High-Speed Rail

[mrh3]

I think you hit the nail on the head, in a lot of regards.

In every group, there's always a small but vocal minority of what I call "Can't Do's," as in "we can't do this," or "we can't do that." They are typically shortsighted and fail to see - or choose to ignore - the big picture.

It didn't matter how much supporters explained that this was to be the first leg of a high speed rail network, with links to Miami and beyond, the Can't Do's saw only this one project and screamed about how it can't be done. And it'll never work. Etc. Etc. It's the same with SunRail. The critics never acknowledge that it's the building block of a larger system for the future. I hope it's future is secure.

According to the article Scott's got that in his crosshairs too. What a joke Florida has become.

[FLClarkKent]

According to the article Scott's got that in his crosshairs too. What a joke Florida has become.

I noticed that, too. Wondering how much is just political posturing. SunRail has much broader support and is further into development than HSR.

[bulldogger]

Scott already has funding allotted in his budget proposal for SunRail. Then again, that could be turned down by this year's legislature and he could blame it on them. Then, he doesn't take the heat for turning down both rail projects. I could see this happening, too.

[jack]

The legislative body has offered strong support for SunRail. If it dies, it will be becuase of him. But I still think that he will not kill it. High Speed Rail on the other hand was no suprise. It was not the best project to invest in. Just because it was "shovel ready" does not mean that we should fund it.

[smileguy]

A note from Buddy!

Dear Community Leader,

You may have seen news coverage today about newly-elected Florida Governor Rick Scott voicing his opposition to the creation of Florida’s first high speed railline from Orlando to Tampa.

I want to take this opportunity to let you know that while I am disappointed in this announcement, we are working diligently to ease Governor Scott’s concernsin hopes that he will reconsider this position.

Just this afternoon, I have been in contact with United States Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood who has made the commitment not tore-allocate our high speed rail funding until we’ve explored all options available to move the project forward.

We are now working with the USDOT and Florida’s congressional delegation to find a way to ease Governor Scott’s concerns about this project and ensure weare able to reap its economic benefits. This includes engaging the private sector to offer innovative proposals to help finance the balance of the costsand to construct and operate this system, eliminating any cost and risk to thestate.

I am hopeful that Governor Scott will reconsider his position on this issue and choose to work together toward a day when High Speed Rail will be a reality forFloridians, a reality that creates jobs and prosperity for everyone who calls our great state home.

High Speed Rail for all Florida is a project that was created collectively and supported by broad coalitions of our state’s residents, businesses andlawmakers. It would only seem reasonable that a decision to cancel a once-in-a-generation project of this magnitude would be made collaboratively, rather than unilaterally by Florida’s new chief executive.

The Orlando to Tampa High Speed Rail Line has impacts far beyond the borders of Central Florida as this project was to be the first step in a statewide and then national high speed rail network, and thus, the foundation for transforming America’s transit system into a 21st century engine of progress and job creation.

I want to assure you that I remain committed to doing everything possible tobring high speed rail to Florida.

Sincerely,

Buddy Dyer

Mayor

[DeepEyez]

On matters of nation-wide and state-wide significance, Buddy Dyer is a nobody. HSR will NEVER become a reality in this state, at least for a hundred years. We have taken a giant leap backwards and unfortunately this state will never see such an opportunity such as this again.

Florida's only hope is to pull back the executive power of the governor. Decisions such as these should be presented to the legislative body, not one man.

A note from Buddy!

[prahaboheme]

Dyer may be a nobody, but collectively, there is a lot of opposition rising. Buddy, Corrine Brown, the mayors of Lakeland and Tampa, Bill Nelson, John Mica, and Dockery have all come out in unison against Rick's decision. This isn't over.

[spenser1058]

On matters of nation-wide and state-wide significance, Buddy Dyer is a nobody. HSR will NEVER become a reality in this state, at least for a hundred years. We have taken a giant leap backwards and unfortunately this state will never see such an opportunity such as this again.

Florida's only hope is to pull back the executive power of the governor. Decisions such as these should be presented to the legislative body, not one man.

