When we’re not dealing with natural disasters, I enjoy spending much of my time working on transportation policy issues. But most weeks since the storm, I’ve been lucky to spend 3 or 4 hours on my work. A few weeks ago, I made those hours count!
Former Houston City Council Member Carroll Robinson invited me and two colleagues to Kam’s for lunch. He calls us his “brain trust” and said he wanted to do some “instigating.”
Over steamed brown rice and General Tso’s chicken, the conversation ranged widely. We talked about the recent national election, whether METRO will have the funds it needs to build the next five rail lines, and who will run for Mayor in 2009. Eventually, we talked about the proposed lame duck session of Congress and the likelihood of another economic stimulus bill.
All of us agreed that investing in infrastructure is an infinitely-superior form of “stimulus” over cash handouts to either corporations or tax payers. Carroll observed that rather than waiting to see what sort of projects our Congressional critters come up with, we should come up with our own list. I proposed that we write it up as an OpEd and get it in the paper ahead of the session. We spent the rest of lunch hammering out which projects should be on the list. Christof agreed to prepare a draft, which I helped edit.
The result was Put Houston on the Right Track, which ran on the front of the Chronicle’s Outlook section on Sunday, November 16, 2008 (Because Christof and I represent the same organization, we omitted my name from the submission, which will allow us to author another OpEd sooner than the 90-day limit):
PUT HOUSTON ON THE RIGHT TRACK
Build these projects to prepare the city for the future
By Tory Gattis, Carroll G. Robinson, and Christof Spieler
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 15, 2008, 9:09AM
The Great Depression was a tough time for America, but it left us with an enduring legacy of good infrastructure. Bridges built in the 1930s bring commuters into San Francisco. Dams erected in the 1930s power the Northwest. An electric railroad from the 1930s carries high-speed trains from New York to Washington, D.C. A 1930s national park in the Great Smoky Mountains has twice as many visitors as any other national park. And in the 1930s, power lines brought rural Texas into the 20th century.
Today, as our economy continues to stall, congressional leaders are discussing a second stimulus plan. In the Nov. 2 editions of the Chronicle, New York Times’ columnist David Brooks suggested building infrastructure. That makes sense: Unlike cars or flat-screen TVs, highways, railroads, and parks are made from local materials by local labor, so stimulus dollars circulate longer in the local community and in the country.
If there is going to be a stimulus bill, we need to make sure that Houston gets its fair share. That should mean funding the projects that are already in the funding pipeline, like light rail expansion. But it also means an opportunity for new projects.
So what projects can the Houston region build now that our grandchildren will look back on in 70 years and say, “That was a great idea”? Here are six… [snip]
They dressed it up with a gorgeous rail photo and gave it most of the page. We were pleased with our handiwork!
But it didn’t end there. What we didn’t expect was that the Chronicle’s editorial staff would like our ideas so much, they would endorse them with the lead editorial the following Thursday:
WORTHY WORKS
If public works projects are to be part of the stimulus package, let Houston and Texas have their share.
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 19, 2008, 6:22PM
Public works spending seems certain to be a significant part of the stimulus package the Obama administration will propose to help move the American economy out of its doldrums.
On the heels of a presidential campaign in which congressional earmarks and pork-barrel spending were rightly criticized on all sides, any such package must be assembled with care. It should be carefully thought through to avoid bridges to nowhere and heavy concentrations of pork in the districts of powerful congressional committee chairs. That said, it should include its share of worthy projects across Texas and in the Houston area.
A sign of the times: The mayor of Atlanta has already come forward with a list of projects in her area. No doubt, others across the country are thinking along these lines. This state’s congressional delegation, working with local leadership in the private and public sectors, needs to be on the case.
Which Texas projects deserve pushing in Washington?
Chronicle readers were offered a thought-provoking list of possibilities for this area in Sunday’s Outlook. (Please see “Infrastructure / Put Houston on the right track.”)
Three local contributors with experience in transportation and public policy came up with the following recommendations… [snip]
If you’re curious about the projects, feel free to read one or both pieces. But mostly I’m impressed how the combination of some interesting ideas, compelling prose, and credible reputations can make it easy to get your ideas in front of more than 600,000 potential readers. Pretty cool!
Christof, Carroll, Tory, and Bob (mediocre camera-phone image!)
Ordinarily, I’m pretty prepared by the time Election Day rolls around. I often meet and get to know at least a handful of the candidates. Beyond them, I consider endorsements by local advocacy organizations, and I’m a big fan of the 
