Emails (excerpted), Lynda Rife, campaign manager, Let’s Go Austin, Oct. 27-28, 2014

From: Lynda Rife

Sent: Monday, October 27, 2014 4:59 PM

To: 'Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)'

Subject: RE: Fresh inquiry for a fact check

"An ultra-conservative millionaire…"

This refers to Jim Skaggs, who has publicly led the campaign against Prop. 1 and serves as Treasurer of the anti-Prop. 1 Citizens Against Rail Taxes PAC. Skaggs is the retired President, CEO and Board Chair of Tracor, Inc., and currently serves as Board Chair of the Alamo Group.  ...

Jim Skaggs served as a Board Member of the Travis Republican Advisory Council PAC.  Both Skaggs and his wife Betty have strong Republican voting history.  Skaggs has an extensive history of giving to Republican candidates and organizations in both state and federal elections. ...

"The Austin Tea Party..."

In early September, American for Prosperity, well-known to be a driving force behind the Tea Party (see: http://www.factcheck.org/2011/10/americans-for-prosperity-2/ and http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/covert-operations), hosted an anti-Prop. 1 event in Austin, paying to bring in anti-rail activist Randall O’Toole of the Cato Institute.  See: http://www.meetup.com/austin-tea-party/events/205345942/ and https://www.facebook.com/events/385309958291053/.  O’Toole spoke at a meeting of the San Antonio Tea Party the week before.  See: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e9pqiqymf9ae6648&llr=angjkddab.

Subsequently the Austin Tea Party formally declared their opposition to Prop. 1 (see: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/ATX-Voters-Guide.html?soid=1102956897086&aid=Xn2xf7QToD8) and hosted a “Meet the Leaders" event in which they characterized the anti-Prop. 1 campaign as their “featured cause" (see: http://www.meetup.com/austin-tea-party/events/210576912/).  The Austin Tea Party facebook page contains numerous anti-rail postings.  See: https://www.facebook.com/TheAustinTexasTeaParty/timeline?ref=page_internal

6:33 a.m.

Oct. 28, 2014

A few other thoughts:  As I noted in my response yesterday, Americans for Prosperity brought Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute to Austin for an anti-Prop. 1 event in September.  A little online research will make clear that the Koch Brothers are leaders and funders of not only Americans for Prosperity AND the Tea Party, but also the Cato Institute (which was originally the Charles Koch Foundation). FYI, the Kochs have been increasingly active in fighting transit initiatives across the country.  See: http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/09/25/the-koch-brothers-war-on-transit/.  While we don’t know for sure whether the Kochs or the Tea Party have or haven’t expended funds to oppose Prop. 1, it’s very clear that they are actively supportive of the campaign against it, that the local Tea Party affiliate is formally opposed to it and working against it, and that much of the messaging ammunition being used by the Skaggs / CART campaign has been culled from O’Toole’s work at the Koch-funded, Tea Party-aligned Cato Institute.  Compare http://norailtax.com/the-facts-about-prop-1 with http://www.theamericanconservative.com/cpt/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/The-Small-Minded-Anti-Streetcar-Conspiracy-FINAL.pdf and you’ll many of the same facts and themes.  Please see also the email below in which Jim Skaggs invites Council candidates to the O’Toole event.  It’s very clear that there is an alignment of interests and strategy happening there between Skaggs / CART and a Koch-funded, Tea Party-aligned ‘expert'.  Thanks, Lynda.

From: [JIM SKAGGS]

Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 10:53:03 -0400

Subject: Saturday O'Toole Educaiton event

To: [EMAILS REMOVED BY POLITIFACT TEXAS OCT. 28, 2014]

Dear Candidates:

On September 6, I sent the message below.   The location of the education meeting tomorrow, September 13, 2014 has now been firmed and it is:

The State Capital,  Room E2.012          9:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Best regards,

Jim Skaggs

Dear Candidates:

Below are invitations to two events regarding Austin's proposed light rail.  Both will be discussions with Randal O'Toole , CATO Senior Fellow.  At the bottom of this message is also a brief sketch of Randal.

The first event is for candidates only and the second is open to the general public.

Candidates may not wish to attend both events, as they will cover similar discussions.  Our intent is to offer all candidates the opportunity to attend at least one of the events.

Note:  The events are not in date order.

Event 1: Austin Light Rail Discussion for Candidates

Sponsored by:

Citizens for Tax Relief NOW (CTRN)

Citizens on Sustainable Transportation (COST), www.costaustin.com

Citizens Against Rail Taxes (CART), www.norailtax.com

When: Saturday, September 13, 2014 from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM

Where: Two central Austin sites are being considered.  You will be notified of the final selection.

This first event is limited to candidates for the new 10-1 City Council and other local office candidates.  It provides a more "personal" forum for candidates to discuss light rail with Randal O'Toole, one of the nations most knowledgeable experts. See Randal's sketch below.

Please let us know if you plan to attend by a quick confirmation to one of the following contact emails.

Contacts:

CART:        Cindy Mallette:

COST:        Jim Skaggs  

____________________________________________________________________

Brief Sketch of Randal O'Toole.

Randal O’Toole is a Senior Fellow with the CATO Institute and is one of the nation’s foremost rail transit experts. He has recently written two papers addressing light rail transit in general and specifically Austin’s proposed light rail. The first, short paper is an op-ed published in the Austin-American Statesman on June 2, 2014. The second is a longer critique of Project Connect’s Austin rail plan.  These articles can be found at:

http://www.costaustin.org/jskaggs/?p=4138

Although often criticized as “anti-rail,” Mr. O’Toole is a “life-long lover” of trains, having taken his first train trips as a toddler. Since the formation of Amtrak in the early 1970s, he has traveled more than 200,000 miles on U.S. and Canadian trains as well as trains in Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Mr. O’Toole helped restore to operation the nation’s second-most powerful steam locomotive, the Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700. He also maintains a large web site called “Streamliner Memories” which details the history of passenger trains in America.

O’Toole states: “While I think riding in a dome car is the most elegant form of intercity travel, I don’t believe other people should have to subsidize my hobby.”

He is also an active cyclist who has never commuted to work by automobile.  Recently, Randal did a cycling tour of the southern island of New Zealand.