The protest comes as multiple bills have been filed in the legislature this week to cancel the contract with Cintra - the Spanish firm hired by Governor Pat McCrory's NCDOT to build the road.
Showing posts with label Cintra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cintra. Show all posts
Friday, April 29, 2016
Exit 28 Bridge Protest in Pictures
Almost exactly 1 year ago, anti-toll activists first gathered for a protest at the Exit 28 bridge over I77. Friday evening they gave a repeat performance as roughly 200 people gathered and showed the movement is still going as strong as ever.
The protest comes as multiple bills have been filed in the legislature this week to cancel the contract with Cintra - the Spanish firm hired by Governor Pat McCrory's NCDOT to build the road.
The protest comes as multiple bills have been filed in the legislature this week to cancel the contract with Cintra - the Spanish firm hired by Governor Pat McCrory's NCDOT to build the road.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
The Texas con of Mayberry starts to come undone
 |
| Mayberry con man "Dan Caldwell" |
With Cintra's announcement that its SH 130 toll operation in Texas is headed to bankruptcy court, the future of the I77 project is becoming even more clear if it is allowed to go forward - as in "this can happen here."
Cintra's US operation is based in Texas. As we've pointed out here, there are Texas connections to our toll project in Lake Norman that lead all the way to Governor McCrory. Now, Governor Pat - in a completely transparent effort at damage control during campaign season - is dispatching NCDOT to Texas to "reassess" what can be done about NC's contract with Cintra on the very similar I77 project. .
Readers will remember that just late last year, Mayors Travis and Woods from Cornelius and Davidson also travelled to Texas to review Cintra's operations. They came back with a glowing report of a road that is nothing like what's planned for Lake Norman - the North Tarrant Express.
Like Barney Fife, they bought the bait and switch con.
Fortunately, all of our local electeds aren't so gullible.
Mecklenburg County Commissioner Jim Puckett, playing the role of the sensible Sheriff Andy Taylor, provided the below comment to aShortChronicle.
"This action in Texas is just the latest in a series of defaults, bankruptcies and systematic failures for Cintra and their partners. While the bankruptcy in Texas is not directly linked to the I-77 project the similarities in design and the projected revenues etc. have long been offered by NCDOT as an example of why they choose to go this route. I and the majority of my fellow commissioners have long been opposed to this plan and have repeatedly asked for first a delay in signing the contract and after the fact asking for cancellation. I hope I speak for all of us when I say that while our wisdom and subsequent request have heretofore been ignored I hope NCDOT and the governor will now follow our official request and cancel this contract. Attorney General Cooper told me personally that he would "vigorously" fight for the citizens of NC in fighting any lawsuits that may arise from cancellation and I have no reason to doubt his resolve and skills in working with the governor and the legislature to bring this to a quick and affordable conclusion."
Like an old episode of the Andy Griffith show, let's hope this con is finally foiled by our own various versions of Sheriff Taylor before it's too late!
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Tolling Trifecta at #NCGOP HQ
Has anyone else been wondering why Gov Pat McCrory has been so staunch in his rock solid support of the I77 HOT lanes project?
In the face of rising public opposition and mounting evidence more than a little something is rotten in Denmark with this deal, the Governor decides he is going to stand with his boys from Cintra rather than with the people he represents. Who does that?
Here's who...
Back during the summer we told you the sordid tale of two recent NCGOP Executive Directors and their close ties to the Governor as well as Cintra. See here and here for those details.
Then just a couple of weeks ago we told you about the obscene (and anonymous) $4.7m donation given to the Carolina Rising PAC which benefited Thom Tillis in his campaign for US Senate. Carolina Rising was formerly operated by current and recently appointed NCGOP Executive Director, Dallas Woodhouse.
In that piece we wondered if Dallas Woodhouse could make it a "trifecta" of shady connections between the top spot at NCGOP HQ, the I77 HOT lanes project, and Cintra.
Well, the other shoe has now dropped on that one.
On Tuesday, the Raleigh News & Observer reported on tax documents put out by the people behind OpenSecrets.org showing that one of the largest Super PACs in the country, Crossroads GPS, was behind the huge check to Carolina Rising. Crossroads GPS is a PAC founded by none other than Karl Rove, advisor to former President George W Bush.
For more analysis on the Woodhouse connections in this plus other shenanigans, check out the DailyHaymaker.com stories here and here.
So where is the connection to Cintra?
When researching the pieces covering two of Woodhouse's predecessors as NCGOP Executive Director, Chris McClure and Russell Peck, one other politically connected name also popped up but the pieces did not seem to fit. That was Patrick Rhode, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Cintra, USA.
Now those pieces fit perfectly.
The first two jobs on Rhode's LinkedIn profile are Deputy Director of National Advance Operations for the Bush Cheney 2000 campaign and Special Assistant to the President of the United States, the White House.
These are positions where he would have worked closely with Karl Rove, President Bush's right hand man, and the man behind Crossroads GPS.
From the rest of Rhode's resume it seems pretty clear the most valuable skills he brings to a job are his political connections.
He has been at Cintra for going on 8 years now a time span that more than covers the entire history of the HOT lanes efforts here in NC.
Loop this all in with the storyline we told you about here covering the impact of ALEC (including Cintra's involvement) in the history of the I77 HOT lanes, and you get a pretty clear picture of what is going on.
Highly connected, very powerful people with more money to throw around than most people will see in a lifetime want this to happen.
Governor Pat is not going to stand up to them. Let's hope we can find a judge who will.
In the face of rising public opposition and mounting evidence more than a little something is rotten in Denmark with this deal, the Governor decides he is going to stand with his boys from Cintra rather than with the people he represents. Who does that?
Here's who...
Back during the summer we told you the sordid tale of two recent NCGOP Executive Directors and their close ties to the Governor as well as Cintra. See here and here for those details.
Then just a couple of weeks ago we told you about the obscene (and anonymous) $4.7m donation given to the Carolina Rising PAC which benefited Thom Tillis in his campaign for US Senate. Carolina Rising was formerly operated by current and recently appointed NCGOP Executive Director, Dallas Woodhouse.
In that piece we wondered if Dallas Woodhouse could make it a "trifecta" of shady connections between the top spot at NCGOP HQ, the I77 HOT lanes project, and Cintra.
