Poor Planning, Timing, and Leadership

Sadly, our Transportation mess is only one example of poor judgment.  Our District 2 Commissioner has ignored our roads situation for years even though he had the funds.  Instead of using the funds when costs were low he sat and watched as development forced up the costs of materials and labor. 

To make matters worse, a bigger demand for roads was created each time he approved a new development.  Now he says that “his” taskforce (which the third since 1999) will try to play catch up with turn lanes and fresh road tops. His recommendations cannot solve our Transportation problems that could have been solved years ago with the use of the developers share.

• Lost our Trust.  Our community and futures have continued to suffer during the District 2 Commissioner’s 5 years in office.  If he did not fix our problems when the County had 5 years of huge Tax revenues how can we Trust him during the tough times ahead.

Roads money burning a hole
Read this article in reverse to get really angry about the Commission’s mismanagement of our roads situation.

• Since the 1985 state Growth Management Act developers had to contribute to the costs of roads. Just in the three years, (04, 05, 06) developers pledged $931.5-million. The County also designated $222.3- million toward road work on top of other money already set aside.  But, only (excluding land purchases, resurfacing, signs) 04: $48.7-million; 05: $49.4-million; 06: $46.8-million was spent.

• Meanwhile, construction costs increased, the construction boom was allowed, and road work competed with (home and other builders) for manpower. The county did not increase road spending in those three years and the rising costs meant fewer improvements could be made.

• District 2 Commissioner's current task force is the third such group since 1999 to consider county transportation needs. The past two stalled and now we are told to spend our future CIT funds instead of the money that has been sitting for years.

• Working with developers and their portion of the road funds is critical to getting cars moving, no matter how quickly the county spends its own money.l $458.8 million - The amount Hillsborough County could spend almost immediately to build and widen roads.

St. Petersburg Times,         Published  Jan 7, 2007                        read the article

Pasco Letters to Editor
District 2 Commissioner’s idea of a toll road to make Pasco residents pay is 5 years too late.  Now Hillsborough County residents would pay that toll as they travel to Pasco to shop and avoid the Bruce B. Downs chaos by entering the interstate at S.R. 56.
The Tampa Tribune            Published: August 22, 2007                 read the article 

Sales Tax Downturn Imperils Projects
Our slumping economy is making it almost impossible for the District 2 Commissioner to cover up his prior mistakes.  Now he can’t use what’s left of our Community Investment Tax (Sales Tax) to pay for road improvements that he should have taken care of years ago.  Rather than having $480 million left to spend before the tax expires in 2026, the county may have only $213 million.
The Tampa Tribune            Published: October 2, 2007                 read the article