Reply #3: The local paper doesn't miss a trick (OpEd)

[Catchawave]

Kilgore’s math wrong in attack on VDOT
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 30, 2005



A $30 million bonus in federal highway money to Virginia says that Jerry Kilgore is wrong.

Tuesday, the GOP gubernatorial candidate accused the Virginia Department of Transportation of delaying “hundreds of millions of dollars worth of highway and transit projects” and setting back “an entire construction season” by not accessing federal funds quickly enough.

So how come VDOT just received a record $30 million reward for its stewardship of the very federal transportation funds Kilgore claims were mishandled?

Because Kilgore blundered, badly. No projects were set back and no money lost because VDOT properly took some bookkeeping steps to put its financial house in better order. Kilgore should acknowledge the mistake and move on.


Two things make Kilgore’s blast at VDOT troubling. First, it implies a lack of understanding by a gubernatorial candidate of budgetary processes at a critical agency. Second, it suggests a willingness to scapegoat for political gain an agency that has worked hard for greater public respect over the past few years.......more

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=92965&ran=212037