I will provide leadership as MAYOR to KILL the Wave!
In this election season, please plan on voting January 16th and March 13th to elect me and a City of Fort Lauderdale Commission who protects your pocketbook. The $200 Million Wave boondoggle has been assessing neighborhoods and businesses without their permission for the past four years in a line item tax. My opponents who are running for Mayor, Dean Trantalis and Bruce Roberts have been nurturing and voting for funding approval for this project during their long tenure as City representatives. Who are they being supported by? A quick glance at their financial reports show a who’s who of the Downtown Development Authority and lobbyists who try to run this City.
Instead of smart mass transit, the Wave streetcar is creating infrastructure that will have to be maintained and replaced during its short useful life of 20-25 years and there is no money budgeted for this. It will have to be supported by our grandchildren. The whole premise that residents will give up the convenience of their cars to walk in the Florida heat and rain to catch a streetcar is unrealistic. The 2.8 mile route originally included a stop at the airport which may have been useful but it was quietly cut out of the plans.
The City of Fort Lauderdale has many more pressing priorities with our existing infrastructure, ie. city-wide aging water pipes -why create a new one? The Wave Streetcar is not green and will require the removal of trees and take up at least one lane of traffic to operate.
At the City of Fort Lauderdale Conference Meeting on November 7th that I attended, it was reported that the State of Florida rejected all the higher than expected bids for the construction of the Wave. The bids were so high that they were not even in the margin of error.
To get history on the Wave, go to WaveGoodbye.net .
Just like the Canal Tax that together we defeated, please join me and vote on January 16th and March 13th for
Charlotte Rodstrom
I will do everything in my capacity as Mayor to Kill the Wave!