Well, the other shoe has now dropped on that one.
On Tuesday, the Raleigh News & Observer reported on tax documents put out by the people behind OpenSecrets.org showing that one of the largest Super PACs in the country, Crossroads GPS, was behind the huge check to Carolina Rising. Crossroads GPS is a PAC founded by none other than Karl Rove, advisor to former President George W Bush.
For more analysis on the Woodhouse connections in this plus other shenanigans, check out the DailyHaymaker.com stories here and here.
So where is the connection to Cintra?
When researching the pieces covering two of Woodhouse's predecessors as NCGOP Executive Director, Chris McClure and Russell Peck, one other politically connected name also popped up but the pieces did not seem to fit. That was Patrick Rhode, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Cintra, USA.
Now those pieces fit perfectly.
The first two jobs on Rhode's LinkedIn profile are Deputy Director of National Advance Operations for the Bush Cheney 2000 campaign and Special Assistant to the President of the United States, the White House.
These are positions where he would have worked closely with Karl Rove, President Bush's right hand man, and the man behind Crossroads GPS.
From the rest of Rhode's resume it seems pretty clear the most valuable skills he brings to a job are his political connections.
He has been at Cintra for going on 8 years now a time span that more than covers the entire history of the HOT lanes efforts here in NC.
Loop this all in with the storyline we told you about here covering the impact of ALEC (including Cintra's involvement) in the history of the I77 HOT lanes, and you get a pretty clear picture of what is going on.
Highly connected, very powerful people with more money to throw around than most people will see in a lifetime want this to happen.
Governor Pat is not going to stand up to them. Let's hope we can find a judge who will.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
After allies shellacked at polls, I77 HOT lanes contractor makes surprise announcement
In a surprise move, Cintra/I77 Mobility Partners announced Thursday that construction would begin this coming Monday on the I77 HOT lanes project. The surprise announcement comes just over a week after pro-toll politicians took a shellacking at the polls.
The announcement also comes on the eve of a press conference called by members of the local delegation to the General Assembly. The meeting will be Friday morning at the LKN Chamber. The Chamber has been fighting the toll project alongside local activists.
This all sets an interesting stage for a supposed "summit" on the issue sometime next week with Governor McCrory.
This move could be seen as a sign of confidence by the company they will prevail in their January showdown in court with WidenI77.org, or it could be seen as a sign of panic at the recent change in the politics on the ground here in North Mecklenburg.
Either way, it amps up the pressure on the state level politicians to do everything they can to stop the project, or their own political tenures could end the same way as those in Huntersville did last week.
Press release below from I77 Mobility Partners PR flack, Jean Leier (pronounced liar).
Charlotte, N.C. (November 12, 2015) – I-77 Mobility Partners today announced that construction of the I-77 Express Lanes in the Charlotte and Lake Norman region will begin this Monday, November 16, 2015. A public-private partnership is providing a $648 million investment for a 26-mile expansion that will alleviate traffic congestion in one of North Carolina’s most important corridors.
Construction of the I-77 Express Lanes will occur in the median of I-77 with minimal disruption to commuters. Occasional lane shifts and closures will only take place in overnight hours. However, with day and night activity in the work zone, motorists should drive safely and stay alert at all times.
“I-77 Mobility Partners is excited to begin construction. The project will bring reduced traffic congestion, spur economic development through the hiring of 50-100 local firms and deliver a choice
for North Carolina drivers at little cost to taxpayers,” said Jean Leier, Director of Corporate Affairs at I-77 Mobility Partners. “We are committed to regular and ongoing communications with residents, commuters and businesses in the area to ensure a successful and safe project.”
Construction will start in the area south of Exit 23 Gilead Road to north of Exit 28 Catawba Avenue. Traffic control measures include restriping the roadway and shifting the lanes, installing a concrete safety barrier near the median and placing road markers along the project area. Initial construction work involves clearing the land and grading of the area. In 2016 drivers will see construction work along most of the 26-mile project.
Once the project is complete, dedicated express lanes will run adjacent to the existing general purpose lanes. The number of general purpose lanes will remain the same as today. Drivers will have the choice of using the express lanes to avoid travel delays, the general purpose lanes or a
combination of both. Carpoolers with three or more occupants (including the driver) may use the express lanes for free. The full 26-mile project is slated to be completed in 2018.
“We believe this project will provide a benefit to I-77 users as an improvement to their daily quality of life,” Leier added. “With less congestion, drivers will have more time with their families or at the office, be able to make more service calls, and have greater access to goods and services.”
Area residents are encouraged to sign up for email updates by visiting I-77 Mobility Partners’ website: http://www.i77express.com/newsroom/newsletter-e-alerts/
Updates also will be posted to our social media channels:
The announcement also comes on the eve of a press conference called by members of the local delegation to the General Assembly. The meeting will be Friday morning at the LKN Chamber. The Chamber has been fighting the toll project alongside local activists.
This all sets an interesting stage for a supposed "summit" on the issue sometime next week with Governor McCrory.
This move could be seen as a sign of confidence by the company they will prevail in their January showdown in court with WidenI77.org, or it could be seen as a sign of panic at the recent change in the politics on the ground here in North Mecklenburg.
Either way, it amps up the pressure on the state level politicians to do everything they can to stop the project, or their own political tenures could end the same way as those in Huntersville did last week.
Press release below from I77 Mobility Partners PR flack, Jean Leier (pronounced liar).
Charlotte, N.C. (November 12, 2015) – I-77 Mobility Partners today announced that construction of the I-77 Express Lanes in the Charlotte and Lake Norman region will begin this Monday, November 16, 2015. A public-private partnership is providing a $648 million investment for a 26-mile expansion that will alleviate traffic congestion in one of North Carolina’s most important corridors.
Construction of the I-77 Express Lanes will occur in the median of I-77 with minimal disruption to commuters. Occasional lane shifts and closures will only take place in overnight hours. However, with day and night activity in the work zone, motorists should drive safely and stay alert at all times.
“I-77 Mobility Partners is excited to begin construction. The project will bring reduced traffic congestion, spur economic development through the hiring of 50-100 local firms and deliver a choice
for North Carolina drivers at little cost to taxpayers,” said Jean Leier, Director of Corporate Affairs at I-77 Mobility Partners. “We are committed to regular and ongoing communications with residents, commuters and businesses in the area to ensure a successful and safe project.”
