and sinker. Mike Weaver and Bill Burnett (former Hays County Commish and CAMPO Board member turned consultant) said Pass Through Financing was NOT an alternative to tolls.

BUT - Rep. Joe Pickett, former Chair of House Transportation Committee who has oppossed the privization and tolling of our public highways said an alternative to tolls is pass-through financing.

Who do you believe? Gerald Daugherty, Sam Biscoe and others on the Commission believe the Con.

CLICK HERE, then click in agenda item #15 TO HEAR AUDIO OF THE MEETING.

Austin American Snakesman

Statesman endorsed the Austin toll plan on June 27, 2004. Since then they have failed to do any investigative reporting on the corruption of the privtization and tolling of our public highways. They have even deleted a blog on the Statesman.com website that exposed that corruption.

Austin American Snakesman Censors Citizen

In a bold move of censorship, to keep facts from the community, Statesman.com deleted my “Boondoggle Blog” of three months on June 7, 2006.

The Statesman first deleted the Mike Heilgenstein (Toll Authority Executive Director) article earlier in the week. I called Tim Lott, assistant managing editor and asked why it was deleted. He told me they didn’t like “the tone”.

I asked to see the rules. The Statesman had no rules to show me. Tim Lott said it was subjective.

Knowing that the Statesman.com blog was on their site, I respectfully promised to alter the tone of all future articles. I altered the Heilgenstein article accordingly and reposted it.

Mr. Lott, was pleased with the words like “crook” and “deadbeat dad” removed. The article focuses on an unelected persons character (Heilgenstein), who have a part in tolling publicly funded freeways here in Austin for the first time in our country.

He then told me to remove the portion of my blog article that reported Anne Heilgenstein filed the petitions for Divorce and Child Support. Tim Lott had suggested he spoke with the Heilgensteins, who had called and complained. They told him both petitions were filed jointly and that Heilgenstein was not forced to pay. I called the Williamson District County Clerk 943-1212 (case number 03-556-f395) to confirm. I confirmed my report was correct and both petitions were filed by Anne. I also faxed the district court documents I had for weeks to Mr. Lott. I then called Tim Lott back about the court confirmation and he seemed pleased that my facts were confirmed.

Within 2 hours the Statesman deleted the whole blog. Tim Lott left me a voice mail saying “Your blog was not in the best interest of the newspaper”.

The Austin American Statesman circulation, like almost all newspapers in the U.S., has been dropping like a brick for many years. Even ad rates, the statesman other key income, is tied to that deflated circulation.

Desperate for higher circulation, the Statesman endorsed freeway tolls two years ago, in hopes that it would help boost their dwindling income. No city in the country has tolled its freeways. This new tax will cost families thousands of dollars a year to drive roads we’ve already paid for. But the Statesman doesn’t care about our families.

Developers who are pushing the freeway tolls (RECA) promise the Statesman many more customers, many more homes with the double tax freeway toll roads.

The Statesman, now owned by conglomerate Cox Communications, no longer produce investigative reporting for the good of the community, but instead they tip the scales with every article to look out for thier own bottom line.

The CTRMA will start the TxTAG RFID campaign soon. It’s a good bet that the bureaucratic toll authority (CTRMA) will be given a lot of dollars to Statesman for a part of that fat campaign.

This article is part 3 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.

TTC raises ire in Cooke County

UPDATED: Major Toll Road Contractor Overcharges Texas Taxpayers

PBS&J, one of TxDOT's largest contractors, is now the focus of overcharges and theft.

Billions of dollars worth of toll road and freeway contracts using tax payer dollars are at stake. PBS&J former chief financial officer, W. Scott DeLoach, and two other Miami employees are now the suspects of theft.

The Statesman did a report on it here today:

PBS&J overcharges have spanned six (6) years, according to a TxDOT memo.

TxDOT has secretively been looking into the corruption for months, but failed to inform the public.

TxDOT has stopped granting new contracts to PBS&J because of the overcharging. Amadeo Saenzcq, TxDOT's engineering director, told PBS&J in a May 23 letter that it would not be considered for any new contracts until further notice. TxDOT will not issue any additional work authorizations to the company on existing contracts. In-progress projects could eventually be shifted to other construction companies or delayed.

An anonymous source within TxDOT leaked the information to myself about the TxDOT letter last week. I took that information and gave it to a number of reporters around the state.

The PBS&J overcharges could easily add up to hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

PBS&J is the general engineering contractor for the $2.5 billion Central Texas Turnpike Project. The first toll road in Central Texas has yet to open, and we are already awash in secrets and taxpayer waste.

UPDATE: See TxDOT Letter and Memo about PBS&J contracts HERE.

