Like highly skilled artists, the 14 appointees to the bi-state authority sit around their conjoined conference tables, surrounded by media and a fascinated (if not outright bewildered) public, and with the aid of mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations and unyielding corporate Newspeak they transform what would otherwise be a closed undemocratic process into a open undemocratic process, right before your very eyes.

This phenomenon of the open-closed meeting is a byproduct of modern American oligarchy, where atrocities can be hidden in plain sight because the devil lies in so many details. This effectively allows an organization like the Bridges Authority to appease our middle school social studies notions of democracy by inviting the public to witness  an autocratic process firsthand, which is kind of like inviting someone over for dinner and making them watch you eat.

Or, as a fellow spectator noted, “We’re just watching them sit around and jerk each other off.”

So went this latest meeting of the Bridges Authority, held at the Kentucky International Convention Center, where the only new business was old business; much of the information released was already discussed at last week’s meeting.

However, there were a few highlights:

(1) As LEO Weekly reported earlier, the folks at Say NO To Bridge Tolls blasted the Bridges Authority in a press release imploring them to disclose any conflicts of interest per Gov. Steve Beshear’s call for greater ethics enforcement among state-sanctioned committees:

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has ordered members of policy-making boards such as the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority to reveal any potential conflicts of interest on an official disclosure statement. Say NO to Bridge Tolls is calling for all “Tolling” Authority members (including those appointed by Indiana) to comply with Beshear’s ethics order before the December 16th vote approving tolls.

…

Greater Louisville Inc., One Southern Indiana and the Louisville Urban League are all part of the coalition. Tolling Authority members, include chairman Charles Buddeke, who also is on the GLI board; Joe Reagan, GLI’s CEO; co-chairman Kerry Stemler and member Pat Byrne, who are affiliated with One Southern Indiana; and Ben Richmond, CEO of the Louisville Urban League may all have conflicts of interest.  Additionally member Sandra Frazier may also have conflicts of interest. Her firm Tandem Public Relations built the website for The Build the Bridges Coalition and worked with the coalition on an aggressive media relations outreach program (according to their website).

Shawn Reilly of Say NO to Bridge Tolls said “We have asked that all members of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority comply with Governor Beshear’s order before voting on the bridges financing plan at their December 16, 2010 meeting.”

Reilly also said “The public needs to know if Tolling Authority members or their families have ties to Wall Street banks or construction companies that stand to profit from potentially lucrative construction, consulting, or finance contracts.”

Regarding Frazier’s potentially conflicting interests, she tells LEO Weekly that Tandem no longer has any current contracts with the Bridges Coalition, which she had contracted with in 2007 and 2008 to develop their website.

“When I was nominated to serve on the Authority in the fall of 2009, I disclosed the fact that we did work for the Bridges Coalition,” Frazier says, adding that all members of the authority submitted disclosure documents to Metro government. “(A)nd we declined to do additional work for the Coalition following that.  So any idea that I would stand to benefit from the project is incorrect.”

Despite this, Frazier says she wasn’t aware if the current Bridges Coalition website contained any work that Tandem had done in the past, or whether or not she could appreciate the specter of impropriety given that she has made money off of advancing a pro-bridges agenda now, two years ago or in the future.

“As far as being independent with my vote (on this authority),” she says, “I have no doubt that any past financial ties won’t be an influence.”

(2) According to one of those aforementioned PowerPoint slides, Kentucky will be picking up a bigger lion’s share of the project’s public funding than expected. Indiana has moved a whopping $579 million out of the project, leaving the Hoosier State with only a $566 million share.

“The majority of the project’s cost is Kentucky’s anyway,” says Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Mike Hancock, “something like a 67 percent to 33 percent share. From our perspective,  (the Spaghetti Junction expansion) creates its own disproportion on the project’s cost.”

Translation: Spaghetti Junction is our red-headed stepchild, and if anybody’s going to beat it, it will be us.

Interestingly, the other differences between the Bridges Authority’s 2008 initial financing plan and the updated version they’re submitting to KYTC before the Dec. 31 deadline are stark. Aside from Indiana effectively removing half its share of public funding form the project, the initial plan didn’t include tolling projections at all. But the new one? It conveniently requires $2.2 billion worth of toll-based revenue  that wasn’t on anybody’s radar when they were tabulating Excel spreadsheets for the ’08 plan, which leads us to:

(3) Those $1.9 billion in public funds the Bridges Authority now says are in place? Well, not only are those funds subject to dramatic change in the span of just two years —  Kentucky’s public share decreased by 45 percent alone from 2008 (when it was nearly $3 billion) to 2010 (where it now sits at just $1.3 billion) — they’re not really guaranteed at all because a good chunk of that revenue is “anticipated,” and therefore hasn’t been appropriated, earmarked nor legislated. It’s like signing mortgage papers for a house when you don’t even have a job.

