METRO: Please focus on what we say, not on what we do
Metro knows it's facing a public relations problem with its efforts to get the new University Line running down Richmond Avenue; that's why Metro officials have cautioned against giving the impression that Metro's mind is made up:
Wolff pointed out that Metro has given repeated assurances that "we are open in our thinking" about where the line should go.
Despite that, he told board colleagues, many believe that "you've already made up your mind and you're just going through the motions."
"We have to be very careful with our language," he said.
That was in response to an in-house "fact sheet" that said Richmond was the preferred alignment (which, of course, we all know.).
Today Rad Sallee has more evidence that Metro's just going through the motions when it comes to studying alternatives:
Afton Oaks resident Chris Seger has been fighting for years to ensure that the Metropolitan Transit Authority's light rail plans are realized on Westpark and not Richmond Avenue. He recently forwarded a map and conceptual drawings from Metro that depict just the opposite.
The map shows a MetroRail boarding platform on Richmond at Edloe in the heart of Greenway Plaza, with covered walkways and elevators taking riders to a massive parking garage and then to Lakewood Church, two blocks away in the former Compaq Center.
"So much for 'studying both alternatives," Seger wrote. "While (Metro board Chairman) David Wolff and (President and CEO) Frank Wilson were telling us ... that nothing has been decided, their engineering department has been busy producing drawings for rail on Richmond."
Naturally there's a really good explanation:
Metro spokesman George Smalley said the agency was "just trying to be responsive to the interests and questions of businesses and residents along the corridor."
"By no means should it be interpreted as evidence that Metro's made up its mind," he said.
Smalley said Metro officials met with Lakewood representatives, who — like many who live or work along the potential route — had an "appetite for information" about Metro plans.
"We were trying to fill that void as best we can in the absence of engineering data," he said. "We said 'Let's put something on paper that can help explain what the possibilities are.' "
Asked if the materials give the appearance that Metro leaders want the route on Richmond, Smalley said it only means Metro wants to keep its options open.
Please. That spin might have worked in the past, but folks are catching on to how things work in the Lee P. Brown Administration building.
Seger counters that Metro "has not bothered to show how they can build a similar walkover approximately the same distance to the Westpark right of way from the church."
So, should we believe what Metro says or what Metro does?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/08/06 05:58 AM | Print | Comments (6)
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