1 Year Later. Two Board Members Refuse to Resign. The Circle: 2 of 12.

Just over a year ago, on March 9, 2005, Comptroller Strayhorn asked for the immediate resignations of two (2) Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) board members.

Both Chairman Robert Tesch and Johanna Zmud have REFUSED to resign.




The report press release states:

“Chairman Tesch's personal holdings and Johanna Zmud's business interests should have prevented their appointments in the first place.“

"In order to build public confidence that is so necessary for the CTRMA and other Regional Mobility Authorities to be successful, I am calling for the immediate resignation of Chairman Robert Tesch and board member Johanna Zmud. Chairman Tesch's personal holdings and Johanna Zmud's business interests should have prevented their appointments in the first place.

"Both of these board members stand to gain financially as a direct result of their positions on CTRMA's board, which is why I am calling for their immediate resignations," Strayhorn said.

Public records show that Chairman Robert Tesch’s property valuation (less any improvements) of an 18-acre tract, which lies about 2,000 feet east of future US 183-A right of way, has already increased by 612% percent since the time of his appointment to the CTRMA board, another piece of land has increased 989%.

Board Member Johanna Zmud’s business, NuStats, is a subcontractor on two teams under contract to TxDOT. This appears to be a violation of TxDOT’s rule §26.51(b)(1)(A).

The Comptroller’s report found other items of “Double taxation without Accountability” and “Favoritism and Self-Enrichment”.

In January 2003 Bob Tesch was appointed by Gov. Perry, even though his Governors Appointment Application spelled out he had previously defaulted on "personal, business or student loan(s)", not to mention a bankruptcy in Dallas and pending foreclosure in Plano. Apparently Gov. Perry’s standards are not that high when it comes to unelected people that will set the toll rate for freeways we’ve already paid for.

Just last August, Robert Tesch had yet another bankruptcy!

The Comptroller's report found these same board members giving No Bid “gas tax dollar” contracts to themselves and their friends.

Where do these two board members get the nerve to look past their corruption and ignore the call for their resignation? Ask these freeway tollers why they continue to feed at your trough.

Ask Robert Tesch.

Ask Johanna Zmud:

This article is part 2 of a 12 part series. 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.

SMART SOLUTIONS: Creative ways to beat congestion

E-85 Gas Alternative Coming to Central Texas.

H-E-B Food Stores announced this week that it will start carrying an ethanol-based fuel at five of its gas stations in Central Texas. Two in Austin, one in Waco, Killeen store, and one near San Antonio will begin to sell the corn based product in August.

E-85 will sell for about 30 cents less per gallon than unleaded gas and will continue to cost less than gas as gas prices continue to rise.

With a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, E-85 could help reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

More than 450,000 Texans drive vehicles designed to run on the alternative fuel.

Click HERE to see if your vehicle can use E-85.

Take the Strayhorn TTC/TOLL POLL!

Lamar Smith Votes Against Net Neutrality

TTC Update: Strayhorn blasts Perry over toll road contract

Denver Post: Truth be tolled - pt. III

Circle of Parasites: Deadbeat Mike Heiligenstein

Mike Heiligenstein is the executive director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA). The unelected RMA will toll public highways for the first time in the country. When our freeways are tolled, the cost of maintaining those roads will shift from being paid with gas tax (TxDOT's responsibility) to tolls (our families responsibility) permanently. We will continue to pay the gas tax while other counties benefit. Although tolling freeways is an experiment for the U.S., the freeway tolls will never be removed.

Numerous qualified individuals vied for the CTRMA’s top position, but Mike Heiligenstein stacked the deck for himself, as he’s done many times in the past.

CAN THIS UNELECTED PERSON BE TRUSTED TO TOLL ROADS WE'VE ALREADY PAID FOR?

In 2004, Mike Heiligenstein tried to get out of paying child support and was chased down and penalized for being a deadbeat dad.

Records show Mike Heiligenstein was divorced by his wife Anne Heiligenstein in early 2004.

Later in 2004, Anne Heiligenstein filed a "Income Witholding for Child Support" petition in Williamson County to force Mike Heiligenstein to pay $1,500 a month in child support, for their daughter Katherine. District Court Judge Jergins signed the order (case # 03-556-f395) for income to be withheld from Mike Heiligenstein and to be paid by the CTRMA.

Anne Heiligenstein

Anne Heiligenstein moved to Washington D.C. in 2004 to take a position as Deputy Executive Commissioner for Social Services of Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).

The 53 year old Heiligenstein certainly made enough money to offer to pay child support, as his CTRMA salary is $125k a year, not counting company car and other perks.



SURPRISE, SURPRISE, Mike's new wife, Lisa England, is a certified contractor for TxDOT. As the type of work performed, she lists "Management Consulting Services". BUT, TxDOT has refused to release documents I've asked for that would shed some light on the deals Lisa England has crafted with TxDOT. TxDOT has asked the AG's office to allow them to keep all the documents a secret.

