Now it is Rick Thames’ turn to tell the QC that no matter what, the Uptown paper of record will remain the Uptown paper of record. We’ll see about that.
Thames holds up Clay Barbour’s reporting on CMUD’s trouble with water leaks as an example of the value his paper provides. And so far so good. Barbour went out and compared Charlotte’s experience to other cities, found we are having more leaks than many.
Last Thursday I emailed Barbour about the potential link between light rail and the water leaks. Let’s see if that gets followed up. In fact, lets see if Thames’ paper ever takes anything besides the Uptown party line with regard to light rail. Say, like, the Miami Herald has just done, delving into the promises and goals of its local transit bosses with a critical eye.
Here CATS’ increases fares, blames it on fuel costs, and Thames’ paper does not bother to ask about half-cent sales tax revenue, revenue that is coming in light. That would be the same revenue that immediately prior to the November half-cent referendum, Rob Tober touted as being fully vetted by Bank of America and Wachovia experts for soundness going forward.
Speaking of Tober, he gets away with openly claiming that Charlotte’s light rail plans — including streetcars — will get federal money with an Obama presidency and no one much things this odd — or far-fetched. And about those plans — the North commuter line is MIA, the fantastically expensive Gateway Station left without a train line, the massive change in transit policy embedded in using local property tax dollars to pay for $400m. worth of West Charlotte streetcars, and now untold millions for infrastructure in the Northeast corridor in the latest city capital plan just as our water lines go poof — think there might be a story or two in there?
Not in Thames’ mission-statement.
Bonus Observation: There is a helluva story to be written to put this EpiCenter mess in the proper perspective. Guess I’ll have to write it.
