Thursday, June 29, 2006

“If Perry wins, it’s coming.”

Coalition discusses campaign

June 29, 2006

by Clay Coppedge
Temple Daily Telegram
Copyright 2006

HOLLAND - Opponents of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor agree on one thing - their best chance to stop or stall the massive transportation project depends on the defeat of Gov. Rick Perry in the November governor’s race.

About a hundred members of the Blackland Coalition and the Blackland Political Action Committee gathered at the SPJST hall in Holland to continue the process of endorsing one of two independents - Carole Keeton Strayhorn or Kinky Friedman - or Democrat Chris Bell for governor.

Members of the political action committee filled out ballots while speakers from the floor spoke against Perry.

“If Perry wins, it’s coming,” Linda Glasscock said.

“We have the guns to defeat it, but we’re running out of ammunition. What you do Nov. 7 will determine what happens with this project.”

Linda Curtis of Independent Texans pointed out that in the November election, the winner would not need more than 50 percent of the vote to win. “It’s a plurality vote,” she said. “The candidate with the most votes wins.” She then offered her personal endorsement of Strayhorn.

Bell was not at the meeting but campaign workers handed out a written statement in which he accused Ms. Strayhorn of recommending toll roads in 2001 in her present job as state comptroller but turning against them as an opponent of Perry’s.

“The Trans-Texas Corridor is a case study in corruption and cronyism, and one of my first acts as governor would be slamming the brakes on the whole plan and dragging it back into the public light,” Bell said in the handout.

The first phase of the corridor would run north-south several miles east of Interstate 35, from Laredo to the Oklahoma border. The plan calls for a 4,000-mile long, 120-feet wide six-lane highway, two freight rails, two passenger rails, two high-speed rail lines, a natural gas pipeline and fiber optic and water utilities zone.

© 2006 Temple Daily Telegram: www.temple-telegram.com

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