Furthermore, per Kentucky’s House Bill 3, which created the Bridges Authority out of dust, manna and (imitation?) Armani suits, a financial plan may not be submitted by the authority if that financial plan “contains expected appropriations by the General Assembly beyond those appropriated in the most recently enacted biennial highway construction plan.”

“It’s ludicrous,” says Tyler Allen, co-founder of 8664. “Where is that money? It’s not in that highway plan. You tell me where it is. You won’t find it.”

Indeed, according to KYTC’s July 2010 six-year highway plan, $463,900,000 in public money is allocated toward the “Louisville Bridges” in the form of GARVEE bonds, federal highway system funds, federal interstate maintenance funds and federal statewide transportation program funds. Add to that $132,500,000 in “innovative” private sector financing (all of which is allocated, oddly, for the East End bridge), and you still have a massive hotel that requires more than $2.2 billion in tolls to plug.

Nonetheless, Bridges Authority finance and construction committee chairman Kerry Stemler says that Kentucky’s share of the money “has all been accounted for in the highway plan,” and that there should be no problem with submitting their financing plan to KYTC as a result. Everything checks out. All is good. Nothing to see here except more numbers and project delivery timeline slides, like this one:

[Oddly, when this slide was up at bat, Bridges Authority Chairman Charles Buddeke began contemplating if there would be future public funding streams that would suddenly open up

(4) Bridges Authority spokeswoman Christi Robinson says that the authority has every intention of complying with the governor’s ethics order, but says since she hasn’t read the Say No To Bridge Tolls press release, she wouldn’t comment on whether or not they would comply with the December 16 disclosure date.

Robinson did, however, tell me that they have no way of knowing who’s in the room — not even investment bankers — because they don’t ask anybody to sign in.

“It wouldn’t be legal if we forced everybody to sign in who wanted to attend a public meeting,” she says.

“The public needs to know if ‘Tolling’ Authority members or their families have ties to Wall Street banks or construction companies that stand to profit from potentially lucrative construction, consulting, or finance contracts,” says Shawn Reilly, co-founder of Say No to Bridge Tolls, a grassroots group opposed to tolls being placed on existing infrastructure. “There are definitely some potential problems given that members of the authority have serious ties to businesses and groups that will benefit from the project and tolling.”

In response to new ethics rules, along with growing anti-tolling sentiment and concern about the elimination of public comment at their regular meetings, Say No to Bridge Tolls has submitted a request for copies of all Bridges Authority members disclosure statements before the Dec. 16 meeting.

If the deadline is not met a formal ethics complaints will be filled, says Reilly.

Earlier this week, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear ordered members of policy-making boards and commissions to reveal any potential conflicts of interest in an official statements. Members of the bi-state authority were appointed by Beshear, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, which puts them under the purview of both states. On Tuesday, the Beshear administration sent out a memorandum to chairpersons that requires them to communicate any business, financial or personal interest that may create an “actual or perceived” conflict.

The grassroots group points out that at least five members of the bi-state authority have ties to the non-profit group, Build the Bridges Coalition, a consortium of organizations that support the full project.

In December, the coalition paid for a new study that asserts tolls will cost local commuters only $1 per one-way trip across new and existing bridges, including the Sherman-Minton bridge, but would require rare federal approval in order to be tolled.

From Say No to Bridge Tolls:

For example, Greater Louisville Inc., One Southern Indiana and the Louisville Urban League are all part of the coalition. Tolling Authority members, include chairman Charles Buddeke, who also is on the GLI board; Joe Reagan, GLI’s CEO; co-chairman Kerry Stemler and member Pat Byrne, who are affiliated with One Southern Indiana; and Ben Richmond, CEO of the Louisville Urban League may all have conflicts of interest.  Additionally, member Sandra Frazier may also have conflicts of interest. Her firm Tandem Public Relations built the website for The Build the Bridges Coalition and worked with the coalition on an aggressive media relations outreach program (according to their website).

The 14-member body is set to formally adopt tolling at its next meeting as a means to finance the behemoth public works project, which seeks to build an East End bridge, a downtown bridge and an expansion of Spaghetti Junction. Recent developments, however, indicate that funding mechanisms for the project are running dry, and authority leaders admit financing looks bleak while setting a construction date of August 2012.