It looks like Mike and his new wife rent and live around the corner from the mail box Lisa uses for her Transportation business in West Lake Hills (2008 Cuernavaca), just past this Austin Lake Estates landmark.

The garnishing of Mike's wages for child support was NOT THE FIRST TIME Heiligenstein refused to take responsibility and pay up. Heiligenstein’s also failed to follow Texas law and failed to be responsible for his own finances.

Before the CTRMA was created by Heiligenstein, and others in the “Circle”, records show he was involved in real estate deals that went into Bankruptcy (#90-14004 Williamson County)

But the interesting part of the official bankruptcy affidavit records show that Heiligenstein, who owed many businesses and individuals, also owed James Mills and Mike Robinson, who Heiligenstein later appointed CTRMA board members.

As Williamson County Commissioner, Heiligenstein voted for the formation of CTRMA and for the appointments of four of its board members. Then, those board members thanked him by hiring Heiligenstein as Executive Director while the bloated bureaucratic CTRMA was being run with our tax dollars.

The Comptroller Report from 2005 showed how CTRMA board members benefit by giving out NO BID contracts to themselves and their friends, among other schemes.

The Comptroller Report, also tells the story of how the “Circle” created the first freeway tolling bureaucracy in the country:

"Mike Heiligenstein was a member of the Williamson County Commissioners Court until December 2003, and in that capacity voted for the formation of CTRMA and for the appointments of four of its board members. According to CTRMA’s Web site, he also “initiated the drive for transportation improvements that led to the passage of a $350 million dollar bond package” in Williamson County.

In 2004, however, the Texas Ethics Commission cited Heiligenstein and three other Williamson County commissioners for an ethics violation related to the promotion of that same bond package. The Ethics Commission found that the commissioners used public funds for political advertising in connection with the Williamson County Road Bonds Program. Each commissioner received and paid a $400 civil penalty for the violation. Several future CTRMA contractors also worked on this bond program.

CTRMA’s board offered Heiligenstein the executive director job on November 5, 2003. He continued to serve on the Williamson County Commissioners Court, voting at its December 2, 2003 hearing, and was formally selected for the CTRMA job on December 9. Thus one of the persons responsible for creating CTRMA found himself in the authority’s top position."

Mike Heiligenstein couldn’t be trusted to give his own child financial support, while rolling in the dough. He failed to follow Texas law and manage his own finances.

Mike Heiligenstein in no regular crook, he’s figured out how to work the system and benefit by being a taxpayer parasite. Parasite - from the Greek word parasitos, meaning "one who eats from another's table."

The bloated Williamson County toll authority plans to create a slush fund by tolling Travis County Freeways. Note that Williamson County has no plans to toll roads it has already paid for, but instead it is getting free roads by using “Pass Through Financing”. Note that the Statesman endorsed the double tax toll plan in 2004, and they have failed to report ANY of this information. The Austin American Statesman removed my article and deleted my complete blog when I posted these facts on my Statesman blog, to protect Heiligenstein.

This article is part one of a twelve part series. 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.

This time, the WilCo crooks want to get into our wallets daily, as our families drive to work, school and shop.

Houston Chronicle: Guv's funny tax numbers

A Great Article from the Houston Chronicle on how Gov. Perry's tax, debt, smoke and mirrors don't add up. "

"Don't spend that $2,000 Gov. Perry is promising you.":

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/3901143.html

Gov. Perry TTC Land Grab Out of Control

Maybe we should let a foreign company tell us were we can live, eat, and work next.

There is an incredible admission by Gov. Rick Perry's landgrabbers here in this Star-Telegram article:

"About 100 North Texas elected officials and business leaders had traveled to Austin to ask the commission to force Cintra Zachry to build the highway as a loop around Dallas-Fort Worth. But the commission refused."

“If you aggressively invite the private sector to be your partner, you can’t tell them where to build the road,” commission Chairman Ric Williamson of Weatherford said."

Travis County Taxpayer$ Keep Paying MORE.

For two years the people of Travis County have been told, by the powers that be, that we must place toll booths on our freeways because there is no more money.

We've been told there is no other solution.

Yet a new TMMP report shows how, Williamson County, Hays County and San Marcos are taking advantage of a smart financing solution that will allow them to acquire hundreds of millions of dollars of "toll booth free" roads.

Travis County Commissioners (contact them today) should care enough for its taxpayers to look into the "pass through financing" immediately, otherwise we'll be the first city in the country to ever privatize and toll our public highways.

I believe the freeway toll tax on Travis County families and businesses will slow down our local economy, just as the toll booths will slow down our traffic.

19 cities and counties in Texas have applied for pass-thru financing to date.

