Take today's "other voices" editorial from a member of the First Ward Civic Council:
High Speed Rail only a good idea if done right. Evan Michaelides , Chron.com
Most crucial, there's nothing public about it - it will be operated and funded privately. While touted as a benefit, skeptics worry that if the finances tank, the burden may fall on taxpayers. More important, it will do nothing for the vast majority of Houstonians.
In the rest of his piece Mr. Michaelides goes on to instruct Texas Central Railway (The public company considering making the investment in a Dallas-Houston high-speed rail system) on exactly how he thinks they should spend their own money.
Note that nowhere in this piece does Mr. Michaelides talk about investing his OWN money, or taking any risks, or working to raise funds to build the type of rail that HE desires be built. His only goal is to try and build public support to finance something (at other people's expense) that HE wants to see built.
You see a lot of this same behavior from other groups such as Houston Tomorrow. Their goal is never to implement and build something, only to coerce and badger public and private entities into spending money in their preferred manner.
Now, granted, we all do this to some degree. And there's nothing inherently wrong with having opinions or advocating for such. As a blogger with a political point of view I do so all the time. That said, I would never be so presumptuous as to try and tell people what risk they should take with their capital investments. I might think that they are making a dumb investment (Metro and the currently designed light rail) and I might point this out, but that's just about the end of it.
Any private concern should be allowed to conduct business in the way it chooses provided there is no harm or malfeasance involved beyond basic opportunity cost. If a Mid-Town restaurant wishes to file for a set-back exemption and exist without parking for automobiles then that is their right. As someone who lives in the Houston exburbs this might preclude me from ever dining at their establishment but that doesn't give me the right to advocate that they be barred from doing so. My preference (need, in Houston) for driving to and from does not outweigh their preferred business model, nor am I seriously harmed by it when you consider that there are plenty of other dining options in the area.
If Texas Central Railway wants to build a high-speed rail system, at private expense, to try and provide a service to a group off whom they believe they can make a profit, so be it. While the restaurant example above is not an apples and oranges comparison, I would remind the unproductive class that there is nothing stopping them from raising their own funds and trying to build a competing service that provides the type of service to the segments of population that they find desirable.
Until then, you really have no say in the game. Money talks after all. Your own money, not the money of other people with whom you have no affiliation.
