AMENDMENT 7 SHOWDOWN

I can't seem to shut up about Amendment 7.  It is not just an outrage and highway robbery, but also a very clear example of the kind of widespread insolvency our governments are facing nationally.  (It might seem that it started in 2008, but our current corporate plutocracy and income inequality actually go back to 1981 and Reagan.)

I don't even need to point out that it is no coincidence that this comes during the "fight" to pass the highway transportation bill.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/holden_pass_the_highway_transportation_bill-222461-1.html?pg=2&dczone=opinion

The Laborers International Union of North America have joined the construction cartels and made themselves into panhandlers for the proposed statewide sales tax increase. 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/money-flowing-to-missouri-transportation-tax-group/article_5905897d-aa61-55da-814a-fa1faf4c8a6a.html

Theatrical panhandlers with a scare tactic.  They are traveling around with a bus that has a bridge (foam sculpture) crashing down on top of it. 

http://kplr11.com/2014/07/14/local-group-to-use-bus-wreck-to-support-transportation-tax-hike/

I don't blame these guys for working it to get some work.  And I support the unions.  But this sales tax increase is panhandling.  These workers are just some of the recipients of the beggar's cup, even though they know they, too, will pay for it.

Government officials want to do everything BUT raise taxes on the wealthy and increase effective tax rates on the corporate oligarchs.  None of our great leaders is the least bit interested in doing what is right for the people.  All they want is their nice fat campaign contributions and lobbyist gifts to keep coming.

As I-- and many others-- have said before, Metro is not about public transit.  Public Transit is just the excuse for Bi-State Development Agency to funnel government funds for business development and political networking.

The Government is not about Government services, including transportation infrastructure.  Government services are just the excuse for extracting more tax money.

If the government and big business wants more of our (coin) change, they need to create some real change!

Amendment 7 is a good opportunity for we, the people, to demand real change!

These threats of infrastructure collapse and bus crashes, these are scare tactics.  They need to be afraid of us!

“When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.”  -John Basil Barnill

 

“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” -V For Vendetta


OPTINSTL'S previous posts on Amendment 7:

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-you-should-vote-no-on-proposed.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-on-amendment-7-highway-robbery.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/06/vote-no-on-amendment-7-proposed.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/sales-tax-is-new-cash-cow.html

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE NO ON THE PROPOSED STATE WIDE SALES TAX INCREASE

OPTINSTL'S previous posts on Amendment 7, the proposed statewide sales tax increase of 3/4 of a cent, on the ballot in August.

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/sales-tax-is-new-cash-cow.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/06/vote-no-on-amendment-7-proposed.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-on-amendment-7-highway-robbery.html

Today, MO DOT listed the approved projects.  Look no further for proof that this is a huge waste of taxpayer money.

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/47/84795b7f-b8a5-5bbc-9f7b-97b3292ef291/53bb17bf2521f.pdf.pdf

St. Louis starts on about page 14, depending on what you consider St. Louis.

I suggest ever single person--whether you are a registered voter, whether you ride public transit--  reads this very carefully.

First of all, there isn't a lot of public transit on this list. (Only 18% is Public Transit related, according to a NextSTL tweet.)

"Public Transportation" does not always mean buses and Metrolink, or even para-transit.  It includes walking and bike paths, and A LOT of support services.

Below are some OPTINSTL highlights:

St Louis / St Louis City

Fixed funding contribution to Metro for bus rapid transit route

from downtown St Louis to Chesterfield along I-64. Project

delivery is contingent upon $20 million contribution from

Metro.

Public Transportation

$18.00

$20 Million contribution from Metro!!! HAHAHA!  Oh wait, a minute, this is in Chesterfield, so they will rob some other fund to pay for this.

This is Metro CEO John Nations doing his job to make sure no convenient Metrolink service is available to his hometown.  It's okay if "people" ride buses for two or three hours to come from "urban" neighborhoods to bus tables and clean houses. But he doesn't want to many "people" coming from "urban" neighborhoods quickly and easily, for entertainment and shopping, because, you know how those "people" are.

