A Haul worthy of Tammany

I've been reading through the TIME Transportation initiative  and I've concluded that there's one thing you can say about Governor Napolitano.  She's got balls. 

If I were putting a transportation tax increase on the ballot, I would be tempted tack a small increase on the sales tax, raise a few billion dollars and spend it on, you know, "transportation."  That's why I'm not Governor. 

There's nothing small, incremental or restrained in the Governor's TIME initiative.  She's crafted an 18% increase in the sales tax in order to raise $43 billion for an entire candy store of special projects and she exempted them from the procurement procedures and the rule making process.  Wow, that's vision. 

Here's how state transportation director Victor Mendez described the proposal in this morning's Star.

The plan roughly allocates about 58 percent of the anticipated $43 billion funding for use on state highways, about 18 percent of the funding for rail and transit, 24 percent to transportation needs for local cities and towns.

I guess the key word in that sentence was "roughly." To demonstrate how many goodies can fit into "roughly" let's put $43 billion in perspective by calling it $43,000 million.  There, that's better. 

That little conversion helps us understand the significance of spending $1,300 million to "conserve open space and protect wildlife habitat" including "construction of improvements to facilitate wildlife movement."  (read Elk Bridges and Tortoise Tunnels)

Then there's the $1,800 million for "public private partnerships" or $2,200 for "Enhancement funding." And let's not even talk about the $7,800 million for the "Rail Time Fund."

Here's a nice trick, the Department may provide grants to any Agency, Political Subdivision of the State, Indian Tribe (OK, so far)...or "organization that is exempt from federal income tax."  Oops.  Hmm,  It seems like the Grand Canyon Trust, Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club might fit that description.  Doesn't the Governor have a lot of friends and supporters in those organizations?   I'm beginning to see why the funds were exempted from those pesky procurement rules.

Speaking of "roughly" we know that's how the Governor is treating opponents of the initiative. 

Republic AWOL

The only remaining advantage that newspapers posses is the ability to gather hard news.  Sure, I could comb through the initiative, chart the side deals, follow the money and figure out why the governor wants the $43 billion to be exempt from the procurement and rule-making process...but, dude, I have a life. 

The Republic, on the other hand, can take a roomful of bright young interns, show them a private screening of All the President's Men, buy them half a dozen pizzas and a case of Red Bull and let them loose. 

If the Republic hadn't abdicated its watchdog role and replaced it with endless gubernatorial cheer leading, we might find out what's actually in this initiative. 

Comments

[Julie]

Yesterday at the State Quarter distribution at the Capital, the governor's office had her people wearing T-shirts that said, "I'm on Governor Napolitano's team." This is clearly representative of her mentality. Shouldn't the governor be on Arizona's team?

These team shirts and her past actions tell us that she is all about the Game of Power. Those not on HER team will lose. Unfortunatley, in this type of governmental power game, there are many more losers than winners.

[muckraker]

Gee,Julie, that sounds like the "You're either with us or against us" operation we've had for the past 7 years in the White House.

[ron]

Do like me when it comes to all and any propostions - vote NO!! (Unless the question is a trick question where 'No' means "Yes")

Reasons:

1. No one has yet to convince me that the 'status quo' is broken.

2. It is the legistlator's job to lead so lead or get out of way and let someone run for your office who knows that I hired you to make decisions and not to pass the buck to the citizens.

[The Klute]

"(read Elk Bridges and Tortoise Tunnels)"

I think anyone who's slammed into an Elk on the I-17 or 89A at 70 mph might suggest these are actually *good* ideas.

This report:

http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1305&context=jmie/roadeco

gives a good perspective on the wildlife management issues, but there's this choice nugget:

"In Arizona, collision rates for elk were 1.22 collisions per mile yearly for a 20 mile section of highway..."

I'm capitalizing the next bit (no HTML coding for bold here, I'm not yelling it):

THE STATE OF ARIZONA WAS FOUND NEGLIGENT FOR NOT KEEPING ELK OFF THE HIGHWAY, A HAZARD THAT WAS WELL KNOWN IN THE AREA.

