Wafflegate on CSX Sweetheart Deal

[FayeforCure]

allegations of coded e-mails
Sink: DOT Officials Should Resign
Chief financial officer, state Sen. Paula Dockery join in denouncing reported hidden messages during rail bill fight.
By KEITH LAING
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA


Published: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 12:03 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 12:03 a.m.
TALLAHASSEE | Amid newspaper reports that high-ranking state transportation officials coded e-mails about the rail bill passed in the recently completed special session, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Monday they should resign.

Responding to a weekend Palm Beach Post report that Department of Transportation officials titled e-mails about the legislation lawmakers approved during last week's special session with breakfast-themed code words, Sink, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said that Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos and her deputies should step down from their posts for violating the spirit of the state's Sunshine laws.

"We live in the Sunshine State, and this is not the way the people's business should be done," Sink said in a statement Monday. "Those who acted this way should be held accountable, which is why if anyone at the Department of Transportation was involved in this activity, including Secretary Kopelousos, they should immediately resign."

In addition to helping lawmakers craft the language of the sweeping rail package they approved last week, the DOT negotiated the terms of the deal to buy 61 miles of existing tracks in the Orlando area from freight company CSX Corp. for the SunRail commuter system.

Before the start of the special session, Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, filed a public records request for e-mails about the rail bill between March and mid-November and was given 121 responses.

Dockery, herself a Republican gubernatorial candidate, questioned the low number of results, which transportation officials attributed to a data entry error. After the rail bill passed over Dockery's objection during the special session, her office was given more than 8,000 e-mails, some of which contained just attachments and had subjects such as "pancakes" and "French toast," which revealed an apparent coding system[/color].

In a statement provided to the News Service of Florida by her Tallahassee office, Dockery castigated the transportation officials for violating the state's open government laws.

Dockery said she had filed a new request for DOT e-mails containing breakfast items as key words in the hopes of gathering the full scope of the department's negotiations with CSX on the plan she has repeatedly called a sweetheart deal for the company.

"It is evident through the words, actions, and inactions of these state officials that they are actively circumventing transparency laws," Dockery said. "Using code words in an effort to disguise the true content of an e-mail is a violation of the public trust. A sound statewide rail policy is something that deserved to be openly discussed and debated - not negotiated behind closed doors."

Dockery added she was able to identify that something might have been amiss with her initial records request because she was trained in public records as a former member of the Governor's Commission on Open Government.

"Average citizens are denied access to records they have a constitutional right to review each and every day," she said. "I have experienced firsthand the frustration of attempting to obtain records from entities that are supposed to be conducting government in the sunshine."

A group that sought alongside Dockery to rally grassroots opposition to the special session rail package, Ax the Tax, dubbed the e-mail breakfast coding "WaffleGate." The group joined Sink and Dockery in calling for the resignations of offending transportation officials.

"Florida has broad public records laws - so says the statute that gives us the right to obtain public documents - not so with the Florida Department of Transportation," Ax the Tax Chairman Doug Guetzloe said in a statement. "This entire project has been cloaked with secrecy and now we discover, belatedly, that CSX and FDOT were intentionally and deliberately hiding vital information about this boondoggle with code words like waffle, bacon, pancakes, etc."


http://www.theledger.com/article/20091215/NEWS/912155004/1286

[CS Foltz]

Maybe they bought stock in Denny's and are constructing a new Breakfast menu? Yup.....right! Violations of the Sunshine Law appear to be a way of life..........look at the City Council's refusal to allow their's to be viewed yet the public pays for their E Mail! It is flat out wrong!

[tufsu1]

I agree that this is a problem....the e-mails should have been clear that they were discussing rail.

That said, there are times when negotiations should be kept private....then made public if/when an agreement has been reached....unfortunately, our Sunshine laws don't allow this.

[CS Foltz]

I agree that this is a problem....the e-mails should have been clear that they were discussing rail.

That said, there are times when negotiations should be kept private....then made public if/when an agreement has been reached....unfortunately, our Sunshine laws don't allow this.

I have no problem with private negotiations but if they are using  an E Mail system that the public pays for.............well I as a taxpayer would like to see them! Texting from phone to phone, if the phone is privately paid for or phone to phone billing paid for by the owner of the phone is something else. Private talks use private means and not systems that are paid for by the public/taxpayers!