Nations is pretty open about only getting involved with Metro to resolve the "maid crisis" of the 2009 bus lines cuts.  His unemployed, wealthy constituents were suddenly faced with the prospect of cleaning their own houses, because the maids couldn't get to Chesterfield.

(There are LOTS of unemployed people in Chesterfield, but they are called "stay at home mom's" and "investors".  Being unemployed is only bad if you don't have money.  Being poor is the only true crime in the "Land of the Free", the richest country in the world.)

Of course, it is unlikely that a similar Florissant project will get funded. Metro will have to come up with ANOTHER $20 million.   (Again, once MO DOT has the money, they will do whatever they want with it.)

St Louis / St Louis City

Fixed funding contribution to Metro for the bus rapid transit

route from downtown St Louis to I-270 along West Florissant

Ave and Natural Bridge Road. Project delivery is contingent

upon Metro providing $20 million to complete the

improvement.

Public Transportation

$18.00

Yes, you read that right.  They allocate the same amount to West Florissant as Chesterfield.  They have, at least, twice, and probably three times, the amount of riders waiting along West Florissant as Chesterfield.

Even if MO DOT and Metro and our other brilliant leaders were aware of this, and they should be, their own statistics prove it, I doubt Florissant would get the play it deserves.

And with both of these: NO MORE BUSES! These should be Metrolinks.  This is ridiculous.  Really.  These two projects alone should be enough for public transit riders to vote no!

St Louis / St Louis City

Future light rail station

Public Transportation

$8.90

$8.9 Million.  Why yes, that would be the exact amount of money Cortex needs to rip down the old Central West End Metrolink station and move it a few blocks, so they can "realize their business ideal." Cortex is actually a consortium corporation formed by Barnes Jewish, SLU Medical, Washington University and MOBOT/Monsanto.  (Barnes Jewish is tired of transit riders using their bathrooms and cafeterias.) And this will satisfy the other Cortex proponents that Barnes Jewish isn't unfairly served by Metrolink. 

Cortex won't have to pay one red cent to put their big corporate name on the new Metrolink station stop.

 http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/citizens-for-modern-transit-more-rich.html 

St Louis / St Louis City

Studies for light rail expansion and funding scenarios for next

phase

Public Transportation

$2.00

$2 million dollars FOR STUDIES.  They did all these same tired studies for the Madison County and St. Charles Proposed Metrolink expansion and what did it get us?  Nothing.  They don't do the right kind of studies, and they don't make public transit for the people that use it most.  Public transit is developed where corporate and construction developers can make the most money, and Metro executives can keep the biggest slush funds for their bonuses. 

We don't need anymore expensive studies.  It is obvious where the light rail needs to go, and we need a plan.  They keep wasting our money with these feasibility and funding scenarios.  They are inept or corrupt or both.

And this NEW streetcar plan! What a joke!  It mostly runs parallel to the Metrolink, and only adds 2 miles of North/South transit, from downtown to Old North.  And who are these people?  Mostly SLU folk, the same lot that is in on Citizens for Modern Transit and part of the Cortex scam, and they are hungry to suck up federal funds:

St Louis City
Provide fixed funding contribution toward phase I of the St Louis Streetcar system. Project delivery is contingent upon St Louis Streetcar Company providing $271.5 million contribution from other sources, including federal funds and rider fees.
Public Transportation
$25.02

I'd love a streetcar in Old North, but the rest of the plan is just crap.  And that $271.5 million that they are going to contribute is all federal funds.  RIDICULOUS!  This is just robbery that should go to a North South Metrolink.  in fact, that is about third of the money needed to complete a light rail system from the tip of North county to the bottom of South County!!

But too many of these people sit on the East West Gateway Council.  They don't care about making public transit better for people that actually ride it the most.  It's all Shoemal, he's not mayor anymore but he is still running public transit into the ground.