Construction will start in the area south of Exit 23 Gilead Road to north of Exit 28 Catawba Avenue. Traffic control measures include restriping the roadway and shifting the lanes, installing a concrete safety barrier near the median and placing road markers along the project area. Initial construction work involves clearing the land and grading of the area. In 2016 drivers will see construction work along most of the 26-mile project.
Once the project is complete, dedicated express lanes will run adjacent to the existing general purpose lanes. The number of general purpose lanes will remain the same as today. Drivers will have the choice of using the express lanes to avoid travel delays, the general purpose lanes or a
combination of both. Carpoolers with three or more occupants (including the driver) may use the express lanes for free. The full 26-mile project is slated to be completed in 2018.
“We believe this project will provide a benefit to I-77 users as an improvement to their daily quality of life,” Leier added. “With less congestion, drivers will have more time with their families or at the office, be able to make more service calls, and have greater access to goods and services.”
Area residents are encouraged to sign up for email updates by visiting I-77 Mobility Partners’ website: http://www.i77express.com/newsroom/newsletter-e-alerts/
Updates also will be posted to our social media channels:
- I-77 Mobility Partners Facebook page
- I-77 Mobility Partners Twitter page
Saturday, September 5, 2015
NCDOT and their Spanish partners at Cintra have some splaaaynin' to do...
On Friday, WidenI77.org put out this piece which pretty clearly shows how the contract with Cintra is structured to avoid NC law.
The activists at WidenI.77.org lay out how the contract basically allows Cintra to get around ever paying anything to the state in revenue sharing as required by the P3 authorizing legislation. This is due to the thresholds being set at levels likely never to be reached before the state would receive a dime from any excess toll payments.
What's even more egregious is that this wasn't made clear by the state until citizen activists essentially forced them to admit to it prior to signing the financial close with their partners at Cintra/I77 Mobility Partners.
...and remember, after all of this numeric tomfoolery, the debt for the HOT lanes still only came in one level above junk bond status. If the contact was written fairly for NC taxpayers and forced them to give up any revenues, what does their rating likely look like? Not good is the likely answer.
But that was just the first of a one-two punch combination with the second hitting the wires Saturday night.
In a press release sent out Saturday evening by Vallee Bubak and Diane Gilroy separate from WidenI77 and the story mentioned above, another potential bombshell is dropped. Gilroy is the wife of Cornelius, N.C. Commissioner Dave Gilroy, and recently traveled to Spain to research Cintra's parent company Ferrovial and its subsidiaries. She has become a real thorn in the side of Javier "Mr Who Knows" Tamargo and the folks at Cintra. She has also been the target of some of the company's pushback.
The information in the press release is said to come from a 198 page Spanish language document received on Friday.
Press release below.
The activists at WidenI.77.org lay out how the contract basically allows Cintra to get around ever paying anything to the state in revenue sharing as required by the P3 authorizing legislation. This is due to the thresholds being set at levels likely never to be reached before the state would receive a dime from any excess toll payments.
What's even more egregious is that this wasn't made clear by the state until citizen activists essentially forced them to admit to it prior to signing the financial close with their partners at Cintra/I77 Mobility Partners.
...and remember, after all of this numeric tomfoolery, the debt for the HOT lanes still only came in one level above junk bond status. If the contact was written fairly for NC taxpayers and forced them to give up any revenues, what does their rating likely look like? Not good is the likely answer.
But that was just the first of a one-two punch combination with the second hitting the wires Saturday night.
In a press release sent out Saturday evening by Vallee Bubak and Diane Gilroy separate from WidenI77 and the story mentioned above, another potential bombshell is dropped. Gilroy is the wife of Cornelius, N.C. Commissioner Dave Gilroy, and recently traveled to Spain to research Cintra's parent company Ferrovial and its subsidiaries. She has become a real thorn in the side of Javier "Mr Who Knows" Tamargo and the folks at Cintra. She has also been the target of some of the company's pushback.
The information in the press release is said to come from a 198 page Spanish language document received on Friday.
Press release below.
Charlotte, N.C. – September 6, 2015 – Opponents of the I-77 toll project may have just gotten a needed break as a result of documents revealing that Cintra, the subsidiary of parent company Ferrovial, failed to disclose in required contractual documents that its affiliate was being investigated for breaking Spain’s anti-trust laws. Ferrovial’s waste management subsidiary called Cespa had their offices raided in 2012 and 2013, yet failed to disclose those investigations as required by the NCDOT’s Request for Proposal (RFP) process in 2014. As a result of those investigations, Cespa (Ferrovial) was fined more than 13.6 million Euros (approximately $15 million USD) for engaging in market sharing and collusive activity.
Journalist Baltasar Montaño explained in Spain’s January 28, 2015 digital publication Vozpópuli how the “garbage cartel” was rigged. He explained, the CNMC [Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia – Spain’s National Commission of Markets and Competition] went through thousands of emails from companies like Ferrovial, FCC, ACS, and Sacyr in which they divided contracts, clients, territories, and they expelled possible competitors among other illegal practices.
“A 198-page document by Spain’s CNMC dated January 8, 2015 details the investigations, scandalous emails and documents showing collusive joint agreements between Cespa (Ferrovial) and others,” said Diane Gilroy, a local Spanish professor who recently traveled to Spain and researched Cintra’s parent company Ferrovial. “Because Cintra failed to disclose this serious anti-trust investigation that Ferrovial/Cespa was notified of by the CNMC in 2012 and 2013, the toll contract
documents signed in 2014 between Ferrovial and the NCDOT are likely invalid and the so-called $100 million penalty is baseless.”
As more and more of these revelations start to pile up, everyone looking at this situation should channel their best Ricky Ricardo and say...
"NCDOT and Cintra, you got some splaaaaynin' to do!!!"
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
WidenI77 issues stinging response to Javier "Mr Who Knows" Tamargo
Bullies usually don't know how to respond when people stand up to them.
With that being the case, it will be interesting to see the next move from Cintra/NCDOT/Mercury(?) now that WidenI77.org has blasted back with a blistering broadside to Javier "Mr Who Knows" Tamargo and recent letter accusing the activist group of putting out false information about his project.
Here's the link to the group's response and the preceding letter.
It's well worth a read...
