New title, “By not stepping down in shame, Martire costed MWAA $75,000.”

Easy to spend another's dollar

This is all a diversion. The actions of this MWAA Board member are the stuff of late-night comedy - but even so, ALL of their $200,000 here, $180,000 there, $75,000 here, $38,000 there, put together, is NOTHING, compared to the Billion and a half dollars of overcharge in Phase II alone. Instead, we are being distracted by this MWAA comedy show, and it's all we talk about, isn't it. We hear about $9,000-odd for a plane ticket, we hear about a nine-day trip to Sardinia, we hear about a few hundred dollars for wine, but we never hear about the Rt 28 rail station costing 2.5 times what it should cost, we never hear about the parking garages costing two times what they should cost, we never hear about MWAA hyperinflating the estimates an average of 27% in one year, for the items that were removed from the Dulles Rail books in order to hide a few hundred millon dollars and claim a 'savings'. We hear crying, and we will hear a lot more crying, about the Dulles Toll Road tolls - but we NEVER hear about the near-double price we are being charged for the line items of Phase II, and we NEVER hear that the Phase I line items cost about the same. We NEVER hear about how the Dulles Airport rail station should have been a 'dead-end spur' instead of a very expensive elevated loop. All we hear is what somebody WANTS us to hear, and all we talk about - the vast majority of us, anyway - is what somebody WANTS us to talk about. When are people going to learn to think for themseves?

Oh, oh, oh. I am a Democrat and a former union member and I remember union officials exploiting my dues in this way, and I say FIRE THE CREEP and make him pay back the money. People like him helped Republicans defame and demolish the union movement in this country. Until then it was the unions that elevated millions of Americans to the middle class, and it is the demise of the unions that has made 99% of us proles.

My comment is above.

Sign the No Toll Increase Petition
http://notollincrease.blogspot.com/p/sign-petition.html

By signing this petition I am saying NO to skyrocketing tolls on the Dulles Toll Road. I want Virginia to take control by putting the Toll Road users first instead of making them the cash cow for other projects. Stop strangling our roads and the region's economy with tolls and traffic congestion.
I say NO TOLL INCREASE.

Bob Bruhns has raised the issue of over-charging for the elements of the Metro leg called the Silver Line. Why does he not gain any traction?

He has valid points that NO ONE seems to hear. YES, we can not have huge new toll increases without huge negative consequences. Yes, our politicians have gone mute since Loudoun signed on and Phase 2 is a go as we feared they would.

But, people, IF the total price of the Silver Line can be seriously reduced, the amount that needs to be funded is much less. Therein lays ONE of the factors that can reduce expected outrageous, harmful tolls.

Why do none of the cheerleaders and builders of the Silver Line pay attention to this reasoning and give us some clear answers.

IN ADDITION, I CAN NOT understand how the final cost of Phase 1 and Phase 2 are estimated to be equal when Phase 1 (covering the roughly same distance as Phase 2) has curving, tunneled, elevated, densely developed TYSONS CORNER challenges and Phase 2 is predominately on grade, straight, and unencumbered. PLEASE, someone explain this AND Bob Bruhns' concerns. We deserve answers; answers that could solve some of our problems...

MWAA, Fairfax County BOS, Supervisor Hudgins, Loudoun County BOS, Sec. LaHood, Governor McDonnell, Ken Plum? Bob and I want answers to our questions, please.

Bob,

Have you ever considered sending an email or letter to Pat Nowakowski to ask for an official explanation on these overcharges?

The "overcharges" are ALLEGED. Perhaps they get no official attention because they are so huge. Really now.. the latest Phase 2 cost estimate by professional estimators and backed up independently by direction of the US DOT is twice what it should be? 10, 20% would perhaps be believable and worthy of a response, but 100%?

What Bob should do is say what specific elements of the latest Phase 2 cost estimate are wrong and should be reduced to get down to his estimate. How about for example buying fewer rail cars, single tracking some sections out to Loudoun or not building a station or two.

And since Tammie seems to have bought in, perhaps the Reston Association could help Bob spread the truth, that is if the alleged overcharges are really "valid points".

To: the-stix
Bob Bruhns has in past posts given very detailed explanations for his statements re: overpricing. One that comes to mind is regarding the costs of parking spaces (they were included before Sec. LaHood did his "magic" price reduction (by foisting them off on Fairfax County = you and me as tax payers.) Recently an article surfaced that indicated that the Commonwealth of Virginia is funding a commuter parking facility in Prince Wm Co. where the price IS 1/2 of what was in our Silver Line plan.

Just saying...

Not a bad idea, Dave. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Nowakowski justifies the unbelievable overcosts.