Mayors stand ground against FasTracks cuts

But officials wary of tax bailout as large-scale option

By Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Ian Campbell, of Denver, who takes the light rail to the Auraria campus, prepares to board a train downtown on Monday.

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Metro-area mayors say they will oppose any talk by RTD of cutting back on their FasTracks corridors in the midst of a budget crisis.

But they're not ready to say more tax money is the answer.

"Longmont citizens voted favorable on this in 2004 just because of what the package offered to people up here," said Roger Lange, the city's mayor. "To offer something different isn't fair to voters, and it isn't the right thing. Not serving Longmont is just not an option as far as we are concerned."

RTD officials conceded last week that with costs up markedly over what it budgeted four years ago and revenues from the tax that voters approved not bringing in as much as expected, it won't be able to deliver the same program voters were promised by 2017.

Instead, the agency must consider scaling back the scope of some of the projects, delaying their full build-out and asking voters for more money or finding massive savings through privatization.

It won't be easy. Mayors along the FasTracks corridors say they want the full project to be built, and they want it by the 2017 completion date. While that leaves a new tax bailout as the remaining large-scale option, none endorsed it right out of the box. RTD first needs to put definite dollar amounts on its dilemma.

Officials stand together

"Nobody in any corridor is going to welcome a push-back of opening dates," said Arvada Mayor Bob Frie. "Nobody welcomes the idea of more taxes, but with gas prices as they are, people are anxious for FasTracks to get built. They may be willing to pay more money for it. I don't welcome that debate though. RTD is in a tough spot.

Added Longmont's Lange: "RTD might just have to go for more money, that might be the reality of it."

The Boulder County city of Longmont sits at the farthest point on the longest proposed FasTracks corridor, the 41-mile Northwest Rail commuter train project. As such, it would be a seemingly easy call to scale back the end of the line to Boulder, the original planned stopping point for the corridor before it was expanded for the FasTracks program.

Last year, when the entire FasTracks program leaped from the $4.7 billion package presented to voters to a new total of $6.1 billion, the Northwest Rail project's share went from $565.1 million to $684.4 million.

But Lange has allies in what looks to be a united front of city and county elected officials, who are defending their neighbors' interests for the sake of their own turf.

Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer put it most graphically: "It won't work to try to gore just one ox. This was a regional effort and we figured out an answer so that everybody benefited. Now we need to make sure that in any new answer, everyone still benefits."

Trust in RTD is broken

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, whose core city would be the last to suffer cuts because most of the corridors originate at Denver Union Station, closed ranks with Lange, his outermost counterpart.

"I think we're committed to the full scope of work and to the timeline," Hickenlooper said. "I am no less committed to that than the mayor of Longmont is. We all worked on this together and therefore, the preferred thing is to build what was promised and certainly, if there are any changes, they should be fairly shared."

Political analyst and pollster Floyd Ciruli said the problem for RTD seeking another tax hike is twofold. First, RTD's trust with the community has been broken by not being able to deliver on the original plan.

"The problem is lack of trust in government, and given the promises they made, even with the extenuating circumstances of inflation in construction, it really empowers the opponents, many of whose arguments against it four years ago were fulfilled," Ciruli said. "RTD underpriced it and overpromised it."

The second problem RTD would face is the poor state of the economy, a bad time to ask voters for anything even if they like it.

"The bottom line is that people are anxious and their discretionary income is tightening, making it very difficult to make a case for raising taxes," Ciruli said. "RTD has one argument, people like transit, and if anything it's even a bigger alternative given $4-a-gallon gas."

Regional solution needed

Cal Marsella, RTD general manager, said the agency is focused on building the full lengths of the nine FasTracks rail corridors and a 10th corridor that involves a dedicated bus, car-pool and toll lane on U.S. 36. His staff plans to present new budget numbers and financial plans to the RTD elected board by mid-August.

"We're certainly going in with the goal of building what we went to the electorate with in every corridor," Marsella said.

Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy is in a city where the only FasTracks project under contract, the West Corridor light rail, is starting early construction. Even so, he's not taking an "I got mine already" attitude.

"From the regional perspective, our line will be that much better if the whole system gets built out," Murphy said. "This is a regional issue and it's going to take a regional solution, and all options need to stay on the table for now."

flynnk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5247

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Comments

July 22, 2008

6:15 a.m.