Last night, the southern Indiana county joined the New Albany City Council and Louisville Metro Council, which have already approved similar anti-tolling measure. A similar resolution against tolls, however failed to pass in the Jeffersonville City Council last month.

The series of resolutions are a victory for anti-tolling organizers, however, they recognize it does not represent any binding agreement with the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority, which is still trying to stitch together a financing plan for the project.

“Alone these kind of resolutions will not stop the tolls being proposed, but they are definitely a step in the right direction,” says Paul Fetter, a Clark County resident who is a member of the group, Say NO to Bridge Tolls. “It’s still necessary for citizens to contact our elected representatives and express their concerns about tolling, as well as sign our no tolls petition, which already has 5,000 signatures. It’s either that or two years from now, prepare to be paying a toll whenever you want to go to Louisville from Southern Indiana.”

The bridges authority could still impose tolls on motorists to help fund the behemoth public works project, but anti-tolling organizers believe the resolutions are sending the bi-state authority and project supporters a clear message that the majority in Louisville and southern Indiana are opposed to tolling existing infrastructure.

Tolls have been a hot button issue since the bridges authority released a financial estimate that suggested $3 one-way tolls to finance the plan. According to the 12-page report, which was released to a regional transportation agency, charging drivers $3 each way would cover half of the cost. The anti-tolling sentiment ratcheted up again when the authority considered tolling scenarios that included parts of Spaghetti Junction, which don’t cross the Ohio River.

The 39-second attack ad says Heiner, who represents the 19th District on the Metro Council, owns a business park in southern Indiana and accuses him of having a personal motive in his push to build a span that would connect southern Indiana and Kentucky at Interstate 265.

Check it out:

In September, Heiner’s opponent, Democrat Greg Fischer announced he was putting his business properties in southern Indiana up for sale because it would be a conflict of interest. In an e-mail request sent earlier today, LEO has asked the Fischer campaign for any documentation that their candidate has sought to or has relinquished the Indiana property.

In a telephone interview, Joe Burgan, Heiner’s campaign manager told LEO Weekly that the city lawmaker has turned over the company’s operations, but does still retain a financial stake in the business that he would relinquish to a blind trust if elected.

“It’s desperation. It’s Greg Fischer running a poll with a message they’ve tested and turned over to the Democratic Party,” says Burgan. “It’s not something you do when you’re leading in the polls. And I expect it to continue, unfortunately.”

Meanwhile, the local press has already begun connecting the dots to Fischer, who has a history of mudslinging in political races. When asked about their role in the online video, the Fischer campaign wouldn’t answer directly if it had anything to do with the attack ad.

From WHAS-11:

In an internal poll conducted for the Fischer campaign in recent weeks, the Indiana property question was among the issues tested (most notably, the poll also included questions about the Jefferson County Public Schools student assignment plan).

Yet, when asked if the Fischer campaign had any role with the ad or had consulted with the Democratic party, Fischer spokesman Chris Poynter would only say “It’s a party ad.”

The East End bridge is part of the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project, which Heiner has said needs to be scaled back and revamped in the face of $3 tolls. The east Louisville Republican has said completing the East End bridge would be a priority in his first term if elected mayor.

CART alleged the feds failed to fully and fairly consider public transportation alternatives that “would greatly reduce the need for one of both proposed new bridges and the planned movement and drastic relocation of Spaghetti Junction.” The group further claimed that its many elderly and disabled members, who increasingly depend on public transit, “will continue to suffer injury due to” the highway administration’s “failure to comply with the law.”

CART sought to join a lawsuit by River Fields Inc., a conservation group, and its co-plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, filed in September of last year, shortly before the expiration of a six-year statute of limitations.

In court documents, CART conceded it missed the statute of limitations for filing an original action but cited a federal rule of civil procedure in arguing that the court had discretion to allow it to join in because it “has a claim or defense that shares with the main action a common question of fact or law.”

The highway administration, in opposition, argued “the only issue CART and Plaintiffs have in common are very general NEPA claims.”

“There is no basis for finding that CART’s intervening complaint relates back to the original complaint filed in this action,” wrote U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II. “Thus, the court determines that CART’s claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations and that intervention would be futile.”

The original lawsuit remains in settlement negotiations among the co-plaintiffs, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

River Fields and the National Trust claim the project was unlawfully approved and injures “their members by denying them (and the public) information that NEPA requires concerning impacts to significant historic properties and environmentally superior alternatives to the adopted action.” Their suit says the proposed eastern Jefferson County bridge will harm an area “characterized by large country estates, gentleman farms, recreational river camps, village hamlets and early African American neighborhoods.”