Actually, Florida, like most Southern states, has a weak office of the governor (a hangover from Reconstruction). The Legislature has the authority for appropriations, and Scott can't legally act unilaterally on something like this. However, the Legislature has to want to override the governor and it's an open question whether a very right-wing GOP Legislature with total control over what few Democrats are left (a note to my fellow Democrats: did YOU vote last November? if not, this is a mess you created - remember that when folks say your vote doesn't count) will fight Scott on this.

Having said that, as even Jeb learned toward the end of his time in office, the Legislature has always closely guarded its perogatives over the governor even more closely than party loyalty. There are more than a few legislators right now who think Scott has over-reached and may begin to fight back. That's not even adding the pressure from John Mica, Bill Nelson, Buddy Dyer (Buddy still has more influence than you think from his days in the FL Senate; if he didn't, SunRail would have died ages ago), Associated Industries (the business lobby), and all the other local folks and editorial pages that have been mentioned elsewhere. This particular battle is not yet over, and the truth is, Rick Scott doesn't have many friends to fall back on outsde the Tea Party crowd that the Tallahassee establishment dearly wishes would go away. Stay tuned for "The Empire Strikes Back."

[cloudship]

No offense to those of you residing in Florida, but I think it the time has come for the federal government to throw ANY money at Florida. This is just a political game. Reject money on a project simply based on the fact that appeals to those "liberals", and instead waste federal dollars and more on roads on housing projects. The fed has already invested money in that project, and this is beyond just wasting federal dollars, this is outright stealing money in attempts to discredit the democratic party, and appropriate funds for his own interests.

[spenser1058]

No offense to those of you residing in Florida, but I think it the time has come for the federal government to throw ANY money at Florida. This is just a political game. Reject money on a project simply based on the fact that appeals to those "liberals", and instead waste federal dollars and more on roads on housing projects. The fed has already invested money in that project, and this is beyond just wasting federal dollars, this is outright stealing money in attempts to discredit the democratic party, and appropriate funds for his own interests.

Florida, however, is a state Obama is likely to need in 2012, so they aren't quite ready to toss out the baby with the bathwater just yet. California, New York and Washington are already pretty much a lock. Thank God for the joys of being a swing state! It may be awful to decide public policy upon the results of the next election, but such is the state of our Republic.

[Jernigan]

This is a much bigger push than Mayor Dyer.

This is going to get ugly. Scott is really shooting himself in the foot. Common sense should have been to at least hear the proposals before rejecting it...even if he knew his course of action the whole time.

It's amazing, but I really think we still might see HSR start in Central Florida - and I don't know if it could have happened if not for the gross mishandling by the Governor.

[codypet]

I'm beyond words for this. There was so much work going into designing this thing.....utter loss. The feds are gonna ask Florida for the money spent on design back, and I guarantee you that ain't cheap. Scott just blew any money he supposedly saved in his budget.

[FLClarkKent]

This is a much bigger push than Mayor Dyer.

This is going to get ugly. Scott is really shooting himself in the foot. Common sense should have been to at least hear the proposals before rejecting it...even if he knew his course of action the whole time.

It's amazing, but I really think we still might see HSR start in Central Florida - and I don't know if it could have happened if not for the gross mishandling by the Governor.

I agree that this might just be the beginning of a huge fight with power players that go beyond Mayor Dyer. John Mica has some serious clout, especially in regards to transportation matters. I somehow doubt he's going to sit back and let Rick Scott call the shots.

It's also not as if Scott rode into office with a huge majority. He scraped by with 48 percent of the total vote. He isn't that popular (putting it mildly) and doesn't appear to be a political mastermind, either (besides HSR, his decisions on the Pill Mill database and the budget have been poorly handled).

[tc01]

Rick Scott is an A** hole.

I don't know how he got in office. He stole billions of dollars ; he trying to do it again. Thousands of jobs will be created.

Florida is not even paying for it. We got like 2.3 billion dollars for it, and the other half we be covered. Florida Senate said it will be a way Forida can keep up with the monthly cost. Dumb A** Rick Scott

[tc01]

Phase 1 was going to Orlando to Tampa

Pharse 2 Orlando to Miami.

[tc01]

Phase 1 was going to Orlando to Tampa

Pharse 2 Orlando to Miami.