More on St. Louis Streetcar:

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/01/st_louis_streetcar_proposed_tr.php

http://www.downtownstl.org/docs/StLouisStreetcarFeasibilityStudy-Final.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/stlstreetcar/info

What do we have next? Here is a cleverly disguised $18 million grant to the Loop "Folley Trolley":

St Louis City
Funding for Delmar/Forest Park-DeBaliviere Metrolink station improvements, sidewalk/non-motorized improvements along Hodiamont Ave, Delmar Blvd, De Giverville Ave and Des Peres Ave, and connect Ruth Porter Trail to Forest Park
Sidewalk / Non-Motorized
$18.77

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-loop-trolley-is-about-getting.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-loop-trolley-sucking-up-more.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/loop-trolley-police-state.html

There is so much more to get into on this list, and I will add to it as I have the time and investigate, but this should be enough for any voter, particularly transit riders, to vote no on Amendment 7.

You will see more crap like this, as the governments local, state and national try to get support for their insolvency and mismanagement of funds:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/report-america-s-rural-roads-see-too-many-deadly-crashes/article_36dd7c6f-33ad-5e58-b3d9-c88e772323d4.html

Don't believe the hype.

And, seriously, MO DOT is lame.  This is just one example:

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/MoDOT-has-no-solution-for-asphalt-rising-on-Poplar-Street-Bridge-266838601.html

So is the street services department.  And the coordination with utilities and contractors is beyond lame.  It is downright dangerous!  (Again, this is just one example.)

http://www.kmov.com/news/mobile/Hanley-Hills-residents-concerned-about-dozens-of-deep-trenches-in-city-266822951.html

The people in charge are running our city and state into the ground.  TIME FOR CHANGE!

Start by voting NO on AMENDMENT 7!
 

MORE ON AMENDMENT 7: HIGHWAY ROBBERY BENEFITS ONLY THE CONCRETE AND CONSTRUCTION "CARTELS"

OPTINSTL'S previous post about Amendment 7:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/06/vote-no-on-amendment-7-proposed.html

The St. Louis Post Dispatch and their St. Louis Today website have been running some really good opinion pieces and articles on the proposed increased sales tax. 
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-modot-s-list-of-shiny-objects-can-t-obscure/article_20186cfd-9edc-5782-bb59-8b4d54dd2f9b.html

Both terms in this post's title, "Highway Robbery" and "Concrete Cartels", come from this brilliant and well-written Op-Ed:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/stop-missouri-s-highway-robbery/article_68a94d5c-22e8-5af5-b854-a1e0ea14d1b7.html 

And this one is great on who is paying for the "pro" Amendment 7 campaign:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/kevin-mcdermott/transportation-interests-donated-k-to-key-sales-tax-proponent/article_f41d8c5e-cdbc-584d-820f-ea9e7ec2ffce.html

Many people have written in that what we need to do is increase gasoline tax-- ours is the lowest in the nation! Let the trucking companies that use the highways the most pay for the roads!
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-to-the-editor/no-to-raising-missouri-s-transportation-sales-tax/article_ce043f0d-546f-54f9-a27c-d2a3aeb318bc.html

This is great opinion letter, from a transit rider:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-to-the-editor/public-transit-rider-can-t-support-higher-sales-tax/article_87bf77c3-6966-51dc-ab2f-acdd03f577f1.html

And this great piece really spells out the ridiculousness of the few transit related items on the City's wishlist. 
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-to-the-editor/slay-gives-city-residents-reason-to-oppose-transportation-tax/article_b4674df1-ea0f-5eaa-b18a-ee691fc711ef.html 

On the project list biking and pedestrian paths are considered "public transit".  So you might see a lot of X marks in the transit column but read the descriptions carefully. The few that actually deal with bus, trains and streetcars are nothing more than government subsidies to private developers, such as the Loop Trolley, McKee's Northside "Redevelopment" and a Lindell street car that runs parallel to the Metrolink!
https://stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/documents/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=402539

MO DOT has released their final "wishlist" draft, but it isn't readily available to the public, which is just OUTRAGEOUS.  We are being asked to pay for something, but don't get to see the details? A reporter from Associated Press had to file a Sunshine Act request to get the project, and even then, he only reports on what is in it, we do not get to see the actual list.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/missouri-updates-project-list-for-transportation-tax/article_a5dfaf8f-496c-5e1e-9959-a05bd4466c6a.html

And even if we did see the wishlist, that is all it is.  Once they get the money they will do whatever they want with it.  Let's not forget April 2010's Prop A.  It was going to "save" Metro.  And look what they have done with it.  Nothing.  They get the 11 million a year from the city for the Metrolink, but County Executive Charlie Dooley controls the purse strings on the $78 million the county collects.  And even if he is does allot some to Metro, they are still insolvent!

