Not Running To Get Reelected…Running to Get the Job Done

Peter Schmidt, candidate for the House of Delegates 82nd District seat hosted a Town Hall on transportation last night. Joining him were Dwight Farmer, Executive Director of the HRPDC, Aubrey Layne, Commissioner of the Commonwealth Transportation Board and Mike Barrett, CEO of The Runnymede Corporation. Some 50 attended the event.

The Town Hall was billed as non-partisan, because, Mr. Schmidt noted, “our transportation debacle is not a partisan one – it affects all Virginians – particularly in Hampton Roads, where regular people on the way to and from work stuck in 7-mile back-ups on either side of the HRBT." Mr. Schmidt underlined the reality that there had not been any significant transportation improvements made in the Commonwealth since 1986 under the administration of Governor Gerald Baliles, and that it will take leaders with political courage to move the issue forward in the House of Delegates. The panelists outlined the sobering particulars and compared this situation to one that the state experienced decades ago, but under much less stressful economic conditions.

To the assembled residents, business leaders, and members of the construction community, Mr. Schmidt called for an “open and honest” discussion that Virginians need to have about transportation. “Anyone who is talking about transportation solutions and isn’t mentioning new revenues isn’t giving you an honest assessment of what it will take to bring our roads up to par,” said Mr. Schmidt, reflecting the sentiment of his panelists.

"Citizens in Virginia Beach are not looking for partisan rhetoric, they’re looking for honest solutions, they’re looking for someone to take the lead on this issue, and I pledge my full commitment to embrace and champion any reasonable dedicated funding stream to fix our transportation woes." -- Peter Schmidt

During the question and answer period that followed presentations by each panel member, Virginia Beach City Councilman Bill DeSteph noted that despite the diminished stream of revenue from the state, the localities' responsibilities for maintenance and modernization of the transportation infrastructure continue unabated. "We have about $150 million going to local road, transportation projects. And Mike was right that at the state level we are not being reimbursed for any of them. In the past we have been reimbursed for…at the high end $200 to $250 million a year. So it's been cut significantly." DeSteph went on to ask the panel their opinions about proposals to add a local gas tax, putting it in a lock box and using that only in the localities for transportation. "Pretty much you'll see at the local level everyone willing to support that. You'll have one or two people who, for whatever reason, they'll duck for cover." This elicited a question from Mike Barrett about how many of the functions of state government the cities are going to be willing or forced to take on as local responsibilities. Barrett pointed out that when relieved of the responsibilities to fund state obligations our delegates are let off the hook for making the hard choices.

Additional information from the presentations will be outlined separately. The reality is impossible to avoid and is already stressing the state's ability to maintain the transportation infrastructure. Simplistic bromides like "making VDOT more efficient" and "finding cost savings" are appealing but unrealistic solutions to problems that are orders of magnitude more complex and costly.

Peter Schmidt is challenging incumbent Delegate Harry “Bob” Purkey for his seat in the 82nd district.

Cross posted at VBDems