Taking Another Train

"Streetcar Tax Is Repealed!"
(Exclamation Point Added)

So declares the headline in today's Yellow Pages (Albuquerque Journal - Subscription Required). Finally, the Council has listened to us... or so it seems.

What really happened last night is the council co-opted Councilor Winter's repeal and stuck it into Councilor Benton's "study." Yes, the Transportation Infrastructure Tax is repealed, but it will be back because the "study" proposed by trolley proponent Benton is really a 19th Century Streetcar marketing group co-chaired by none other than the less than neutral councilor himself.

Understand that government generally studies things that it doesn't want to do or things that it's trying to sell you. Such is the case with Councilor Benton's "task force." It's make up is heavily weighted towards supporters of mass transit in general and 19th Century Streetcars in particular.

The "task force" (a.k.a. Marketing Group) includes Council District representatives, Business and Community Development representatives, and Support Organization representatives. Council District representatives will be chosen to support the views of the councilor doing the choosing (At least 6 for and 3 against). The Businesses and Community Development Groups listed are not just directly impacted; they see themselves as beneficiaries of a $300 MILLION trolley. The Support Organizations which includes Rails, Inc. (Gee we wonder if they support a rail system?), all lean heavily and often publicly toward mass transit by rail.

Councilor Winter wisely voted against this "repeal" recognizing it for what it really is... a sham. Proving that politics makes strange bedfellows, joining Councilor Winter in opposition were Councilors Mayer, O'Malley, and Loy.

The simple truth is this... proponents of the 19th Century Streetcar including Almighty Marty himself, have not given up, they've simply taken another train.