The lawsuit made news most recently when the Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Authority planned but canceled a controversial closed-door session to discuss it before its last meeting on Sept. 2. The authority, which is not a party to the lawsuit, is subject to open-meetings and open-records laws.

The bi-state authority is expected to formulate a financial plan including tolls by year’s end.

If the plan is developed before the suit is settled, the plaintiffs “will seek injunctive relief prohibiting Defendants from providing any further financial assistance for the Project” until the highway administration complies with the law, according to the complaint.

— story submitted by Steve Shaw

That’s exactly why we were so perplexed to see prominent anti-tolling organizer Shawn Reilly apparently supporting the Louisville businessman.

At a recent Democratic rally, Reilly, co-founder of the “Say NO to Bridge Tolls” group, was seen sporting a Fischer sticker while gathering signatures for a petition against tolls, which Reilly insists isn’t sending a mixed message.

“People are coming up to you and asking you to put stickers on. And so, I’m a Democrat, and I put the Democratic stickers on. As you see, there are three candidates I’m wearing. It’s not significant in any way in regards to my anti-tolling work,” he says. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

When asked if he’s supporting Fischer as the sticker would indicate, Reilly said he’s still undecided about the mayor’s race, adding that his group is lobbying Fischer in an effort to convince him that the behemoth public works project does not need tolls.

At the very least, it appears to be an instance of “doublethink” on the anti-tolling activist’s part, considering 1) Fischer’s position on the bridges project, and 2) Reilly’s past comments.

From Jerry’s kids:

Under the radar of most political observers, Republican mayoral candidate and Metro Councilman Hal Heiner, R-19, flirted with the anti-tolling sentiment among residents in a discussion about the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project.

(SNIP)

That position differentiates Heiner from his opponent, Democrat Greg Fischer, among anti-tolling organizers, who may swell in numbers once the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority releases its study on how to pay for both bridges.

“At least Councilman Heiner is willing to draw a line in the sand on this. If the authority gets the tolls they want, it will be the largest tax in Louisville’s history,” says Shawn Reilly, co-founder the Facebook group “Say NO to Bridge Tolls.” “The people who would not normally support a Republican may support one in this race because of this issue. In our view, this is not about Republican or Democrat. It’s about doing what’s right for this city and not going down the path of this $4 billion boondoggle.”

Thoughts?

The measure making the rounds through City Hall calls it a “flawed policy to place tolls on existing transportation infrastructure” and that it is “fundamentally wrong to force tolls on hard-working citizens from Louisville.” It adds that the Ohio River should serve as a point of unity for the region, “not as a barrier dividing the metropolitan area.”

“I think tolls can be necessary to fund large projects, however, we don’t agree that we should pay for this project by tolling existing transportation infrastructure,” says Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh, who sponsored the resolution. “The other component that’s critical is this resolution does not take a position for or against one bridge or two bridges. This resolution affirms that the ORBP should be built in phases, beginning with the East End bridge.”

The Jefferson County attorney’s office reviewed the measure and sent it back to the council yesterday, where it is being examined by its sponsors. Once it is submitted to the council clerk’s office it will be assigned to a committee by next week.

The council is responding to the wildly unpopular tolling options that have been unveiled by the Louisville-Southern Indiana Bridges Authority, which most recently considered tolling parts of Spaghetti Junction that do not cross a bridge.

Besides rising temperatures over tolls, Ward-Pugh says the council has also been prompted to speak up in part by the New Albany City Council’s condemnation of the fees, which passed last month.

In 2009, Ward-Pugh co-sponsored a measure requesting that public hearings concerning the bridges project be held in each district. The council, however, ignored that measure and voted to give Gov. Steve Beshear and Mayor Jerry Abramson the power appoint their respective members of the bi-state authority.

“I haven’t regretted anything more than that decision to give away our authority to an unelected appointing body,” she says. “It has been the most egregious error that I believe this council has made in the past seven and a half years. All we can do at this point is draft a non-binding, flimsy resolution stating our position on what the bi-state authority is considering when it should be us debating the different funding mechanisms.”

In today’s Courier-Journal, a report says that Councilman Jim King, D-10, was the one considering a resolution against tolls. However, a copy of the measure obtained by LEO Weekly shows Ward-Pugh as the lone and original sponsor.

