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At
Barboursville Winery in Orange County several weeks
ago, statewide environmental organizations and
advocates met for a transportation forum sponsored
by the Piedmont Environmental Council and the
Virginia Conservation Network.
More
than 100 statewide environmentalists met to discuss
land use and transportation. The
themed forum, "Reconnecting Virginia," was
keynoted by Lt. Gov. Kaine with an afternoon speech.
Kaine's
keynote speech was a good attempt to reach out to
environmentalists, but as usual, Tim lost his perky
self about halfway through a speech and lost his
audience as well, along with his train of thought.
But Kaine, with his choir-boy demeanor, managed to
retain his smile and muddle through to the end.
In
the past, the Blue Dog has noticed that the Lieutenant
Governor constantly repeats the phrase "when I
was mayor" about the time he says that he will
be fielding "questions or feedback,"
Don't
read me wrong - I believe Kaine has been a good
lieutenant governor, but the reality is, Kaine's
background as Richmond mayor was nothing more than
an appointment and election by his fellow council
members. The
Blue Dog knows that the Richmond mayor, like a
chairman of a committee or town council, only
presides over meetings, VIP events and ribbon
cuttings.
This
year will mark the first time Richmond voters have
elected their mayor. Those citizens are probably
going to elect former Gov. L Douglas Wilder as their
first elected mayor.
Kaine
tends to tout his mayoral experience at political
events, as he did at the forum in Barboursville last
weekend, but I've never seen any leadership or
evidence to support that claim.
Had
the gifted and rising star of the Democratic Party
in the 1990s, the honorable Sen. Emily Couric,
D-Albemarle, not fallen ill and succumbed to fatal
pancreatic cancer, she would have, in all
probability, been elected as the Lieutenant Governor
in 2001.
Without
a doubt, the Blue Dog believes Couric would have
been mounting a 2005 candidacy to become the first
woman elected as Virginia's governor.
Kaine,
for what it's worth, was not even on the political
radar screen back then. Realistically,
his only claim to fame was being son-in-law to
ex-governor Linwood Holton.
Kaine
said, as mayor, he was an advocate of smart growth
and transportation issues.
Is that an unreasonable claim?
The
Blue Dog has experienced Richmond gridlock during
five o'clock rush hour - it's a mess!
And
I'm not the only person that has noticed a lot of
vacant buildings in vicinity of downtown.
But
Kaine made it clear that transportation and
smart-growth planning are central to his upcoming
campaign for the governor's mansion in Richmond.
Saying
that transportation and land use together are front
and center with his 2005 gubernatorial campaign, he
voiced and then outlined the Kaine plan.
Kaine
said, "A road solution is not the best
solution."
As
for administration of those state transportation
agencies, Kaine stated "professionals, not
politicians" will remain intact with his
election.
Err
... Mr. Kaine, sir, how about informing the Governor
and those so-called transportation pros - Whitt
Clement and Philip Shucet - of your forward-thinking
logic and solutions?
Don't
wait for the 2005 gubernatorial election …
Tell
your boss, Mr. Warner, and his department cronies
right now that the sensible transportation message
-- that new roads are not the best solution -- must
apply to the widening and use of tolls on Interstate
81 along with the senseless, pro-
development
mentality behind the Rockingham-
Harrisonburg
loop road and southeast bypass in the Shenandoah
Valley.
Most
common-sense residents in Shenandoah Valley do not
want tolls or the growth associated with new and
expanded road networks to destroy our peaceful and
scenic Valley.
The
Kaine transportation plan involves the use of
transportation funding dollars - "the right
way," according to the Lieutenant Governor -
and places a lockbox on transportation funding as
well as better land and transportation planning.
Kaine wants to end the practice of raiding state
transportation funding.
That
makes good sense, but in 2001, Tim Kaine ran as the
"Education Candidate" for the Lieutenant
Governor's nomination, and never put forth the idea
to stop raiding state education funding.
Strict
standards and accountability practices are not for
the Virginia Department of Transportation alone, but
apply to all assets of state government - a lockbox
on those funds would stop the practice of unfunded
educational mandates by state government.
Education
should be the first priority of the governor-elect,
not road construction.
In
2003, higher-education tuition and fees nearly 10
percent at Virginia colleges. Where is the
justification for the whopping 60 percent increase
for new applicants with Virginia's prepaid tuition
plan, which reopens enrollment this fall, may I
inquire?
It's
ridiculous considering the state absorbed the single
largest tax increase in Virginia's history, $1.5
billion, with millions earmarked for state colleges
and universities.
Let's
address VDOT public attentiveness as well.
For
instance, last week the Commonwealth Transportation
Board and the Virginia Department of Transportation
only provided 24-hour notice about the public
hearing on the six-year road-improvements plan. How
inconsiderate was that?
Hey,
Tim! Are these the "professionals, not
politicians" that are joining Kaine
administration?
In
his transportation forum speech, Kaine was vague
about how the state would attempt to equalize
funding and deal with state subsidies involving
public transportation and road funding, and provided
no details on how he would seek more local
transportation control.
But
I would venture to say the Dillon Rule is a possible
target.
That's
not good - because elimination of the Dillon Rule
would mean introduction of Home Rule and the
introduction of local taxing authorities.
Let's
start drafting and sponsoring smart-growth
legislation in the hallways of the State Capitol in
Richmond before attempting to change the way our
state government operates at the local level.
The
Dillon Rule can be a friend.
Trading
places
At
the transportation forum, Kaine also said he is not
above "stealing a good idea from anyone"
concerning viable solutions to Virginia's
transportation challenges.
Blue
Dog "avoid the handcuff" advice: Please
don't tell the Attorney General Kilgore you like
stealing things, OK, Mr. Kaine.
The
Blue Dog chuckled when a conservative-acting Kaine
said state government needed to "offer
incentives, not handouts" to local communities
concerning transportation.
Gosh,
did he take cue from Ronald Reagan and the GOP on
that statement?
That's
liberal-minded heresy, Mr. Kaine - and feel-good
conservative political mantra.
But
does Kaine feel the same way about government social
programs and their handouts? That's debatable.
Concerning
transportation taxes, Kaine noted that the state
needs more transportation dollars, but would not
commit to raising taxes for transportation. Kaine
noticeably repeated the 2004 General Assembly
low-tax rhetoric, about the state gas tax being 41st
in the nation - one of the lowest in the nation.
But
the Blue Dog says there's nothing wrong with the
stigma of being a low-tax state.
Kaine
said the failed 2002 transportation referendums for
Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads "were not a
vote against taxes" but better managed
government.
That's
baloney.
The
Blue Dog has heard this tale before - let's set the
record straight. At the time, Mason Dixon polling
numbers indicated that objections to the referendum
were split evenly concerning anti-tax, smart growth
and trust in state government.
Please
don't rewrite history when it comes to that taxing
referendum debacle.
The
Warner administration and pro-tax Republicans backed
regional taxing authorities for transportation in
2002, and the citizens soundly rejected local
control of taxes.
It's
a fact, Kaine supported the Governor's referendums
then, and again with the 2004 Virginia tax increase
along the Democratic and pro-tax Republicans of the
Virginia General Assembly.
Don't
try washing your hands of those facts in public.
--
October 4, 2004
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