[stjr]

With behavior like this, is it any wonder we end up with FDOT supported projects like the Outer Beltway and 9B?  And, no mass transit?  FDOT is all about protecting its bureaucratic interests over the interests of our taxpayers.  How many developers are they in bed with?  Is JTA a whole lot better?

Government entities and public officials are "married" to the taxpayers.  But, like Tiger Woods, so many of them sleep around with every suitor they can, and then they wonder why their "reputation" is so sullied in the eyes of the public.   Let's call it "Tiger Woods Syndrome" 

[CS Foltz]

stjr...........you do have a point for sure! FDOT and JTA are very protective about their turf and interests! As I have said before.........bureaucratic/political interests take precedence over the public interests......just like usual!

[FayeforCure]

While the "MJ Boys," as Ock calls them, fiercely defended the CSX sweetheart deal, it is quite CLEAR that things were not on the up and up at the expense of the tax-payer, as yours truly has so frequently pointed out:

CSX/SunRail Deal: The Breakfast of Concealers


Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 1:03 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 1:03 a.m.
If state Sen. Paula Dockery wins the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink wins the Democratic counterpart, two things are certain:

Florida's first female governor will emerge from the November general election.

Heads likely will roll at the Florida Department of Transportation.

And well they should. Last week, during a special-call legislative session, a last-minute deal by the DOT resulted in the railroad union dropping opposition to a sweetheart deal between the state and CSX Corp.

Well before the start of the session - on Nov. 25 - Dockery requested e-mails by DOT officials related to the CSX proposal. She was given 121 e-mails, and none from DOT Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos, the linchpin of the CSX/commuter-rail negotiations.

On Dec. 4, Dockery complained to Governor's Office of Open Government. She had wanted the e-mails for use during the special session, which started Thursday, Dec. 3, and ended with the passage of the CSX deal on Dec. 8.


8,037 missed e-mails


On Dec. 9, FDOT Deputy General Counsel Robert M. Burdick sent a letter to Dockery informing her that the FDOT had overlooked e-mails because "the search program that was run to identify records responsive [to] your request had not functioned as expected." The letter included 8,037 e-mails missed by DOT in an initial search because "the person (originally pulling the e-mails) had made an input mistake," according to a DOT spokesman.

Dockery also learned that some were sent using code words, like "pancake" and "french toast." DOT Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos brushed those off as a clever way that Deputy Secretary Kevin Thibault was using to get attention on Kopelousos' Blackberry's e-mail subject list.

"We didn't circumvent anything," Kopelousos told a reporter. "It was something eye catching."

Maybe so. But then there was the worrisome e-mail in which DOT attorney Bruce Conroy told FDOT general counsel Alexis Yarbrough to use another method "in lieu of e-mails" to discuss the state's involvement with railroad projects.

"It is evident through the words, actions and inactions of these state officials that they are actively circumventing transparency laws," Dockery said. "Using code words in an effort to disguise the true content of an e-mail is a violation of the public trust."

Sink issued a similar statement on Monday afternoon: "We live in the Sunshine State, and this is not the way the people's business should be done. Those who acted this way should be held accountable, which is why if anyone at the Department of Transportation was involved in this activity, including Secretary Kopelousos, they should immediately resign."

This isn't new to the plan to pay $650 million to CSX to buy - but still share - railroad tracks in the Orlando area to establish a commuter rail system. The deal was hatched in secrecy and cloaked with hidden budget items since it was first announced during the Jeb Bush administration.

Apparently it keeps on keeping on: Now Gov. Charlie Crist's administration has egg on its face. Along with bacon and grits as well.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20091216/EDIT01/912165010/1036?Title=CSX-SunRail-Deal-The-Breakfast-of-Concealers

[reednavy]

If they violated the Sunshine Law, they need to resign or at the least face a reprimand. You try and act like you're the only one pointing out taxpayer waste, fraud, or whatever. It seem you have an issue with some of the people on here and it is getting kinda old. SOS, diffrent day.

In the end though, we will have more benefits than drawbacks.

[thelakelander]

If someone violated laws, they should be punished.  In any event, I'll be looking forward to the grand opening of Sunrail.

[CS Foltz]

I thought that it was $432 Million for that 61 miles of track? That is the figure I have seen more than once in several publications including that fish wrapper the Times Union! There was even a plug from John Thrasher himself in the Editorial section, that was today's paper by the way! There was also interview with the CSX CEO who stated that "All of the paid money will stay in Florida"! I am going to be watching and fully expect I won't be the only one!