This kind of response is why the godfather of HOT lanes, Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation, recently said the local resistance the HOT lanes agenda is the strongest he's ever seen.
In the wake of Tuesday's expected loss at CRTPO, the release of this response on the same evening should be a vivid reminder to everyone that this fight is far from over and that those fighting it aren't about to back down.
With that being the case, it will be interesting to see the next move from Cintra/NCDOT/Mercury(?) now that WidenI77.org has blasted back with a blistering broadside to Javier "Mr Who Knows" Tamargo and recent letter accusing the activist group of putting out false information about his project.
Here's the link to the group's response and the preceding letter.
It's well worth a read...
This kind of response is why the godfather of HOT lanes, Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation, recently said the local resistance the HOT lanes agenda is the strongest he's ever seen.
In the wake of Tuesday's expected loss at CRTPO, the release of this response on the same evening should be a vivid reminder to everyone that this fight is far from over and that those fighting it aren't about to back down.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Cintra/NCDOT take aim at citizens opposing tolls
Well, it looks like Mr "Who Knows" has gotten his nose out of joint.
That's the first takeaway from a letter sent last week to WidenI77.org founder Kurt Naas along with State and Local elected officials regarding some financial analysis on the HOT lanes Naas published back on July 24th.
Let's just say this. Cintra's Mr Javier Tamargo didn't like what WidenI77.org's Mr Kurt Naas had to say on the financial setup of his HOT lanes deal.
In his document, Naas points out a number of ways this project is/may/or could be not in the best interests of North Carolina taxpayers. Tamargo responds by often answering claims different than the ones that Naas was making or by simply saying the equivalent of "no, that's not right" but then providing no real proof why he says that. Maybe most importantly, Tamargo closes with what can best be described as a veiled threat - giving Naas 10 days to retract his comments in writing...the "or else" is implied.
This makes the second time in recent weeks that Cintra/I77 Mobility Partners has levied ominous warnings at those who oppose their project. The other was against Diane Gilroy in a story over at the Carolina Journal. Somewhat ironically, Diane Gilroy is the wife of Cornelius Commissioner Dave Gilroy who asked Mr Tarmargo the question on toll rates that elicited the now infamous "who knows" response in the above picture.
This all comes on the heals of the release of another anti-toll document on the CharlotteAgenda.com website titled "10 thing you don't know about the toll lanes planned for I77 north". The post has gone viral on a local level receiving over 37,000 page views in a few days. Combine this with the 739 comments received by CRTPO for their upcoming meeting where 720 of the comments were anti-toll. That's according to analysis distributed by Cornelius town staff . It shows 97% of respondents opposing tolls - a stunning figure.
Take all of that together and it's clear those who are pushing these tolls on the region should be worried about the rising opposition. Which brings us to the most disturbing part of this letter, how it appears to have been generated and distributed.
According to emails obtained via public records requests, the creation and distribution of this letter appears to have been a coordinated effort between the private party I77 Mobility Partners and the state NCDOT.
The below is an email sent on the morning of Wednesday 8/12. It's from Mobility Partners' Director of Corporate Affairs to NCDOT officials at the highest levels - including the new Secretary of Transportation, Nick Tennyson. The tone of this email should make it crystal clear to anyone that this is not the first communication on this subject. The level of detail on how this is being communicated shows it to be a highly coordinated effort. See the below timeline for the partial chain of events gleaned from the other emails received via public records. There are likely more emails that would fill in more gaps if one was to keep digging.
Weds 8/12
10:25am Jean Leier Director of Corp Affairs w/ I77MP sends letter to NCDOT staff
11:13am Scott Cole Division Engineer from NCDOT sends to Bill Coxe of Huntersville, Bill Thunberg with LNTC, and a bunch of people in Charlotte including Bob Cook - the main staffer for CRTPO.
11:49am Bill Coxe sends to Mayor Swain and others in Huntersville staff. Mayor Swains response makes it clear she has not received it from I77MP confusing the document from Naas with the viral posting from charlotteagenda.com
2:59pm Leier sends directly to Sarah Mcaulay
Thursday 8/13
4:19pm McAulay thanks Leier for the document saying... "Jean Leier, thank you for the information. If I have questions about reading the document, I will contact you. Again, Thank you, Sarah McAulay"
4:21pm Mcaulay tells Bob Cook to send to CRTPO Members and TCC.
5:43pm Cook emails roughly 50 people involved in CRTPO.
Two things to note on Cook's email to CRTPO members.
1. A shocking number of people including many elected officials are using personal emails for government business making them nearly impossible to track. They include some of the biggest pushers of this deal. Ned Curran (NCDOT Board of Transpotation), Brian Jenest (Davidson), and Dumont Clarke (MeckBOCC).
2. Cook possessed the letter for a day and a half before McAulay told him to send it to CRTPO. Who else did he send it to in that time? A records request was not sent to Charlotte, but that would be interesting to know.
So, here you have both parties in a public private partnership, Cintra and Governor McCrory's NCDOT, actively working to apply pressure and disseminate information just days before a critical vote at the CRTPO. In fact, they were circulating that letter before its intended recipient/target even received it according to the above timeline. You also have the Chair of the CRTPO and the body's staff, Sarah McAulay and Bob Cook, actively involved in that dissemination.
In response to all this, WidenI77.org's Kurt Naas indicated on Saturday evening that there will be a response. He said to be on the lookout for a press conference prior to the CRTPO vote.
This should be fun to watch!
Bonus Observation: Who is Jean Leier, I77 Mobility Partners Director of Public Affairs and the person at the center of Cintra's pushback?
According to her LinkedIn profile, Leier's previous job was as head PR flack for Charlotte's mass transit system, CATS. The one municipality that will get any real benefit from this project through infrastructure paid for by LKN residents has its former mouthpiece working for the P3 contractor.
The public/private revolving door keeps turning. Ain't our government grand!
Update: See the WidenI77.org response here.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Ad exposes Governor McCrory's very own "Den of Thieves"
"Den of thieves" was how one Facebook poster responded to an ad from the Statesville Record & Landmark this Wednesday.
How could an ad engender such a response?
It can when it's another ad for the I77 HOT lanes, and it's an ad apparently placed by a company whose local point of contact has close ties to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.
