Cal Marsella was my choice to be the general manager of the Regional Transportation District back when I was on the RTD board in 1995. He’s done a fine job, particularly with competitive contracting of bus service. But with his resignation announcement last week, Marsella abandons the corporate-welfare child he created: the boondoggle called FasTracks.
Cal masterfully led the Kumbaya choir of mayors, journalists and corporate interests with choruses of “on time and on budget” and promised the clearly undeliverable. As shown by analysis from the Independence Institute at the time, the plan grossly underestimated costs and wildly overestimated tax revenue. But with a multimillion-dollar campaign financed by companies that stood to profit, metro voters bought it.
Now, with costs skyrocketing, there is talk of rewarding this failure with a massive taxpayer bailout by doubling the FasTracks tax this fall. RTD can become Denver’s AIG.
Marsella’s departure gives us the opportunity to re-examine the bill of goods we were sold back in 2004. Instead of paying twice for the same project, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to halt FasTracks and its tax completely and let RTD’s new leadership put together a realistic plan that isn’t all things to all politicians and all special interests.
John Caldara is president of the Independence Institute, a think tank based in Golden.
