I'm sharing a letter I wrote to the person in charge of toll roads for the Texas Highway Department last month.
I was born and raised in Texas. After my husband completed his college education, the only jobs available were in Louisiana, so we moved. I have always bragged about our wonderful Texas Highways...until now.
We returned home to Texas in our retirement and we were shocked to see what had become of our beloved state.
TOLL ROADS ARE ROTTEN! The only way I think they might be OK is using the method they used when the South Padre Island Causeway was built in my youth. We were charged $1.00 a car to use the causeway to get from Port Isabel to Padre Island...ONLY UNTIL THE CAUSEWAY WAS PAID FOR. Then it was free!!! That's reasonable. As I recall the Texas Highway Department handled that transaction.
I keep a cartoon on my refrigerator which sums-up my feeling about Toll Roads and Cintra. In it three sailing ships come over the horizon. Musical notes and hearts float around the message: "Hola Tejanos...We bring you Toll Roads...Muy bonitos!" A Tribal Chief and several cowboy-types watch from shore. The Chief says, "Well...I say keep them out! Last time they stole our gold and took it back to Spain!" A clamshell thinks, "Can you say déjà vu?"
The deals with toll roads are ROTTEN! The taxpayer is required to pay taxes which the Texas Constitution mandates be used only for roads and maintenance...yet the legislature takes money from the road/maintenance taxes to use for other things and our roads are neglected.
Also the rotten-deals guarantee Cintra (or any toll group) a certain ridership or they'll be reimbursed by--you guessed it--us taxpayers! In addition there are the tolls. We are taxed multiple times for these roads we do not want.
TxDot needs to build and maintain our roads as they did in the past. VOTE NO ON TOLL ROADS AND ROTTEN DEALS THAT HARM HARD-WORKING TEXAS TAXPAYERS!
I am also sharing a fable I wrote about this problem and published in several regional newspapers (Canyon Lake Week, 10-10-07, page 13).
A CAUTIONARY TALE: TxDOT AND THE PEOPLE
by Jackie De Hon, Ph.D.
The People were overburdened. The Emperor and his lieutenants had taken more than a fair share of lands, produce, and taxes, giving nothing in return. The People revolted. Many were killed. The Wise Ones counseled, "Let us leave this land. We will find a land of our own. We will make the laws and collect only needed taxes."
The long trek began. The People traveled very far--until they had seen no other people for many lunas. They found a land flowing with milk and honey. This, they agreed, will be our land. All were satisfied.
As they built homes and planted crops, they remembered the crooked, unfair leaders in their homeland. They made sure all had plenty of work and plenty of reward for their work. And The People prospered. Years passed. Stewardship was honest and fair. All gave to the community store. When improvements were needed, funds were available.
One day, Evil Ones arose with greed in their eyes. They slyly offered to watch over the community funds. They pretended to be honest. They pretended to care for the community. Yet they secretly took the funds for themselves. The People began to notice the funds were almost gone, yet improvements were needed. They asked, "Where are the funds?" The Evil Ones pretended surprise. "It took all of the funds to pay for this year's expenses. We'll see what else we can do."
They contacted others like themselves from other communities. They asked, "How can WE become more wealthy?" The other Evil Ones said, "We will lend funds; The People can repay us." The Evil Ones dressed the swindle in pretty clothes and presented it to The People as though they had exclusive power to make decisions for all. Roads would be rebuilt, and "small fees" to use the roads would go to pay the debt. But they lied. Some of the fees were for the local Evil Ones; some were for the other Evil Ones.
Some were fooled. Busy with their own lives, they let others make their decisions. But The Wise Ones were not fooled. They asked pointed questions, using figures from the Evil Ones' own books. They realized that if The People refused to pay, they could no longer use their own roads--for they had been sold to others. They exposed the Evil Ones and their cohorts, yet so many officials had caught "Greed Fever" that those in charge of watching The-Keepers-of-the-Funds had also become corrupt. Protections The People had built into their government no longer existed. The Wise Ones turned to The People.
Will The People listen? Are they unconcerned about thefts of rights, privileges, funds, and ownership of their own roads?
The People are the citizens of Texas. The Evil Ones are TxDOT and public officials who have lost sight of honorable behavior and of the fact that the roads belong to The People. The People must purge the community of the Evil Ones and restore rightful order and fair play to the citizens. What will you do?