USA Today: The real cost of toll roads could be American lives

Gas-price impact on toll roads feared

All Toll Roads have Traffic and Revenue Studies that carefully map out the viability of the project. As I've reported on this blog last week, the Official statement for Austin's 183A toll road states that if gas costs more than $3.00 a gallon over the next 40 years, it will not profit. Austin 130 toll road has a ceiling of $2.50 per gallon over the next 40 years.

Below is a San Antonio Express article from today. The Statesman endorsed the plan to privatize and toll our public highways in 2004. The Statesman has yet to retract that endorsement and they have failed to do any serious investigative reporting about the corruption that surrounds the Austin freeway tolls.

Gas-price impact on toll roads feared
05/24/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Patrick Driscoll
Express-News Staff Writer

Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson doesn't care much for toll roads anyway, but now he has a new worry.

Perennially high gas prices could prove to be a sure damper for growing traffic congestion as motorists flee to buses, double up more often in their cars and move closer to jobs.

And without congested streets, toll lanes are money losers. Drivers won't pay toll fees if they can get somewhere just as fast on free roads.

So with gas prices expected to remain high through next year and global production of conventional oil projected to peak in two to four decades, if not sooner, what could toll-road planners be thinking, says Adkisson, who sits on the Metropolitan Planning Organization board.

The board has approved plans for 75 miles of toll roads in San Antonio, and those projects could each have bond paybacks of 40 years or so — plenty of time for high gas prices to sabotage good intentions.

"Come on, it's just a matter of time before it goes to $4," Adkisson said.

And if that time comes, many toll projects could be doomed.

Adkisson is trying to get the planning board to plan now for those impacts. This week, he asked the rest of the board to consider doing a study on how gas prices could change driving habits and what the implications would be for upcoming highway projects.

"The more we sweat right now, the less we'll bleed later," he said. "I don't think we should immerse ourselves in the more grandiose forms for infrastructure. I think toll roads is pretty grandiose."

The matter is at least worthy to discuss, said City Councilman Richard Perez, who chairs the planning board. The issue could be on next month's agenda.

"I'm open to whatever the policy board is interested in discussing," he said. Adkisson isn't just culling numbers off the Internet to feed his fears.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts production of conventional oil could peak in 2037, while a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report last September said that could be happening now — or about to.

It will take more than a decade to mitigate increasingly short oil supplies, says a study sponsored by the U.S. Energy Department.

Toss in insatiable growth in China and India, tensions in the Middle East and lack of refining capacity and gas prices — now averaging $2.88 a gallon nationwide for regular unleaded, according to AAA — could continue to soar, some say.

"There is good reason to believe that we are at the start of a long, steady climb in the price of gasoline," said local transportation consultant Bill Barker, who arms toll critics with data. "In fact, we seem to be right on track with a prediction by CIBC World Markets for $100-per-barrel oil by 2010, which should put gasoline at $3.50 per gallon in the near future."

The Energy Information Administration, which is notorious for low-balling its estimates, is much more positive. Officials project prices will stay high through next year, drop and then end up at $2.19 a gallon by 2030 — in 2004 dollars.

"I wouldn't bet on it," one agency official confided.

A better bet, the official said, would be to go with the agency's high-price scenario, which puts gas at more than $3 a gallon by 2030 — also in 2004 dollars.

That could jeopardize toll revenues needed to pay off bonds for two Austin-area toll projects — Texas 130 and Highway 183A, both slated to open next year.

Bond statements by Vollmer Associates assume gas prices won't top the U.S. peak set in 1980, which, when adjusted for inflation, would be more than $3 a gallon in 2005. Average daily prices last September reached $2.92 in Austin and $3.06 nationwide, AAA said.

Vollmer officials didn't return phone calls.

Nevertheless, Cherian George, head of transportation at Fitch Ratings, which rates the creditworthiness of bonds, said he isn't alarmed.

When gas prices spike, as they did after hurricanes Katrina and Rita smashed Gulf Coast oil rigs and refineries last year, motorists will drive less, but price upswings would have to be much more significant to put toll roads at risk, he said.

That's because people will cut vacations and other side trips before doing away with their commutes, George said.

"People have to get to work," he said. "Other discretionary or less essential choices will have to be done away with."

Results last fall were mixed for toll roads.

Two New Jersey toll roads lost millions of dollars in toll collections because of rising gas prices coupled with a winter storm, the Asbury Park Press reported. But Harris County Toll Road Authority officials said that, aside from a dip in September when Houston was evacuated, toll-road use has grown unabated.

Nearly nine of 10 Americans changed their behavior when gas prices were rising last fall, according to a survey done for the Urban Land Institute.