SAY NO TO HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!!

MORE ON AMENDMENT 7:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-to-the-editor/transportation-tax-is-the-wrong-means-to-the-wrong-ends/article_8013b86e-ced2-5e7a-980b-520559989dec.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-to-the-editor/increase-the-gasoline-tax-to-pay-for-publicly-maintained-roads/article_05cce727-f345-53d6-8481-84c8f87d6dcb.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/nixon-opposes-missouri-transportation-sales-tax/article_c1ced8f4-3ee6-55db-b05f-269c0ac54195.html

VOTE NO ON AMENDMENT 7, PROPOSED STATEWIDE SALES TAX INCREASE

EDIT: St. Louis Today posted this great article on Sunday, June 22nd:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/coming-to-a-tv-screen-near-you-missouri-s-sales/article_2b9096df-ce44-5307-9cd2-d1bd34df70bf.html

I have more to say about this topic, but this is the text of the statement to our "leaders" and the leaflet I will be taking to the open hearing tomorrow at the Central Library.  (There is also a hearing today at UMSL and one on Thursday in Cottleville. http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/modot-kicks-public-meetings-transportation-tax-list)
 

17 June 2014

Dear St. Louis City and County, and Missouri “leaders”:

     I find it reprehensible that this state is asking its citizens for MORE MONEY! Especially for “roads and bridges”! One thing we have quite enough of here in St. Louis is road, highway, and bridge construction. We need improved public transit, especially in the areas that use it the most. We need a metrolink that runs from north county to south county. We need high speed rail connecting Saint Louis to Jefferson City, Kansas City, and Columbia.

     These “wish lists” are just fantasy to sell this tax hike to voters. And even the fantasy allocates only $12 million of the $500 million budget to public transit. Once you get our money you will do whatever you want with it. We were told in April of 2010 that Prop A was going to save Metro. In 2013 Prop A collected $78 million in the county and $11 million in the city. Yet all that money has done is pay off the interest on Metro's outrageous debt for the Shrewbury Metrolink extension. Fares are being increased in July and Metro faces continued insolvency.

     And you didn't tell us, back in 2010, that County Executive Charlie Dooley could withhold that $78 million he collects on Prop A and allocate it instead to more roads and bridges. And let's just consider what all this construction is really about: making wealthy companies like Clayco wealthier. Which, of course, makes their contributions to your political campaign funds larger, but does absolutely nothing for the public.

     Why are we being asked to make the already wealthy contractors and developers and engineers of this city even wealthier, when by U-6 numbers we have 10% unemployment, and our schools are failing? I keep hearing about how “attracting talented young professionals” is the key to St. Louis economic growth. This is not only ridiculous, it is offensive.

     Obviously, you do not think that the youth of St. Louis have the capability to become “talented young professionals” with an “entreupreneurial spirit.” If you did you would save our schools, create jobs and internship opportunities, invest in more day care, and give the same investment incentives and tax breaks to local small businesses that you give to these big corporations (who often put the locals out of business!).

     If you believed in your citizens, you would be working to abolish right-to-work legislation, increase the state's minimum wage, and make this a better state for workers. Low wage jobs are the only part of the job sector that is growing. I don't trust a state that makes it more difficult to get unemployment so that it can use the unemployment fund to pay off its debts, and keeps milking sales tax like it is a cash cow.

     We, the people, deserve real leaders. We do not need a County Executive that gives a museum director a half a million dollar a year salary. We do not need a Mayor that governs only the southern, “white” half of the city. We do not need a Metro CEO that supports “right to work”, refuses to negotiate a new union contract with his drivers, is paid $250,000 a year, and gives $5 million a year in “contributions to outside entities.”

