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TEXAS SENATE DIST. 25
BOOT PRO-TOLL JEFF WENTWORTH
DONNA CAMPBELL is the ONLY ANTI-TOLL candidate in the race!
Incumbent Jeff Wentworth wants to raise your road taxes. He voted for every piece of toll road legislation in Austin, including the Trans Texas Corridor. He also voted for controversial public private partnership toll roads which also hand our Texas sovereign public roads over to private, foreign corporations that will charge Texans $.75 cents PER MILE in tolls -- with guaranteed profits and monopolistic non-compete clauses (SB 792 & SB 1492).
He also voted to allow property tax hikes to be used to subsidize toll projects (SB 563). He authored a bill that would have taxed everything that moves in SB 942 - a charge-by-mile toll, congestion tolls, plus a gas tax & vehicle registration hike, including a commuter tax on residents who commute into Bexar County!
Here's just a sampling of the toll road legislation he's supported: HB 3588 (2003), HB 2702 (2005), SB 792 (2007), SB 942 (2009), SB 1420 (2011) & HB 563 (2011).
TAKES PLEASURE IN STICKIN' IT TO TAXPAYERS
Wentworth has repeatedy voted to toll 281 & 1604 at the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Most recently on June 25, he voted to use our ROAD TAXES (Texas Mobility Funds) to convert an existing FREE main lane of Hwy 281 into a toll-bus/HOV lane -- so even though it’s 100% paid for, Wentworth wants you to pay a toll, too. It’s a DOUBLE TAX MONEY GRAB!
In the Sunday, October 25, 2009 edition of the Express-News (the day prior to the final vote), Wentworth bragged that he was one of the few elected officials on the MPO that would have the ‘spine’ to stand up and vote AGAINST his constituents on toll roads.
On October 26, 2009, at the MPO meeting at the Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, Wentworth indeed voted AGAINST his constituents who overwhelmingly (93 against, 7 in favor) testified AGAINST tolling 281 & 1604. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff credited Wentworth and his son Kevin Wolff with garnering the votes needed to keep improvements to 281 and 1604 in the MPO plans as TOLL projects, defying 800 people, standing room only at the meeting. There are 57 toll projects in the MPO plan today. You will NOT be able to avoid this new tax...unless, of course, voters give Wentworth the BOOT!
Wentworth also directly lied to a San Antonio Republican Club when he said he was against the toll toads, when, in fact, he's the REASON we're still facing toll roads all over San Antonio (57 toll projects are in the current MPO plan!) and Austin.
CONFLICTS-OF-INTEREST
Wentworth's law firm represented Zachry when Spain-based Cintra and partner, locally owned Zachry, slapped that unsolicited bid on TxDOT's desk to takeover and toll 281& 1604 in 2005, and Wentworth blocked that contract from being subjected to the moratorium on those foreign-owned toll roads back in 2007. It wasn't until we went on radio to expose his personal connection to Zachry that Wentworth backtracked and we got 281 & 1604 yanked from Cintra. He's totally ingratiated himself with the highway lobby and pro-tollers his entire career (his campaign finance reports show the money trail). There is NO WAY he should be allowed to make such a claim and get away with it!
Wentworth also received an 'F' for the disastrous 82nd legislative session last year, voting for all of the worst, most anti-taxpayer, anti-property rights, pro-toll legislation since 2003.
CAMPBELL WANTS FREEWAYS NOT TOLLWAYS
By contrast, Campbell will fight for FREEways not tollways, to STOP ill-conceived toll projects, to get ELECTED leadership at TxDOT, and to END road tax diversions! You can contact Campbell's campaign to donate and/or volunteer today.
Campbell and Wentworth face a run-off on July 31. Early voting is July 23-27.