Upshift

My friends, I want you all to witness history being made with a front row seat. I’m standing with Tim Eyman for Governor of the Great State of Washington and I’m expecting to be elected Secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation in the November 2021 Special Elections. By then, under the authority of people expressed through Washington State Joint Senate Resolution 8200, the heads of Departments will be elected by stakeholders who make use of the agency’s services. In the case of this public agency, the WSDOT, each car owner will be allotted one vote, just as each business will be allotted one vote for the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industries based on its share of the number of people employed in the State and subject to State taxes of any kind.  Perhaps you’d like to read the remarks at the formal ceremony where I announce my acceptance of the certification of the vote and the position.

“Governor Eyman, thank you.  Feel free to take a seat.  This is a long speech.

“It’s a pleasure to serve in the administration of someone who believes in limited government. People of the Evergreen State, the Great State of Washington, welcome. Welcome to the WSDOT Headquarters in Olympia, Washington. In this building you employ some of the most educated and informed individuals in the nation. I should know, I’ve worked for several of them and they were my clients who earned my respect. Today, they seek leadership to address the challenges ahead of us in a meaningful and productive fashion.

“No longer will we wave our hands about, warning that the sky is collapsing and that obvious solutions to serious problems are actually exactly the opposite of what we propose to do. Congestion is the problem and we as an agency will immediately fulfill our obligation to address it for the benefit of our State’s economy. Being delayed by traffic congestion is no longer going to be considered a consequence of other peoples’ problems and therefore outside of our ability to fix.  Our chief mission is to relieve congestion and improve safety on the State Highway System and our primary strategy is capacity expansion.

“Under the emergency authority granted to the Secretary by the Legislature, I will direct our staff at the WSDOT to take immediate action on five major transportation problems. I am immediately prioritizing Interstate 405 between I-5 in Tukwila and SR 520 in Bellevue for southbound improvements in speed and reliability.  The first improvements will be under construction next week.  The entire freeway will be free of all high-occupancy vehicle restrictions on January 1st, 2022, and all traffic signing and pavement markings to that effect will be removed within 30 days. The tolling equipment will be turned off by Executive Order of the Governor in 30 minutes. Interstate 5 will receive immediate capacity enhancements such as extended entrance ramps, auxiliary lanes, and additional uphill lanes in numerous locations. We will begin converting SR 26 to a multi-lane motorway, finish widening I-90 from Sprague to Idaho, and replace or otherwise improve the top ten most hazardous intersections in Eastern Washington. In two years, 60 roundabouts will be under construction in Western Washington, replacing traffic signals and all-way stops with safe and efficient management of traffic.  SR 522 will receive the last segments of widening to four lanes in 9 months, being built by a private equity technology investment firm at no cost the taxpayers of this State. We hear they just want their workers at companies in their portfolio to have better housing options in a less expensive county.  And we will immediately sign a memorandum of understanding with an investment coalition ready to tackle I-5 through downtown Seattle.

“Taxpayers in the State of Washington have made it clear that they expect their transportation tax dollars to be spent on real transportation. We all want clean water and nature uncorrupted by the effects of our presence on this planet and we work toward that in this State, especially if we can prevent it using sound science. That’s why WSDOT will still comply with all reasonable environmental compliance asked of us, including water quality protection, stormwater management, and land and aquatic wildlife movement accommodations. But we are not paying for it. The Department of Ecology must ask the legislature to fund its regulations. We will follow them at a price we set and we will negotiate with our friends at Ecology to come to an agreement on their share, which we expect will be 100%.  But we’re giving our our fellow Department a break by planning to pay for all bridge improvements over waterways using motof fuel excise tax receipts dedicated to the State Multimodal Fund. WSDOT will keep these projects on track and support another agency by affording it time to justify its existence with the people.

“With local transit funding now completely subject to the will of individual municipalities, our Multimodal Fund has plenty of pork in it so we’re proud to partner with you on fish and wildlife movement.  These culverts are like freeways, I’ve heard.  A bald eagle told me that.

“Speaking of this great nation’s liberty and the spirit of the great people of this State, we know we are free to move and free to organize in whatever way best suits our individual and shared missions.  This Department will be immediately assessed for reorganization such that it serves the needs of the taxpayers, people who drive their own cars on the roads. (After all, there are transit buses on the roads NOT paying for that service through our State’s motor fuel excise tax.) Functions duplicated and provided at the local level, such as public transit, will be removed from our agency and coordination will occur in accordance with economic benefit to the users of the system. In small communities, we will partner with them to deal with context even as we quickly move to pursue intergovernmental cost share agreements. All of our local agency money will be delivered competitively on the basis merit in three categories: safety improvements with demonstrated benefits, system preservation through sound maintenance, and congestion reduction by means of capacity enhancements. We’re proud to serve the people in very own communities, you and I. There’s nothing we won’t do to be above reproach and careful stewards of every stretch of road we own and manage for the good of the people.

“Without action from the legislature on behalf of the taxpayers and our Constitution, this agency cannot acquire more income. We therefore must work within our means until we demonstrate our worth to the taxpayers and be given more. I therefore will refuse to honor any agreements related to the I-5 crossing of the Columbia River until all authorized parties agree to widen the bridge to 16 lanes with accommodations for future light rail when it is funded by the local agencies’ agreements. Tolling in support of a solution that provides a real benefit makes economic sense but WSDOT will work to no longer impose tolls. We accept proposals from private operators to build, maintain, and operate motorways and critical links. In this case, we encourage the private sector to act to provide immediate and sufficient capacity on this critical link to our neighbors in Oregon. No one at this agency will stand in your way.

“Just last week, a private sector group led by a perennial advocate for sensible transit spending successfully sought a court injunction to end all Sound Transit work within or immediately adjacent to freeway rights-of-way in Washington State. These corridors are valuable and should be dedicated to uses that serve the people who pay for the service of driving on a road with their gas taxes. You’ll be surprised to hear who I’ll be appointing Legislative Policy Advisor later today and my Economic Advisor is on his way down here but stuck in traffic. There will be a lot less traffic congestion when the Legislature passes aggressive laws that defend our left lanes from slow vehicles, a speed limit increase authority to 80 miles per hour for all rural motorways, and a ban on red light camera fines, protecting your Fourth Amendment rights and your rights under Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The demand for bold action on resource consumption, a reduction in vehicle miles traveled, has not fallen on deaf ears. We’re going to drive reductions in resource consumption by reducing congestion and providing people with better travel experiences overall. Who knows? The next source of nearly-limitless power might be invented by someone who spends an extra 30 minutes at home each night with a few extra dollars on hand. We’re going to work so we can all get to work improving our State. I’m here to make it easier for people to use the roads and I want them to know we all care.  Let’s make a sound move forward, together.  Governor Eyman, sir.  Thank you.”