Growls

Scott McCaffrey reported yesterday in the online Arlington Sun Gazette that spending by the Arlington County Board on the HOT-Lanes lawsuit "cozies" up to the $2 million mark. McCaffrey goes on to report that although state officials are abandoning plans for the HOT-lanes projects, " the legal fees have declined, but not disappeared. The county was billed $63,317.67 for work done by lawyers in February." Here's a brief summary of McCaffrey's reporting:

"The County Board’s lawsuit against federal and state officials over the proposed high-occupancy-toll (HOT) lanes on Interstates 95 and 395 has cost local taxpayers nearly $2 million in fees to a D.C. law firm, but the pace of the spending has slowed significantly now that the HOT-lanes proposal has been abandoned.

"The county government was billed just over $730,000 in legal fees and costs for the seven months ending Feb. 28, according to documents provided by the government to the Sun Gazette. Added to previous spending, payments to the Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis law firm have reached $1.96 million.

"County Board members in 2009 sued the federal and state governments, as well as several public officials, claiming that an environmental-studies exemption to the HOT-lanes project from Dumfries north to Arlington was improperly granted. A federal judge attempted to get the county government to work out a compromise with the defendants - including the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation - but to no avail."

McCaffrey also points out, "The most controversial aspect of the lawsuit was the county government’s suing of several officials in their individual capacities, suggesting that they had violated federal civil-rights statutes in their decision-making . . . because the highways would benefit predominantly white residents of the outer suburbs, the proposal had racist overtones - provoking howls of both derision and outrage from state officials and those in other localities." However, McCaffrey also reported, "County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said the intent was never to label anyone racist or to seek monetary damages from the defendants."

Talk about representative government? Better question, just who is being represented by the Board's panjandrums? Is it the average Arlington taxpayer? Besides, it's all their money, isn't it?