Once upon a time, an act of Congress could resolve just about any sort of disagreement. But apparently for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, this doesn’t appear to be the case anymore after Congressional action introduced by Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th), required an expansion of the MWAA board from 13 to 17 for the purpose of controlling costs and increasing accountability.
Instead of putting in an order to buy more chairs for board meetings, MWAA hired outside counsel to advise them on the issue.
Wolf and others have interpreted this as an opportunity by MWAA to resist or delay the change. It’s a poor move for an organization increasingly taking fire for their ability to manage the Dulles Rail project.
The legal theory behind MWAA’s actions is that as an interstate compact, the organization may require ratification from Virginia and the District of Columbia.
This is not an uncommon response from MWAA, who has already drawn criticism for their position that as an interstate compact they are not bound by either federal or state Freedom of Information Act requirements.
While it is true that MWAA is an interstate compact, this does not create a special class for the entity above either state (or Congressional) authority. The laws and courts of Virginia have authority over MWAA under the original legislation. But if they did not, the organization would find itself bound by the FOIA laws of both states rather than neither.
With that logical analysis completed, here is a human one. Rail to Dulles (and on into Ashburn) must be completed. Setting aside contradictory statistics against it and the economic arguments for it, there is the human issue. The people of Northern Virginia want it. If the Silver Line stops at Reston, they’ll start looking for officials to blame – and our public officials are too smart to let that happen.
Whether true or not, MWAA has been criticized for resisting scrutiny and the organization of the rail project. There is no other way to fix this perception than by opening the books and welcoming in the MWAA board members.
If the MWAA decisions thus far have been the right ones, then the project can proceed apace. If not, Phase II of the Silver Line is still at a stage where it can recover. Delays in adjusting to the new reality only makes it more likely that the project (and the organization as a whole) will have some hard times ahead.
Metro will only take a tiny tiny proportion of Loudoun traffic off the roads. And that portion will be more than made up by the increased development around the Metro stations. And what do most people get for all that? Higher taxes and massively increased tolls. Not a good deal, sorry.
To David’s “It will leave a legacy of dept, high taxes, congested roads, sky high tolls, or in short it will Fairfax Loudoun” - where have you been for the last 40 years?
I disagree with David (above) I’m looking forward to the metro location at Dulles. If tolls can remain reasonable, this would eliminate alot of traffic and keep alot of local middle and lower class families employed. I know VA is a right to work state but there is nothing wrong with an organization (Martire and the Union) that fights for the people as opposed to someone like Wolf who only works for the rich. He continues to allow the most rich to attain tax breaks that “regular Joes” don’t receive. Lastly,I hope that my property value goes up being close to a metro location. I drive 8 miles to work and it takes me an hour. Ridiculous. Get real VA
Dear Editor,
I would like to add to your thoughts. Interstate Compacts ICs are an interesting item. From Wikipedia: An interstate compact is an agreement between two or more states of the United States of America. Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution provides that “no state shall enter into an agreement or compact with another state” without the consent of Congress.
So to say MWAA is not a special class which is above state and Congressional authority is wrong. They are exactly that and that is the problem. Congress approved them and according to Phil Sunderland, MWAA’s General Counsel, no one has ever tried to undo an IC in court.
Given that Congress only has the authority to consent, it does not have the right to amend an IC, but states do if they agree on an amendment.
I kinda wonder if Congress ever reads the Constitution anyway.
Another interesting and related question is this. How does MWAA, who has IC authority to run 2 airports and the Dulles Access Road get into the business of running a Dulles Toll Road and building a railroad train and extending the Dulles Corridor out past the airport into Loudoun. Could they take it to Winchester and beyond and pay for it with tolls from the DTR if they please? Why not?
I would also like to know if MWAA Board member, Dennis “the union boss” Martire was put through the same hoops as these new guys are.
Last comment is that you are like many others. You switch off the logic to come up with your opinion that rail needs to happen. It does not need to happen.
This will be our Big Dig if it happens. Billions to build and more billions to operate. WMATA is projecting capital deficit thru 2020 at $6.5 B.
It has no redeeming value and is all about power of government to commandeer billions of dollars of resources from taxpayers and to shower private-sector interests with billions of dollars in engineering contracts, construction contracts, bond deals and development opportunities.
It will leave a legacy of dept, high taxes, congested roads, sky high tolls, or in short it will Fairfax Loudoun. That is what people will be blaming the decision makers for if this debacle continues.
Call your newly elected supers and tell them to opt out and pay $0
go to: www.loudounOptOut.com
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