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VVVV writes:

I think Cal Marsella is a parrot. The only quotes I ever see from him involve more money in some way. More land. Cuts in workers' wages while giving management raises, and for what? To get a tax passed to rope the voters into a bottomless pit of mismanagement. Screw bailouts. Governments should take over failing companies, clean house, cut them up and redistribute the wealth to the competition, or in this case the people. Maybe if a failing company had something to fear, there would be better management.

They need to cut back on train service. Once the people are squeezed in like Tokyo, they will be willing to pass anything.
July 22, 2008

6:24 a.m.

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Superstar writes:

When city budgets are struggling what do they do? They cut. Trouble is these mayors want it all. Knowing that things are tough in their own cities right now they expect a differnt standard of RTD. Maybe we should take all the local money being wasted on the DNC and put it to something that benefits people locally - like light rail.
July 22, 2008

6:47 a.m.

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gr8fun4me writes:

Fire the guys and find someone that can do the job! As taxpayers we are tired of the falsehoods that keep coming from government runned entities. Lies, lies and more lies. Sure the price of materials have gone up but that should have been factored in the bids and the contracts with suppliers should have had a cap all the way down the line.
July 22, 2008

7:54 a.m.

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FCZ writes:

More taxes and new government fees until the voters wake up.
July 22, 2008

8:05 a.m.

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openmind writes:

Maybe our Elected RTD board of directors http://www.rtd-denver.com/TheBoard/in... and RTD leaders like Cal Marsela would be willing to donate their homes and businesses to "greater good" of society to help pay down the budget? After all that is what they are asking land owners on the west corridor to do.

Give the RTD board members a call. Their numbers are on that link. Tell them you got their information from Steve Fesch. Better yet show up to the monthly RTD board meeting. Sometimes they even take a break from the FREE buffet they chow on when we concerned citizens voice frustrations with the Fast Tracks disaster in the making.

This is their two week schedule. It's always fun to go to the meetings and listen to the lies about how they are on budget, on time, they aren't taking land for development etc.

http://www2.rtd-denver.com/BoardOffic...
July 22, 2008

8:09 a.m.

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windbourne writes:

Amazing. These idiots have wasted loads of time doing next to nothing. Now, we have a lousy economy, high gas prices in which not only would the construction be useful, but having the train segments would also be good.
July 22, 2008

8:35 a.m.

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temurlan writes:

VVVV, you had me until "Governments should take over..."

Government started the mess. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Just stare into the pretty light and keep handing over your money"

Private businesses succeed or fail based on the product they provide. It's either viable or it's not.
July 22, 2008

8:48 a.m.

Suggest removal

The_Punnisher writes:

I looked at the site. Son of a B1TCH!!! THEY DO NOTHING BUT GO TO MEETINGS!!! NO WONDER NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE!!

If we had pulled crap like that, the Cray systems would have never gotten designed & built..

FIRE THE B@STARDS!! Get someone who spend time DOING instead of TALKING.

The time for talking has passed...
July 22, 2008

9:46 a.m.

Suggest removal

Buff4Life writes:

You guys are all geniuses. Honestly - quit talking and start bulding? Yeah, that sounds like a grand plan. For about 2 years. Then when there's no money and half-built systems due to the increase in costs, you guys can b1tch some more.

Grow up and learn how things are done in the real world - through efficient planning, compromise, and effective implementation.

Politicians are not soothsayers. Sure, we can all say "they should have seen this commodity/steel price increase was inevitable". But the fact is no one was complaining that this wasn't enought $ in 2004. Everyone was saying it was too much. If people could predict future commondity costs, they wouldn't be politicians. They'd be called Warren Buffet.

Why don't you offer some constructive criticism instead of whining?
July 22, 2008

10:10 a.m.

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HolierThanThou writes:

"Private businesses succeed or fail based on the product they provide. It's either viable or it's not."

Not necessarily...

Corporate moguls are social darwinists when it comes to privatizing the profits and pocketing billions in bonuses while giving the rest of us the shaft.

Here are a few that failed big time:

Savings and Loans (remember Silverado?)
Bear Sterns
IndyMac

Guess who gets to pick up the tab for these failures? YOU DO! YOU DOPE! IndyMac just drained about 25% of the FDIC reserve fund, which is funded by us middle-class working taxpayers. Did the corporate bosses who took their companies into failure give back their millions in bonus money? No, look it up. Thanks to all the conservative lollipops listening to Rush and Hannity, few of us ever bother to ask.

