I attended the TBARTA board meeting last week. If there is a hell, then suffering through one of those meetings could be it! My concerns are with "Corridors" C and D on Map 8 Hillsborough Connections which would destroy rural and preservation lands and bring certain unwanted sprawl along with them.
The meeting started without the chairman, former Bucs star Shelton Quarles. When he later arrived, he explained that he went to the wrong location. In his defense, it sounded like he went to the location of last month's meeting … not in his defense but… THEY CHANGE THE LOCATION OF THE MEETINGS EACH MONTH MR. CHAIRMAN!
Feeling good about regional transportation yet?
My first concern was that on the agenda it said ADOPT Conflict Resolution Plan. At last month's meeting (which I confirmed with the transcripts from the April 25th meeting page 9 of 11, download it here: may-2008-tbarta-board-package.pdf) they said they would only PRESENT the final draft of the Conflict Resolution Plan in May. Why do I care about the difference? Because if Corridors C and D of map 8 don't get removed, oh, will there be a conflict! Not only was it now on the agenda to be adopted, it was to be done BEFORE public comment. (Having attended enough Hillsborough County Commission meetings, I know that if an item is to be voted on then even they give us an opportunity to speak in a public hearing before they screw us). So what to do? Ask Commissioner Ken Hagan, who represents Hillsborough on that board, to bring it up? Considering the mountain of e-mails I have sent to the county commission (and have never received a response from him) combined with his actions on that board, I didn't think he was the man for the job.
Protocol dictates that I should make the chairman aware of this before the meeting (oh yeah, he wasn't there yet). Instead, I brought it up with Commissioner Patterson of Sarasota before the meeting. Last month, she asked for the future transportation line that would destroy environmental lands in her county to be removed, and it was clear to me from her comments that she isn't afraid to speak up, so I relayed my concerns to her. Even though she didn't have a problem with the Conflict Resolution itself she still raised my concerns about process and that the public should be allowed to weigh in BEFORE the actual vote (after some bickering from the board they agree to let us weigh in on the item). Dee Layne and I asked them to make provisions for citizen input regarding the Conflict Resolution Process but to no avail. Sooo, if TBARTA's Master Plan turns out to violate our local Comprehensive Plan, then there is nothing you or I can do about it. Sounds like it will be between the local governments and TBARTA to hash it out, and according to Layne's comments, this might be done behind closed doors and you and I will never know about it. Round One goes to The Partnership…………oops……. I mean TBARTA.
Recall that recently there has been some fingerpointing regarding the maps (or information on maps) that TBARTA put out for public comment. Commissioner Mark Sharpe blamed our MPO for inaccurate information on the maps containing the controversial lines back in April but strangely enough could not come up with the proof when asked at the May 6 MPO meeting if he had run down the source yet. Paying very close attention to these maps, I made him aware that they were from FDOT. How did I know? It said so in very fine print at the bottom! He still wasn't buying it. Remember that conversation I had with Elba Lopez of FDOT that I thought was completely worthless? Turns out it helped me prove where the maps and info came from……..the Strategic Regional Needs Assessment done for TBARTA but…………done by (drum roll please) FDOT! They decide what goes on and what stays off of the maps they produce, so if something did not get on there ………check with them! I headed down to the MPO Policy Committee meeting armed with this information last Tuesday and brought it up, since it seemed they were still trying to get to the bottom of it at the last MPO board meeting and Sharpe's accusations. I delivered my info and concerns about the wrongly accused and guess what? First of all, the FDOT representative sheepishly announces that indeed the TBARTA maps in question are from FDOT. As a bonus, Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena speaks up with a motion to have to the chairman of the MPO write a letter to TBARTA and tell them they don't want the Sprawlway! Yes, she called it the Sprawlway! The motion passed. So while I went down there only to try to set the record straight………….I came away with a bonus for Green Swath opponents.
Back to hell — I mean the TBARTA board meeting. During public comments I bring up the concerns regarding this map debacle because I learned that there is not one member if our MPO or Planning Commission staff on TBARTA's TMC (Transit Management Committee). It includes members of HART and transit officials from the various counties but no professional staff from our MPOs! If they had an oversight of these maps before they were released, maybe TBARTA wouldn't need to worry about Conflict Resolution! I suggested that they put an MPO and Planning Commission staff member from every county on their committee to help resolve this issue and prevent similar issues in the future. There is some discussion like (we are only doing what the state mandate says)……..I bet you are boys, I bet you are. Later in the presentation by the TMC they assured us that the MPO is invited to every meeting. INVITED is not the same as having a position on the committee, but good try. One of the missions that the Transit Management Committee has listed on TBARTA's website is: Provide technical assistance regarding the development and implementation of a multimodal transportation plan. Who better to give technical advice than those who know our Long Term Transportation Plan and Comprehensive Plan the best? That would be our MPO and The Planning Commission, yet the professional staff of these agencies don't have an official seat anywhere on TBARTA as far as I can tell. I think this is important especially since now TBARTA is holding Land Use meetings ……..yes, I said land use……..I told you TBARTA's motives were clear to those of us paying attention. Also of some concern to you Visioning fans, at TBARTA's board meeting there was a presentation praising One Bay's efforts with their "scenarios." I know you are shocked.
I also questioned their process during public comments because they said the new maps would be revealed in April (they were not), and at that meeting Bob Clifford said wait until May….. and at this May meeting ………………you guessed it……NO NEW MAPS. I was attacked for my comments by Manatee Commissioner Amy Stein when she read the reply to my form letter from R-LAND and evidently thought that told me enough about the process. I agree it was encouraging, as it stated, "The committees will review the findings of the Screen One analysis, where preliminary results show that Options C and D in Connection 8 did not perform well and are recommended for removal." My concern is the out they leave themselves in that last line…. "The committees will review consultant recommendations and make recommendations to the board in June." Anyway, she waited to attack my comments and concerns until I was all the way back to my seat in the back of the room and sitting down…………..I wanted to reply but I would have been yelling out of order from my chair (I know, why let that stop me?), but I can wait until next month.
So while it certainly seems like these two corridors are on life-support, considering those behind TBARTA (the Partnership) have been pushing this BYPASS route since I had a bedtime, I am guessing they have a few curve balls still waiting for us. Our local opposition has been forced to go regional and our R-LAND form letter is getting good traffic from concerned citizens in many of the counties that TBARTA reigns over (these include: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Citrus, Hernando, Manatee and Sarasota). If you are so inclined to help preserve rural and preservation lands and SAY NO TO SPRAWL then the link to our form letter is here. It goes to TBARTA, Our BOCC, the MPO and even our Gov. Tell a friend (or tell 100 friends).
As TBARTA asks our Governor to give them that $2 million that the legislature set aside for them, I have to sadly say that they have not proven to me they deserve public funds. Their guise of using the promise of rail transit to gain credibility? Brilliant! Should our tax dollars be spent on an agency that can override local government, shut out citizens and benefit private companies? I don't think so. If they want a state agency to run a regional transportation system then make them a bona fide state agency, not a quasi-state agency, where the lines are blurred and the public pays whether we benefit or not.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.