Sen. Paula Dockery
Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, never expected to find herself playing the role of antagonist in a commuter-rail fight.
Dockery may be Florida’s biggest proponent for passenger rail. She helped her husband, Doc, lead the effort – later repealed – to build a high-speed bullet train between Orlando and Tampa. She understands that commuters want an alternative to highway congestion and gasoline that has topped $4 per gallon.
But Dockery can’t swallow a badly negotiated contract – struck in secrecy – that leaves key stakeholders out of the loop and taxpayers writing enormous checks.
Dockery’s opposition began after learning the deal could send up to 54 freight trains a day through downtown Lakeland and Plant City. CSX also expects to put up to 1,500 trucks on the roads around Winter Haven, including already-congested Interstate 4. Incredibly, former-Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration failed to notify the citizens in affected communities until well after the deal was struck. After pouring through the deal - and its corporate welfare for a Fortune 500 company - Dockery became the effective leader of the opposition.
Basing her argument on facts, not the emotion shown by some, Dockery last year convinced some two-thirds of her colleagues that it was bad public policy to pass a sweetheart deal for CSX while cutting funds for hospitals, schools and nursing homes. With the state’s continued revenue slide this year, the same argument holds true.
Equally important, this fiscal conservative convinced her colleagues that saddling taxpayers with liability for most CSX accidents on or near the tracks should be a deal breaker.
Dockery swayed last year’s debate because she did her homework and knows the facts cold. But the 2009 Legislature brings a different cast of characters, and committee chairmanships appear weighted to grease the wheels of the CSX deal.
Dockery faces a Herculean task. More than 30 lobbyists and public-relations firms are signed up to push the CSX deal. No one is signed up to lobby for citizens. Hers is a David-versus-Goliath battle, pitting money and power against “doing the right thing.”
Check here often during the legislative session to follow Dockery’s challenge on behalf of citizens. We’ll keep you posted.
Dockery may be Florida’s biggest proponent for passenger rail. She helped her husband, Doc, lead the effort – later repealed – to build a high-speed bullet train between Orlando and Tampa. She understands that commuters want an alternative to highway congestion and gasoline that has topped $4 per gallon.
But Dockery can’t swallow a badly negotiated contract – struck in secrecy – that leaves key stakeholders out of the loop and taxpayers writing enormous checks.
Dockery’s opposition began after learning the deal could send up to 54 freight trains a day through downtown Lakeland and Plant City. CSX also expects to put up to 1,500 trucks on the roads around Winter Haven, including already-congested Interstate 4. Incredibly, former-Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration failed to notify the citizens in affected communities until well after the deal was struck. After pouring through the deal - and its corporate welfare for a Fortune 500 company - Dockery became the effective leader of the opposition.
Basing her argument on facts, not the emotion shown by some, Dockery last year convinced some two-thirds of her colleagues that it was bad public policy to pass a sweetheart deal for CSX while cutting funds for hospitals, schools and nursing homes. With the state’s continued revenue slide this year, the same argument holds true.
Equally important, this fiscal conservative convinced her colleagues that saddling taxpayers with liability for most CSX accidents on or near the tracks should be a deal breaker.
Dockery swayed last year’s debate because she did her homework and knows the facts cold. But the 2009 Legislature brings a different cast of characters, and committee chairmanships appear weighted to grease the wheels of the CSX deal.
Dockery faces a Herculean task. More than 30 lobbyists and public-relations firms are signed up to push the CSX deal. No one is signed up to lobby for citizens. Hers is a David-versus-Goliath battle, pitting money and power against “doing the right thing.”
Check here often during the legislative session to follow Dockery’s challenge on behalf of citizens. We’ll keep you posted.
Comments
#1 Go Senator Dockery! If there
#2 Thank You Senator Dockery
#3 Job Well Done!
#4 Step Back CSX
#5 nice
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