Readers will remember this post from last month outlining all of the lobbyist connections surrounding the I77 HOT lanes project - connections that point to the state's highest elected official.
One of those connections was to a company named Mercury, LLC whose North Carolina point of contact is listed as one Russell Peck. Peck served as McCrory's campaign manager in 2012.
In that original post, the only connection mentioned to Mercury was that the firm had done work in the past for one of Cintra's frequent business partners, an Australian company named Macquarie Infrastructures. However, it now appears that Mercury may be doing work for Cintra on the I77 project.
The ad in Wednesday's Statesville paper closed the loop on this connection.
Below are images of two PDF files of the Statesville.com ad.
The first one is from Wednesday morning. As you can clearly see, the heading on the file says Mercury, LLC - the same name as the governor's former campaign manager's firm.
Sometime Wednesday afternoon, the site changed to the image below. The only difference in the file was who placed the ad. It now says I77 Mobility, the Cintra subsidiary building the HOT lanes.
Can you say "Oops!!!"
Someone recognized their "error", then went in and made the change.
Folks, this explains a LOT.
Last year, Governor Pat blew off a letter from a majority of Lake Norman's Commissioners asking to delay signing commercial close with Cintra. Most of those who signed the letter were fellow Republicans
Earlier this year, he ignored a rising crescendo of opposition to the project when he let his NCDOT sign the financial close.
Now, he is going around the state telling everyone there is no turning back.
These types of ads have been popping up everywhere. Campaign-style mailers. Web ads. Letters. It is hard to turn around these days without coming across something from Cintra/I77 Mobility/Mercury(?).
In addition to the ads in the Statesville paper, Cintra/I77 Mobility/Mercury(?) took out full page ads this week in current weekly papers in North Mecklenburg.
They are in hardcore selling mode on a project that supposedly cannot be stopped.
The question is "Why???"
At least part of that answer would now appear to be good old fashioned cronyism. Somebody pays for these ads. Somebody gets paid to make them. Somebody gets paid to place them.
Now, it looks like that somebody may have a direct connection to the Governor's Mansion.
The fact that the "error" on Statesville.com just happened to involve a company with the same name as a firm with close ties to the governor sure is a big coincidence if it were in fact not the actual case. It is too big a coincidence for any reasonable person to believe.
So, next time you see one of these ads, do this.
While channelling your best archvillain Gru from the Despicable Me cartoons, add this tagline...
"Brought to you by Governor Pat McCrory and his band of minions."
Doing that will make all of this make a lot more sense. Using the Gru voice might also make you feel the slightest bit better about such a villainous situation.
Speaking of villains and dens of thieves...
"Den of Thieves" was the title of a book outlining corruption on Wall Street in the 1980's - insider trading and the like. People will remember forever the names Ivan Boesky and Michael Milkin as the real-life archvillains of that era.
One has to wonder what names will be remembered similarly here in North Carolina before this tale of I77 HOT lanes is all over.
How could an ad engender such a response?
It can when it's another ad for the I77 HOT lanes, and it's an ad apparently placed by a company whose local point of contact has close ties to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.
Readers will remember this post from last month outlining all of the lobbyist connections surrounding the I77 HOT lanes project - connections that point to the state's highest elected official.
One of those connections was to a company named Mercury, LLC whose North Carolina point of contact is listed as one Russell Peck. Peck served as McCrory's campaign manager in 2012.
In that original post, the only connection mentioned to Mercury was that the firm had done work in the past for one of Cintra's frequent business partners, an Australian company named Macquarie Infrastructures. However, it now appears that Mercury may be doing work for Cintra on the I77 project.
The ad in Wednesday's Statesville paper closed the loop on this connection.
Below are images of two PDF files of the Statesville.com ad.
The first one is from Wednesday morning. As you can clearly see, the heading on the file says Mercury, LLC - the same name as the governor's former campaign manager's firm.
Sometime Wednesday afternoon, the site changed to the image below. The only difference in the file was who placed the ad. It now says I77 Mobility, the Cintra subsidiary building the HOT lanes.
Can you say "Oops!!!"
Someone recognized their "error", then went in and made the change.
Folks, this explains a LOT.
Last year, Governor Pat blew off a letter from a majority of Lake Norman's Commissioners asking to delay signing commercial close with Cintra. Most of those who signed the letter were fellow Republicans
Earlier this year, he ignored a rising crescendo of opposition to the project when he let his NCDOT sign the financial close.
Now, he is going around the state telling everyone there is no turning back.
These types of ads have been popping up everywhere. Campaign-style mailers. Web ads. Letters. It is hard to turn around these days without coming across something from Cintra/I77 Mobility/Mercury(?).
In addition to the ads in the Statesville paper, Cintra/I77 Mobility/Mercury(?) took out full page ads this week in current weekly papers in North Mecklenburg.
They are in hardcore selling mode on a project that supposedly cannot be stopped.
The question is "Why???"
At least part of that answer would now appear to be good old fashioned cronyism. Somebody pays for these ads. Somebody gets paid to make them. Somebody gets paid to place them.
Now, it looks like that somebody may have a direct connection to the Governor's Mansion.
The fact that the "error" on Statesville.com just happened to involve a company with the same name as a firm with close ties to the governor sure is a big coincidence if it were in fact not the actual case. It is too big a coincidence for any reasonable person to believe.
So, next time you see one of these ads, do this.
While channelling your best archvillain Gru from the Despicable Me cartoons, add this tagline...
"Brought to you by Governor Pat McCrory and his band of minions."
Doing that will make all of this make a lot more sense. Using the Gru voice might also make you feel the slightest bit better about such a villainous situation.
Speaking of villains and dens of thieves...
"Den of Thieves" was the title of a book outlining corruption on Wall Street in the 1980's - insider trading and the like. People will remember forever the names Ivan Boesky and Michael Milkin as the real-life archvillains of that era.
One has to wonder what names will be remembered similarly here in North Carolina before this tale of I77 HOT lanes is all over.
Monday, June 29, 2015
How close does Cintra's road get to Governor Pat McCrory?
Whether one calls it lobbying, public relations, business development, or crisis management, what you are really hiring when you employ somebody for any of the above functions is a "fixer". That's someone who gets things done that might not be do-able otherwise.
Lobbying is big business. There is lots of money involved. Lots of connections to work.
