Cintra consultant turned Governor Perry's legislative aide, turned Cintra lobbyist. It's hard to keep up with who is working for who. Or is it?
Austin lobbyist Dan Shelley has been one of Governor Perry's aides and Cintra's inside men.
Shelley worked for Cintra making introductions to TxDOT just in time to see them get a winning proposal submitted for the Trans Texas Corridor. Then he worked for Governor Perry just in time to lobby the Legislature to protect and strengthen laws benefiting Cintra. Now he's back working for Cintra again planning all expense paid trips to Canada for TxDOT and Texas law makers.
The Dallas Morning News reports this morning, "Mr. Shelley resigned his statejob in September and struck a lobbying deal with Cintra worth between $50,000 and $100,000 to work from March through the end of this year. In addition, his daughter and lobbying partner, Jennifer Shelley-Rodriguez, will earn between$25,000 and $50,000 from the company over the same period, state records show."
*quoted from CorridorWatch press release
Austin lobbyist Dan Shelley has been one of Governor Perry's aides and Cintra's inside men.
Shelley worked for Cintra making introductions to TxDOT just in time to see them get a winning proposal submitted for the Trans Texas Corridor. Then he worked for Governor Perry just in time to lobby the Legislature to protect and strengthen laws benefiting Cintra. Now he's back working for Cintra again planning all expense paid trips to Canada for TxDOT and Texas law makers.
The Dallas Morning News reports this morning, "Mr. Shelley resigned his statejob in September and struck a lobbying deal with Cintra worth between $50,000 and $100,000 to work from March through the end of this year. In addition, his daughter and lobbying partner, Jennifer Shelley-Rodriguez, will earn between$25,000 and $50,000 from the company over the same period, state records show."
*quoted from CorridorWatch press release
It gets worse...please read on.
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The politictians in Texas who are pushing this project are counting on the sad fact that most Texans don't pay much attention to state politics. They are hoping that they can get this project done without involving or catching the attention of the citizens they are supposed to be serving. There are many brushes with which you can paint this project, but in this instance, it is conflict of interest.
In addition, a major four-day, all expenses paid trip had been arranged by Cintra for key decision makers and legislators. I say "key" in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, because the list was selective at best. For example, there is a citizens advisory board which was created to advise decision makers on TTC plans and issues. (We won't get into the fact that TxDOT doesn't really consider their input.) However, not all members of this advisory board were invited by Cintra. The most notable acception was Linda Stall, a co-founder of CorridorWatch, and a vocal opponent of the TTC plan. Hmmm ... wonder why that happened? Could it be that Cintra, TxDOT and our politicians have no interest in opposing viewpoints? Imagine that. And then, the trip was abruptly cancelled when the Dallas Morning News found out and reported on it. Again, hmmmmm ...
For the full story you can visit this at Corridor Watch or read this article from the Dallas Morning News.
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