"Now that the election season is well underway we can expect to hear plenty of political talk about the Silver Spring Transit Center — about who is at fault, etc.
Meanwhile the county is in private negotiations with the various contractors, WMATA and other parties regarding fixing that structure’s serious problems.
Citizens need to be alert because in the next few months we might anticipate a deal being reached that could undercut future taxpayers.
No person knows whether the planned fixes will work, meaning fixes that would enable the transit center to last for 50 years. The fixes that have been arrived at have not been technically justified to the public, and have not undergone independent engineering review, unlike the fixes to the San Francisco Bay Bridge problem.
County politicians up for re-election know that the taxpayers will not want to pay for any future failures that may need fixing in the out-years. Those problems are not our fault. Politicians seeking re-election say that won’t happen. The county executive himself has publicly stated that he knows that he needs to have the contractor(s) put up some type of financial assurance to pay for any future problems due to poor construction.
Issue No. 1: How much money is to be set aside in the form of some surety bond? No one knows how much but if citizens see that any bond is for less than $10 million they should be uneasy.
Issue No. 2: How long should these contractors be on the hook? Of course the contractors want to minimize their exposure to a few years. But problems could arise even 10-15 years down the road. This is supposed to be a 50-year structure, after all. Citizens and the press should be upset if a settlement only is good for five or so years.
Issue No. 3: What would trigger an event that would use set-aside funds to fund a downstream fix? Who would represent the county and WMATA? The same people who negotiated a deal? What standards would be used to access a set-aside fund? Will all this be done behind closed doors with a done-deal [to] be handed to the public or will the county lift the veil of secrecy to enable more transparent government?"
Bernard Bloom, Silver Spring
Finally, an article about the Silver Spring Transit Center that tells it like it is!
"... serious problems ... poor construction ... no person knows whether the planned fixes will work ... fixes that have been arrived at have not been technically justified to the public, and have not undergone independent engineering review... What would trigger an event that would use set-aside funds to fund a downstream fix? Who would represent the county and WMATA? The same people who negotiated a deal? What standards would be used to access a set-aside fund? Will all this be done behind closed doors with a done-deal [to] be handed to the public or will the county lift the veil of secrecy to enable more transparent government? ... a deal being reached that could undercut future taxpayers ..."
BRAVO! in-depth coverage! probing questions!
(unlike the rest of the media's coverage of this story)
Well done, Mr. Bloom. Well done, The Gazette.
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