Jun. 07, 2007
Will support stay on track?
STEVE HARRISON AND TED MELLNIK
Mecklenburg County voters will decide in November whether to keep a half-cent sales tax dedicated to mass transit, or to rebuke plans for expanding bus service and light rail by killing it.
With little fanfare, the three-person Mecklenburg Board of Elections voted Wednesday afternoon to ratify a transit petition, a move that places the issue before voters. Light-rail opponents collected 48,765 signatures of Mecklenburg registered voters, about 100 more than needed, said elections director Michael Dickerson.
"I think Charlotte is finally waking up," said Larry Bumgarner of Mint Hill, who speaks out frequently against the city's plans to expand light rail. "We've had an arena put on us ... now we're waking up."
Bumgarner clapped when the vote was taken. He was one of a few spectators at Wednesday's meeting, which was a formality.
The fall vote on the half-cent sales tax will determine the future plans of the Charlotte Area Transit System.
Keeping the tax will likely mean that CATS will continue to build its ambitious 2030 Transit Plan, which includes multiple rail lines and expanded bus service. Repealing it would mean the South Boulevard light rail would likely open this year and continue to operate, though future train lines would be difficult to build. Bus service could also be trimmed, and property taxes could be raised to offset the loss of the sales tax.
Wednesday's vote marks a new phase in the light rail campaign. It also will subject parties for and against the repeal effort to campaign finance laws.
Jay Morrison, who launched the petition drive effort by hiring Michigan-based National Voter Outreach to collect signatures, has refused to disclose how much he spent. Those close to Morrison say he's paid for about half of the cost for the petition drive. National Voter Outreach pays its circulators between 75 cents and a $1 per name.
Morrison couldn't be reached for comment. Former county commissioner Jim Puckett, a spokesman for the petition drive, declined to say how much was spent on the repeal effort.
He said the next step will be fundraising. "We have to start raising money to educate the public," Puckett said.
The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, which supports the tax, conducted a poll this spring on voters' feelings towards the repeal effort, as well as school construction bonds for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The chamber found 57 percent of voters were against the transit tax repeal.
The 48,669 signatures required represents 15 percent of the Mecklenburg turnout in the last gubernatorial election, which was in November 2004.
Thedora Roseman-Bost, 54, who lives in east Charlotte, signed the petition because she believes that transit spending has been unreasonable, she said. Transit centers, she said, have been a waste of money. She said she supports light rail, but doesn't want to be taxed for it.
"I feel like we're just being taxed to death," she said. "It's just excessive taxes everywhere."
Instead, the county should use money more efficiently, she said.
Margaret Brumfield, 68, of east Charlotte, also signed the petition because transit money has not been well spent, she said.
"I think there are some places they probably need to eliminate (buses) and some places they need to have more," she said.
The signers were mostly black, female and Democrats, according to an Observer analysis this week. Most live west and northwest of uptown. That surprised some because many precincts where support for the petition was high voted strongly in favor of the tax in 1998, though turnout was light.
Here's to more transit facts
It's all but official that there will be a November referendum on whether county voters want to repeal the half-cent sales tax for transit, which voters OK'd in 1998. A few things are now expected to happen. They should be illuminating.
First, those campaigning for and against the referendum will have to file campaign expense reports so the public can see where their money's coming from. Second, as the campaign intensifies, voters should start seeing more facts. At least, we hope they will.
Expect appeals to emotion, of course, and sloganeering from both sides. Those are part of every political campaign. But more is at stake than the simple question of whether the first light rail line built -- the South Corridor, or the Lynx Blue Line -- was too much over budget and took too long. This referendum will have a serious impact on the future of the city and the region, and whether they can survive what's certain to be growing traffic congestion, as well as air quality that currently doesn't meet federal standards.
Building a rapid transit system won't mean fewer cars on the road in 25 years than there are today, of course. But it will mean fewer cars clogging the roads and spewing pollution than would be on the road without a transit system.
STEVE HARRISON AND TED MELLNIK
Mecklenburg County voters will decide in November whether to keep a half-cent sales tax dedicated to mass transit, or to rebuke plans for expanding bus service and light rail by killing it.
With little fanfare, the three-person Mecklenburg Board of Elections voted Wednesday afternoon to ratify a transit petition, a move that places the issue before voters. Light-rail opponents collected 48,765 signatures of Mecklenburg registered voters, about 100 more than needed, said elections director Michael Dickerson.
"I think Charlotte is finally waking up," said Larry Bumgarner of Mint Hill, who speaks out frequently against the city's plans to expand light rail. "We've had an arena put on us ... now we're waking up."
Bumgarner clapped when the vote was taken. He was one of a few spectators at Wednesday's meeting, which was a formality.
The fall vote on the half-cent sales tax will determine the future plans of the Charlotte Area Transit System.
Keeping the tax will likely mean that CATS will continue to build its ambitious 2030 Transit Plan, which includes multiple rail lines and expanded bus service. Repealing it would mean the South Boulevard light rail would likely open this year and continue to operate, though future train lines would be difficult to build. Bus service could also be trimmed, and property taxes could be raised to offset the loss of the sales tax.
Wednesday's vote marks a new phase in the light rail campaign. It also will subject parties for and against the repeal effort to campaign finance laws.
