Summary: There were upsets all
over the country, but none as great as the one in Kansas City where political
gadfly Clay Chastain's plan for a light rail line actually passed. In
several elections in the past he has been the focal point, but his strategy of
outlining his plan and moving out of the way seems to have worked.
Here's what folks
said BEFORE the vote:
"Whether his figures
are accurate is not the point; based on experience with recent elections, the
probability of success in his proposal is non-existent."---David
P. Lovetere, Chair Regional Transit Alliance
"The parting message he wants to
convey: “I was going to basically get out of the way and let the community talk
it over and let the voters decide. I’m going to be disconnected from the media —
including you — for the duration of this election. My reasoning is to try to
take my persona out of the election and try to encourage the public to talk this
over and put their arms around this plan and decide what they want to do and not
be focusing on Clay Chastain.”
------Hearne
Christopher, Jr. (11/1)
Here's what was said AFTER the vote:
Tony's Kansas City Web site:
http://tonyskansascity.com/ railed against the
passage, saying: "The most important thing about last night's election is
that voters in Kansas City (a dangerous and powerful minority) stupidly voted in
favor of the rapid transit tax and now there exists a slim possibility that this
ridiculous plan could go into action.
"That's right, this city doesn't need BILLIONS IN SEWER
REPAIR OR MONEY TO FILL POTHOLES . . . What we really need is a mass-transit
system through the Country Club Plaza and up to Kansas City International
Airport and some nonsense about gondolas or whatever."
On Blog KC:
http://www.blogkc.com/
:
"Clay Chastain
finally gets his trains: Clay finally wins over a majority, and Kansas
Citians show they are finally tired (of) leaderless dicking around on
transportation issues. A bad plan is better than no plan. Now we’ll see how the
powers that be try to weasel out."
Posted on Wed, Nov. 08, 2006
LIGHT RAIL | Chastain prevails
Transit plan wins a startling
thumbs-up
Political establishment insists that plan has no basis in reality.
By LYNN HORSLEY
The Kansas City Star
In a stunning upset, Clay Chastain’s one-man crusade for light rail and a
gondola tram won Kansas City voter approval Tuesday with nearly all returns in.
With final unofficial results from Clay and Platte counties, and 99 percent of
precincts reporting from Kansas City south of the Missouri River, the measure
passed 53 percent to 47 percent. It was Chastain’s seventh ballot attempt in
nine years.
Chastain sought approval for a 25-year extension of a 3/8 -cent sales tax to
help pay for a 27-mile light-rail line, electric shuttle buses and a gondola
tram at Penn Valley Park.
The measure was opposed by Kansas City’s entire political establishment, along
with the Area Transportation Authority and the Regional Transit Alliance, which
said Chastain had grossly underestimated the costs of his plan and overestimated
the chances for federal matching money. Opponents also said that diverting the
sales tax to light rail would cripple the local bus system, which currently
receives that tax money.
Chastain, who currently lives in Bedford, Va., was encouraged by the voters’
endorsement. “They demonstrated the courage and vision to get on board this new
transit system that will propel the city forward,” he said. “We will need the
input and cooperation of everyone to make sure the implementation of this
comprehensive and state-of-the-art transit system is a success.”
But that cooperation may not be forthcoming.
“Chastain’s ballot language painted a nice picture, but if this thing passes,
the real-life financials are going to look like a bad train wreck,” said Pat
O’Neill, who spearheaded a low-key campaign to oppose Chastain’s proposal.
“The plan is predicated on amateur engineering and the fantasy of a gigantic
federal grant,” O’Neill added.
Greg Lever, executive director of the transit alliance, said his group was also
convinced that the plan is unworkable. He said the vote demonstrated that Kansas
City residents want a good mass transit system, but they didn’t realize that the
funding may not materialize as needed and that the plan could hurt the existing
bus system.
City Councilman Charles Eddy, who has helped lead some of the City Council’s
transit initiatives, suggested that the council may even have to reject the
proposal — despite voters’ endorsement — because it may not be feasible.
Chastain estimated that his entire plan would cost $975 million — $945 million
for light rail and $30 million for electric shuttle buses and a gondola tram
through Penn Valley Park.
According to the ballot language, the light-rail line would run from Swope Park
on the East Side, through midtown and downtown, to Kansas City International
Airport. It would use a tax that currently raises about $24 million per year for
the city’s bus system but that is scheduled to expire in 2009. Chastain also
hoped the federal government would pay half the light rail cost, with the state
picking up 10 percent.
But critics charged that the competition for federal funding is fierce and that
Kansas City’s chance of getting it is slim. They also warned that Chastain’s
idea had no engineering basis or other technical expertise needed to qualify for
federal approval.
“It’s not rational,” Eddy said of Chastain’s plan.
So how did it pass?
Chastain said he thought the public was sending a message that it really wants a
viable transit system, based on light rail rather than diesel buses, in Kansas
City. He said his past plans were defeated by people who were anti-tax or
anti-Chastain. This time, he said, there were so many other high-profile issues
that his measure was able to fly below the radar.
