MDOT Chief Kirk Steudle needs a little media coaching. It might make him understand that making a plea this week to the state legislature for more money to fix roads is ok, but he should refrain from telling us what we can and can't afford.
And we thought things we going so well for MDOT.
From the story by Associated Press, "State Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle on Tuesday estimated motorists would pay an extra 16 cents per week - "a stick of gum" - for every penny increase in the 19-cents-a-gallon gas tax.
"This will break everybody's back? Really? A half-pack of gum is going to break everybody's back? Let's put this in perspective," Steudle told the House and Senate Transportation committees.
Steudle in 2007 was paid $140,000 a year, according to the Lansing State Journal’s state salary data base.
It reminds us of the Detroit Three CEOs who flew on private planes to DC to beg for a bailout. Speaking of flying: In document 2 below, we see that MDOT has quite a taste for plane trips around the state. Good way to miss a few potholes. The department’s defense will be that this state is so big and in the name of expedience, the planes are necessary. Perhaps that's true. Most of these trips are to places that you and I have to take hours to drive to if we want to be there. But we aren't doing important state business. Some of us just have work up there, or are vacationing. You pay, you decide.
On the heels of his marquee appearance at the statehouse, Steudle is also making an appearance in Flint Friday to let them know the situation.
Private Plane Trips SOM Emps
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