The most common change was combining stops into one trip, followed by eliminating non-commute trips, buying a fuel-efficient car, bicycling and walking more, considering moving closer to work, sharing more rides and riding buses or trains more.

In San Antonio, people flocked to the buses. From October through March, ridership jumped 12.9 percent compared with the same time the year before, VIA Metropolitan Transit officials said.

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Gov. Perry's TxDOT is out of the transportation business.

Letter in yesterday's Houston Chron:

Tollway new, but underbuilt

I CAN'T believe we built a new toll road so small. I got on the new Westpark Tollway and it was backed up for miles. And toll roads should not go down to one lane. What were the highway planners thinking?

CHARLES R. ESKRIDGE JR. Houston

SA community against both tolls and the elevated lanes

Ocean of Red Ink: $10 Billion+

There is the ocean of red ink the toll lobby forgot to mention when they were scamming the public on CAMPO's freeway toll plan.

They managed to keep the implied costs hidden earlier, but now they are being forced to show their hand in CAMPO's freshly released Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan. The funding gap of over $10 Billion is revealed in the CAMPO TMMP text below.

http.//www.campotexas.org/pdfs/FinalDraft_2006TMMP_Web.pdf

See page 40:

"... An estimated $10 billion more than is expected in the CAMPO 2030 Plan is needed to meet TMMP needs and goals. The region is working to maximize the effectiveness of traditional funding and secure the additional funding needed through available innovative mechanisms..."

The innovative mechanisms includes taking on more debt. The theft of our freeways is already in the financial mix. Privatizing and tolling public highways is a new experiment for the U.S.

The SH 130 Toll Road: Your Money Pit

The SH 130 Toll Road East of Austin is the single largest Toll Road construction project in the nation, and investors wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

SH 130 Toll Road was simply too risky for the investor.

Since it was not a viable project for investors (read this complete article carefully to have your jaw drop firmly on the floor), our politicos offered up our tax dollars and our debt to get Gov. Perry's Trans Texas Corridor "primer" built. Even though we pay for it, we need to pay the toll again if we want to drive it - just like the plan to toll most of Austin's freeways.

Don't think you should pay for it? Heck, you voted to pay for it, under the guise of another tricky bond package.

In November 2000, Austinites voted for $150,000,000 worth of Austin city bonds to add new roads and some other stuff. We all assumed the City of Austin ballot language meant we were paying for new roads, but instead, over the last 6 years, 80% of our bond dollars have funded our own money pit - the 130 toll road.

The actual ballot language:

Nov. 7, 2000 election 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 INFRACTRUCTURE, 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

On March 7, 2006, Councilman Raul Alvarez asked the city to reveal where our November 2000 city bond money was being spent. Some of the information from this article comes from the department of public works response to Raul Alvarez.

100% of the first five years worth of Austin bond money, $67.2 million to be exact, went for SH 130 toll road right of way. Not one penny was spent on any other item listed on the ballot. Meanwhile those of us who live inside Austin are also paying more via our Travis County property taxes for Williamson County's portion of SH 130.

To be fair, in the last year, about $16 million has been used for other purposes - like widening roads. Roads like the ones that lead to SH 130 toll road. About $5 million of the $16 is listed as "design or the preliminary phase of construction for Pedestrian Infrastructure".

A Chronicle article from October 2000 (just before the election) says that $20 million was promised for bike and ped projects. It also says:

"If approved, Prop. 1 would dedicate $130 million for road projects"

and

"corridors receiving high priority would likely include Barton Springs Road, Cesar Chavez, Airport Boulevard, South First, Giles Road, and Hwy. 183"

and

"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"

Here are the last 2 lines of the Dept of Public Works document sent to Alverez:

"The November 2000 Proposition 1 Bonds are the only current source of future funding for street capacity improvements. The planned 2006 Bond Election does not include any funding for street capacity improvements."

Note to Self: NEVER vote for any items placed on the ballot by politicians.

Of course, the above is a tiny example of how politicos steal your money for 130 and other pet projects. According to TIME Magazine's article, "The next wave in super highways or a Big, Fat Texas Boondoggle?" 12/04, the project costs $1.5 Billion dollars. TIME also said this of Gov. Perry, "Since 1997, he has received more than $1 million from highway interests, according to reports filed with the Texas ethics commission."

Here's the real kicker. Yes, it gets worse.

Our SH 130 Toll Road (that we can't drive unless we pay the toll again) has yet to open, and according to a 130 traffic and revenue statement, it's already failed.

An Official Statement for SH 130 from 2002 says the revenue forecasts in the Traffic and Revenue Report are based on the assumption that motor fuel will remain in adequate supply and motor fuel prices will not exceed $2.50 per gallon (over the next 40 years).

Whoopsi!

