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By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
June 8, 2011
Lobbying for and against the SunRail commuter train is growing louder and more frenetic as Gov. Rick Scott gets closer to his self-appointed deadline of July 1 to decide the fate of the $1.2 billion project.
Politicians such as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and state House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, and businesspeople are trying to get at least a word or letter promoting SunRail to Scott on most days of the week.
And opponents, including former Winter Park Commissioner Beth Dillaha and tea-party member Sharon Calvert of Tampa, are calling, writing and meeting with Scott, too.
Each side contends the facts prove their point that SunRail either is a great idea that would provide motorists with an alternative to traffic-choked Interstate 4 or a boondoggle that would waste millions of tax dollars.
Scott remains coy about his intentions. His spokesman, Lane Wright, wrote in an email to the Orlando Sentinel that Scott's review of SunRail is not yet complete and the Republican governor has not signaled exactly when he would make his announcement.
So far, his office has logged 3,755 calls and emails about SunRail, with fewer than 20 percent in favor, records indicate.
Both sides have orchestrated several contact-the-governor campaigns using all forms of social media, including Twitter and Facebook. This week, the conservative Florida Campaign for Liberty began circulating an online petition urging Scott to reject SunRail.
Opponents such as state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, have complained that Scott would not meet with them but instead was talking almost exclusively with champions of the train that would link downtown Orlando with Volusia, Seminole and Osceola counties.
That changed Friday, when Dillaha, Calvert, unsuccessful Orange County mayoral candidate Matt Falconer and several others sat down with Scott for about 20 minutes after he finished an appearance at a south Orlando hotel.
At the meeting, they showed him a PowerPoint presentation outlining their criticisms of SunRail. Among their charges is that the federal government has guaranteed only $61.2 million of the $178 million it has promised for the train's first phase, which would run for 31 miles and begin operating in spring 2014.
The remainder of the money, according to federal documents, would be doled out over the next three years in increments ranging from $27.4 million to $50 million. That's a bad deal, Dillaha said, because the money might not be there.
"Those are future years," she said. "Economic conditions change, and Congress changes."
Calvert is worried about possible cost overruns, saying Florida taxpayers would have to make up the difference by shifting money from roads to the train. Another fear, she said, is that operating costs could be much higher than anticipated because the income from fares would be lower than expected.
She said she thinks Scott will take their concerns into consideration.
"I think he is one of those rare politicians who listens," said Calvert, who spoke often to Scott about her disdain for the high-speed train between Tampa and Orlando that the governor scuttled in January.
SunRail proponents contend Dillaha and the tea party are misrepresenting the project in an effort to discredit it with Scott and the public.
"The groups obviously play very fast and loose with the facts," Dyer said. "It's one thing to be in opposition. But they would have more credibility if they were to use accurate information."
SunRail, he said, actually is cheaper than building roads, pointing out that adding one lane to I-4 for 61 miles — the length SunRail would be when it is complete — would cost $7 billion, or $5.8 billion more than the train.
Cost overruns are highly unlikely because the major costs of the project, including the price of the tracks, the locomotives and cars and much of the construction expenses, are locked in with signed contracts, he said. Ridership projections, he said, are conservative and likely will be exceeded.
And, Dyer said, it is highly unlikely Congress would renege on its financial commitment to the train with U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, a key SunRail backer, in charge of the powerful House transportation committee.
Mica also has talked with Scott and his staff in support of the train and said he hopes to meet again with them soon.
Cannon said he continually checks in with Scott about SunRail and, based on those discussions, "I'm cautiously optimistic that at the end of the day he will find the comfort level he needs with the project."
Original article from the Orlando Sentinel
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