The only poll taken this year that asked Ohioans whether they supported the 3-C Rail Project showed a rejection from voters by a massive 11-point margin.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has failed to provide consistent answers to the large questions being asked about the massive project.
And at a minimum, Ohio is going to be asked to pony up $17 million a year to keep the train running.
Despite all of the above, Ted Strickland is railroading through, pun intended, the $25 million “planning phase” of the project. By forcing the vote to require a simple, rather than supermajority, Strickland is giving the finger to bipartisanship when it comes to one of the largest new expenditures Ohio has seen in years.
Want to hear the kicker? The $25 million “planning phase” won’t even tell us half of what we need to know regarding the final costs and design of the project.
From the contract summary going in front of the State Controlling Board on Monday:
The $25 million won’t even pay for half of the design for the 3-C system. And thanks to “up to 45%” wording, it could even be far less than that.
Additionally, there doesn’t seem to be any timeframe for when this study must be completed. So if this thing takes as long as 9 months, we still won’t know more than 45% of the design of the project.
Don’t be fooled. These are your tax dollars being thrown away.
And for what? An election year trophy for Strickland.
The Governor is keen on doing whatever it takes to get this project up and running, no matter what the cost to Ohioans.
Props go out to State Sen. Jay Hottinger for expressing to the Governor his distaste for the decision to ram the measure through without adequately answering many incredibly important questions.
Join the brand new “Derail the Ohio 3-C Rail Project” facebook group page and lend your voice against Ted’s boondoggle.