But, don't worry, that means Cintra will get it at a discount, when they cut a secret deal with Gov. Perry so they can profit off your hard earned tax dollars. And the special interests who fund city council campaigns will surely profit off developing what you paid for.

VIDEO: Evil Traffic Jam

TexasInsider.org: Anti-Toll Stealth Campaign Knocks Out Vice Chair of Regional Planning Authority

Anti-Toll Stealth Campaign Knocks Out Vice Chair of CAMPO!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2006
AustinTollParty.com
Contact: Sal Costello
Sal at TexasTollParty dot com

Anti-Toll Stealth Campaign Knocks Out
Vice Chair of Regional Planning Authority.

Austin, TX - While all eyes were on the Austin City ballot, the Austin Toll Party quietly ran a stealth campaign to unseat the Mayor of Westlake Hills who is also the Vice Chair of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO). CAMPO is the regional authority that gave approval for the Phase II Toll Plan.

The campaign hammered Mayor Dwight Thompson for his toll road votes in 2004 and 2005.

Sal Costello, founder of Austin Toll Party said, "We are ecstatic that we've removed the Vice Chair of CAMPO, Dwight Thompson, who voted to toll roads we've already paid for. To date we've helped win two of the first two local toller vs. nontoller races we've focused on. I am confident that we will replace every toller that has ignored the public's will, and therefore stop the privatization and tolling of our public highways."

Mayor Dwight Thompson's opponent and now Mayor-Elect, Mark Urdahl, was approached three weeks before the election by Westlake Hills resident, Austin Toll Party member and Grammy Award winner Jimmy Vaughn. Vaughn found out that Mark Urdahl opposed the Austin Toll Plan and the toll party went right to work. Last year, Jimmy Vaughn played a benefit concert for the Austin Toll Party called "Tunes not Tolls."

Richard Reeves of the Austin Toll Party, said, "Before the toll party stepped into the race, our Westlake Hills tracking poll showed Mark Urdahl losing with 40% of the vote to Thompsons 60%. The same poll revealed a whooping 88% opposed the freeway toll plan. Most of the Dwight Thompson supporters also opposed tolls, so we quickly informed them of his toll advocacy to suppress his turnout. The election night results show we impressively moved the race by 15 points in less than 2 weeks." By the end of election night Mark Urdahl won 55% of the total vote to Dwight Thompson's 45%.

Costello gives a lot of credit to Austin Toll Party members and a wide spectrum of coalition partners from the Libertarian, Democrat, Republican and Independent parties who all oppose the Austin Toll Plan.

"I actually had an Austin City Council candidate, Wes Benedict, take time out of his campaign to work with us the day before his election! He helped us hand deliver hundreds of copies of Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn's report that exposes the toll plan as "Double Taxation without Accountability". We slipped in one of our "Dump Dwight Thompson" direct mail pieces and delivered them door to door to folks that had not yet voted," said Sal Costello.

Sal Costello, who has won national design and marketing awards for clients such as Hallmark, Wrangler and PepsiCo, also creates the anti-toll strategies and campaigns that have proven to be so effective. To date his work for Austin Toll Party has been Pro Bono. Costello implemented what could be called his anti-toll graphic trademark with the Thompson/Urdahl race - a picture of the candidate with a crown and sash that says "Toll Road Emperor."


In 2004, CAMPO asked the public for feedback on the plan that includes tolls on Loop 360, MoPAC, Hwy 71, US 290 and US 183. This marked the first time in the U.S. that public highways would shift to tollways. The majority of the CAMPO board voted for the toll plan after 93% of the public feedback opposed the idea. Sal Costello says that is when he decided to form the group that opposes the shifting of public highways to tollways. Austin Toll Party is not opposed to all toll roads, only the ones that privatize and toll public highways.

Even though the first Phase II Toll Road vote took place in 2004, the first toller vs. non-toller race for Austin took place in this year's primary. Earlier this year, the toll party focused on long-time incumbent, Travis County Commissioner, Karen Sonleitner for her "Yes" vote and helped Sarah Eckhardt win with 57% in the recent primary election. Sarah Eckhardt has no primary party opposition in November.

#####

HB1 Shortchanges Our Children's Schools Gives Big Oil and Big Business a $400 Million Tax Holiday

Gag law may hinder toll-study discussions

Unclean Austin Chronicle.

The buck stops here.
Austin Chronicle founder and editor Louis Black

The direction of most newspapers is in the hands of the editors. But even if the editors are heavy handed with their opinions, the integrity and neutral nature of a good reporter can shine through.

It crosses ethical boundaries for a reporter to write about issues he profits from.

Mike Clark-Madison, has been working with TateAustin for over a year and continues to write for the Austin Chronicle as if there is no conflict.

Mike joined TateAustin after many months of writing curiously lopsided pro-toll news for the Chron.

