Special: Open letter to the Times Picayune

Andrea Shaw
Westbank Bureau Chief
Times Picayune 

Dear Andrea, 

            I am sorry but I was hoping for something more than your statement to former Task Force member Glenn Orgeron that you will "continue to write about both sides of the argument" regarding the toll renewal issue.  I was hoping, after you read the report - as you indicated you might do - that the Times Picayune would fairly present both sides of the argument.   

            First, let's establish that the Times Picayune has, in fact, taken an anti-toll position. For this I point to a webcast on nola.com posted on Thursday, February 23, 2012, 3:04 PM where you and Paul Rioux were interviewed for On Politics.  (Click on "On Poitics" to hear webcast.) Here are some of the phrases used: 

·        "The good news is that they expire at the end of the year," (by the commentator)

·        "Most Westbank residents want them to expire."

·        Those that don't want the tolls to expire are "primarily representing business groups" and wondering "how much they might lobby to renew the tolls."

·        "Sadly there is a contingent that feels that you have to renew the tolls."  

            First, several of these statements are not even true. When you say, "most Westbank residents," you seem to have forgotten those who belong to citizens' groups like the Algiers Point Association, Friends of the Ferry and the Algiers Neighborhood Presidents Council. All have come out in support of the tolls.  If you are referring to Rep. Pat Connick's "Public Hearing" which was held the day before the report became public, not only had no one read it, one man shouted, "I ain't reading no damn report!"   

           I think it would be more accurate to say, "Those who have read the report support the tolls and those who have not, do not."

            As for the statement, "primarily business groups," I would you assume you were referring to those represented on the Task Force: Jefferson Business Council, Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.), Harvey Canal Industrial Association, Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, Algiers Economic Development Foundation, Plaquemines Association of Business and Industry, St. Bernard Chamber of Commerce and Westbank Redevelopment Corporation, Inc. 

            To that list you can also add: New Orleans City Council, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Gretna Mayor Ronnie Harris, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Old Main Street Algiers and Transport for NOLA.  It would have been far more accurate to say, "Virtually EVERY organization in the Greater New Orleans area supports the tolls."  That, in fact, is the truth.

            Here are five examples of how the TP's opinion has spilled over into its "news" articles.

            1.  Why was the Task Force not interviewed for this webcast?  Is it not routine journalistic integrity to present both sides of the story?  When a newspaper censors the information the public receives, they virtually craft public opinion to reach the same conclusion they have.

            2. The DOTD's meeting before local officials: Your  Feb. 24th article, State presents post-toll plan for Crescent City Connection, states, "Briefed Friday on the state's plan for maintaining the Crescent City Connection after tolls expire at the end of the year, about two dozen local officials generally responded favorably…"

            I was not at this meeting but heard about it from Gretna Mayor Ronnie Harris, NOLA Councilwoman-at-large, Jackie Clarkson and NOLA Councilwoman Kristen Palmer.  All used virtually the same phrase, "What meeting was he at?  Because he sure wasn't at the meeting I was at."  (In fact, this is a refrain I heard often from my fellow Task Force members.)

            In fact, most did NOT "respond favorably." It was a heated discussion and virtually everyone there made it clear they could not AND WOULD NOT pick up the expenses of lighting, grass-cutting, etc. In fact, the headline should have been, "The bridge will go dark!"  The subheading could have been, "But don't worry, you won't be able to see it over the grass."  

            3. The "transition to a toll-free bridge" debate: While many TP articles were accurate when analyzed sentence by sentence, oftentimes ninety percent of the article represented ten percent of the meeting, giving the public a skewed sense of the real issues. 

            This was especially true in the early articles where the Task Force discussed whether we were to consider tolls as a possible funding source.  On at least three occasions, although this topic took perhaps 20 minutes out of a three hour meeting, it was the sole focus of the article.  The rest of the meeting was informational, discussing such issues as how the DOTD would not provide "essential services" like  bridge lighting, regular grass-cutting and maintenance.  Most troubling was that now the CCC Bridge would have to compete with 13,000 other bridges and 16,000 miles of roadway for scarce Transportation Trust Funds.  AND THERE WAS ALREADY A SEVEN YEAR WAITING LIST ON THE HIGHWAY PRIORITY PROGRAM.   

            That should have been the headline! This is news!  These are the issues!  In fact, these meetings occurred before we even discussed funding sources. Yet the only issue the paper deemed important - even after four legal opinions and the inability of Rep. (and attorney) Pat Connick to find anyone to give us a counter opinion - was whether we should be looking at any option other than letting the tolls expire. 

            But the loss of essential services was not the story Paul Rioux wanted to tell. It was as if we being shamed into forming a predetermined conclusion: That the tolls must go.   

            4. The Task Force Speaks Before New Orleans City Council Transportation Committee: Although this meeting was announced in the Times Picayune,  it was not deemed worthy to cover.  For the first time the public heard, in depth, the reasons the Task Force was recommending renewing the tolls.  Both Jackie Clarkson and Kristin Palmer were obviously pro-toll as was EVERYONE in attendance with the exception of Janet Hower from the Bureau of Governmental Research who was there defending her own report.  Yet this meeting was not deemed important enough for the TP to cover?    

            5.  The Task Force Report has never been reported on.  I think that speaks for itself. Although the Task Force met twice a month for seven months and the whole purpose was to come up with real answers on how the bridge could survive effectively without tolls, when the culmination of all that work determined, "IT CAN'T," the reasons for these findings were never reported?   

            On Tuesday, March 20th, former Task Force member Pamela Lormand-Bialous and CCC Oversight Authority member Dr. Skip Gallagher appeared on Garland Robinette's radio show on WWL.  (Click on "Garland Robinette" to hear radio show.)  At least three times during the broadcast, Garland used phrases like, "I didn't know that,"  "I've never heard that before," and "I've learned a lot."  It was obvious that this smart guy, when he finally heard the facts, began to realize there might be benefit in continuing the tolls.                

