Posted on December 30 at 8:44 a.m.

At least in the UK, they recognize that a toll is the same as a tax. To see more failures from attempts at tolling/taxing, go to ctcnaples.com

UK Congestion Pricing Referendum Loses 4-1

Nearly 79 percent of voters in Manchester, UK rejected congestion taxes in a referendum.

Voters in the UK city of Manchester in a referendum yesterday overwhelmingly rejected a congestion charging plan that officials had spent millions promoting. With over one million votes counted, all ten boroughs said no to the plan despite the promise of £2.8 billion (US $4.2 billion) in mass transit spending from the central government upon approval. The final tally stood at 79 percent against and just 21 percent in favor.

Officials had hoped to have the complex congestionn tax infrastructure in place by 2013 so that they could charge commuters an initial rate of £5 (US $7.50) to drive into the city center during work hours. The average motorist would have paid an extra £1250 (US $2500) per year, although once in place the rates would likely have increased.

"This is a great result," Association of British Drivers spokesman Nigel Humphries said. "The world was watching the people of Manchester and they have seen through the great government transport bribe and voted to reject road pricing. Surely this means the government must now abandon its back door plans to tax, track and inconvenience drivers with road tolls."

Manchester's results mirror those of the only other public consultations held on the concept of congestion pricing in the UK. Earlier this year, two-thirds of residents in the western boroughs of London insisted on scrapping the congestion tax imposed on them without a vote by former Mayor Ken Livingstone. Seventy-four percent of voters in Edinburgh, Scotland likewise rejected a congestion tax proposal in a February 2005 referendum. Last year, more than 1.8 million voters signed an official petition on the Prime Minister's website opposing the concept of road pricing.

The National Alliance Against Tolls, one of the primary opponents of the Manchester plan, warned that despite the clarity of these votes, bureaucrats may return with the same ideas in other parts of the country. The Alliance was responsible for pressuring local government officials into consulting the public before introducing the charge.

"Drivers pay £50 billion a year in fuel duty and other taxes, and the government puts very little of that back into the roads system," the Alliance said in a statement. "Instead what has been happening around Britain is that the authorities are introducing measures that have the effect of slowing down general traffic and creating the congestion that they then want to tax. If, despite this vote, the government and other parties who have similar ideas persist in a policy of more taxes and tolls, we hope that all drivers will revolt and demand a fair deal for what they are already paying."

TheNewspaper.com 12/13/08

On Poll: Toll express lanes ease traffic on urban highways

Posted on December 24 at 7:45 a.m.

Senator Aronberg rocks!
Get these schemes off the table.
Don't sell us short for a quick albeit temporary fix for Charlie's deficit.
43 states are running a deficit. Other than Illinois (enough said?), the states are not selling their assets to plug their deficit.
Crist legacy:
1- Insurance rates were going to 'drop like a rock'. Didn't happen.
2- Property taxes in all 67 counties arbitrarily cut by state politicians looking for a populist mantra to latch onto. Result: Additional economic cloud for the counties who now have to cut services, jobs, funding for programs, etc. All politicians who grabbed the golden ring while on the election cycle merry-go-round are equally responsible for this unnecessary cut in county generated revenue
3- U.S. Sugar. Instead of protecting the public and the environment with tough (and, yes, ENFORCED) environmental laws to curtail the sugar industry, our Gov. offers them an unbelievable Golden Parachute.(And this is the guy who said the county government's couldn't responsibly manage their funds!!!)
4- Selling PUBLIC assets. PUBLIC, Charlie. NOT State ... PUBLIC. That's perhaps the most galling aspect of these schemes ... the arrogance and audacity to even presume you have the right to sell PUBLIC assets .... as in paid for with PUBLIC dollars. The PUBLIC should be making that decision, not informed about the decision after the fact. So much for the Gov's "Government in the Sunshine"!!!
5- Entourage of 14 on trip to France. Recession or not, that was another elitist decision with total disregard for public perception.
Oh, my, it's going to be a LONG two years.

On FDOT postpones deadline to bid on Alligator Alley lease

Posted on December 3 at 10:17 p.m.

