Was going to let this one slide, but after reading this and this over at the Charlotte Business Journal it seems like there might be a bit more to the story posted here last week - Charlotte Throwing Weight Around at MUMPO.
This post referenced a story from the previous Monday at Mary Newsom's The Naked City blog regarding a unanimous decision by Charlotte City Council to seek a symbolic re-vote on a resolution by MUMPO supporting the Monroe Bypass toll road. That effort was scheduled to occur at last Wednesday's MUMPO meeting - a meeting that was also going to feature a presentation by WidenI77.org opposing the I77 HOT lanes toll project.
This past Sunday, the Charlotte Observer posted this story - Emotions high over airport authority push - which outlines a flurry of activity in Raleigh by legislators to prevent this symbolic re-vote from happening.
At this past Saturday's NC-9 GOP Convention it was communicated that the MUMPO post from aShortChronicle had made it's way around Raleigh last Wednesday - the same day as that flurry of activity described in the Observer article about the Naked City post.
Now, we here at aShortChronicle are not in the business of taking credit for things. We could care less whether or not our post was the real spark for some or all of the activity described by the Charlotte Observer by bringing added attention to the Naked City post. But we do like to ask questions...
Knowing that the Charlotte City Council unanimously approved bringing up the Monroe Bypass resolution again, and knowing that the posts from aShortChronicle and The Naked City were also circulating in Raleigh on the same day as all this activity to stop that resolution from being brought up - a resolution which would clearly have zero actual impact on the Monroe Bypass toll road, it seems curious why Raleigh would expend such a flurry of effort to stop such a possible re-vote.
The stated reason in the Observer is that Speaker Tillis asked that Charlotte "not to do anything that would further complicate a situation already complicated.” Assuming that was in reference to not adding more turmoil to the Airport issue, Charlotte's acquiescence was very short-lived. By this Monday, Charlotte City Council was relentlessly grilling the Airport Advisory Board Chairman, Shawn Dorsch - someone who had been helping the General Assembly's effort to remove the airport from Charlotte's control. By Tuesday, Mr Dorsch had been removed from the Advisory Board. And today, Wednesday, we have Republican Warren Cooksey of Charlotte City Council lobbing verbal hand grenades at fellow Republican, Senator Bob Roucho.
If the true intent of stopping that re-vote at MUMPO was to not further stir the pot on the Airport, it seems nobody in Charlotte was really listening.
You'd also have to believe that, as the Observer reports, Charlotte Councilman Michael Barnes had already decided on his own to not bring up an issue that had been voted on unanimously by Charlotte City Council for him to bring up.
A more reasonable explanation is that Raleigh realized how bad the optics were of Charlotte "opposing" one toll project at MUMPO (the Monroe Bypass) while they were planning to shut down debate on another toll project (I77 HOT lanes). That's the scenario outlined in the post from aShortChronicle.
Not creating that scene is something the I77 toll road supporters in both Raleigh and Charlotte could agree on.
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