Accountability is good but Americans couldn't find accountability today if you hung it on your behind and put a bell on it. Maybe that's not your fault. It just doesn't exist unless it involves the high and mighty making average Americans pay for mistakes made on the executive level.

Picking on Cal Marsella is wrong. If someone demanded that you build a two-storey, three bedroom house for $1000 then you'd get some idea of what the man is up against. Fuel costs have pushed up both operating expenses and the cost of construction while murdering RTD revenues.

The other thing that has us and RTD over the barrel is the absence of domestic mass production of rail and carriages. The piecemeal approach is costing us dearly on this. Why are we building a mass transit system piece by piece? The answer is simple: we give too much credit to crackpots who say that we can't do it and that nobody will ride. If Americans could put railroads from Denver to Fairplay over a century ago with hand shovels, picks, horses, and sweat then we can certainly do that today with heavy equipment.

Mass production is key to bringing down the cost. So, ironically, we would get much more for our tax dollars by expanding light rail to encompass the entire state of Colorado rather than just little pieces along the Front Range.
July 22, 2008

10:19 a.m.

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gkh writes:

Although not a fan of your apparent alma mata, I am a fan of your comments Buff4Life- Careful plannig and thoughtfull execution will ensure a world class project - and make no mistake, the world is paying attention to this (especially come DNC time). Colorado is quickly shifting to the forefront of the new american landscape, where the west plays a much greater role in the country and world. New energy, old energy, quality of life are going to be driving forces - and this rail system is a key to that. The proposed lines will save the naysayers and their remote suburban outposts from ghettoization in our increasingly expensive commuting world.

50% annual increases in material cost could not have been predicted - not even by Buffet. Instead of increased taxation, privitization should be emphasized. It will get done quicker, and cheaper than if govt. driven. Of course if that happens the same no-tax whiners will start complaining about condemnation and private profits.

This system is truly for the regional good. Nothing good gets done without a little pain. It makes the end resuult that much more sweet - seven years down the road when Colorado is viewed in the same light as the great cities of the world - only with kick a-- mountains...

Go Rams!
July 22, 2008

10:30 a.m.

Suggest removal

openmind writes:

Holierthanthou:

Were you at the meeting where Cal Marsella fought tooth and nail with the Board of Directors of RTD? I was, Kevin Flynn of the Rocky mountain news was also there.

You see his huge bonus is tied to customer service/complaints. Cal argued that he cannot control the complaints that dome into RTD. Chris Martinez (board members) flat out told Cal that it's his job to try. Ruchman-lakewood board member told Cal "Don't worry Cal" you'll get your bonus.

This is all public record and on tape.

Cal should be getting a pay cut not a bonus. He should be leading by example. He is not. I will say this. It appears he's done with the lies about delivering Fast Tracks on time and on budget. I could post a dozen or more articles where he's said that. Just wait until all the jaded developers start coming out of the woodworks who were promised other people's land.

Shit hasn't even hit the fan yet. It's coming.
July 22, 2008

10:40 a.m.

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trepidation writes:

This debate on new taxes, bigger government and lack of trust is awesome. Everyone gripes about the failure of RTD, more costs and less good for the individual.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH OF OUR TAX MONEY GOES TO ROADS, BRIDGES, HIGHWAYS AND SUBSIDIZING THE AUTOMOBILE? Significant portions of your sales taxes, property taxes, federal income taxes, state income taxes, use taxes and other fees go to the establishment of the car. Denver metro leaders are trying to shift that focus of taxes for a better tomorrow.

If all the effort of griping about cost increases at FasTracks went into griping about the FHWA or CDOT budgets we could save immensely larger amounts of money. Instead, we gripe about the smaller, newer tax that pales in comparison to the 600 lb gorilla in the room.

Stop tripping over dollars in hopes of saving dimes.
July 22, 2008

10:59 a.m.

Suggest removal

Cwillyrun1 writes:

Holierthanthou, expand mass transit across the state? LOL, right! I can see where an elevated train going from DIA, across Denver, and to Grand Junction would be a good idea, along with one running from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, maybe Pueblo. Those are heavily traveled corridors and would ease traffic. But across the state with light rail? Not only would it be incredibly expensive, but the ridership wouldn't turn a profit. Think of the buses you see that have a few riders on them, except apply that to light rail in your situation.

