A lawsuit, accusations, political scheming and a dubious ouster: Here’s a lesson in how not to run a regional planning agency that funnels billions of dollars into transportation projects throughout North Texas.
Late last month, the North Central Texas Council of Governments terminated its long-time transportation director, Michael Morris. More specifically, Executive Director Todd Little sent him packing.
After that, the Regional Transportation Council joined Denton County in a lawsuit against the COG and its executive board. Then, a judge temporarily blocked Morris’ termination. He has been reinstated, at least for now. The heart of the issue is who has the authority to fire Morris. With us so far?
Our newsroom covered these events in depth. Near as we can tell, Morris’ detractors ousted him for political reasons, removing one of the most consequential figures in shaping North Texas.
There are many potential problems here. The first is that those who pushed Morris out have articulated no clear vision for who could replace him or his experience. That is no easy question. Whatever one thinks of Morris’ successes and shortcomings, he has delivered the funds to keep this region growing time after time and he has been a fair arbiter for every segment.
Some who wanted Morris gone have aired grievances against his policies: the number of tolled lanes of highway developed under his leadership, for instance.
That’s a fair concern and a strategy we’ve long been concerned about. Toll roads encourage economic segregation and strain budgets for those looking to save time commuting. Far too much power has been placed in the hands of toll operators.
But remember that toll roads represented the only way to grow substantially in the face of Austin’s unwillingness to raise the gas tax to fund the highway infrastructure Texas needs. Gas taxes are now a third rail of politics. So, flawed as they are, the tolls are part of Morris’ “get-it-done” strategy.
Morris also worked behind the scenes to arrange a deal to keep Dallas Area Rapid Transit intact. He was behind a $75 million spending package for DART member cities, helping to persuade them to cancel withdrawal elections. In the end, only Highland Park left, and that was not an unexpected outcome.
Never has there been a mobility problem Morris couldn’t dream up a solution to. Some have been dreams, like a plan to build a massive tunnel under the Park Cities that never materialized. And how could we forget the Trinity toll road project? But the misses were small relative to what Morris brought back.
His ouster, on pause for now, is shaping up as a classic tale of reckless “reformers” looking to tear down the old institutional power without any idea of what it will actually take to replace it. Morris has long been a master of deal-making, and he has proven himself most skillful at opening a variety of different piggy banks to bring in much-needed funds for North Texas.
This little civil war scenario the regional council of governments has gotten itself into threatens to derail and disrupt the work transportation planners are supposed to be doing: moving people around North Texas.
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