I have to ask myself two questions when looking at past funding on the C&TS. Have the States invested sufficiently in the C&TS? And were the states asked to invest in the railroad. The answer I arrive at is no on both. People often forget that elected government officials are not experts on everything. Infact, the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee asked for a five-year plan for the railroad in the November 2002 meeting, and they were still asking for it in August 2003. If we do not teach them about issues facing the C&TS how will they know? One answer is that may be the job of the commission. However the commission members are volunteers and they have always had a limited staff. With these voids how does one fill the gap? If the operator does not push for funding that they can not produce then where does that leave us? To me the problems of the C&TS of today are due to the inability of some people in the past to anticipate problems, communicate ideas on how to solve them and then implement the plan. What seems important to me today is development of railroad and communication skills in the railroad’s management today.
The C&TS benefits from strong public support that many organizations can only dream about. The C&TS needs to learn from the mistakes of the past and not blame others for their current problems. While the states may currently be closely watching budget expenditures, yet the states, now aware of some of the issues, are showing strong support for the railroad in various ways. Managing the railroad for longer than one season at a time will go a long way toward stabilizing its future.
Robby
