All roads lead to …

Your pocket.  And your rights, or lack thereof.

Several interesting articles in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as of late.  Seems like they are finally starting to pay attention to what is going on with our roads.

First was the NTTA article by the FW Watchdog.

The NTTA is circulating a draft of its proposed bill for the 2013 Legislature. The Watchdog asked NTTA for a copy, but the authority declined. Instead, The Watchdog obtained a draft from another source.

I can exclusively report details of what may be seen by some as NTTA's leap above and beyond basic constitutional rights. Others, wanting violators to pay up, will see the proposed system as a way to offer violators a chance to tell their side of the story.

When I think of an NTTA-operated court, legendary Judge Roy Bean's courtroom in Langtry comes to mind: "Do you have anything to say before we find you guilty?"

The bill gives NTTA even more power than it already has. For instance, a guilty toll debtor must either pay the debt, fines and penalties or else satisfy "the authority in its sole discretion." That's pretty open-ended.

The Watchdog asks: Is the NTTA competent enough to create its own judiciary?

We all know the answer to that but Lieber gives you three examples.  Read them all, cause YOU could be next.

Going nowhere, fast

THE PEOPLE outside of Tarrant County are standing up.  While the NCTCOG holds more private meetings.

Kudos to those "leaders" in Denton County for looking out for your people and their money.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The last line below made us laugh, YOU know exactly where they'll get it.

After years of enduring one toll project on top of another, North Texans are striking back and insisting that they get some new free lanes, too.

The county has saved $600 million to contribute to the project, but officials have told the Texas Department of Transportation that they won't play ball unless free lanes are included in the first phase of road work.

The I-35E project is different from other recent road work in North Texas in that there's a concerted effort to include free lanes in the earliest construction phase.

By contrast, in Tarrant County, the $2.5 billion reconstruction of Northeast Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 -- a project known as North Tarrant Express -- includes the addition of four managed toll lanes but no new free lanes until possibly as late as December 2030, according to the state's contract with the developer.

When initial reports surfaced that Denton County's $600 million would be enough to build only managed toll lanes on I-35E, residents revolted. Even elected officials who hadn't been involved in transportation issues began to ask questions.

The Transportation Department and North Central Texas Council of Governments are holding numerous private conversations to determine how much money can be added to the project. By some estimates, Denton County's $600 million could be combined with $300 million in unspecified state transportation funds and $600 million from the council of governments for a total of $1.5 billion.

But for now, state officials are keeping mum about precisely where they'll get the money, although they hope to decide within 30 days.

Another day, another NTTA...

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram it seems the NTTA doesn't want to conduct a national search to find a director.

WHY would they?  They run off those WHO don't believe in giving contracts to the same firms for as far back as anyone can remember.  And when you have those that will tow the line, no further search needed apparently.  Only "Yes" men need apply.

Carrigan arrived at the tollway authority in 2008. As assistant executive director of project delivery, he has guided the authority's engineering efforts on several major projects and has dealt with contractors and vendors. Before working at the authority, he worked briefly at HNTB Corp., the consultant that does much of the authority's engineering work.
Carrigan said he would be interested in serving as executive director."Basically, I'm there to serve the board in whatever way the board wants," he said after a recent board meeting in Plano.

WHO runs this town?

On I-35, TXDOT doesn't want to move Chesapeake drilling operations, so due to their poor planning, a church, private property owners and the Oakhurst neighborhood will have to pay.

On 820, due to Iron Horse Golf course, there are some frontage road concerns.  There doesn't seem to be many across the freeway where part of the part was taken for the freeway and a pipeline.

Coincidence?

Is it also a coincidence that this park and golf course are submerged under water during heavy rains?  What will come of our new freeway then?

YOU pay

Over and over again.

Teri Hall and TURF spell it out for you, the Dallas Observer lays it out for you.

WHO's involved?  Oh yes, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Army Corp of Engineers, TXDOT and the Trinity River.  No, not Fort Worth, this time in Dallas.  YOU get the drift...and the shaft.

Notice how the cost escalates, as usual.

