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

AGAIN? METRO HAS A LONG HISTORY OF MISMANAGING AND UNDERESTIMATING PROJECTS

Metro loves telling everyone how smart they are, and how great they are at planning and managing their money.  But it is all a big fat lie:

"Costs on rise for Metro's North County Transit Center"- from St. Louis Post Dispatch 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/b9d5cc90-3ac9-5f2c-ac99-8da7d863beb8.html

From the article:

The price tag for Metro’s North County Transit Center on Pershall Road has shot up, leaving a funding shortfall of $1.4 million on the first phase of work.
The center is expected to be a hub of bus operations when it opens sometime before August 2015, officials said.
...
Metro staff said the 2010 estimate was based “upon a basic passenger waiting station and a bus transfer loop with little to no amenities.” Since then, there have been “unforeseen” code requirements and additional items that were not part of the original plan.

First of all, ANOTHER bus center?  And with NO "Amenities" (that means bathrooms).

I REALLY HOPE those unforeseen code requirements are TOILETS! 

AND: Is this money Metro could have spent on a train?

Second, the things they list are all the same things that happened back in 2003-2005 that resulted in this lawsuit and countersuit.  A suit that ending up costing Metro 40 million dollars in fees, court costs and the resulting payment.

http://www.dowdbennett.com/news/jury-orders-transit-agency-to-pay-the-firms-it-sued/ 


Well, I know where they could get that 1.5 Million.  Fire John Nations and six other Metro executives!