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We are participating in the coalition to defeat the RTA plan next May. We know many of our fellow citizens are unhappy with the plan for various reasons. Tucson Real Plan has done a good job of laying out the myriad problems with the RTA plan, and the steps needed to produce a new plan worthy of voter approval. Ken O'Day has written an excellent article explaining why it is important to vote No published in the Star here.
Taxation
Without Representation
The most egregious flaw in the RTA plan is the fact that the $2.1 Billion of
sales tax will be managed by an RTA Board with 10 members representing different municipal
entities within Pima County, including the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Pascua
Yaqui Tribe with one representative each. The City of Tucson and unincorporated
Pima County each have only one vote, 20% of the total, even though they contain 90% of the
population. Thus, the bulk of the taxes are paid by citizens who are
grossly underrepresented on the RTA Board! To make matters worse, the legislation governing
the RTA allows the Board to change the plan projects without voter approval as long
as the change does not shift aggregate spending by 10% or more for a given
transportation category (eg. roadway improvement, transit, etc.). In other
words, the RTA is not legally committed to carry out the plan they are proposing to the
voters since the Board can change or delete all projects at will!
Grant Road "Freeway"
The RTA doesn't call their Grant Road
widening project a freeway,
but we all know that's what it is: it's the significant, critical
step in building the Grant Freeway.
The widening of Grant and right-of-way acquisitions for future freeway access
roads will displace numerous businesses as their
buildings are demolished to make way for the freeway.
The character of the neighborhoods surrounding Grant, and our entire city, will be irreparably
changed. Chuck Huckelberry and
his Technical/Management Committee wanted nothing to do with this freeway
and took it out of the RTA plan, but Rick Myers and his
Citizens' Advisor Committee put it back in.
Many homeowners, neighborhood groups,
and small business owners
near Grant have expressed their disgust with this substantial
alteration to the character of Tucson.
However, we have noticed they are not forming the
sort of political organization necessary to defeat the RTA plan
in May. We will help make that happen, but we need your help!
Besides, with models (RTA/PAG and consultants) showing 18,000 cars/day
would use Snyder Bridge
as an east-west gateway (confirmed by Chuck Huckelberry in this
[30 second, 2Mb] video clip), you can be sure much of this traffic
is now using Grant. Just take a look at the map:
without Snyder Bridge, Grant is the best way to get between I-10
and the NE side of town, and the best access to the Catalina Highway
for the entire city north of Grant!
Some of the same traffic clogging
up Tanque Verde is clogging up Grant! Why should we alter
our city's character with a freeway to avoid a $20M bridge
that would also be a net positive for the environment and save lives?
Unfair impact on neighborhoods adjacent to Udall Park
A waste of $1 million taxpayer dollars for an unnecessary special election
Sales taxes are regressive by nature