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!
 

METRO, OPTINSTL IS DRIVEN BY YOU

Metro, you not only drive me (verrrryyyy slowwlllly) where I am going, you also drove me to activism.

Just when I think you can't be anymore ridiculous, you prove me wrong.

Today, on my transfer from the #16 at the Delmar Metrolink, as I ran around for twenty minutes trying to find a bathroom before I peed my pants (the hot dog place is gone, and the library doesn't have bathrooms, and the restaurants only have them for customers) I picked up a West End Word.

Imagine my delight at finding an article about a new $9 million station at Sarah street, that includes a bike rack and other "amenities".  (What amenities??? Despite the fact the most humans possess bladders, the news also does not consider toilets worthy of reporting.  Metro claims they have "amenities" at every station- but since they don't have toilets at most Metrolink and Metro bus centers, we have to assume they mean something else.  Like ticket machines, and security, and signs, and bike racks, or something.)

Of course, Metro, me and all the other real public transit riders know what this proposed new station is really about.  This is about Cortex getting to put its name on a piece of real estate under the guise of "job creation" because it is "key to achieving the company's goals." 

This is about Cortex, not YOU public transit rider!

Dennis Lower, president and CEO of Cortex, said the proposed station is key to achieving the company's goals of being an international standard for innovation communities."

Cortex has its sights set on the creation of a sustainable, walkable twenty-four/seven community and becoming a center for job creation," he said. "Our redevelopment plan includes work spaces, residential development, retail establishments and evening destinations. The development will attract international businesses with expectations of reliable and convenient public transportation. The MetroLink stop will serve the Cortex workforce and will be viewed as a regional connector."

http://www.westendword.com/Articles-Area-News-c-2014-04-08-192011.114137-9-Million-Price-Tag-On-Proposed-MetroLink-Station-For-Midtown.html

Metro, Mr. Lower, and the rest of you lot, we need a metrolink or two in north city and county.  We need toilets at every facility.  We need real jobs and real community development, not something that taxpayers fund for private companies to put their name on and claim credit for.  We do not want our $1 of funds to make Cortex $4 richer.

(Metro claims that every a dollar a "community" puts towards public transit "the community" gets $4 in return from Metro's government funding.  Pretty vague statistics meant to disguise what is really going on.)

Yes, Mr. Lower, we know that Metro CEO John Nations can expect a nice fat campaign contribution to his political career when he dumps Metro (he likes to tell his employees that he is only doing this for a few years to get his political career lined up-- of course, the private car and $250,000 a year salary don't hurt him either).

Mr. Lower, your company is named for part of the human brain, but you aren't very smart.  There is nowhere "greener" than a community without cars.  And you know there are a lot of places that need housing and retail and work spaces in this city.  But you aren't really planning on doing anything new or innovative, are you?

And seriously-- 800 boardings a day-- and almost 20 years to add 1000 more?  Pathetic.

And when you say "job creation" I wonder if you really mean minimum wage jobs in retail and restaurants, that workers will ride the bus two or three hours to get to?  With a big huge corporate Cortex logo on the building.  And "international businesses" setting up shop.  (Nice doublespeak for "multinational corporation".)

Yeah. We get it.

Mr. Lower, you seem like another crap human being.  Sorry. Your big cortex and you can't do anything more than figure out a way to spend $9 million dollars ripping out the current CWE station, moving it a few blocks, rebranding it with the Cortex logo, and building up another "development" that may or may not catch on, and may or may not include local companies, and may or may not have anything to offer anyone but yourselves and few already rich developers and politicians?

Just so that it is easy for your white collar workers to park and ride the Metrolink and bring their bicycles? Wow.

I mean that is JUST what St. Louis needs right now-- ANOTHER METRO STATION in between Grand and CWE.  You know, if the parts of the city that relied on public transit the most had a train, and there were bathrooms, and programs for low income to get discount passes, and "feasibility studies" weren't based on 80 participants, a big bioscience center, and greedy businessmen, but instead on transit riders needs-- yeah, great go forth with your little plan!

But there are lots of other very obvious CEREBRAL INNOVATIONS this city needs, and I guess you geniuses won't be the ones to provide them!

Hey Metro executives, I forgot to charge my phone last night, or you would have heard from me A LOT today, but I am gonna call you EXTRA tomorrow!  We have a lot to talk about.

Like how you say you don't have the $9 million, and you are going to the Federal Transit Authority.  You don't deserve one dime of federal money (income taxes), state money (property and income taxes), or city money (sales taxes).   You don't deserve our fares!

Tomorrow I am calling the FTA, too.   I bet they know just what I can do to stop you.