Posts Tagged ‘boondoggle’

In an email to his fellow metro area mayors, Parker mayor David Casiano has said he and the Parker city council will not back RTD’s money grab via another tax increase for the FasTracks boondoggle.  In part the mayor said: “I will not sit silently by while this ballot issue emerges.  I will be outspoken…..  RTD has [...]

The man who is already Colorado’s highest paid public official is getting a nice raise and bonus despite the fact the agency he oversees is besieged by major problems.  Cal Marsella, RTD General Manager, whose base salary is already $290,286 will receive a 4.87 percent raise of $14,137 and a 12.5 percent bonus of $36,286.  [...]

Yesterday the FasTracks working group of the Metro Mayors Caucus came to the conclusion that it is better to ask for a tax increase now than wait.  The FasTracks boondoggle is in dire straits with in excess of a $2 billion funding shortfall and the mayors have come to the obvious conclusion the project can’t be [...]

I really do try to limit my postings about the FasTracks boondoggle but with so much good ammunition out there, it is hard to resist.  This past week has seen a flurry of stories about the project and how a bad situation is getting worse.  Somehow though, local politicos continue to try to push the [...]

The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that the metro mayors that are part of the North Area Transportation Alliance are backing giving RTD an opportunity to come at taxpayers for more money to fund the FasTracks / TaxTracks boondoggle.  This is hardly shocking news as local politicos and much of the metro area continue to [...]

Yesterday RTD released the results of a survey in which it said that a majority of respondents are willing to pay up to double the current tax for TaxTracks / FasTracks.  Of 700 likely voters, the district survey claims that 64% either strongly support or somewhat support the tax increase that would allow RTD to [...]

Friday it was reported that the Regional Transportation District was introducing a salary freeze on its staff in the wake of a report showing a 9.6% decline in revenues.  Certainly like all businesses, RTD is going to be forced to make some tough choices and freezing salaries is better than being on the street hunting [...]

Following up on my recent report of a meeting of north metro area government and business leaders, YourHub and the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel had their own reports on the meeting.  The North Area Transportation Alliance goal is to ensure the north metro area isn’t shortchanged by RTD and the FasTracks boondoggle.  Amid mis-management and cost overruns [...]

The Denver Post today reports on a meeting held by the North Area Transportation Alliance, a group of business and governmental leaders working to ensure the north metro area isn’t shortchanged by RTD and the FasTracks project.  Thornton Mayor Erik Hansen and the City of Thornton are at the forefront of these efforts and I applaud [...]

Very, very interesting FasTracks news this week.  The city of Aurora has announced it is going to hire its own consultant to evaluate RTD’s cost estimates for the I-225 corridor part of the project.  This is big news as it signals that Colorado’s second largest city isn’t buying RTD’s costs as the city isn’t seeing [...]