It is also one of the stops many people in politics take in between campaigns while working their way up the ladder in the political world.
Recently, a poster over at the Exit 28 Ridiculousness Facebook page posted something about Cintra having their own registered lobbyists in North Carolina, so that seemed like a good place to start looking into how that part of the proposed $650 million I77 HOT lanes project has panned out.
WARNING! The rest of this post is a bit stomach churning. Reading any further may require some Pepto Bismol. Get some now if necessary.
The interconnected names that come up when looking at the people and firms involved in the past and present lobbying efforts employed by Cintra and related firms will make your head spin. Official "lobbyists" are required to register as such with state and federal authorities. However, as mentioned above, influential people working in the firms involved in lobbying are not always officially lobbyists. They don't have to register as such.
In Cintra's case this story starts with someone who is a lobbyist. According to the NC Secretary of State website, Cintra employs three lobbyists in North Carolina from a law firm named Brooks Pierce. One of those lobbyists is a man named Chris McClure. McClure was hired by the firm in January of 2013.
Who is Chris McClure?
Well, one of his previous jobs was as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Republican Party. That is the top staff position within the state party. McClure held that position from 2007-2009. McClure has also done work for Texas Governor Rick Perry according to his bio. (That will be important later.)
During the 2008 campaign as head of the state party staff, McClure certainly would have crossed paths with the next person in this story, one Russell Peck.
During the 2008 election cycle, Russell Peck, was in charge of the North Carolina operation for the McCain-Palin campaign. That also was the cycle where McCrory was on the ticket in his first run for governor.
The connections between McMclure and Peck go further than this however. In 2009 Peck took over from McClure as the next Executive Director of the NCGOP. They also both serve on something called the NC Advisory Committee of the US Global Leadership Commission. (There are a number of interesting names on this list.)
During 2012 Russell Peck surfaces again as Pat McCrory's campaign manager during McCrory's second run at the governor's mansion.
After managing MCCrory's successful campaign, Russell Peck went to work for a firm named Mercury LLC. Mercury's LinkedIn profile describes its business with this.
Mercury is a high-stakes public strategy firm.
We use our expertise and reach to gain competitive advantage for clients. Our expertise comes from extensive must-win campaign experience and operating successfully at the highest rung of business, government, politics and media. Our reach is the ability to use strategic intelligence to mobilize the message and persuade the toughest audiences.
We have proven results for prominent figures, leading advocacy groups and the world’s most successful companies.
That's a long winded way of saying lobbyist.
Russell Peck is listed as the point of contact for Mercury in North Carolina on the firm's website. Peck is only registered to lobby for one firm in North Carolina. That firm has nothing to do with
with transportation, but it would seem to be a limited work load for someone in the lobbying biz who has worked so closely to the governor.
Interestingly, according to opensecrets.org, Mercury appears to have done work in the past for a company called Macquarie. Macquarie has been a business partner with Cintra on multiple toll projects in the US and Canada, including some work in Texas.
Then of course there is Moore & Van Allen.
Readers may remember when Mecklenburg County Commissioner Dumont Clarke recused himself during the vote on a resolution by the county asking the state to delay financial close. This was on May 19th. Clarke sited a potential conflict of interest with a client and the project.
Moore & Van Allen happens to also be the firm where Governor Pat McCrory himself passed the time as an employee between his gubernatorial runs. According to this article McCrory was hired because he could "add value to what lawyers could do."
The firm has also hired a close McCrory aid, Brian Nick, after McCrory became governor in 2012.
So to sum it all up, here you have two former heads of the NCGOP staff working as lobbyists. One works directly for Cintra the other for a firm that has done work for a close Cintra business partner in the past.
Both of these men worked closely with Governor McCrory.
Then you have the firm where McCrory himself worked as a non-lobbying lobbyist having an employee having to recuse from a County Commission vote because of a conflict of interest somehow related to the project.
Remember the comment earlier in this post about Cintra lobbyist Chris McClure working for Governor Rick Perry in Texas?
Well, this whole twisted tale sounds eerilly like this article outlining lobbying efforts with close ties to the governor, including Cintra's, in Texas.
This all took about two hours of googling to pull together. Someone with more time on their hands and resourses available should really look into this.
Who knows what you might find?
Lobbying is big business. There is lots of money involved. Lots of connections to work.
It is also one of the stops many people in politics take in between campaigns while working their way up the ladder in the political world.
Recently, a poster over at the Exit 28 Ridiculousness Facebook page posted something about Cintra having their own registered lobbyists in North Carolina, so that seemed like a good place to start looking into how that part of the proposed $650 million I77 HOT lanes project has panned out.
WARNING! The rest of this post is a bit stomach churning. Reading any further may require some Pepto Bismol. Get some now if necessary.
The interconnected names that come up when looking at the people and firms involved in the past and present lobbying efforts employed by Cintra and related firms will make your head spin. Official "lobbyists" are required to register as such with state and federal authorities. However, as mentioned above, influential people working in the firms involved in lobbying are not always officially lobbyists. They don't have to register as such.
In Cintra's case this story starts with someone who is a lobbyist. According to the NC Secretary of State website, Cintra employs three lobbyists in North Carolina from a law firm named Brooks Pierce. One of those lobbyists is a man named Chris McClure. McClure was hired by the firm in January of 2013.
Who is Chris McClure?
Well, one of his previous jobs was as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Republican Party. That is the top staff position within the state party. McClure held that position from 2007-2009. McClure has also done work for Texas Governor Rick Perry according to his bio. (That will be important later.)
During the 2008 campaign as head of the state party staff, McClure certainly would have crossed paths with the next person in this story, one Russell Peck.
During the 2008 election cycle, Russell Peck, was in charge of the North Carolina operation for the McCain-Palin campaign. That also was the cycle where McCrory was on the ticket in his first run for governor.
The connections between McMclure and Peck go further than this however. In 2009 Peck took over from McClure as the next Executive Director of the NCGOP. They also both serve on something called the NC Advisory Committee of the US Global Leadership Commission. (There are a number of interesting names on this list.)
During 2012 Russell Peck surfaces again as Pat McCrory's campaign manager during McCrory's second run at the governor's mansion.
After managing MCCrory's successful campaign, Russell Peck went to work for a firm named Mercury LLC. Mercury's LinkedIn profile describes its business with this.
