flyingember wrote:kboish wrote:
This is not really a fair comparison for our current TDD because of the way it was formed.
I don't disagree with you, but "It's closer to a school district that crosses city lines" is way easier to get across and doesn't require getting into nuances on board membership.
Right, but you also said...
flyingember wrote:The background of the point made by the city lawyer is a TDD is a subdivision of the state. It's not a separate political subdivision inside the city that has special powers. This point is very important and is easily lost. Someone might think the streetcar TDD is controlled by the city.
and my point is- in its current configuration, the city very much does have control over the streetcar, even if it is not currently exercising that control fully. A change in the TDD's governance could limit that control, however I do not see any scenario where the city does not own the actual assets given how the original TDD was formed. In any case, The state statutes recognize that these special political subdivisions operate within existing municipalities and those municipalities are granted some control over those special districts, especially if they are operating a transit system within their jurisdiction. So, the city will always retain some control over the streetcar (ask Dave about light priority) and this is VERY different than how a school district operates in relation to a city.
A better comparison is that the TDD is like the Port Authority. Technically, that is a separate political subdivision, however, if the city dislikes how it is operating, the mayor can wipe out the board and install people who will overhaul the organization. The city cannot do that with the school district or really have any effect on how the school district operates.