Krier's conflicts of interest pose problem
Chairs board of Cintra's SH 130 tollway
(San Antonio, TX - Monday, April 28, 2014) With Wendy Davis on the hot seat for conflicts of interest representing the North Texas Tollway Authority while a sitting senator on the Senate Transportation Committee, San Antonio voters need to be aware of similar conflicts brewing in their own backyard before they head to the polls. When deciding who should fill the San Antonio City Council District 9 seat vacated by Elisa Chan, voters need to be aware of some serious red flags with Joe Krier. Krier works for the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, which happens to be Spanish toll road mega giant, Cintra's, U.S. law firm. Krier also serves as Chairman of the Board for Cintra's SH 130 tollway, Texas' first foreign-controlled toll road.
Both of these positions create major conflicts of interest for Krier as San Antonio faces imminent toll projects all over the north side on US 281, Loop 1604, I-10 and 1-35 (and eventually the entire city). If that's not enough, Krier also served as Chair of the San Antonio Mobility Coalition (or SAMCo), the largest transportation lobby group in the Alamo city which lobbies for toll roads and multi-modal transportation (think street cars/light rail) as well as the President of the Greater Chamber of Commerce. His coziness with big business interests like Cintra and Zachry that want to takeover control of our public highways in long-term contracts designed to extract the highest possible tolls (up to 95 cents a mile in DFW), subordinates the taxpayers and the public interest to special interests.
Cintra trying to buy legislative seat, too?
Krier's race isn't the only one where Cintra would benefit. In the Texas House District 108 run-off in Dallas to replace Dan Branch (in a run-off himself for Attorney General), Morgan Meyer also works for Bracewell & Giuliani, hence Cintra. Cintra controls and operates two major toll facilities in existing corridors on I-820 (North Tarrant Express) and I-635 (LBJ, read about Bracewell & Giuliani's work for Cintra on this project here).
So it looks like Cintra is attempting to buy more than just local city council races, it's seeking to install its own people in the Texas legislature, too. As if all its lobbyists don't garner enough influence in Austin, now they want to directly vote on whether certain Texas roadways are approved for such privatization deals, known as public private partnerships.
Loop 1604 in San Antonio is slated to be privatized per legislation passed last year. Remember, toll rates on such sweetheart deals run as high as 95 cents a mile. The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (or MPO) is comprised of local elected officials, four of which are city councilmembers. Krier could end up on the MPO (taxpayers don't get to decide who sits on the MPO) and cast direct votes on whether or not our highways become toll roads and whether or not these special interests get a hold of them for a half century at a time. Even if he didn't land on the MPO, his position as a councilman would unduly influence his colleagues in favor of such arrangements. I-35 is also marked for privatization per MPO documents.
Many in the community already know Krier isn't looking out for them. At a high profile public hearing on 281 several years back, Krier was loudly booed and shouted down for speaking in favor of tolling 281 despite public opposition as SAMCo's emissary. Krier also received a poor reception in the Texas legislature where he testified regularly in favor of toll roads and handing our public roads over to special interests.
Having it both ways
Krier recognized the low-hanging fruit of the detested streetcar proclaiming to be against it, yet he testified in favor of multi-modal transportation many times as Chair of SAMCO and the Chamber. Perhaps he did so to distract from his long-standing love affair with an equally detested public policy -- toll roads.
District 9 voters need to be aware of a crony capitalist like Joe Krier. There are others seeking this council seat with several new faces: Bert Cecconi, Donald Oroian and Carey Clark. However, Weston Martinez is the most familiar to voters with some name ID and substantial grassroots support. Martinez is also reliably anti-toll, fighting toll roads long before he ran for office. Early voting starts Monday, April 28 and runs through May 6. Election day is May 10. Meanwhile, the primary run-off election for that District 108 race with another Cintra employee, Morgan Meyer, is May 27. Chart Wescott is the anti-toll candidate in that race.
Conflicts like those of Krier have led to citizens seeking a public vote on these multi-billion dollar toll tax schemes through a city charter amendment. They've set-up www.LetSAVote.com so voters can easily download and sign the petition to put toll roads to a public vote.
TURF is a non-partisan, grassroots, all-volunteer group defending citizens' concerns with toll road policy, public private partnerships, and eminent domain abuse. TURF promotes pro-taxpayer, pro-freedom, & non-toll transportation solutions. For more information or to support the work of TURF, please visit www.TexasTURF.org.
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