Houston Light Rail Ballot Dispute
Picking up where Congressman and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay left off regarding Houston’s desire for light rail, local Cong. John Culberson is demanding certain ballot language for the election slated later this year.
Metro rail ballot plan disputed ;
Congressman disagrees with form proposal should take Copyright 2003 The
The Houston Chronicle April 29, 2003
Metro’s campaign to sell a $ 3.3 billion rail transit plan to voters in November is only a week old, but the agency is already at odds with a key congressman over the form the ballot proposal will take.
Metropolitan Transit Authority Board Chairman Arthur Schechter said U.S. Rep. John Culberson - who inherited the federal transit purse strings for Houston-area projects from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay - initially wanted the November transit referendum to include a separate vote on each element of Metro’s plan.
“That won’t work because you need a system plan, with connectors - a holistic approach,” said Schechter in a meeting Monday with the Chronicle editorial board.
But Culberson, R-Houston, said Monday he is only insisting on two conditions.
First, the $ 2.5 billion, 41-mile light rail component (plus a $ 200 million commuter rail segment to Fort Bend County) must stand alone on the ballot, with its cost and routes spelled out in detail.
Second, he said, there must be a separate item on Metro’s proposal to end its annual cash payments to member governments for streets, sidewalks, traffic signals and other “general mobility” uses.
Houston, Harris County and 11 other cities in the Metro service area receive 25 percent of the proceeds from the agency’s 1 cent sales tax - Katy, Humble and Missouri City get 50 percent. Metro proposes to end those payments in 2009.
Culberson’s support - or at least his neutrality - is crucial to Metro because he is the only Texan on the transportation subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. This makes him the successor to DeLay, R-Sugar Land, as gatekeeper for federal transportation dollars here.
DeLay has blocked Metro from spending any federal dollars on its current rail line, scheduled to be running Jan. 1 from downtown to Reliant Park. But Culberson said he would not oppose future rail funding if voters approve it.
Culberson vowed to work against Metro in the referendum, however, if the rail proposal is bundled with a proposed $ 800 million for additional buses, HOV lanes and other goodies to make the whole package more desirable.
Because Metro officials say they cannot build a rail system without recovering the 25 percent general mobility share, Culberson’s double-barreled referendum ballot would give rail opponents two chances to kill the plan.
“Metro is responsible for educating voters about what they propose, and explaining to voters the effects of their vote,” Culberson said. “Voters deserve no less detail than the Federal Transit Agency requires, or a bank would require of a loan applicant.”
Schechter says splitting the ballot won’t work. “Part of the system is buses and HOV lanes and part of it is rail,” he said. “It’s impossible to break out one or the other and still create a system.”
But he said Metro can certainly comply with Culberson’s demand that the rail plan and its costs be stated accurately. “We want the public to know exactly what they are voting on,” he said.
“I think Congressman Culberson’s goal is transparency in the public’s understanding, and I don’t see why we can’t sit down and work that out,” Schechter said.
With opposition already hardening and mayoral candidates weighing in on the plan, Schechter said he sees the danger of “a circular firing squad” developing - in which each side shoots at the other, to the harm of all.
“Right now the polls indicate strong support for what we’re doing,” Schechter said.
But he added: “We’re on the cusp of an opportunity for significant disaster.”