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Challenging the Wisdom of the Trans Texas Corridor.
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Aching Assets March 1st, 2007 by Eileen Welsome, The Texas Observer Ric Williamson, the chairman of the Transportation Commission, was holding his own this morning against the predominantly hostile crowd who turned out to give state legislators an earful about the Trans-Texas Corridor. Williamson spent most of his time pacing back and forth in a small cloakroom adjacent to the Senate auditorium where the hearing was held. Accompanying him were the usual TXDOT operatives, along with Geoffrey Yarema, a Los Angeles lawyer who’s been retained by TXDOT to guide the department in its ambitious plan to pave the state with toll roads. Yarema, a smallish, balding man, is a member of the Nossaman firm. At a hearing on Tuesday, Williamson revealed that the firm’s been paid some $30 million so far. Nossaman’s lawyers charge in excess of $500 an hour. So, if Yarema took an early-morning flight over to Texas this morning, plans to stay for the all-day hearing, and is going back tonight, he could conceivably bill the state for $7,000 or more. Ouch. That’s enough to make your assets ache. Although it’s hard to believe that a meeting about concrete could be exciting, the hearing was actually a thrilling public spectacle. Williamson was subjected to catcalls, hissing and accusations that he was a liar. Through it all, he managed to retained his composure, his hands clenched tightly on the table in front of him. One of the milder speakers, a woman from Garland, Texas, noted that it was “we stupid voters” who approved the constitional amendment that launched the Trans-Texas Corridor. “We need a do-over,” she told state Sen. John Carona, the Dallas Republican who is presiding over the hearing. “Many legislators would like a do-over as well,” he responded.
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the hearing was actually a thrilling public spectacle |
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Williamson revealed that the firm’s been paid some $30 million so far. |
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This Page Last Updated: Friday March 02, 2007