The court case referenced was Booth vs. State of Arizona 2003, which if one types the keywords "booth", "elk", "arizona" and "killed" finds:

"In December 1998, the car Jerry Booth was driving along I-40 near Flagstaff crashed into the carcass of an elk that had been hit by another motorist and left on the highway. Booth, who suffered serious injuries in the crash, sued the state for not keeping the roadway clear. A jury in 2004 awarded him some $3 million, agreeing that the state should have gotten the dead elk off the highway faster. When an appeals court upheld the verdict, it sent a chill through state highway departments nationwide, and gave an extra boost to research into ways to reduce wildlife-related car crashes."

So (and for you fans of "Mystery Men", say this in the Blue Raja's voice) we either have 1. a shadowy cabal of environmental groups suckling at the teat of government largesse to fund their diabolical scheme to turn our children in Elk-worshipping minions of Al Gore and Baphomet, or we have the government putting aside funds to address an issue of public safety and government liability.

This is why we have government agencies - to identify problems that exist, but not everyone knows about (until, of course, they're picking antler out of their forebrain). And unless the invisible hand of Adam Smith is going to gently nudge Elk off the pavement, I think government does need to do something here.

[Name:]

Yeah, government needs to do more to tell people how not to hit motionless objects with their cars.

This is a Christmas tree initiative: every group gets to light a candle on the tree, so when the house burns down the blame everyone is to blame. Good luck.

The emperor has no clothes.

[The Klute]

*sigh*

Except, of course, Elk are NOT motionless, nor are they equipped with running lights or warning klaxons blaring "WARNING: ELK! WARNING: ELK!" (although who knows, give evolution another couple of million years, and maybe they'll evolve bioluminesence in their nethers and their horns will turn into trumpets).

And, of course, the courts (including an appellate court) have identified this as a problem for all states with Elk to resolve.

Government does exist to protect the people, yes? Motorists are people, yes?

Or am I missing the part where once the key is turned, I become Duke Klute of the Grand Duchy of the 2006 Kia Spectra5 and no longer am a citizen?

[Name:]

The lawsuit involved an elk that was dead. My mistake for assuming it was also motionless.

The courts have identified a lot of problems. But in this country, they are problems only the legislative branch has the authority to resolve.

[The Klute]

Right, after previously being hit by a car or truck. It's not like the Carcass Fairy left if there on the road OR He spilled this glass of water; why is the table wet?

And not trying to beat a dead Elk here, but (from ADot):

Highway safety

"Vehicle-wildlife collisions cause human injuries, fatalities and property damage. Nationally, it is estimated that more than 200 human deaths and nearly 30,000 injuries, along with more than one billion dollars in related property damage, occur annually from these accidents."

Now, granted, that's nationally, so, lets carve up those figures by 1/50:

4 Deaths a year
600 injuries
20,000,000 dollars in property damage

And looking at the report I posted earlier, AZ probably would be more considering that we're second only to Colorado in Elk strikes (although we probably do have less aligator strikes than Florida and less Sasquatch strikes than Washington).

"The courts have identified a lot of problems. But in this country, they are problems only the legislative branch has the authority to resolve."

BZZZT! Citizen initiatives too. Which this is, if I'm not mistaken, I haven't read the whole thing yet.

[Mark]

I don't doubt that hitting elk is a problem for those who experience it. But don't think for a second this is about protecting elk or the people who hit them. The wildlife stuff was a buy off to that constituency for their support. That is also why there is a provision to provide grants to tax exempt organizations. That will be used to buy them off. This initiative was crafted to buy off as many organizations and interest groups as possible. It would almost be funny but for the fact that the taxpayers of Arizona would be on the hook.

[ron]

Mark, you have read this right - find all the people who might vote against this - throw them a bone and they will be your lapdogs.

[The Klute]

"It would almost be funny but for the fact that the taxpayers of Arizona would be on the hook."

And if the people vote for it, then what?

[Mesa Republican George]

PP,

Greg did not attempt to pass this story off as his own, he credited two media sources (East Valley Trib and AZ Star) in the post. While he did not credit CT, I don't think an exhaustive list of citations is necessary or even desirable.

[NICK]

Klute.

Please show your "I'm on Governor Napolitano's team." shirt.

[The Klute]

Actually, I'm on Team Phoenix 2008 representing the city at the National Poetry Slam in Madison, WI.

We haven't gotten our shirts printed yet.