It's a total OUTRAGE to build this road 100% with federal and state tax money and then charge drivers a toll, a second tax, to use it! This is a tax grab, plain & simple.

But he didn't need to make much of a case; as Michael Morris, the head of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and TxDOT and city officials explained earlier this week, the Horseshoe Project is a slam-dunk. The $700 million is there, courtesy the state Legislature and myriad other funding sources that will pay for the bridges -- the other two Calatravas the city so desperately wants running over the Trinity River, for which there's $92 million in federal funds. (Pensock did say, at one point, that the project will more than likely cost closer to $800 million when it's wrapped in five years, fingers crossed.)

There are, of course, a few issues to deal with before the traffic jam, including finishing a design and getting a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, since, as Pensock said, the bridges go over the levees, which presents "a particularly sticky issue due to flooding.

"I don't know if we'll ever be able to truly solve congestion in Dallas." 

Look what THEY did...

This woman is unstoppable. We like her.

Teri Hall just held TURF's Stars of Texas Awards, they were given to State Rep's & a Commissioner that actually did their jobs and protected THE PEOPLE of Texas. Want to know what THEY had to say?

Kolkhorst teared up as she listened to Hall recount the stories that lead up to the repeal of the TTC. As she accepted her award she remarked, "How could we even think of selling off our infrastructure to foreign companies? Shame on us, shame on us for thinking about it. I will fight any Republican, any Democrat, anyone who wants to take our state from us."

I don't know how you did it. The deck was so stacked against you...You inspire me, you will inspire other generations. God bless Texas and may it always stand as a free and sovereign nation," Kolkhorst concluded at the end of her emotional speech.

Simpson in typical form, brought a hush over the room as he spoke, "Civil government has destroyed many lives. What is fundamental to property or to working is the movement of our bodies, in a sense, transportation. I'm encouraged by the people who are waking up and listening who are holding coffees, holding town hall meetings, looking at voting records."

Leibowitz praised the grassroots who worked together toward a common goal to slay the TTC, "This really is a very special group you have put together. Many different political philosophies, different walks of life, urban, rural, people that have come together for a common cause. People that come forward and work together to get something accomplished, they do end up, in fact, literally moving mountains."

Dunnam said the "danger we have today in all levels of our government is that certain people 'own' it...the people stood up and stopped these toll roads in my district. It was all about the money, all about money for private interests making money off the government."
He went on to assert that elected officials are afraid to stand up to the money, "but, fortunately, they're also afraid of y'all" (pointing to Hall).

Our hats off to Teri, TURF and friends.

If you haven't seen Molina's -  Truth Be Tolled, you should.  YOU don't know what you're missing...

Different Texas agency, same Texas corruption?

The North Texas Tollway Authority keeps making the "news".  WHY?

Because they've been through 5 guys in 5 years.  WHY did the latest head resign?  Because he was going to be fired.

WHY?  Because he thinks some of the million(s) of tax dollar relationships with some of the same companies since the 1950s are too cozy.  And maybe all those connections the board members have with the companies and politicians could be considered a conflict of interest. 

Hell, this is Texas...WHO are we kidding?

Is it time for the sunset of NTTA?

It ain't the only "Authority" that's overdue.

When it comes to Toll (Toal?) Roads and Rivers, it's all about WHO you know.


Some notes YOU can't afford to miss in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram articles this week.

The recommendations come after several potential conflicts surfaced involving individual board members, as well as the tollway authority’s institutional relationship with a handful of firms that are paid tens of millions of dollars per year to perform engineering, legal and other services.

Board chairman Kenneth Barr of Fort Worth disclosed that his brother is a lawyer with Locke Lord, a firm that does about $6.9 million a year in tollway authority legal work. Barr said he consulted with the tollway authority’s legal counsel, also a Locke Lord attorney, before accepting a board position in 2008 to ensure there was no ethical conflict.

