The Astrodome project had more than a few things in common with another questionable infrastructure project, Houston's $700 million, five mile long North Rail line expansion ("Metro's unmet goals cost big bucks," Page A1, Feb. 22, 2011): Little attempt by the authors to explain the gargantuan cost, purposeful vagueness on their part as to what - if any - value would be realized, and little assurance that the thing would not turn into a perpetual money pit.
There were also important differences between the two:
No. 1: For most of its existence, the Astrodome has been an epic financial and civic success.
No. 2: Unlike MetroRail, there were few politicians willing to lend their names and prestige to the Dome project.
No. 3: MetroRail was funded substantially by federal government transportation grants, while Harris County taxpayers would have been on the hook for all of the Dome project.
Bottom line, with the Dome, Houston's political and business leaders needed to convince area voters to fund a potential boondoggle. They failed. And the only reason they had no such similar challenge when it came to the rolling financial, environmental and operational disaster that is Metro's rail system is because most of it was built with other people's money.
I'm sorry that our political and business leaders couldn't come up with a better plan to save the Dome, but there's an important lesson to be learned here: For responsible funding decisions to be made, voters and their elected representatives must have at least some skin in the game.
Pete Smith, Cypress
http://www.chron.com/opinion/letters/article/Saturday-letters-Still-seeking-Dome-solutions-4986369.php
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/letters/article/Saturday-letters-Still-seeking-Dome-solutions-4986369.php
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