Two news items this week gave METRO an opportunity to try to shape views via its $76,622 Sit and Spin blog.
As Rad Sallee reported for the Chronicle, Richmond rail opponent Daphne Scarborough has filed suit against METRO:
Metro must route its next rail line on Westpark to comply with a 2003 referendum or hold another vote, opponents of rail on Richmond Avenue said Thursday in announcing legal action against the agency.
The lawsuit by Richmond Avenue resident and merchant Daphne Scarborough asks a state district court to order Metropolitan Transit Authority officials to answer questions under oath about Metro’s plans and finances.
Lawyer Andy Taylor said the purpose is to find out whether Metro intends to comply with various terms of the referendum in which voters narrowly approved a long-term transit plan the agency calls Metro Solutions.
On Friday, METRO communications supervisor Sandra Aponte Salazar Sat and Spun on METRO’s blog about the matter. Here’s an excerpt:
At a news conference yesterday, the petitioner accused METRO of not being transparent. If you believed it, you were probably expecting a sound bite from us sounding something like this: “Under legal counsel, we will not comment on pending litigation, and we will not try this case on the media.” Why wouldn’t you assume that? Even an assignments desk editor at KPRC told me he didn’t call us because he assumed we would not comment.
However, the two reporters that actually covered the petitioner’s news conference made no such assumptions. Rad Sallee (Houston Chronicle) and Jeremy Desel (KHOU / Channel 11) sought and obtained comments from METRO. And the comments did not come from some flack, either: they came directly from David Wolfe, Chairman of METRO’s Board of Directors.
Why wouldn’t METRO try its case in the media? It’s so easy in this town.
You’d think the communications supervisor would spell David Wolff’s name right, though. Whoops!
Later in the post, Salazar includes the press release that was issued:
The petition is a fishing expedition filed by one individual opposed to light rail on Richmond.
The fact is, METRO is in complete compliance with the letter of the law and the spirit of the 2003 Referendum.
By including other mobility improvements in the petition in search of “possible” compliance issues, it becomes clear that this is but the latest instance of a vocal few opposing public transit and blocking progress toward improved mobility and quality of life in Houston.
Hmm, so is it “one individual” or a “vocal few”?
In any case, METRO Solutions spelled out certain light-rail routes and a 50% increase in bus service. Since the referendum, METRO has tinkered with the routes (claiming such tinkering is allowed), substituted guided bus transit for light rail on some routes, and conveniently forgotten about the promised increase in bus service. That’s not really compliance in spirit. The legality of it all will just have to play out, but METRO has given critics some ammunition to be sure (and we have seen legal action on similar bus service issues play out in other municipalities).
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, the Sit and Spin blog pronounced that a study found no stray-current damage to the TXDOT overpasses near the Main Street light rail line:
The independent report from V&A Consulting Engineers Inc. of Oakland, Calif., national experts in corrosion control, offered good news, confirming what METRO’s Jim Cody, senior director of construction, had thought all along.
“Neither TxDOT nor METRO thought there was an issue with stray current damaging the bridges with METRO’s light rail system,” said Cody. “We did the testing to go the extra step and assure ourselves that we were correct – just to be prudent as we normally are.”
Ten testing stations were installed at three locations where TxDOT bridges cross over the METRO light rail system: Pierce & I-45 at Main; the US-59 overpass at the Wheeler Station; and at I-610 and Fannin by the Astrodome.
The test was conducted from March 5 through March 10, measuring voltage potential between the reinforcing steel and a copper sulfate reference electrode.
“The test data indicates that operation of the light rail system is not having any detrimental effects on the overpass column reinforcing steel where the IH-45, IH-610 and US-59 overpasses cross over the light rail system,” states the report, dated March 16, 2007. “The potential fluctuations measured are very small, and show that no deterioration of the overpass reinforcing steel is occurring due to the light rail operations.”
That’s good news for the dates in question and for those structures, but it is worth noting that those dates involved no rainfall (which can have an effect on stray current). Furthermore, the greater stray current issue along the line remains of concern, since METRO and contractor Siemens cannot seem to get it under control.
Unfortunately, the study was not posted to the blog — just Sit’s Spin on it. That likely means it will have to be obtained via public information request.