Tate Austin is a Public Relations, Public Affairs, and Ad Agency with relationships with local special interests like CTRMA, LCRA, Grande Communications, Hart InterCivic and others who have benefited from closed government.

TateAustin has about 1 million dollars worth of contracts with the Toll Authority (CTRMA). State Rep. Terry Keel and Comptroller Strayhorn have confirmed that TateAustin is getting paid with our gas tax dollars to tell us how tolls on Austin roads we've already paid for are the best thing since sliced bread.

TateAustin represented and may still represent AMD. AMD is listed by name in Prop 2.

I don’t have a dog in the AMD fight. I do have an issue with special interests and the media not playing by the rules and tricking the public.

Last weeks campaign finance report for Committee For Austin’s Future (CFAF PAC), the special interest lobby Political Action Committee that is opposed to Prop 1 & 2, shows TateAustin gave an "in-kind" contribution of $7500 for video.

ABSURD AND OFFENSIVE

The special interests get more bang for their buck as TateAustin’s Mike Clark-Madison masquerades as an unbiased reporter for the Chron.

And, the charade goes further as the CFAF PAC brags via television commercials about how Austin Chronicle reporter Mike Clark-Madison says these props are “not open and not clean”.

Damn. This city needs an enema!

Last week, Mike Clark-Madison, as an employee of TateAustin wrote "Unclean Hands" opposing Props 1 & 2, while deriving personal gain from the same special interests who benefit from closed government. Too bad his “Unclean Hands” article wasn’t an expose on himself.

Also last week, the Chron's founder and editor, Louis Black wrote an article called "If you oppose these propositions, you must be on the take".

Sounds like he's got the title right.

Why can't those in incestuous business relationships realize they are crossing the line?

As one of the two top newspapers for a city of 1 million, the Austin Chronicle’s ties with the special interests further erodes the public trust.

We could use an alternative newspaper here in Austin.

VIDEO: Mini documentary about the Austin Toll Roads!

KLRU PBS produced a mini documentary about the
Austin Toll Roads and the AUSTIN TOLL PARTY!

It aired this weekend and you can watch it online
right NOW!

Click here for Part 1 of 2 (6 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTPeBC3tH2k

Part 2 of 2 (6 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hAfblQCf14

Houston Chronicle: Toll road proposal draws fire, officials are incensed at TxDOT "surprising and outrageous" price

Tolls hurt local economy

Report highlights how Tolls effect local economy. I've been saying that Austinites paying $3,000 to $4,000 in tolls a year to drive on our freeways will cripple our local ecomony:

Report Shows Congestion Tax Would Hurt New York Business
Queens Chamber of Commerce report shows a congestion tax would cost the New York City, New York economy $1.9 billion a year. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/10/1056.asp

Two reports from across the United States highlight the problems of HOV:

Report: HOV Lanes Increase Congestion
A report examines nearly five years of travel data and concludes that HOV lanes have increased congestion in San Francisco. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/10/1047.asp

Virginia Commuters Outraged by HOV Enforcement
Virginia State Police carpool lane enforcement effort backfires as irate commuters flood switchboards with complaints. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/609.asp

TxDOT fails to present a alternative that would work to Fort Bend Businesses

The Art of War

"Attack him where he is unprepared,
appear where you are not expected."
– Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Toll Road Violators Could Owe Thousands In Fines

Hoodwinked neighborhood? Or bought and paid for?

Hoodwinked neighborhood? Or bought and paid for?

Since I wrote the article about OHAN being Hoodwinked by the toll lobby (RECA) and other special interests last week, I've received a number of emails.

The emails suggest that OHAN was not hoodwinked, but instead bought and paid for, therefore selling out to the special interests who benefit from the Open Government amendment being defeated.

Most of the emails also mention that Stratus and AMD, who seek to keep secret deals a secret, are now members of OHAN (Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods).

This Sanity Island article from August of 2005 shines more light. Back then it was about OHAN pushing for AMD's new development:

"OHAN never bothered to check their facts, they just quoted what was handed to them by AMD. And now they compromise everything they claim to represent by accepting the very corporations into their membership that are causing the controversy."

Looks like OHAN is still on the same track. Just days ago OHAN had a one sided debate/presentation. So much for fairness for their members. The article also states:

"...shame on OHAN for not doing a better job of investigating the facts before jumping to conclusions."

And apparently, according to Sanity Island, OHAN started taking contributions from Stratus and AMD in 2005 as well.

As far as I know, OHAN doesn't file financial reports, so we wouldn't know if RECA or others who benefit from the secret deals have also given them money to toe the line.

