Red Line Voter Bypass?
Just when many of us had hoped the Red Line had died, there appeared a way for rail advocates to bypass voter approval for this half billion dollar boondoggle. The projected benefits of this passenger rail line are so poor it failed to meet the minimal requirements for Federal funding. It is certainly hoped the Republicans in the General Assembly will live up to the trust given to them when they rode a wave of conservatism to become the majority in the General Assembly for the first time in over 100 years. MESSAGE TO RALEIGH: Do not let the money grabbers take complete control of this project….it was the voters that put you in office!
After many great accomplishments, the Republicans in Raleigh soon demonstrated clear signs of bowing to rail interests while turning a blind eye to the costs for taxpayers. First they approved spending hundreds of millions of dollars for high speed rail from Charlotte to Raleigh that will decrease the transit time by less than 15 minutes. Then there was the very quick reversal of a senate vote that would have ended funding for the billion dollar plus extension of the Blue Line. If the existing Blue Line is any example, once capital costs are factored in the extended Blue line could cost taxpayers in
excess of thirty dollars per rider in subsidies. Not sustainable! Perhaps the Republicans are aligning in solidarity with their coveted candidate for governor and his fetish-like support of rail transit. Last week Charlotte put out a call for developers of “Gateway Station”, a mass transit hub that will serve the Red Line. What do city planners know that we don’t?
For well over a decade Charlotte has been rapidly spending its citizens into bankruptcy from which it will be impossible to recover. Over 80% of Charlotte’s four and a quarter billion dollars of debt was never approved by its citizens. Billions have been spent on big ticket money losers, which if they made sense would have been financed by entrepreneurs. It has become far too easy for developers to talk government into removing all their risks by spending taxpayer money for their speculative projects. It sure beats doing it the old fashion way of preparing business plans that actually add up and then applying for money from willing investors. All the while Charlotte has become the highest taxed city in North Carolina. Charlotte’s water and sewer systems are crumbling; and its highways, streets and sidewalks are in dire need of upgrades. Let’s hope Charlotte’s chronic appetite for wasteful spending doesn’t soon spread to the rest of the state.
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