Mr. Batten,
I direct you to the FDOT website alligator-alley.com
Page 40, Section 2.10 of the original draft lease agreement states: "This Agreement is intended for United States federal, state and local income tax purposes to be (a) a sale of the Alley Facilities and Alley Assets to the Concessionaire, (b) a lease of the Alley Land to the Concessionaire and (c) the grant to the Concessionaire of an exclusive franchise and license for the during the Term to receive Toll Revenues from the Alley within the meaning of ..."
This fact was oft quoted and publicized by Citizens Transportation Coalition.
The latest, revised lease agreement (boilerplate, exact duplicate of the Indiana toll lease), on page 41 interjects new clause (c) an assignment, transfer and conveyance of the Assigned Alley Contracts...".
In laymans terms "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ... it's a duck."
If, for the sake of multiple tax breaks, aspects of this transactions are deemed a "SALE", then it should pass the rational nexus test. Therefore, it follows that the public has every justification for referring to the transaction as a "SALE".
I'm reminded of a most recent viewing of "Miracle on 34th Street". Hordes of "Letters to Santa" are delivered to the courthouse. They are addressed to Santa Clause. Upon delivery to the courthouse and receipt by Kris Kringle, the judge has no option but to agree that if it's good enough for the government to label this man "Santa Clause" for the government's convenience, then it's good enough ... period.
And with that, I wish you and yours a very "Merry Christmas".
If you hurry, you can still get that red Flyer wagon at Macy's ...

On Brent Batten: One marathon ends, another begins in Florida

Posted on November 29 at 6:21 p.m.

There is some encouraging 'news' regarding Alligator Alley. FDOT has extended the deadline for proposals from bidders. The reason FDOT gives in their press release is that they want to allow more time for public input. (This is where we can all roll on the floor laughing until our sides hurt).
Apparently, they need more bids. Possibly they need ANY bids. Out of the six foreign teams from the first go-round: One of the team partners - Lehman Brothers - went belly up. A second foreign team was partnered with Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs has been downgraded from investment grade status. It is doubtful they can carry this percentage of leveraged debt in their new, downgraded portfolio.
Four companies remain. We can only hope FDOT is capable of ascertaining the fiscal viability of the four remaining teams. They certainly missed the mark on Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs.
On the other hand, our Gov. is DESPERATE to round up some funds ... any old funds will do. He may well be prepared to sell off one of Florida's best assets at a FIRE SALE price, regardless of the the bid being grossly undervalued.
Pennsylvania's legislators voted 185-12 to NOT sell their road. They were offered $12.8 BILLION dollars. That is about $40 MILLION dollars per mile.
Our Gov. is considering selling the alley for only about $6.5 MILLION per mile ... or an underwhelming total of $504 MILLION.
So, that plugs a very small hole in his deficit budget. He'll need to sell several more money making assets to stop the bleeding in his $4 Billion Deficit Budget for '08 and '09. What does it do to the financial strength of the State of Florida when its porfolio shrinks? How does it affect the bonding rate for the State of Florida? Why won't the Gov. agree to calling a special session as CFO Sink requests? Sink is ready to tackle the budget problem created by King Crist. Crist is quoted as saying he will 'scrounge together' funds with 'evolving optiont'. The Alley is one of the options.
What else can Charlie "Sell It and Spend It" Crist sell?
The answer: Just about ANY public asset. Airports, Water treatment plants, roads, lottery, bridges, prisons ... the list goes on.
These are EXACTLY the kinds of assets being proposed for 'monetization' at National Governor Association meetings.
Slippery slope King Crist, VERY slippery slope.

On Letters to the editor: Nov. 30, 2008

Posted on November 15 at 10:31 p.m.

So why didn't Naples Daily News shine this wonderful light on Burt Saunders BEFORE the election?
I don't suppose the paper will run this Saunders story on the front page like they did the tabloid piece about Saunders accepting a board position on an alleged travel pyramid. The paper clearly knew that Saunders had taken the board position just six months earlier knowing that he was brought in to help restructure and 'clean-up' problems within the organization.
Not much was made of the suspicious nature of the source of the 'scoop'. Why not?? I understand it was was anonymously delivered in an unmarked envelope to the newspaper ... and just a few short weeks before election time.
Now, THAT was the true story. Obviously a smear tactic by the competition. Which one?
If the paper had followed up and reported on the source of the 'scoop', the outcome of the election might have been different.
South Florida lost an opportunity for wonderful representation. I look around and see few politicians who truly have the 'public interest' at heart. Saunders is a rare gem.

