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Nov 10, 2008 10:00 pm US/Central
North Texas Mayors Drive Gas Guzzling SUVs
NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 News) ―
There's a dirty little secret in North Texas. Some cities and counties are spending taxpayer money on cars and SUV's that suck up tax dollars and leave a carbon footprint that's choking the environment; and the problem starts at the top.
A few months ago, on a hot summer day, CBS 11 News cameras caught Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert riding up to a public event in his city issued 2006 Ford Expedition. While he gets a new hair-do, to promote a back to school event, his SUV sits idling for nearly 25 minutes, burning gas, polluting the air and clearly not abiding by the states 'Drive Clean Across Texas' program.
Mayor Leppert told CBS 11 News that the Dallas Police Department decided what car he should use, not him. But the Mayor also said, "I think we can clearly go hybrid and accomplish the same thing from a security standpoint."
On another occasion CBS 11 News found Arlington's Mayor, Robert Cluck, driving his city owned 2007 Cadillac Escalade to work. The SUV gets 14 miles per gallon. Cluck has a choice to drive one of the city's hybrid vehicles but claims, "It's a Ford and I am not going to drive a Ford." When asked about the decision and the opportunity to save taxpayers money, he responded, "This is General Motors country."
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief is chauffeured around by his police force in one of the city's two Cadillac's! One is an Escalade SUV, with leather seats and gets 14 miles to the gallon. CBS 11 asked Mayor Moncrief about it and he told us, "I do what the police tell me; this is a vehicle appropriate and provided at no cost to taxpayer." Taxpayers don't pay for the SUV, because it's on loan from a local dealer but they do foot the bill for fuel.
Ask people who park their cars and use mass transit about city leaders using gas guzzling vehicles with their tax money and this is what you may hear.
One taxpayer said, "Its money wasted and they are not practicing what the rest of the city is trying to live up to and take care of." Another said, "I think it is wrong. I don't think people should waste fuel."
Al Armendariz is an environmental engineer at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He is also strong critic of our areas lack of compliance with air pollution regulations. Armendariz says, "It's immoral to be driving around large vehicles and wasting electricity, energy and gasoline."
While some may think the mayors aren't setting a good example - there's a bigger question. What are local governments doing overall to lower emissions and reduce gas costs? CBS 11 News logged every vehicle in the fleets of our largest cities and counties and found most have alternative fuel vehicles on the road, but none are driven by the mayors or their security detail.
Local police departments had the most cars on the road and in many cases were the biggest polluters. For example, the Plano Police Department has 27 new Chevy Tahoe's, each getting 17 miles per gallon, and each an enormous gas guzzling polluter.
One of the many reasons the police department used to defend their choice of car -- besides better resale value, and a longer warranty – is that the city chose the Tahoe's because "larger officers are able to fit" in them.
Across town, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office told CBS 11 News it doesn't have any hybrid cars. That could be one of the reasons the sheriff patrol fleet averages 17 miles per gallon - the lowest of any fleet we reviewed and one of the highest carbon footprints in town.
Sheriff's officials told us it conserves fuel with what it calls the "fuel man system"… allowing patrol units to get gas at many locations convenient to their patrol area. The sheriff's office also said it doesn't accept the CBS 11 News data as accurate, even though we got it from Tarrant County.
Despite some who may be considered gross offenders, some local governments are doing better. The City of Dallas has more than 1,000 natural gas vehicles and the Arlington Police Department has 11 hybrid vehicles - each averaging 46 miles per gallon. The Arlington fleet of police cars averages nearly 21 miles per gallon, leaving one of the cleanest carbon footprints in North Texas.
But even with that good news, the Arlington mayor, who still drives that city issued Cadillac SUV for city business, feels its okay for you to foot the gas bill. Mayor Cluck said, "I don't think it's that much to ask for them [taxpayers] to pay for the mayor's car."
Armendariz feels differently and says politicians need to take the lead. "I do think that our community leaders, our elected officials, business leaders have to set a good example. They have to. They have to do it in their personal lives and in the way they run their cities," he explained.
The City of Fort Worth told CBS 11 News that the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI recommend the SUV as the first choice in executive protection - but it's not the only choice. Last month, the mayor of Fort Worth traded the city issued Escalade for a newer model. The new Cadillac SUV is a hybrid that gets 20 miles to the gallon.
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