"Just talked to @TommyWells. Asked him if he was able to save streetcars. Answer: 'Yes.'"
The Washington Post says Gray will announce restoration of most funds shortly.
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UPDATE
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After careful deliberations and explanations and conversations, another $47 million was found to fund the streetcars. Ain't politics grand?
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UPDATE
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"Streetcars are back on track." -Tommy Wells
"Delayed, but never derailed." -Harry Thomas
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UPDATE
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Barry is NOT happy about funding the streetcar. Barry says the streetcar plans are too undeveloped to spend this much yet. "This $10 million is not going to be spent this year. The $37 million isn't going to be spent next year." He makes it sound like the project is stealing money from Ward 8. "Recreation centers be damned," playgrounds be damned.
36 comments:
Wells for Mayor!
Check out the comments on Gray's blog. For some reason folks don't seem to believe his "firm committment to streetcars"
http://www.vincegrayformayor.com/blog/entry/
DCist_Updates RT @JimGraham_Ward1: After careful deliberations ..., another $47 million was found to fund the streetcars. Ain't politics grand?
Careful deliberation in a couple of hours? What the heck are they doing over there?
My, what a busy day - "saved" seems a strong term for such nebulous developments but Go Tommy! (and Inked - thanks for staying on top of this, this blog has by far the best information I've seen today)
Yeah, not sure about the "definite save" part. According to WaPo, an additional $10 million was "found" while $37 million will be held in "escrow" pending another plan submission by Fenty re: streetcars.
Translation: Gray is kicking the can down the road until he and Sarah Campbell can figure out a way to screw H St. out of the $37 million.
One wonders if Marion Barry is behind the throne on this one...
Ain't politics grand...don't they mean "Political Grand Standing"? WE SAVED THE STREETCAR FUNDING...HOORAY FOR US, WE ARE THE BEST; now vote me for Mayor since I was able to find the funding for it...
Sorry dude...Mayoral Bid = FAIL
Hooray! Streetcars saved, Gray takes a hit to his credibility and weak sister mayoral run. Love politics in this city.
Gotta go get a Fenty yard sign.
jj,
I think Gray is playing a bit of a game with Fenty. We'll get the funding.
F Marion Barry. Rec Centers be damned... Heck, City Contracts to my girlfriend be damned...
Is Marion being upset even news?
This had Barry's ugly little paw prints all over it from the start (2 a.m. funding kill...hello??)
God, if there was ever any doubt that Marion Barry is PURE EVIL that doubt just went right out the door.
I'm not taking any culpability away from Gray or Campbell, but, man, its amazing how Barry still tries to screw this city. That man has single-handedly tried to kill just about every progressive/forward-thinking project in this town.
I don't think Fenty's in any way perfect, but whatever Barry's for, I'm agin', and it looks like Barry's with Gray. At least we know where the battle-lines are being drawn
Elise:
Thanks for all of the breaking news coverage.
damage is done with regard to gray. stunts like this serve no useful purpose. funny thing is, Gray's campaign blitzed through my neighborhood hard just a couple weeks ago. not sure who he thought he would win over in this neck of the woods with today's shenanigans. I guess the silver lining is that it exposes just what we would be in for if he was elected mayor
BREAKING NEWS The council just voted to restore 12.5M for FY10 and 34.5M for FY11, with a plan due to the Council. Of course, no recorded vote so everyone can say they supported it when its convenient and didn't support it when its convenient.
Concur with WELLS FOR MAYOR. He is so fantastic not only for the ward but for the city.
I am a bit biased however as just this morning his office went to bat for me personally by addressing an obscure law with the city making my additional build-out to my house get approved.
THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. WELLS.
Russ
Great job Tommy!!!
Yes, Tommy Wells definitely gets my vote for Mayor. Very proud that he is my Councilmember! Way to go Tommy!
Harry Thomas on the other hand actually voted for the budget that eliminated the streetcar funding.
Memo to Harry Thomas: You suck.
They really do need to resolve the power source issue so trolley opponents can't use that as an issue against the whole project again.
Hillman,
they need to resolve a lot of issues. I'm not too worried about them holding onto the other $37 million. We'll get it, and hopefully it will mean we get some answers from DDOT sooner, rather than later.
So what does this $47 million over the next two years provide? Will that be enough to get everything done on H ST?
Note the change in tone of Gray's office when they were answering the phones all day.
It started from "ok, thanks - *click*" to straight to voice mail to "but there is no money left" to "that's false information, we never said that" to "he's changing his mind as we speak"
I feel like my property value lost and then regained $100k of its value today.
GREAT JOB WELLS.
5TH STREET.
To dispel some false information first and foremost, the current construction on H St. would NOT have been effected as that money was already allocated and mostly paid out to Capitol Paving for the work they are doing. So H St. would not have been left in ruins.
The money they initially cut, then miraculously "found", was for the terminus at Union Station, the work needed to outfit the maintenance facility there, modify the bridge to provide access to it, and to provide a temporary turn around past the Benning Road Bridge.
Just as a point of clarification ;)
nice..we wait until the END of the day to find out what was really going to get cut. Thanks for clarifying
Another clarification for folks:
The construction on H that is taking 3 years to do is the COMPLETE rebuild of all utilities, road bed, curbs, sidewalks, lights, etc. down to dirt.
The streetcar tracks are a very small part of the total. Just want to clarify this because a lot of people assume the streetcar construction will cause this kind of disruption everywhere.
No, the tracks themselves can be built/extended in about two weeks per block once the system is in place. Minimal disruption compared to Metro construction.
How and why does Barry keep getting elected? He is so BAD for this city.
What exactly is Wells credited with doing?
Because as far as I can tell, the people of DC gave the Council an earful. I think this was a win for the people and giving Wells credit for something he had very little to do with is disingenuous.
How and why does Barry keep getting elected? He is so BAD for this city.
True. But he sends a message to "the newcomers." The politics of resentment exert a strong attraction for some folks. He's our Sarah Palin.
"Drill, Baby, Drill!" scream the gulf state residents, as their shoreline, way of life, and income is destroyed for a generation. Who cares as long as it pisses off the latte-sippers.
Why exactly is $10 mill being used to buy new cars when we're are still years away and already have cars sitting collecting dust?? YEAH for the streetcar!!
Why exactly is $10 mill being used to buy new cars when we're are still years away and already have cars sitting collecting dust?? YEAH for the streetcar!!
Was this an actual question? Or just a rhetorical burst from someone who knows nothing about the topic? So hard to tell.
For anyone who's wondering, there are two streetcar tracks in the pilot: one in Anacostia, the other on H Street. The original cars are for the Anacostia line. According to Wells' twitter feed, the $10 is to purchase three additional streetcars that will run on H Street.
Yay for streetcars!!!
Anon 5:29- Wells was one of the two votes opposed to the budget earlier this morning. He then put forward the amendment this afternoon that asked for the restoration of the funding. If he had not done that the funding would not have been restored.
Anon 5:53:00 PM
Come on, give me a break. Wells' amendment wasn't what made the council backtrack. Wells' amendment was what gave the council a face saving "out" from a disaster of a decision. Wells didn't twist any arms and his voice was conspicuously absent from the papers today.
The people who called the council all day and trashed VGray's reputation online are who saved the street cars.
Wells continued to support the streetcars when others voted against them. He was also the person on the inside who came up with a counter-proposal that his fellow council members could sign off on once all hell broke loose.
Yay Tommy!
But that said, three cheers for an informed populace!
Ohh, and thanks again to inked to staying on top of this and giving us a platform to share knowledge and be informed!
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