Jay Morrison, who launched the petition drive effort by hiring Michigan-based National Voter Outreach to collect signatures, has refused to disclose how much he spent. Those close to Morrison say he's paid for about half of the cost for the petition drive. National Voter Outreach pays its circulators between 75 cents and a $1 per name.
Morrison couldn't be reached for comment. Former county commissioner Jim Puckett, a spokesman for the petition drive, declined to say how much was spent on the repeal effort.
He said the next step will be fundraising. "We have to start raising money to educate the public," Puckett said.
The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, which supports the tax, conducted a poll this spring on voters' feelings towards the repeal effort, as well as school construction bonds for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The chamber found 57 percent of voters were against the transit tax repeal.
The 48,669 signatures required represents 15 percent of the Mecklenburg turnout in the last gubernatorial election, which was in November 2004.
Thedora Roseman-Bost, 54, who lives in east Charlotte, signed the petition because she believes that transit spending has been unreasonable, she said. Transit centers, she said, have been a waste of money. She said she supports light rail, but doesn't want to be taxed for it.
"I feel like we're just being taxed to death," she said. "It's just excessive taxes everywhere."
Instead, the county should use money more efficiently, she said.
Margaret Brumfield, 68, of east Charlotte, also signed the petition because transit money has not been well spent, she said.
"I think there are some places they probably need to eliminate (buses) and some places they need to have more," she said.
The signers were mostly black, female and Democrats, according to an Observer analysis this week. Most live west and northwest of uptown. That surprised some because many precincts where support for the petition was high voted strongly in favor of the tax in 1998, though turnout was light.
Here's to more transit facts
It's all but official that there will be a November referendum on whether county voters want to repeal the half-cent sales tax for transit, which voters OK'd in 1998. A few things are now expected to happen. They should be illuminating.
First, those campaigning for and against the referendum will have to file campaign expense reports so the public can see where their money's coming from. Second, as the campaign intensifies, voters should start seeing more facts. At least, we hope they will.
Expect appeals to emotion, of course, and sloganeering from both sides. Those are part of every political campaign. But more is at stake than the simple question of whether the first light rail line built -- the South Corridor, or the Lynx Blue Line -- was too much over budget and took too long. This referendum will have a serious impact on the future of the city and the region, and whether they can survive what's certain to be growing traffic congestion, as well as air quality that currently doesn't meet federal standards.
Building a rapid transit system won't mean fewer cars on the road in 25 years than there are today, of course. But it will mean fewer cars clogging the roads and spewing pollution than would be on the road without a transit system.
So, the car idling during the wait for the light rail train to pass and the road to clear won't spew pollution? Cars idling in one place for minutes, clogging the roads,density and other pollution causing effects will still be there, mass transit or not.
Remember, in 25 years Charlotte growth is expected to add roughly as many people as now live in the city of St. Louis. Without more transportation options, including mass transit, the Queen City will strangle in traffic congestion.
Much is riding on the November voting. Voters should arm themselves with facts. Indeed depending on which version you subscribe to, how about reading and researching for yourself ? Rather than be spoon fed the information by those who wish to spin it, look for yourself and decide.
Hard research facts on both sides say, that mass transit will not ease traffic congestion, that the idling of cars, in high density areas like uptown will add to the pollution. What is next? Are they going to start fining cars that idle, like they do in NY City? Rockland drivers will soon face criminal penalties for leaving their vehicles idling for more than three minutes. The Rockland County Legislature passed the idling bill in April, 2007.
The law carries fines as much as one thousand dollars and 15 days in jail. Some drivers might be ticketed for letting vehicles idle for more than three minutes to keep the air conditioning on for disabled passengers while they are loading and unloading. Some exemptions to the law include emergency vehicles and vehicles stuck in traffic. Also exempted are vehicles that need to have the engine running to perform services or for cargo temperature control.
How ever there are versions out there that don't exempt truckers, so woe to the truckers who use this corridor, can you imagine the cost to them?
When they idle their trucks to cool their cabins and sleep? If something like this is passed in Charlotte, imagine the impact to the truckers who use the I-85 route. The cost of shipping will sky rocket. Then of course there are those who would argue to buy locally, well there just some things you cannot get locally. Laws like this, will outlaw cars, make things more difficult in our transportation needs, rather than ease things as promised.
Council says `Not now' to adding a seat on MTC
The City Council on Tuesday nixed the idea of looking at whether to try to add a City Council member to the Metropolitan Transit Commission, the governing body for the Charlotte Area Transit System. It was a close vote, but in the end council member Anthony Foxx, who brought up the idea, couldn't convince enough of his colleagues. Mr. Foxx, who's a supporter of regional mass transit, says he thinks it would be a good policy move and maybe alleviate some distrust in the community at large to have more Charlotte representation on the MTC. Others on council questioned whether now is the time for such a move, given the upcoming November referendum on the transit tax.
The pro- and anti-transit campaign promises to be contentious. Tinkering with the MTC's governance would be a distraction for some of the transit system's biggest supporters. The council was right. This is not the time.
Then when is it the time? When it is all said and done? Come on, now! If this is a great thing why are they afraid of having someone from the council on board? Could it mean they are afraid of accountablity? We need hard answers to hard questions, because the way it is now, it isn't working. Common Sense!
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