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Fourteen months before an exhaustive study is expected to be finished on the costs and ramifications of extending light rail to the Oceanfront, a petition drive is under way to short-circuit the project.
The petition would ask voters next fall whether the Virginia Beach City Council should approve the development and financing for light rail. To be placed on the November 2010 ballot, the petition needs the signatures of 25 percent of Beach residents who vote next month.
The petition is problematic on several levels. By law, the regional transit authority, Hampton Roads Transit, not the Virginia Beach City Council, is responsible for approving and obtaining financing for the project. The petition also combines the 10.6-mile line being considered for the Norfolk Southern right of way in Virginia Beach with a link to the Norfolk Naval Station - an expansion of the Norfolk Tide that could be built later.
Most importantly, the petition forces voters to consider the issue without any details. It asks voters to react to hype and hysteria, not facts, from opponents and proponents.
Ten years ago, Beach residents defeated light rail in a nonbinding vote. Council members then declined to pursue the project, killing it. Since then, road congestion and roller-coaster gas prices have led to renewed interest in mass transit.
Virginia Beach's long-term growth plan identifies 13 areas for redevelopment, several of them along the Norfolk Southern tracks. Realizing that control of the rail corridor would be key to the city's growth, the City Council put up $10 million for the $40 million purchase. But before anyone can decide whether to extend the starter line, the 7.4-mile Tide, into Virginia Beach, we need to know more.
Last year the General Assembly authorized HRT to study the possibilities. The $1.5 million, two-part study, scheduled to be completed in late 2010 or early 2011, will develop and evaluate the rail extension from Newtown Road, as well as alternatives to rail, including an enhanced bus system.
The other part of the study will provide estimates on light rail's cost, the number of riders, where stations could be placed, the effect of the system on neighborhoods and the environment, and the possibilities for development.
No decision on Virginia Beach's transportation future should be made without benefit of this study. Not by the City Council, and not by Beach voters.
City Council member Bill DeSteph, who describes himself as "a huge supporter of light rail," supports a referendum. But not this referendum. It's premature.
"You can't put it out to referendum until you have the information," DeSteph said.
Once Virginia Beach knows the costs and benefits, he added, the council should put in place an open, transparent process for deciding how to deal with its transportation problems.
A petition that asks voters to decide an issue this important, without critical information, is worthless. By forcing a vote next year, light rail opponents hope to stick a stake in the rail project before the city gets the details. Civic-minded citizens should say no to the petition.
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Pro-TOD developer misleads - again.
Well, there you have it folks - another misleading claim by a developer seeking to promote taxpayer subsidized development and call it "light rail" for even greater misdirection. The trut is that in the last Mayoral race in VB, 55% of the voters cast their votes for the two candidates that promised to conduct a referendum on light rail should they be elected. Those two candidates are John Moss of the VBTA and Will Sessoms, a banker. One hopes the newlt elected Mayor will keep his promise and support and conduct a referendum.
Unless he does a John Kerry.
Unless he does a John Kerry. After all he voted for the referendum before he voted against it. Ooops. There I go 'swift boating' again. Darn!
Well it is certainly a
Well it is certainly a different ball game for Mike Barrett if one uses the same argument if 84% of the voters re-elect Bill Howell et al to the House of Delegates. It just goes to show you that Mike is fine with producing opinion polls as long as the majority is in agreement with him or his philosophy. You have truly earned your stripes as the master of spin Mike.
Let the Fun Begin!
It certainly seems that 84% of the voters who expressed a preference for candidates who support light rail is a significant majority, yet the transportation chairman of the VBTA either can't add or does not want to believe the result. That is a shame, because the organization itself, at least in public, has said they intend to remain neutral until the results of the EIS are made public. Greenmun regretfully can't stop himself from his personal campaign on behalf of what he thinks the organization should be doing. Perhaps the President of the VBTA, or the Director of Communications, will finally make a statement that clarifies who speaks for the VBTA on this issue. Greenmun apparently thinks he does, yet he refuses to acknowledge the position taken by the board. Now, it is conceivable that the organization wants it both ways, but somehow, I think this is an internal division playing out on the pages of Pilot on Line. Let the fun begin.
Spin
Once again Barrett trots out the spin. 84% of voters casting votes for someone other than Moss does not equate to 84% of voters being for light rail. Did you never take a course in logic?... or more likely you know you are spinning. That is why you are afraid of a public referendum, because you know that it is likely that a MAJORITY of VB voters will come out against this boondoggle. Once again...nice try Barrett but your logic is yet again faulty. How you ever made it to O6 is beyond me...maybe by brown-nosing.
Tired and worn out Talking Points
Developers and special interests sure like to trot out their list of tired and deceptive Talking Points. Y-a-w-n. Here we witness out right lies in a vain attempt to try to change the subject and launch false personal attacks on this citizens that debunk their tired and out dated TOD (Transit Oriented Development) promises. Clearly this matter needs to go to the voters and let those that will be stuck with the multi-million dollar tab have their voices heard at the ballot box. Special interests have bought off the politicians. They expect a "retrun on their investment". Well, it is our government, not those that write the largest campaign checks. Let's get this on the ballot and let the people decide.
Listen
My gosh; another inaccurate and incorrect prescription from the trransportation chairman of the VBTA. With the Commonwealth out of the road building business, added capacity in the I-264 corridor is absolutely essential. In fact, it is also the lower cost alternative. Our citizens are smart enough to know this, yet the VBTA has placed itself in opposition to this remarkably popular initiative. Their prescription of the future is characterized by radical and deep cuts in all city programs and services. Their view is that we will never recover from this recession, and we must essentially go back to being a county, not a city. Bare bones, cut everything, get ready for the end of the world as we know it. Well, bunk, pure bunk, and even though their political philosophy was refuted at the polls, we still must endure the Greenmun/O'Conner/Dean prescriptions as they fail to acknowlege their refutation at the polls.
ugh
You say that light rail is a "remarkably popular initiative"...yet you are against a referendum which would either prove or disprove your assertion. That is the only way to determine how popular something is. Nice spin...once again. I am not a member of VBTA but against this boondoggle. There are a lot of us out here, but let's put it to a referendum...oops you are scared what it would reveal.
Light rail is a 'want", not a need
Fellow Beach taxpayers, can we talk? You know that you have had incredible increases in the taxes the city has levied on your homes since the housing bubble began in 2000. You know that City Council & the City Manager began spending the equity in your homes while they were also borrowing hundreds of millions more to fund their developer, real estate, banker, and lawyer "friends" that "donate" to their political "war chests". You know you need tax relief and we all learned that manu Beach homes were assessed far higher than they are really worth - and you paid taxes on that inflated value. Now our city's "budget" is roughly $49M "short". Clearly the city NEEDS to reduce spending and to stop borrowing for more development. Well, the proposed "light rail" is simply more of the same - borrowing and taxing millions to build a "want" that is really intended to promote more taxpayer subsidized development. We have far more pressing needs than spending about $700M to build a 10 mile, low capacity light rail line. We need to have our voices heard and voting on the questions is one of the best ways to do so.
Jim Spore not waiting for any study to decide on Light Rail
Today's Pilot reports that Beach City Manager will renew his contract and not retire because he has more work to do - he is reported to have said that work was to expand Town center and light rail. Gee, if HE doesn't need to wait for a study and the facts to make up HIS MIND then clearly neither do the taxpayer of Virginia Beach, right? After all, it is THEIR MONEY Jim Spore is spending on Town center and light rail, right? Well, and Federal tax funds, and state tax funds, and regional tax funds . . .