Mercury is a high-stakes public strategy firm.
We use our expertise and reach to gain competitive advantage for clients. Our expertise comes from extensive must-win campaign experience and operating successfully at the highest rung of business, government, politics and media. Our reach is the ability to use strategic intelligence to mobilize the message and persuade the toughest audiences.
We have proven results for prominent figures, leading advocacy groups and the world’s most successful companies.
That's a long winded way of saying lobbyist.
Russell Peck is listed as the point of contact for Mercury in North Carolina on the firm's website. Peck is only registered to lobby for one firm in North Carolina. That firm has nothing to do with
with transportation, but it would seem to be a limited work load for someone in the lobbying biz who has worked so closely to the governor.
Interestingly, according to opensecrets.org, Mercury appears to have done work in the past for a company called Macquarie. Macquarie has been a business partner with Cintra on multiple toll projects in the US and Canada, including some work in Texas.
Then of course there is Moore & Van Allen.
Readers may remember when Mecklenburg County Commissioner Dumont Clarke recused himself during the vote on a resolution by the county asking the state to delay financial close. This was on May 19th. Clarke sited a potential conflict of interest with a client and the project.
Moore & Van Allen happens to also be the firm where Governor Pat McCrory himself passed the time as an employee between his gubernatorial runs. According to this article McCrory was hired because he could "add value to what lawyers could do."
The firm has also hired a close McCrory aid, Brian Nick, after McCrory became governor in 2012.
So to sum it all up, here you have two former heads of the NCGOP staff working as lobbyists. One works directly for Cintra the other for a firm that has done work for a close Cintra business partner in the past.
Both of these men worked closely with Governor McCrory.
Then you have the firm where McCrory himself worked as a non-lobbying lobbyist having an employee having to recuse from a County Commission vote because of a conflict of interest somehow related to the project.
Remember the comment earlier in this post about Cintra lobbyist Chris McClure working for Governor Rick Perry in Texas?
Well, this whole twisted tale sounds eerilly like this article outlining lobbying efforts with close ties to the governor, including Cintra's, in Texas.
This all took about two hours of googling to pull together. Someone with more time on their hands and resourses available should really look into this.
Who knows what you might find?
Friday, May 15, 2015
I77 HOT Lanes debt should be 'Junk'
Once again, the I77 HOT lanes project has been in the news and not for good reasons.
This past week, local elected boards one after the other passed resolutions demanding answers to new questions or asking for outright delay prior to financial close of the contract. On Monday evening, Rep John Bradford posted on Facebook that members of the North Mecklenburg delegation to the General Assembly asked Governor McCrory if it is “possible” to delay and assess other funding options.
All of this activity takes place in the final days of the re-re-rescheduled financial close date now slated for May 27th – an event which gained momentum with the recent approvals of Federal TIFIA loans and State Private Activity Bonds. As part of the run-up to this event the public is finally getting see what the ratings agencies have to say about the project.
The results explain a lot and leave a lot to be desired at the same time.
Two agencies were required by the State to rate the project’s debt. One of the big three agencies, Fitch, provided one rating, and a lesser known Canadian firm, DBRS, provided the other. Those ratings were BBB- from Fitch and BBB from DBRS.
To put it another way, both firms rated the project one ratings step above “junk bond” status on their respective ratings scales.
Think about this for a minute.
A road project this important intends to be built using financing that can barely make investment grade status. Investment grade status is required for many institutions such as pension funds and large endowments to invest in the bonds.
We can presume the I77 debt barely achieved these ratings because of a number of things that happened along the way to setting them.
• Of the four short-listed companies initially looking at the project, only Cintra submitted a bid – a strong indication the others could not make the numbers work.
• Cintra and NCDOT started with low expectations on bond ratings. According to an April 2014 report from the State Chief Financial Officer and NCDOT to the General Assembly (a full year before the agencies presented their preliminary ratings), the General Assembly was told that Cintra expected exactly the mediocre ratings they ultimately received.
• The State and Cintra have had to put in more capital than originally planned and reduced the initial request for TIFIA debt. One can reasonably assume both entities put in just enough capital to get over the hump.
• DBRS specifically sites the “compensation event” clause regarding the addition of new general purpose lanes in the future as a supporting justification for its BBB rating. This is the issue that has been getting a lot of attention the past two weeks at local town halls because it is now known the State would have to pay penalties to Cintra if they build any more free lanes.
• Both Fitch and DBRS site the “unique” nature of the so-called DRAM facility in the contract with NCDOT. This chunk of up to $75 million from the State serves as a backstop in early years if toll revenue comes in low. In fact, Fitch estimates $47 million of this facility will need to be used.
Again, all of these red flags must be ignored, and all of these special provisions must be accepted to support a barely not-junk rating.
However, to the general public the most interesting information revealed in these preliminary ratings documents has to do with proposed toll rates. From the Fitch press release it says the following:
“The initial proposed tolls in the sponsor case are reasonable for this type of asset (between $0.14/mile and $0.40/mile in 2012$)”.
“Reasonable” is relative to one’s ability to pay, but that works out to $3.84 up to $10.40 one way for a full-length 26-mile ride - numbers surprisingly close to those presented by NCDOT consultant, Stantec. When those numbers were made public last year, local officials did backflips trying to debunk and minimize them.
At a meeting arranged by local mayors, NCDOT, and Cintra, a meeting initially intended to be closed to the public, then Cornelius Commissioner John Bradford was caught on tape by WCNC saying “there is no one I have spoken to that believes an eleven dollar trip is reasonable in any way.”
In that same meeting Cornelius Commissioner Dave Gilroy pushed Cintra’s point-man for the project, Javier Tamargo, regarding how high rates could go. Tamargo’s response?
“Who knows?”
Based on the credit agency reports, somebody definitely knew. They just didn't want that somebody to be you.
Multiple attempts to contact Fitch Ratings for more details for this story went unreturned.
This post originally appeared in the Herald Weekly at huntersvilleherald.com
This past week, local elected boards one after the other passed resolutions demanding answers to new questions or asking for outright delay prior to financial close of the contract. On Monday evening, Rep John Bradford posted on Facebook that members of the North Mecklenburg delegation to the General Assembly asked Governor McCrory if it is “possible” to delay and assess other funding options.