Latest Gov. race - KEYE & WOAI Poll

39% Perry
25% Strayhorn
16% Kinky
15% Bell
3% undecided
3% another candidate

1,200 interviewed for KEYE-TV Austin & WOAI-TV sponsored poll
Sampling error 4%

N. Texas pushes TTC/Toll Option

A Mayor's TTC Letter to State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson in Waco Tribune:

As printed in Waco Tribune:

Friday, April 28, 2006
Toll highway pitfalls

To State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, who says of the Trans-Texas Corridor [April 12, Page 1] “they need to do it the right way”: Well, Sir, I haven’t seen anything about this project done the “right way,” from its midnight approval through discussing routes in secret.

I want to toss at state officials just one probability that will happen with this project:

When TTC-35 is constructed and long-term managed by this foreign company, and the toll lanes are open, there will be an ongoing revenue evaluation for profitability.

Let’s suppose it will cost you $20 to $30 to travel from Waco to Austin, but you decide to travel Interstate 35 for no toll. This foreign company will complain to our elected officials until I-35 will become under its long-term management and become a toll road for profit as well.

Our great state, with the best land and highways, will become hijacked for profit because this “was just a vague concept and not something to oppose” as stated by Sen. Averitt.

Wow. Define “vague” now, Senator. How vague is it now to almost a million Texans whose residences, school districts, businesses and farms lie in the pathway of this “concept”?

Mike Glockzin
mayor
City of Hallsburg

Neighborhood group Hoodwinked by Special Interests.

Last week's Oak Hill Gazette front page headline and story, "OHAN takes a stand against amendments" was disturbing.

The article with picture of presenter Linda Rife, told the story of the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods (OHAN) meeting with a one sided presentation (from Linda Rife) that worked the room into a tizzy, to oppose the Austin Open Government Online amendment.

GET THIS.

For some reason nobody was scheduled to speak FOR the amendment. According to the article, that lopsided debate caused OHAN to formally oppose the amendment.

I did a little research and found out that Linda Rife, who gave the one-sided presentation, is a high paid professional political strategist who works for the same people who benefit if the Open Government amendment fails.

Financial reports show Linda Rife was paid $13,000, within a two week period last month, by the Committee for Austin's Future PAC. This committee, as reported in the AA Statesman, is funded by the same people that have been pushing the secret deal of two years ago - the privatizing and tolling our public freeways here in Austin.

That toll lobby is the Real Estate Council of Austin (RECA) and its developer members who have more influence on TxDOT than citizens. RECA is also known to have more influence with special interest politicians whose campaigns benefit from their fat checks.

Linda Rife also works as a consultant for TateAustin. TateAustin has numerous contracts with the Williamson County heavy freeway tolling authority. TateAustin will be telling the public how the double tax toll roads are the best thing since sliced bread.

It's important to note that both State Rep. Terry Keel and Comptroller Strayhorn have confirmed that TateAustin is getting paid with our gas tax dollars to sell us on this new toll tax scheme.

I know some of the OHAN leadership, and consider them friends. It appears they have been hoodwinked.

I am also shocked they didn't have a balanced debate on the important Open Government amendment that night.

I know first hand, after submitting over 100 requests for information from our local governments, that public information is very difficult (and a very dragged out process) to get.

This incident shows how low the special interests will go to stop this important amendment and keep siphoning tax dollars out of our pockets with back room deals with Austin officials.

Secret Deals = Higher Taxes.

Open, transparent government will always costs LESS than closed-door, insider dealmaking with our tax dollars in play.

Sure city councilmembers and special interests want to keep making their back room deals. Sure they don't want transparency.

Here's just a few examples, other than tolls on our freeways, of why our taxes are so high.
Why we need the Open Government Online amendment - Prop 1:

LCRA - $100 million of taxpayer CASH diverted for a $1.1 billion 50-year water deal. The deal was negotiated in private by off-the-books outside legal counsel. After the deal was approved, both the Austin City Manager and the head of the City waster and wastewater department took jobs at LCRA.

Austin Police Department Contract - $483 million contract that was secretly negotiated. Public safety budget, mostly the police contract, now takes up 65% of the city's general budget. The back room deal also keeps Austin Police misconduct records a secret, which is in direct contrast to thousands of other law enforcement agencies in Texas that have misconduct records open to the public.

Simon Property Group - $37 million in sales and property tax rebates for the Domain Shopping Center, including a Neiman Marcus store. This is a first – giving developers of a shopping center tax rebates when they will compete against all the other taxpaying businesses in Austin.

Replacing Green Water Treatment Plant - $227 million proposed – with no public input - to build a new water treatment in City parkland.

How will rising gas prices effect Gov. Perry's Freeway Toll Roads?

Double Tax Gov. Perry and his crooked ways.

"Perry appears to have an affirmative-action program for wealthy donors."

1 in 3 Perry appointees donated to campaigns.

Special Sessions for Special Interests