Hogan-backed PAC blames Montgomery leaders for deadlock on toll lanes – Maryland Matters

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A screenshot of one of the Facebook ads that Change Maryland ran targeting three Montgomery County leaders who oppose Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.s.

A political action committee affiliated with Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) launched a series of Facebook ads aimed at three Montgomery County leaders who opposed his plan to add toll-funded express lanes to Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway.

The ads, sponsored by Change Maryland, the PAC that propelled Hogan to governor’s office in 2014, target Montgomery County executive Marc B. Elrich (R), board chairman Tom Hucker (R) and Del. Marc A. Korman (D).

They started running on Tuesday, according to Facebook.

The proposal by Hogans supporters to add four privately funded high-occupancy toll lanes to both routes applauded his willingness to push back the trio. Critics of the project said the ads are proof that opponents of the controversial project are having an impact.

The ads repeat that Hogan claims his proposal would end the soul-crushing trafficking of capital regions without the use of public funds.

Our traffic relief plan will rebuild and widen the American Legion Bridge, which means more jobs and less traffic at no cost to taxpayers. But Montgomery County politicians are trying to block all of our bipartisan progress, says one of the announcements.

Don’t let them play partisan politics fixing the traffic crisis in Marylands. Let County Executive Marc Elrich, City Councilor Tom Hucker and State Delegate Marc Korman know that we are fed up with the crushing traffic and demand that they stop blocking our traffic relief plan.

Another ad urges Facebook users to tell the Three Chosen Ones to do the right thing for our environment and the right thing for Montgomery County by supporting this sane traffic relief plan.

A third ad accuses officials of playing partisan politics with the traffic crisis in Montgomery County.

Officials named in the announcements rebuffed Hogans’ claims.

“Montgomery County has officially asked Governor Hogan to repair the American Legion Bridge with our tax dollars every year since he’s been in office,” Hucker said. And every year he refused to prioritize it in the budget. As everyone knows, Montgomery County officials have no legal authority over the interstate bridge or highways.

No progress has been made on fixes to the American Legion Bridge that we desperately need due to Governor Hogans’ refusal to fund his upgrades, Hucker added. It is up to the governor’s office to run blatantly dishonest ads attacking state and local officials.

Korman, who co-chaired an at times tense hearing on Hogans’ plan on Tuesday, berated Hogan for his regular appearances on national cable news programs.

He called the announcements as specific as Change Marylands’ other announcements on this project, but I’m glad the governor took a break from cable news to focus on our state.

The ads were also criticized by the Sierra Club, which accused Hogan of using them as cover.

According to Change Maryland’s Facebook ad, the Sierra Club and other leading environmental experts say the traffic is contributing to climate change and that Hogan’s plan would clean our air and solve the traffic crisis in Montgomery.

Hogan is trying to use the Sierra Club name to push his roadside boondoggle, which we vehemently oppose, the organization said on Twitter on Friday. The announcement is simply false and Governor Hogan knows it.

The media blitz against the three Montgomery executives comes at a pivotal time for the project, which Hogan announced with great fanfare in 2017.

The Capital Regions Transportation Planning Board last month removed plan I-495 / I-270 from a list of projects for federal environmental scans, a necessary step in the process. . The Hogan administration and others are hoping to hold another vote at the July board meeting.

In addition, a consortium that unsuccessfully bid on a $ 54 million pre-development contract protested the Maryland Department of Transportation’s decision to partner with Acclerate Maryland Partners, a group backed by two Australian companies, the operator of the Transurban and Macquarie Capital toll motorways.

If the consortium, Capital Express Mobility Partners, loses its appeal as expected, legal action is considered likely.

Elrich said he wondered how much money Transurban had contributed to Change Maryland. At 501 (c) (4), the PAC is not required to list its contributors.

David Weiman, spokesperson for Change Maryland, said the ads will continue until the TPB reconsiders its decision.

We are working to let the people of Montgomery know that the reckless actions of politicians in their county have endangered this critical and popular project and all other projects in the area, Weiman said.

Critics of the MDOT plan accused the agency of exaggerating the impact of the TPB vote on the state’s overall transportation program.

Edgar Gonzalez, head of the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance, said the reluctance of Montgomery executives to negotiate a compromise forced Hogan to confront them publicly.

The soft approach didn’t work for them, I guess, he says. The other side played hard.

Tony Hausner, the founder of Safe Silver Spring and opponent of the project, called Hogans’ announcements very disturbing.

Obviously, they’re feeling the heat of this major boondoggle, Hausner said.

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