The report said the tollway authority had “perceived and potentially real conflicts of interest” with HNTB, an engineering firm that is currently under contract for about $15 million a year in tollway work. When asked later what that meant, Alvarez & Marsal managing director Ron Orsini said the audit has uncovered a situation in which one HNTB consultant was approved to pay an invoice for another HNTB consultant – all with the tollway authority’s blessing.The report didn’t attempt to catalog how often the arrangement existed, or how long the practice had been in place, Orsini said.

Ethnicity has become an issue in recent months, when tollway staff disclosed that most of their contracts are awarded to firms governed by white males – although the report points out that the tollway authority is making progress in diversifying its contractors.

But the report also found that tollway staff publicly discussed winners of procurement contracts before the board had voted to approve the contracts.“Some board members did not trust the staff’s procurement process. It’s not clear when a procurement officially ends,” said Eric Noack, Alvarez & Marsal vice president.

Tight in Tarrant County

5 years, 5 Directors...WHY?

Seems some think it would be a good idea to bring in new firms instead of the ones who have been given the contracts since the 1950s.  You read that right.

Another North Texas Tollway Authority Director is out, if he didn't resign, he was going to be fired for not going along with the gang. 

Freeways (ha) and rivers are big business in Tarrant county.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Allen Clemson formally resigned Friday as North Texas Tollway Authority executive director, becoming the latest in a long line of top managers who couldn't get along with the agency's governing board.

Clemson, a former Dallas County administrator, was the fifth CEO in five years at the tollway authority when he arrived in June 2009. But he eventually fell out of favor with the nine-member board for pushing too quickly to bring in new firms to handle legal, engineering and other professional services.

The tollway authority has been criticized for relying too heavily on a handful of firms, several of which have been under contract since its predecessor agency was founded in the 1950s. Even so, some board members want to be cautious in severing those relationships, noting that millions of dollars in work -- including the planned Chisholm Trail Parkway toll road from Fort Worth to Cleburne -- is at stake.

"It will be an agreed-to separation," Clemson told the Star-Telegram on Friday, saying he resigned because he had been told that he would be fired by the board next week anyway. "The die was cast. Wednesday was going to be my last day."

The resignation comes weeks after former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr was elected chairman, succeeding Victor Vandergriff of Arlington, a Clemson supporter.

Corrupt Connections

The LBJ freeway project is now headed by a former John Cornyn staffer.  How much experience do political staff members have building freeways?

Now, former Fort Worth Mayor, Kenn Barr has been appointed to head the Tollway Authority.

WHY did someone new need to be appointed?  Oh that's right, the past Chairman felt there may be conflicts of interest that weren't in the public's best interest.  Sounds like he thought maybe the chosen few getting the contracts weren't the best option.  Someone going against the Fort Worth Way?  Kudos Victor Vandergriff.  As for Clemson, who agrees with Vandergriff - the board is trying to have him removed.  Surprised?  No one else is either. 

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  YOU can't afford to miss it, after all, it's YOUR money. 

Vandergriff has pushed the board to stop relying on a small number of engineering, legal and other consulting firms for nearly all its professional services. Those firms have been paid tens of millions of dollars during the past couple of decades, and Vandergriff and Clemson have sought to bring in fresh blood.

The issue of conflict also has swirled around discussions of tollway authority contracts.

Barr disclosed this year that his brother had been an attorney with Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, the firm that for years has handled much of the agency's legal consulting work. Barr clarified that when he joined the tollway board he sought advice from the agency's legal counsel before voting on items involving the firm.

But other board members, including Vandergriff, have sought changes in board policy that require a more public process for board members to disclose potential conflicts.

In 2009, Barr created a consulting partnership with Brian Newby of the Newby Davis legal firm in Fort Worth, records from the Texas Secretary of State's office show. In March, Barr and other tollway board members approved a legal services contract with Newby Davis in conjunction with Cantey Hanger, to provide legal services for buying right of way for the Chisholm Trail Parkway.

On Wednesday, Barr said the partnership with Newby, a limited liability company, was created for a specific business deal that never materialized. He added that no money changed hands and that he had forgotten about the arrangement until reminded of it in an interview.

Barr also entered into a partnership with David Chappell of Cantey Hanger in 2010, records show. Barr said he pays Chappell rent for office space.