               If, as was expressed in your webcast, "Most Westbank residents want the tolls to expire," then those folks have concluded that based upon the information they have been given. By the sole daily newspaper in New Orleans censoring the information the public receives, the Times Picayune has effectively ensured that their readers will come to the same conclusion they have: That the tolls must go.  

            That the Times Picayune formed this opinion WITHOUT READING THE TASK FORCE REPORT is especially egregious.

Fay Faron
President, Friends of the Ferry

We lose significant funding capabilities

Bridge and ferry expenses are classified in two categories: Operating expenses and capital improvements.  While capital improvements – building or repairing new or existing structures - can be financed by either tolls or one-time funds such as grants and bonds, operating expenses can only be funded through an ongoing revenue source like tolls. Grants and bonds are NEVER issued for operating expenses. 

Operational Funds

The majority of the Crescent City Connection’s operating budget comes from bridge tolls and Highway Trust Fund #2.

• Bridge Tolls: $22M annually:  While much has been said that a significant amount of this revenue goes toward the collection of the tolls themselves, this just isn’t true.  In fact, this ongoing revenue stream – along with Highway Trust Fund #2 - finances a dedicated police force, three ferry routes, routine bridge maintenance, the bridge’s iconic lighting, street lights under the bridge, landscaping, grass-cutting, litter pickup, etc.  
• Highway Trust Fund #2: $5.6 M +/- annually:  Vehicular licensing fees and gasoline taxes are collected statewide.  Only the six parishes surrounding Lake Pontchartrain – Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, Tangipahoa and St. Tammany - get to keep these taxes in their own separate fund and do not have to share with the rest of the state.  These funds are split evenly between the Causeway and the CCC bridges.  If tolls are not renewed, the CCCD’s half will revert to the DOTD.   And even if tolls are reinstated at a later date, one-fifth of our funding will be lost forever.

Capital Funds
A city either goes forward into the future or decays. It is a living thing that cannot exist frozen in time.  Unless infrastructure is not only maintained but improved, the region suffers not only economically but in an overall reduction in quality of life to its residents. There are two traditional funding sources for capital  improvements.

• Bonds: With a dedicated revenue source such as tolls and Highway Trust Fund #2 comes the ability to obtain a “loan” of up to $150 M in one-time funds that can be used for capital projects. Without any significant incoming revenue, the ability to bond is lost.   
• Federal Funding:  With a revenue source such as tolls, the CCCD can quality for up to 80 percent in matching federal grants. In fact, U.S. Transportation officials told local public officials that if we as a region refuse to toll ourselves, our federal funding capacity would be lost.

The Bottom Line

Money begets money. Without a reliable revenue stream, we simply can’t qualify for loans or grants. By allowing the tolls to expire, we are not just turning down our only source for an operating budget, we are eliminating the ability to fund projects like a Peters Road off ramp, a more viable HOV lane, and a more robust ferry system.

The Lights Will Go Out

Imagine the hootin’ and hollerin’ the first toll-free day on the bridge.  The toll plazas are still up so twelve lanes of traffic are still metering into four without much change. By noon, the public is all atwitter that they were right, that the Crescent City Connection can operate just fine without tolls, thank you very much. 

But, in fact, the day after the tolls come off is going to look pretty much like the day before. For one thing, the fiscal year doesn’t end until June 30, 2013.  That is the soonest any services will stop.

Fast-forward six months

It’s the first day of July.  You’re coming home from work. Something is different. You’re almost to the bridge but you can’t see it. Then you’re on the bridge – except it’s as dark as a country road. What happened?

The bridge has gone dark, that’s what. Nobody mentioned this alarming side effect. But in fact, the bridge tolls paid for not just the iconic decorative lights on the span but the streetlights on the approaches and under the expressways as well. It’s dark. It’s scary. It’s definitely not safe.  Equally troubling, the brilliant span that defined the New Orleans skyline at nationally watched events - Mardi Gras, Superbowl, The Final Four, etc. - is no more.  Will everyone still know New Orleans is open for business?

Local government told to pick up the bill

The DOTD does not pay for lighting. They don’t do it on any of the other state bridges so it certainly wouldn’t be “fair” if they did it for the Crescent City Connection. You can’t argue with that.

That is why the DOTD informed local officials they would be installing three sets of meters, each to cover the portion of the bridge that ran through their jurisdiction. Gretna, Orleans and Jefferson parishes would all be billed directly by Entergy.  All three called it an “unfunded mandate” they could not pay. 

But let’s face it, it would be a pretty un-savvy politician that didn’t consider that losing our city's iconic branding might cause some to rethink the brilliance of doing away with the tolls. Especially with Anderson Cooper covering the event like the implosion of a Las Vegas casino.

Enter “transition money”

Officially, transition money’s purpose is to continue funding until such time as another entity can pick up the cost. But, of course, transition money also masks the negative effect of an unwise political decision until those who proposed it are safely reelected or have moved on to another office.  

Although on February 29^th, the Times Picayune reported that Marrero Rep. Patrick Connick intended to file a bill setting aside “70 percent of the estimated $9 million to $15 million in surplus toll revenue to pay for lighting and maintaining flower beds..." as of March 2nd - the last day to pre-file bills - he had not done so.

At $2.5 million per year for landscaping, grass-cutting and litter pickup and $800,000 more for bridge lighting, the one-time funds Rep Connick says he intends to tap would pay Entergy’s bill for another three to four years at most.  Should the bill not pass, the lights will go out  on schedule: July 1, 2013.

Either way, without tolls, within FOUR YEARS, the bridge will go dark.