All of this activity takes place in the final days of the re-re-rescheduled financial close date now slated for May 27th – an event which gained momentum with the recent approvals of Federal TIFIA loans and State Private Activity Bonds. As part of the run-up to this event the public is finally getting see what the ratings agencies have to say about the project.
The results explain a lot and leave a lot to be desired at the same time.
Two agencies were required by the State to rate the project’s debt. One of the big three agencies, Fitch, provided one rating, and a lesser known Canadian firm, DBRS, provided the other. Those ratings were BBB- from Fitch and BBB from DBRS.
To put it another way, both firms rated the project one ratings step above “junk bond” status on their respective ratings scales.
Think about this for a minute.
A road project this important intends to be built using financing that can barely make investment grade status. Investment grade status is required for many institutions such as pension funds and large endowments to invest in the bonds.
We can presume the I77 debt barely achieved these ratings because of a number of things that happened along the way to setting them.
• Of the four short-listed companies initially looking at the project, only Cintra submitted a bid – a strong indication the others could not make the numbers work.
• Cintra and NCDOT started with low expectations on bond ratings. According to an April 2014 report from the State Chief Financial Officer and NCDOT to the General Assembly (a full year before the agencies presented their preliminary ratings), the General Assembly was told that Cintra expected exactly the mediocre ratings they ultimately received.
• The State and Cintra have had to put in more capital than originally planned and reduced the initial request for TIFIA debt. One can reasonably assume both entities put in just enough capital to get over the hump.
• DBRS specifically sites the “compensation event” clause regarding the addition of new general purpose lanes in the future as a supporting justification for its BBB rating. This is the issue that has been getting a lot of attention the past two weeks at local town halls because it is now known the State would have to pay penalties to Cintra if they build any more free lanes.
• Both Fitch and DBRS site the “unique” nature of the so-called DRAM facility in the contract with NCDOT. This chunk of up to $75 million from the State serves as a backstop in early years if toll revenue comes in low. In fact, Fitch estimates $47 million of this facility will need to be used.
Again, all of these red flags must be ignored, and all of these special provisions must be accepted to support a barely not-junk rating.
However, to the general public the most interesting information revealed in these preliminary ratings documents has to do with proposed toll rates. From the Fitch press release it says the following:
“The initial proposed tolls in the sponsor case are reasonable for this type of asset (between $0.14/mile and $0.40/mile in 2012$)”.
“Reasonable” is relative to one’s ability to pay, but that works out to $3.84 up to $10.40 one way for a full-length 26-mile ride - numbers surprisingly close to those presented by NCDOT consultant, Stantec. When those numbers were made public last year, local officials did backflips trying to debunk and minimize them.
At a meeting arranged by local mayors, NCDOT, and Cintra, a meeting initially intended to be closed to the public, then Cornelius Commissioner John Bradford was caught on tape by WCNC saying “there is no one I have spoken to that believes an eleven dollar trip is reasonable in any way.”
In that same meeting Cornelius Commissioner Dave Gilroy pushed Cintra’s point-man for the project, Javier Tamargo, regarding how high rates could go. Tamargo’s response?
“Who knows?”
Based on the credit agency reports, somebody definitely knew. They just didn't want that somebody to be you.
Multiple attempts to contact Fitch Ratings for more details for this story went unreturned.
This post originally appeared in the Herald Weekly at huntersvilleherald.com
Friday, August 22, 2014
Cintra: Arrogant or Ignorant on Toll Rates?
 |
| Click here for the full video at WCNC.com |
On the most important question that has gone unanswered (what are the toll rates going to be for the HOT Lanes?), Cintra's project manager, Javier Tamargo, had this to say...
"WHO KNOWS?"
If that was the best they could do, one can see why they would not want it to be heard by John Q Public.
Here you have the representative of a company being handed a project as the sole bidder, a project worth over $600 million, sitting in front of the elected officials most closely responsible to the citizens that project will serve, and the answer is "who knows"?!?!?!
How can that be???
The answer to that question is one of two things - arrogance or ignorance. Actually, the answer is probably both.
There's really no question that it's arrogant to think you can foist something like this onto the public without telling them how much they will have to pay to use it.
However, Mr Tamargo's answer may have also been a Freudian slip where he actually told the truth. Maybe the contractor who will build the road truly is ignorant of how much they will charge in 20 years. Their math is very fuzzy, and the company's recent troubles on other projects prove that to be the case.
Arrogance and ignorance is a very dangerous combination, and this unfolding tragedy is now reaching Shakespearean proportions. For our government to let this project go forward under these circumstances after they have been given the public's trust may be the "most unkindest cut of all".
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Updated: Spin Continues by NCDOT on I77 HOT Lanes Contract (right up until closing)
The spin masters over at NCDOT are at it again with the most recent excuse as to why HOT lane contractor, Cintra, won't release total amounts prior to signing the contract.
The reason? Effectively, the answer is "we always do it this way."
According to NCDOT....
"Bids are not required to be released until an actual agreement is signed so it's nothing unique to this particular project."
In this case toll rates are part of the "bid".
Unfortunately for the NCDOT, there is something unique about this project. It is a variable rate tolling project - the first in North Carolina!
Listen, the whole point of a tolling project is to pass through the cost to the end user. In other projects the NCDOT is effectively the end user, and they are privy to the details around cost. In a tolling project the end-user is the commuter and not releasing these details is forcing them to accept a product without knowing the cost.
Update: And the spin continued right up until the day the NCDOT signed the commercial close on the project today. A sad day for our state and for residents of Lake Norman in particular. How do you like being treated as guinea pigs?
The reason? Effectively, the answer is "we always do it this way."
According to NCDOT....
"Bids are not required to be released until an actual agreement is signed so it's nothing unique to this particular project."
In this case toll rates are part of the "bid".
Unfortunately for the NCDOT, there is something unique about this project. It is a variable rate tolling project - the first in North Carolina!
Listen, the whole point of a tolling project is to pass through the cost to the end user. In other projects the NCDOT is effectively the end user, and they are privy to the details around cost. In a tolling project the end-user is the commuter and not releasing these details is forcing them to accept a product without knowing the cost.
Update: And the spin continued right up until the day the NCDOT signed the commercial close on the project today. A sad day for our state and for residents of Lake Norman in particular. How do you like being treated as guinea pigs?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)