Sep 21, 2007 8:20 am US/Central
Anti-Toll Road Activist Sues Texas Over Campaign
AUSTIN (AP) ―
An activist opposed to toll roads has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Texas Department of Transportation from spending money on a campaign that promotes toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor.
Terri Hall of the San Antonio Toll Party and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom said the "Keep Texas Moving" campaign violates a prohibition on state officials using their authority for political purposes.
"Unlike purely educational public relations efforts such as the 'Don't Mess with Texas' campaign, the KTM campaign is a one-sided attempt to advocate one political point of view on a highly controversial matter that is far from politically decided," Hall said in her petition in state court.
The state contends that it's legal for the transportation department to promote toll roads and that the agency is responding to calls for public education about its projects.
Gov. Rick Perry and the transportation department have championed toll roads and the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, a tolled network of superhighways, as solutions to dire transportation needs that have outpaced gas tax revenues.
The department's promotional campaign is spending an estimated $7 million to $9 million in state highway funds on advertising and other activities, such as training officials for appearances on talk radio.
"For quite some time now TxDOT has heard calls from elected leaders and the driving public to explain what we are doing to improve mobility in our state and why we are doing it," agency spokesman Chris Lippincott said. "The 'Keep Texas Moving' public involvement campaign is an effort to engage Texans on these issues and seek their participation in solving some of our state's most serious problems."
A filing by the state attorney general on behalf of Steven Simmons, interim executive director of the department, and Coby Chase, director of the agency's government and public affairs division, asks the court to deny Hall's claim and dismiss her petition.
Hall's lawsuit also seeks to block transportation officials from lobbying Congress to allow more tolling.
"Merely because plaintiff disagrees with the tolling of roads in Texas does not provide her with an avenue for relief," the state's filing said.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