     Everything about this city and state's “economic development” is backward and mismanaged (and possibly corrupt). If you can't increase the well being of the people currently living here, with the vast amounts of money we are already giving you, why should we trust you with more money? Why would more people want to move here?

     What are you doing to make the quality of our lives better? For the WHOLE city, not just the middle and upper class citizens. What are you doing to close the $32,000 a year income gap, the “Delmar Divide”, where the median income in north St. Louis is just $8,000 a year, and the south is $40,000?
     The northern half of this city is treated like a reservation or concentration camp, filled with hostile natives, incarcerated by lack of job opportunity, poverty, crumbling neighborhoods, and miserable public transit options. We don't need more Ballpark Villages and Cortex communities. All this does is shift the wealth, it doesn't create more. (Cortex is especially insulting. That they were given DOT TIGER funding, when the obvious outcome of this development is gentrification. And $9 million of taxpayer money to tear down the existing CWE Metrolink station to build a new one a few blocks away? OUTRAGEOUS!)

     We don't need more roads and bridges. We don't need another sales tax increase. We need leaders that can effectively manage the money they have now, and who address the real problems facing our city and state.  

THE PEOPLE SAY “NO” TO AMENDMENT 7!!! 

 

VOTE NO ON “AMENDMENT 7”

THE PROPOSED MISSOURI STATEWIDE SALES TAX INCREASE ON THE BALLOT AUGUST 2014 !

Your vote counts in local and state elections! And even if you cannot vote, you are still a sales tax paying citizen of this state! And St. Louis city and county already have the highest sales tax rates in the state!

Call your local and state representatives and tell them you are against Amendment 7. Tell them you what we need to make this city and state more economically viable! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

WHAT ABOUT OUR SCHOOLS?! Where is all that lottery money going? Why are they asking us for more money for highways and bridges when our kids are suffering in unaccredited and crowded school districts? Where is the funding for after-school and youth programs? Internship opportunities? Scholarships?

WHAT ABOUT PUBLIC TRANSIT AND HIGH SPEED RAIL? In 2010 voters agreed to Prop A to “save” Metro, and yet they are still insolvent! They are raising fares on July 1^st and have not put in a single foot of new Metrolink track in 8 years! We need a statewide speed rail system that links St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Columbia. We don't need more highways!

WHAT ABOUT HOUSING? One hundred thousand homes and lots sit vacant in St. Louis city and county, many bank or city/county owned, and yet we have thousands of homeless. The problem is much larger than just 26 houses in the Ranken Technical College neighborhood! And at the least the vacant lots could be turned into urban farms or “edible” parks, and playgrounds!

WHAT ABOUT JOBS? We need more jobs, and better jobs! More job training! A higher minimum wage! More protection for workers! Stronger unions! More daycare!

GET INVOLVED! THIS IS YOUR MONEY! THIS IS YOUR CITY! THIS IS YOUR STATE!

Governor Jay Nixon: (573) 751-3222

Mayor Francis Slay: (314) 534-2009   mayorslay@mayorslay.com

Board of Aldermen: (314) 622-3287       

County Executive Charlie Dooley: (314) 615-7016

Learn more about Amendment 7 and the proposed projects:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-ten-good-reasons-to-vote-against-the-transportation-sales/article_48a47c71-3a4c-5e0e-b7c2-59d45740bf86.html

http://nextstl.com/2014/05/st-louis-city-produces-project-list-possible-sales-tax-revenue/

http://nextstl.com/2014/06/modot-produces-draft-sales-tax-transportation-project-list/

Join the movement for better public transit: This leaflet was produced by Occupy Public Transportation in St. Louis (OPTINSTL). If you ride public transit, consider boycotting Metro in protest of the fare increase! 

JULY 1^st! STRIKE CITYWIDE! DON'T RIDE!

please print and share this leaflet

optinstl.blogspot.com                      optinstl@gmail.com