[alex]

Another HSR article from this morning, Other States Will Gladly Take Train Funds, mentions the backlash of other FL republicans (namely John Mica) and that the SunRail will not be affected by this. People on this board made some good points, so I'm trying to stay optimistic. It would be awful to lose this project, not just from a transportation and job perspective, but that maybe for once Florida wasn't the laughing stock of the nation. With all the things that have kept Orlando and Florida from reaching it's full potential (housing market crash, economic downturn, oil spills, even DPAC and Citrus Bowl delays) we really need a win for once.

I for one drove to Tampa earlier this week and am heading down to Miami this weekend, and I would rather take a train a million times over (parking my car for the weekend cost me $56 dollars last time I was in downtown Miami!!).

[pip]

Well at least we have a week to try to sort this out. Feds set Feb. 25 deadline for rail deal

Hopefully a deal can still be worked out.

[cloudship]

Scott may be one person, but he has a huge backing in the Tea Party, which has been more against projects and in particular anything remotely tied with liberal or green issues unless it promotes their own companies. But I do agree this is not going to be cheap. Too late to rescue the project, but I predict what you are going to see out of this is a major backlash against special interest groups, namely developers and roadway projects.

Obama is not going to take the 2014 election anyways, he has already lost too many liberal votes. What will happen, however, is such a divisive split amongst factions like we haven't seen since civil war. I wouldn't even count Florida as a swing state anymore - it will end up falling more into conservative fold, but also is loosing it's clout. There is going to be a major backlash from the states that end up sending more dollars to the fed to support those who take more money out.

[bic]

Feds Set Feb. 25 Deadline for Rail Deal

[bic]

CEO Governor? Not by a Long Shot

[UPSDAN]

I wish I could say I was optimistic about them convincing Scott in the next week to change his mind but this type of guy is not rational and will just dig in further to his position. We are screwed for the next 4 years and will be paying the price of this stupid decision for decades.

[spenser1058]

The latest from Buddy:

"Over the last 24 hours, I have seen Floridians from every walk of life and every political ideology step up in their vocal support for this project. I am confident that we can find a solution to secure Florida's High Speed Rail project and begin laying the foundation for job creation and economic opportunity for the residents of our state.

We are now working with the United States Department of Transportation and Florida's congressional delegation to further educate Governor Scott about the project, its ridership estimates and costs and the protections the request for qualifications (RFQ) would afford the state of Florida. Successful respondents to the RFQ would assume all cost risk for both construction and operation. The RFQ would engage the private sector to offer innovative proposals to help finance the balance of the costs and to construct and operate this system, eliminating any cost and risk to the state.

I am hopeful that Governor Scott will reconsider his position on this issue and choose to work together toward a day when high speed rail will be a reality for Floridians, a reality that creates jobs and prosperity for everyone who calls our great state home..."

And from Sen. Nelson:

"A bipartisan group of the state's political and business leaders have pursued high-speed rail in Florida for decades, because it means more than $2.4 billion in economic aid, thousands of construction jobs and a modern transportation link between several of the state’s largest cities. That’s why I support it. I’m joined by state lawmakers and many members of Florida's congressional delegation, who also question the governor’s decision to kill high-speed rail. One is U.S. Rep. John Mica, the Winter Park Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee. Also, federal transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican, has expressed disappointment. If Florida doesn’t take the money, another state will. So, some of us will look for ways to save the rail project. Meantime, please don’t hesitate to pass along your thoughts..."

Good people are trying to salvage this - Florida is not all nattering nabobs of negativism, to borrow William Safire's phrase, despite what some may think. From Buddy: "Over the last 24 hours, I have seen Floridians from every walk of life and every political ideology step up in their vocal support for this project..." Even Teresa has expressed qualified support. The clock is ticking, but it won't be from lack of effort that we lose this - it's actually a great show of what Central Florida can do when it puts its mind to it.

If you haven't , you can let Gov. Scott know we want HSR by calling (850) 488-7146 or send an e-mail via: http://www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/email-the-governor/

[bulldogger]

So the new plan by Mica and friends is this... HSR from IOA to Disney with a stop at the OCCC.

Rep. Mica announces 'rescue plan' for high-speed rail

[FLClarkKent]

So the new plan by Mica and friends is this... HSR from IOA to Disney with a stop at the OCCC.

Rep. Mica announces 'rescue plan' for high-speed rail

It's an interesting plan. Not quite what I imagine would be considered high speed rail. But if this has Disney's support, I could see it having a subtantial ridership.