On Burt Saunders steps out of public service spotlight, but for how long?

Posted on November 13 at 9:18 p.m.

His rep, Jacob, was there. I believe Grady is in Tallahassee. Let's hope Grady turns out to be an official who is responsive to his constituents. With luck, he may be a politician who represents his people instead of promoting his political career.
Time will tell.

On Collier’s new representative getting a jump-start on legislation

Posted on November 13 at 9 a.m.

More dung being heaped on this project.
3% CPI applied for 50 years. Give me a break. In 1979, the inflation rate was 11%. In 1980, 13%, followed by 1961 at 10%. Many of us remember those times. If this plan had been in place in 1979, we would have seen an 11% raise in tolls, followed by 13%, followed by 10%. There is NO maximum limit in this plan for toll increases. Only a miminum.
The tolls won't be raised by a steady 3% over a 50 year period. The average 50 year CPI is 4.21%. At 4.21%, in 50 years, that makes the toll for a car almost $60.00 to go the east coast and back. For a semi-truck, that cost for a round trip would be $234.00.
And they wonder why people are cynical about government, why we don't trust ANYTHING they say. Maybe it's because we have been misled and lied to just about every step of the way.
Show some rocks up there, Charlie. If you can not manage your budget and must have more funding, then be honest about it. Stop raiding every fund out there, stop this plan to start selling off public assets to fulfill your short term need for cash.
And most of all ....
STOP PLAYING US FOR FOOLS!!!!

On Residents speak out about Alligator Alley toll increase, proposed lease

Posted on October 21 at 2:06 p.m.

A good man, that Stan Cann.
While Ray Judah and Tami Hall bent over backwards to 'ugly up' the joint MPO meeting, Mr. Cann remained above the fray. He stated from the beginning that his intent was to allot the money to both counties. It was his decision and his decision alone to decide where and how the funds would be spent.
Anything ambiguous about that????
There was absolutely no need for the two Lee County Commissioners to show their collective teeth ... other than just a glimpse at their personalities seeping through.
Judah and Hall immediately pounced upon the MPO tied vote. The original motion, which ended in a tie vote, was to accept Mr. Cann's proposition. Mr. Cann didn't need permission or encouragement or any kind of sanction from the joint MPO.
Regardless, much time was spent dickering over the funding. I felt as though I were attending the reading of a will with every third-string relative weeping into their hanky.
The tie vote would have affectively meant no action was taken on the item. But no, Judah sounding like an auctioneer, delivered his words as quickly as possible to propose a second motion which pitted county against county.
For what purpose?
Mr. Cann had announced his intentions at the onset of the meeting. His intentions were clear.
Thank you Judah and Hall for showing what self-interested, ugly politicians you have become.
And thank you, Mr. Cann for being more interested in addressing the needs of two of the counties you serve and not playing ball with the bullies on the playground.
Having said that, if Mr. Cann had not apportioned a fair share to Collier County, I would have wholeheartedly supported a good tar and feathering for the dear man!!!!!
Two thumbs up for Stan Cann.
Four thumbs down for Judah and Hall.

On Editorial: It took FDOT official to clear local roadblock

Posted on October 11 at 8:37 a.m.

Watch out California resident posing as a Florida resident .... these smear tactics could come back to bite you in the butt!!!
You can't get by on your daddy's good name forever.
Do you really think we are blind, deaf and dumb all the way across the country in Florida ... you know, over here on the other coast???
We can actually put two and two together and easily identify an attempt at a sucker punch.
Shame on you and your clandestine messengers!!!

On State Sen. Saunders to be honored with Green Elephant award

Posted on October 11 at 8:09 a.m.

Thank you Frank Comment
All of your facts are verifiable. Both sites have been checked out. Saunders DID join less than six months ago and DOES NOT own any shares.
You are correct, it seems he is an INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR.
As a matter of fact the YTBi.com website shows all members of the board. They include a Certified Financial Planner, a real estate developer, another lawyer, a CPA, a medical doctor, and the 1985 Baseball Hall of Famer.
YTB was written up in Travel Weekly as well.
I get it, I get it ... it has ALL the appearance of a sleazy campaign smear by a certain California-based incumbent.

On State senator Saunders on board of company called a pyramid scheme