The Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce asked the gubernatorial candidates to comment on the Chamber’s three top transportation priorities, according to this Daily Progress report.
Jerry Kilgore said he supported two of the projects endorsed by the chamber, but admitted he wasn’t familiar with the third. Tim Kaine didn’t address the three projects directly, but said he’d deal “aggressively” with the transportation “crisis.”
Here’s what straight-talking Russ Potts had to say:
Potts, who labeled Kilgore’s proposal that all transportation funding first be passed by local referendum “disgraceful,” said the state’s transportation “crisis” would require major new sources of state funds.
“It’s going to cost a lot of money to fix this,” Potts said. “This is a heck of a problem.”
As for the three specific local projects, Potts said he intended to leave such decisions to the localities.
“Governor Russ Potts should never tell an area what their transportation priorities are,” Potts said. I’m not going to try to pull the wool over your eyes and tell you I know as much about Hillsdale or Meadowcreek as you.”
Maybe somebody out there can enlighten me, but on the one hand Potts dismisses regional referendums and regional transportation authorities as described by Kilgore, but on the other hand he says localities will decide on their priorities. On still a third hand, he’ll have a special session of the General Assembly that will be devoted to transportation, a seeming move to give Richmond all the authority to decide on projects. For a man who’s rallying cry is “everything will be on the table,” he sure seems to snatch things off the table–or can some things be on the table only if they’re on his terms?
I’m waiting to see his post-Labor Day transportation plan. What I hear right now seems contradictory.
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