I've said all along that Governor Matt Blunt gave the Katy Trail Bridge in Boonville away to the Union Pacific Railroad [1] to reward loyal campaign contributors like the UP [2] and Ted Kettlewell [3]. And the more we found out, the clearer that becomes.
Instead of rushing to please campaign donors, the Governor should have shown some leadership, applied a little creativity, and worked with the community to find a mutually beneficial solution.
But since politics first is always the rule for this Governor, that was clearly never an option.
In order to defend his give away to his donors, Blunt has always cited the exorbitant cost to repair the bridge as an excuse for failing to work with the community. We now know that was merely a justification to deflect attention from his true political motive.
How do we know? Well, the Save the Katy Bridge Committee, which is actually showing the creativity and leadership we should be able to expect from the Governor, thought it might be worth knowing what the actual cost to repair the bridge would be, so they sought bids.
It turns out that the first bid came in at about $1 million, far short of the $3-5 million that Blunt's political minions have been putting out there with no basis.
From the Boonville Daily News [4]:
The first bid response to convert Boonville's MKT lift-span bridge to pedestrian use has been received, announced Paula Shannon, chair of the Save the Katy Bridge Committee.
“It appears from this bid that Allstate Engineer's estimate for conversion was accurate,” said Shannon. The Columbia-based engineering firm previously provided conversion estimates in the range $1 million.
Let's contrast that to the spin by Blunt's Team to justify their decision to give away the bridge to Blunt's loyal political contributors.
From a May 18, 2005 DNR Press Release [5]:
"It is painfully obvious that the attorney general lacks an understanding of our state's budget challenges. His recommendations to fix this 73-year-old dilapidated structure will cost the state $3 million to $5 million up front just to meet the minimum federal safety guidelines. This conservative estimate does not include the thousands of dollars taxpayers would pay annually for liability insurance and annual maintenance.
Hmmmm....$1 million versus $5 million, that's a pretty big difference. And $1 million is quite possibly an amount that could be raised from private interests.
The reality is, Governor Blunt simply wasn't interested in knowing the facts, because the decision had already been made based on what was good for his donors, rather than what was good for Missourians.
Thanks goodness Attorney General Jay Nixon was willing to stand up for the citizens of Missouri in this matter.