Tea party groups hold 'Derail SunRail' protest

Tea Party groups met at the Orlando City Hall on Tuesday to protest SunRail, the commuter train that would travel through the city of Orlando in addition to Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties.

Governor Rick Scott must decide the fate of SunRail no later than July 2 and members of the Tea Party and 912 Groups say we don’t need it.

“SunRail is the poster child for big government spending on a public project that we don’t need and that will be paid for with money we don’t have,” Beth Dillaha of www.vetosunrail.com said.

Sharon Calvert, co-founder of the Tampa Tea Party, and Karen Jaroch, president of Tampa Engineering Associates, spoke out during the protest against the SunRail project.

“Accordingly, if the government signs this federal funding agreement, the unacceptable and exceedingly high risk of this financial burden will legally fall on all Florida tax payers,” Calvert said.

Jaroch believes the commuter train would be a financial burden on taxpayers.

“To sum it up, the Central Florida SunRail project cost too much, does too little, and it is not worth the financial risk it will impose on the taxpayers across the entire state of Florida,” Jaroch said.

Dwayne Coffey is the president of the Eastern Orlando Tea Party. He says Florida doesn’t have sufficient funds to pay for the commuter train.

“It’s going to service very few people, it doesn’t connect to Disney, doesn’t go to the airport, so really what’s it doing?”

However, some people at the protest are for SunRail. Former commissioner Linda Stuart believes SunRail would lead to alternative means of travel to get to school, work and other places around Central Florida.

“You got to start somewhere,” Stuart said. “It isn’t one hundred percent put together, but it will be and should be.”