So very much to clip-n-save in this little drama.
Poor Anthony Foxx. He was at the same West Charlotte pre-transit tax repeal confab as me to hear Ron Tober quite clearly promise those within earshot a streetcar in exchange for helping to save the transit tax at the polls. Now even the Uptown paper reports recent history thusly:
A 2006 transit plan calls for the first phase of the streetcar to open in 2018. Prior to a 2007 vote on whether to keep or repeal the half-cent sales transit tax, some streetcar supporters said construction could begin early next decade. The promise helped secure African American support to keep the tax, which remains in place.
So in a way, Foxx is just being 100% consistent to say, damn the costs, full steam ahead. Do what we said we’d do. Foxx is also consistent to point to Eastland Mall and claim that the streetcar will revive East Charlotte. Eastland’s revival via streetcar has long been a selling point for streetcar backers. Of course a streetcar will not put a dent in Eastland’s woes, but at least Foxx is not switching horses in midstream, unlike the Uptown paper of record.
In an editorial for the ages, the Uptown paper wants the Charlotte city council to spend $4.5m. in General Fund revenue on the gamble — its word — that somehow millions in federal dollars will materialize to help pay for $500m. worth of streetcars. Should that pick-six hit, the paper then advocates building the line in drips-and-drabs, a completely pointless exercise for a supposed transportation option. Eastland? Screw it, start over by Johnson C. Smith and don’t forget the stretch of Elizabeth Ave. forever ruined by CDOT with streetcar tracks. Oh, and Charlotte Trolley has a trolley we might be able to use.
In short, it is the complete abandonment of a comprehensive, coherent transit plan. The city is just supposed to throw General Fund dollars at the hope, the dream of some kind of train running somewhere in Charlotte with some future source of funding. And this Uptown paper tells readers is “savvy.” Like I said, one for the ages.
But then we come to Pat McCrory. The mayor has twisted and turned so many times on this issue that I doubt he knows where he started. However, the upshot is that local Republicans have somehow positioned themselves to the right of Foxx and fellow Democrats on this $4.5m. study. A few weeks out from an election. A day before a GOP primary. Imagine that.
Let’s see how Pat thinks we got here:
There is no city money to pay the $500 million needed to build the streetcar. That isn’t how we planned the Lynx Blue Line, which had funding from the half-cent transit sales tax. Further, there is no pool of money identified to pay the $20 million needed to complete all the engineering studies required just to design the streetcar project. Not only can we not afford to pay for the streetcar right now, but we must continue to make tough financial decisions to fund our basic needs, such as public safety and street maintenance.
There was never any city money to pay for the streetcar, yet in 2008 the city agreed to take on the project from CATS, which was supposed to build it using half-cent transit tax dollars. That was the plan Pat agreed to and supported. Meanwhile, the city has no problem spending millions in capital dollars on infrastructure associated with the Northeast line to UNCC. Must be more important that public safety and streets, right?
I support the vision of building a streetcar route from Beatties Ford Road to Eastland Mall as part of our mass transit plan. However, due to the tremendous economic downturn, reality conflicts with this vision. While we all may want the streetcar, the immediate need for this corridor is to revitalize Eastland Mall and to continue our infrastructure investments such as lighting, sidewalks, expanded roadways and new buses.
How do you support a “vision?” Either the city builds the streetcar with General Fund dollars or CATS builds it with half-cent dollars. As Pat himself has said, there is no magic money coming from Washington that can change that. Here Pat sounds like he wants the streetcar back under the MTC transit plan.
I am supportive of this region and its leaders building off the success of the Lynx Blue Line and moving our city forward on our many transit projects – but within the limited revenue of the voter-approved half-cent sales tax. We must continue to work on those transit lines where there is strong potential to attract state and federal funds, while working within our approved budget.
Wait. How did the streetcar get out from under CATS and the MTC if we are trying to stay “within the limited revenue of the voter-approved half-cent sales tax?” As noted above, streetcar was in the 2006 transit plan Pat and the Uptown crowd told voters was A-OK perfect when cavemen tried to repeal the transit tax in 2007. Taking the streetcar and making the city responsible for it violates Pat’s standard — to the extent it is a standard, I suppose. Here again the mayor seems to be saying that the streetcar should go back under the control of CATS and be built with the half-cent — or not at all.
The mayor also seems to be writing off the North line with this standard: “We must continue to work on those transit lines where there is strong potential to attract state and federal funds.” The North line will never get federal funding due to low projected ridership. When will you vote to kill it, Pat?
I challenge those who want to override my veto to state specifically how they intend to pay for all the engineering studies and the entire streetcar project.
I hereby issue the same challenge to Mayor Pat, John Lassiter and anyone else who supports the billion-dollar plus Northeast line to UNCC.
The fact of the matter is that we are once again being distracted from the larger reality of local transit plan completely at odds with stated financial benchmarks and constraints. Override or no override, Charlotte is in deep trouble and deep denial.