[tufsu1]

It is CS...as pointed out here many times, some people have lopped other peripheral projects (such as overpasses on the S-line) into the project....the truth is those overpasses have been planned for years (in fact one was built 4 years ago) and help both the rail line and the major roads crossing it adjacent to US 301.

[Lunican]

Here is the interview with Michael Ward:
http://jacksonville.com/interact/blog/abel_harding/2009-12-16/csxs_ward_sunrail_good_deal_for_state_high_speed_will_cost_bil

[Ocklawaha]

Support for Sunrail and support for alleged wrong doing are two different things. No one at MJ ever supported any criminal activity, either real or imagined. I'm confident Sunrail will more then prove the wild eyed Dockery support faction, Paula and the ridiculous Florida HSR project as the real crime against our state and it's citizens.

Doc Dockery for all of his support for High Speed Rail doesn't seem to grasp some of the more basic building blocks of decent train service. At the FRA HSR conference, he was unable to defend the plan or the components at my table of 9 transportation professionals. Doc is a really nice guy, and I think his heart is in the right place, but warm fuzzy's won't a successful rail system make.

OCKLAWAHA

[CS Foltz]

Much thanks for the link Lunican! Mr Ward is saying all of the right things and appears to have thought out what needs to take place. There was no mention about CSX buying in on the insurance policy and glad to see this is also taking place! Now there are rails which will belong to us.......next will be machinery to put on the rails and stopping points and infrastructure and gee willakers ......a bonofide people moving system! Whatever will we do?

[FayeforCure]

If they violated the Sunshine Law, they need to resign or at the least face a reprimand. You try and act like you're the only one pointing out taxpayer waste, fraud, or whatever. It seem you have an issue with some of the people on here and it is getting kinda old. SOS, diffrent day.

In the end though, we will have more benefits than drawbacks.

Every time I pointed out that the Sunrail deal was an over-priced sweetheart deal, I got flack from the MJ boys.

The 8,000 with-held e-mails that were released after the bill passed SHOULD give us a lot of pause.

Those who opposed the Sunrail deal were not against rail, they just wanted to get a fair shake. During a time of economic crisis with record short-fall in our state budget, there was no effort at all to renegotiate with CSX!

sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/commentary/f-dockery-rail-forum-1215-20091214,0,5346183.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Taxpayers got taken for a ride on rail bill
By Paula Dockery

December 15, 2009


Special interests won the day in Tallahassee last week. For two years, a coalition of my Florida Senate colleagues demanded that the Florida Department of Transportation renegotiate a sweetheart deal with CSX Railroad for a new commuter-rail line around Orlando.

But in last week's hastily called special session, a tidal wave of special interests overcame common sense â€" and stuck you, the taxpayers, with the bill.

If Gov. Charlie Crist signs this bill, Florida will pay seven times the going rate for track. Plus, the freight carrier will still get to use the line 12 hours a day!

Worse, when freight accidents kill people on state commuter-rail lines, taxpayers will pay the bill.

I never imagined leading a fight against a commuter-rail deal. I'm an advocate of rail transit. But as Ross Perot famously said, the devil's in the details, and what the Legislature just passed is a terrible deal.

Tell the governor to veto it.

This deal says a Wall Street company can no longer be held responsible for its negligence â€" horrible public policy. I hardly recognize some of my fellow Republicans in Tallahassee these days. When did we become the party of big spenders and corporate giveaways?

I assumed the state would be a tough negotiator when a Fortune 500 company approached with an offer to sell 61.5 miles of track through Central Florida. But bad things happen when big-money interests meet behind closed doors with state officials who spend taxpayer money like free money. You can bet they'd drive a harder bargain were they reaching into their own pockets.

Supposedly, last week's special session was called to solve a problem for South Florida's Tri-Rail commuter-rail system, which runs a $40 million annual deficit. We agreed to give Tri-Rail a $15 million Band-Aid, but how does a one-time infusion solve its need for a dedicated funding source?

Soon, the Legislature will go into regular session, where we face a $2.6 billion budget gap. My concern is ensuring that Florida doesn't pay CSX by further taxing people who are struggling to keep their homes. Neither should the money come from education, criminal justice or health and human services.

But given the power of special interests in Tallahassee these days, I would encourage you to hold onto your wallets and do what only you can do â€" remember their names on Election Day.

Paula Dockery is a Republican state senator in Lakeland.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/commentary/f-dockery-rail-forum-1215-20091214,0,5346183.story