Picking on Marsella isn't wrong. He's the dog and pony show speaking to the public about how the projects are on time and on budget, when the truth shows the opposite. Using your analogy, he was told to build that two story, three bedroom house for $1,000 when that was all the money needed to build the house. Instead, he built a part of it and now that construction costs have gone up, he has to deal with the budget he originally had. Excuses aren't cutting it.
July 22, 2008

11:03 a.m.

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bookwerm writes:

Raise the fares, pay as you go. I strongly support public transportation, but Europeans come here and ride buses and think it is insanely cheap compared to what THEY pay, and I agree. Prices should reflect real costs, should cover operations. Charge folks from OUTSIDE RTD tax zones higher fares.. they don't pay taxes to help the costs, they should NOT benefit. IF they don't like it they can vote to join the RTD district. This is a business, not a service.. run it as such.
July 22, 2008

11:05 a.m.

Suggest removal

The_Punnisher writes:

Hey Buff4life:

I'm a MAKER, not a TAKER or a FAKER...

My training was in FAILURE ANALYSIS....I can spot a failed system with ease...AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM!!

openminds saw a SYMPTOM of the FAILED system. when you have a PETTY conversation as the board did, it is like arguing about the position of the deck chairs on the Titanic...

I've had to take the reins of a project and clean up the mess OTHERS have created. Have you?

I have also watch companies go down the tubes when I wasn't allowed to do the job..

The bad news in this case is that WE GET STUCK WITH THE TAB in this case...AND WE HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT!!

So I WILL comment...and I KNOW what SHPULD be done..And I won't keep quiet about it...
July 22, 2008

1:01 p.m.

Suggest removal

woodwose writes:

Actually Dan2 is deceptive with his numbers. CDOT's budget this year is $1.2 billion, and this doesn't include county and municipal road maintenance expenses. RTD's budget is $458 million but $90 million of that is covered by fares, whereas virtually all of CDOT's revenue comes straight out of taxes. Additionally, RTD logs about 313,000 boardings a day. Now admittedly, a transfer probably counts as a boarding, so it's hard to say if 313,000 boardings equals 65,000 unique riders a day.

There are things that I don't like about RTD. I think it's a bloated top-heavy organization that spends far too much time figuring out how to get money out of the tax-paying public than actually doing what they are supposed to be doing. But you could say the same thing about CDOT.

However, RTD does a far better job of providing mass transit for the Denver area than many other western cities do. Try getting around the Phoenix area by bus someday.
July 22, 2008

1:16 p.m.

Suggest removal

The_Punnisher writes:

Try getting around the Phoenix area by bus someday..
Try the " Trains to nowhere " that are part of the Silicon Valley's VTA system...

The existing RTD system was better designed. The PROPOSED system would have worked IF PEOPLE SPENT THE MONEY GETTING THINGS DONE!!!

Instead, we have people on power trips and spending $$$ in a meeting mode..

A private enterprise would quickly disappear if it pulled that stunt ( and I saw what happened when a " new broom management " came in to restore a major corporation's profitability...the bloodshed was horrendous ).

The same rules should apply here: GET TO WORK OR GET FIRED!!

The old saying " delay is the deadliest form of denial " applies here..

WE ( THE TAXPAYER WHO FOOTS THE BILL ) WANT ACTION, NOT WORDS!!!
July 22, 2008

2:24 p.m.

Suggest removal

BMat writes:

Maybe we should call it "Light-Fail" instead of light rail.
July 23, 2008

2:06 p.m.

Suggest removal

trepidation writes:

Dan2 and woodwose,

I appreciate the dialogue. Might I also suggest a review of roadway, highway and bridge expenditures from the Feds, municipalities and other taxing districts like Metro Districts. I think you're missing a big piece of the pie, although it's a good start.

Second, it's hard to ignore that upfront construction costs (FasTracks) are larger than operational expenditures (CDOT). My opinion is that if we are going to live in dense, urban cities, let us choose a more cost effective method. It is also hard to fight the arguement that a car provides freedom and independence, but at a wasted expense level. If there was full cost pricing for automobiles...ie, one tax so a driver could weigh cars versus transit in the city, it would pale in comparison.

Lots of source for reference on this topic. Google life-cycle analysis of roads or transit. Or just add up operatoinal budget of roadway systems versus transit systems, then divide by the number of users.

Might also want to look at the non-financial impacts of these transporation alternatives.

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Mayors stand ground against FasTracks cuts

But officials wary of tax bailout as large-scale option

By Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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