The process involving a mixture of representatives from local government, the business community and environmental groups to discuss three proposed toll roads has just begun and already uncomfortable questions are surfacing.
The biggest one is the fact that it appears these task forces will have little say in where the roads will go, The Ledger in Lakeland reports..
That leads to the question of what exactly is their role? It seems their role is limited to coming up with suggestions to make a bad idea as palatable as possible and beyond that to keep their mouths shut.
That is, the report will be a consensus report. There will be no minority report and any dissenting voices will be advised to keep their opinions to themselves.
Put another way, Florida’s environment will be given a fair trial and hanged in the morning.
The idea that this road plan is about Florida’s future, as the Florida Department of Transportation’s leaders put it, is not wrong, it is may simply omitting a broad enough discussion of what kind of future is desirable.
This discussion will continue at future task force meetings and at related meetings, such as the upcoming Heartland 2060 Summit on Sept. 20 in which some of the proponents for opening the heartland of Florida to these questionable road projects will be the keynote speakers.
Be ready to ask them tough questions.