Tamarack, 4/2/07

I spent several years covering politics. I spent several years covering business.

It was always interesting seeing businesspeople think they could run government as a business. It was sad to see politicians thinking they could run a business. Too many times, public money was wasted on well-meaning ventures.

Sometimes the intersection of politics and business results in millions of public dollars lost. That is the story of Tamarack.

Now that everyone has weighed in with their opinions about the West Virginia Turnpike and Tamarack, Gov. Joe Manchin is giving his.

The Legislature passed a bill requiring that it approve all future toll increases on the Turnpike. Machin vetoed that bill.

Last week, Manchin said he wants the Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority to focus on maintaining the 88-mile turnpike. That would put the authority out of the economic development game and out of the arts and crafts business.

Manchin said he wants the state Department of Commerce to develop a plan to operate Tamarack.But the authority has a $10 million bond debt that has to be paid on Tamarack. It will have to find a way to pay off that debt before Tamarack’s ownership can change.

Tamarack was criticized in two reports issued early this year. The authority subsidizes Tamarack by about $2.5 million a year, most of which comes from Turnpike tolls. Tamarack’s goal of providing a showcase for the best arts and crafts of West Virginia is a laudable one, but it cannot keep losing $2 million to $3 million a year while parts of the Turnpike deteriorate from lack of maintenance.

The turnpike authority owns land it could sell. It could increase tolls for the first time in more than 25 years.

Things must change on the Turnpike. The best strategy is to get out of ventures that don’t pertain to operating a road, sell off property that is not vital to the function of operating a road, getting out of debt and removing the tolls.