According to Ward-Pugh, there was a mis-communication with King and the newspaper, and the resolution has four additional co-sponsors, including King along with Council President Tom Owen, D-8, Councilwoman Vicki Aubrey Welch, D-13, and Councilman Brent Ackerson, D-26.

“I don’t want to take the bulk of the credit to be honest. I was the point person who went through the steps of sending it over to the county attorney’s office and agreed to get it in the system,” she says. “It’s a group effort and it’s open right now to co-sponsors until Noon tomorrow … we’re hopeful to get some Republican support because we’re shopping it to anybody who’ll join us.”

From The Courier-Journal:

King…said he plans to discuss the idea at Thursday’s Democratic caucus meeting and share it with Republicans.

“We would oppose tolling existing bridges that are used for daily commuter traffic. That would be the essence of it. Frankly, I think it represents the will of the people of Jefferson County,” King said.

During his unsuccessful bid for mayor of Louisville, King supported the project but opposed tolling as a means to fund the plan. Near the end of the contested Democratic primary, the former council president continually slammed Greg Fischer, who was the only candidate to answer “Yes,” to a survey that asked if the candidates supported the unpopular method of tolling.

Last month, the New Albany City Council approved a similar measure condemning tolling as a means to pay for the public works project, which will build an East End bridge, a Downtown bridge and an expansion of Spaghetti Junction. The southern Indiana city specifically advocated that the project be scaled down to focus on an East End bridge.

From WHAS-11:

Greg Fischer says he’s on board with the official plan for the Ohio River Bridges Project, including starting construction of an East End bridge first before the downtown span. However, Fischer mentioned a possible Plan B, and he joins Republican candidate Hal Heiner, who suggested that the project needs to be downsized three weeks ago.

Earlier this week, Fischer told WFPL that any discussion of changing the project, which includes building an East End bridge, a downtown bridge and re-configuring Spaghetti Junction, should come after a financing plan is proposed.

However, public outrage over tolling has grown over the course of the campaign and in a close mayoral race Fischer is flirting with the idea of scaling the project back, which is a position that Republican Hal Heiner has been touting since June, when he argued that tolling wasn’t part of the original plan.

“I am glad to hear that Greg is once again following Hal’s lead. And it’s another example of why Greg isn’t ready to lead,” says Joe Burgan, Heiner’s campaign manager. “If Hal isn’t around for him to co-opt his policy, he doesn’t have any ideas and that’s not the sign of a leader.”

When asked if “plan B” indicates that public support for the project is waning in Fischer’s mind, what over the past few week has caused him to shift and to respond to his opponent, Fischer campaign spokesman Chris Poynter responded via e-mail: “Greg supports the entire bridges project — both bridges.”

The bridges project is becoming a more prominent issue in the race for mayor of Louisville, with the majority favoring a scaled down project as anxiety over tolling as a means to finance it rises.

In July, the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority released a financial estimate that suggested charging drivers a $3 toll each way to cross the bridges to help pay for the plan, which both major party candidates considered unacceptable. Then last week, the authorty heard scenarios to pay for the project that included tolling parts of Interstates 64 and 71 that don’t cross a bridge.

In a recent poll by cn|2 Politics, over 50 percent of Louisville voters said they support building an East End bridge more than any other possible combination of the project. The survey showed only 17.3 percent support building a downtown bridge; 14.5 percent want both built; and 10.1 percent don’t want either.

Independent mayoral candidate Jackie Green, who favors shelving the project and investing in public transit, has said the survey indicates the plan should be scrapped.

“The project is on the ropes,” says Green.

From News and Tribune:

Council President John Gonder said the latest plan offered would charge a Hoosier commuter $6 a day to drive back-and-forth to work in Kentucky if tolling is called upon to fund the $4.1 billion project.

“Is it conscionable to ask them to pay $1,500 a year to go to work,” Gonder said.

Last week, LEO Weekly reported that the southern Indiana city passed a non-binding measure by a 6 to 2 vote, with one abstention to reject the tolling option. The council members cited growing concern amongst constituents about the costs to motorists who cross the Ohio River regularly.

Recently, the bi-state bridges authority has submitted a financial estimate suggested charging drivers a $3 toll each way to cross the bridges and other plans that included tolling parts of Interstates 64 and 71 that don’t cross a bridge.

The resolution specifically calls for the project to be scaled down and for the construction of an East End bridge that would span the Ohio River between the I-265/US-42 junction and Utica, Indiana. The council joins the News and Tribune’s editorial board in questioning the behemoth public works project, which is much unlike their counterparts (Louisville Metro Council and The Courier-Journal) across the bridge.