Sunrail's economic benefit shouldn't justify areas of wasetful spending
As Governor Charlie Crist and other state legislators tout the economic benefits of Florida SunRail, fiscal conservatives must keep a close eye on the project's budget.
Nobody can deny the boost SunRail will create for construction jobs, but those benefits shouldn't overshadow or justify wasetful spending if and when it occours. Just ask John Dowless, founder and president of Millennium Consulting. As the bill await's Governor Crists' signature of approval, John Dowless reminds Florida's fiscal conservatives to keep their state government accountable for any excessive spending.
For the moment, Sunrail enjoys a strong majority support among the electorate but with a vocal minority opposition among Tea Party type activists. The vulnerability for Sunrail are its costs, especially in the current economic conditions where our Federal government seems to be growing exponentially while the private sector continues to contract.
Dowless' constructive criticism comes from a man with experience in central Florida transportation. As you may recall from my profile of John Dowless, the Florida Secretary of Transportation appointed Mr. Dowless to the Citizens Advisory Council for Lynx, Orlando's bus system, in '03, and earlier this year, Dowless cited wastefull spending when SunRail was still being pitched to the state. In a letter to the Orlando Sentinel editor, John Dowless supported the fiscal stance ofSentinel Columnist Scott Maxwell. Dowless wrote:
"I support commuter rail, but not at any cost and not with the continued wasteful spending I keep reading about. I can’t tell you how disgusted I was when I read in December that the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission spent more than $300,000 just to come up with a name and a logo. Does $300,000 sound excessive to anyone else?... A naming contest like the one Lynx conducted would have accomplished the same thing, involved the community and cost a lot less.SunRail leaders need to stop the wasteful spending or their majority support is going to erode quickly into the minority.
Hopefully, the Republican Party of Florida and fiscal conservatives throughout the state will follow Mr. Dowless' advice and blow the whistle on any wasteful spending.
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