When you’re a reporter covering transportation issues in a state with some of the worst roads in the country, you should expect a bumpy ride.
But MLive’s Justin Hicks wasn’t prepared for the obstacles he encountered in trying to figure out if Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s bold campaign pledge in 2018 to “fix the damn roads” has been accomplished.
In a data-rich article published this week, Hicks was able to quantify what has been done six years into Whitmer’s two terms as governor in terms of dollars spent (about 20 percent more than the previous administration) and road miles built (roughly the same).
Empirically the roads have not been fixed, damned or not. Anecdotally the roads have not been fixed – we all drive them and know, but Hicks went into the field and talked to motorists who’ve had to replace tires and windshields to confirm that.
“I've been covering road construction for two years now and we’ve all heard the ‘fix the damn roads’ campaign pledge – I thought, ‘She’s been in office for a long time,’” Hicks said. “Right now, they are breaking down faster than they’re being fixed.”
Which leads to the second part of the story: Political accountability and transparency. And that’s where Hicks hit a pothole: Since the governor set the goal, Hicks did the obvious and asked her staff to arrange an interview with Whitmer. What is her assessment on progress?
Hicks placed the request for the interview in August. Three months later, Whitmer still hadn’t been made available for an interview.
This caught him off guard because he was MLive’s lead reporter at the beginning of the COVID crisis, and he had no problem accessing the governor.
“I talked to her one-on-one, (staff) set up calls for me, I covered press events she was at – I thought it was a pretty good relationship,” he said. But a lot happened at the tail end of COVID, such as public and political pushback on Whitmer’s shutdown orders and a foiled assassination plot.
“It's been a while since I've talked to the governor, but also it sounds like it's been a while since anybody has talked to the governor,” Hicks said.
Whitmer’s staff countered that they would take questions on the road story via email. He submitted six questions and waited. And waited. Six weeks later he received no answers to specific questions, but a written statement.
“It was very cookie cutter – you could have said it came straight out of a press release. It did not address the questions and it just didn't seem like they were taking it seriously.”
He’s being literal: The Governor’s Office still references the road campaign pledge in its official press releases, such as this one issued on Aug. 5: “Governor Whitmer Continues to Fix the Damn Roads with Projects Starting this Week in Two Counties.” So she continues to frame it as “mission accomplished” even when a thorough analysis says it’s not.
Whitmer may be mum, but the political wheels keep turning. On Nov. 22 incoming House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, proposed a $2.7 billion infusion of state money into roads.
Hicks will continue to cover the issue and, for his part, said “I’d love to talk to her” if Whitmer wants to discuss her plans to achieve her campaign pledge. Absent that, the facts speak for themselves.
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