Texas Transit Association

… to meet the objections of local congressman.

Metro board changes referendum’s wording
By RAD SALLEE, Houston Chronicle, Sept. 22, 2003

The Metropolitan Transit Authority board voted Monday to change its ballot wording for the Nov. 4 transit referendum, satisfying U.S. Rep. John Culberson’s insistence that the ballot list the seven proposed rail lines up for vote.

The Metro board voted unanimously in a brief special meeting, called to squeeze under the Texas Election Code’s ballot-changing deadline of 45 days before an election. The actual deadline fell on Saturday, but it is customary to extend it to the next business day.

Board Chairman Arthur Schechter said he didn’t think listing the proposed lines on the ballot was “either appropriate or necessary” under state or federal law and that his motion to amend the ballot language was intended “to avoid further controversy and clarify the ballot.”

Culberson said the change was good news.

“A complete and accurate ballot is critical because the ballot is the contract between Metro and the voters,” he said.

Culberson introduced legislation in July that would bar federal funding for “any segment of a light rail system in Houston that has not been specifically approved by a majority of the voters.” The provision has been approved by the House but not yet voted on by the Senate.

Metro is counting on $640 million in matching funds from the Federal Transit Administration for the next 22 miles of rail it wants to build. FTA chief counsel William Sears has issued an opinion that Metro’s previous ballot language failed to satisfy Culberson’s requirement.

Schechter had asked Sears to reconsider his opinion. That may be moot with the new ballot language, but Schechter said late Monday that Metro has not heard back from Sears.

“We are confident that the language passed today satisfies the requirement,” he said.

After Monday’s vote, Culberson said he is satisfied with the new ballot but not with the rail plan itself. He said he will help Metro win federal matching funds for rail if voters approve the plan, but until Election Day, he is urging them to reject it.

Culberson also accused Metro of trying, before the change, to mislead voters into thinking a “yes” vote would authorize only 22 new miles of rail.

“Until today,” he said, ” we did not know that by voting yes we were giving legal approval to the full 73-mile system.”

Metro officials have frequently stated that the $640 million bond issue on the referendum ballot would pay for 22 miles of new rail lines, but they have also said repeatedly that they hope to eventually build out the entire system. A second bond referendum would be needed to approve further expansion.