In a previous post, I shared the opinion piece I drafted regarding our efforts to keep the FasTracks program moving forward, “Let’s Keep FasTracks on Track!”

The beauty of having your opinions printed in the local newspaper is the broad audience that you can reach.  But, on the flip-side, it is that same broad audience that has the chance to scrutinize your written opinions for even the slightest gaffes.

So you can just imagine my embarrassment when the following letter appeared in the Daily Camera calling-out my failure to properly name the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company:

You’d think they would know better

The “Transit plan is on track” commentary on Jan. 19 by Lee Kemp and John Tayer was quite comprehensive on embellishing the detail that went into the planning, public discussion, justification, ongoing engineering etc. for the Denver-Longmont commuter rail line.

However, it twice mentions the use of Burlington Northern-Southern Pacific Railroad tracks. As most folks in the area know, these tracks belong to the BNSF Corporation, with the initials originating from merger of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroads.

While reading, I mentally wrote this misinformation off to typing error or lack or research of the Camera reporters Kemp and Tayer. How surprised I was when reaching the editor’s note at the end identifying authors Kemp and Tayer as RTD district directors, with their letter also signed by 11 municipal and citizen group officials. These 13 signing officials endorsing the project and the process earned a no-credibility rating. Did any of them proofread what they signed?

ROBERT WILLIAMS

Broomfield

I guess such a “public flogging”, as my friend called it, is warranted and I apologize to all those I offended with this editing error.  But, on a positive note, it did give me and RTD Board Chair Lee Kemp the chance to reiterate for Daily Camera readers our appreciation for the high level of public scrutiny the Northwest Commuter Rail project continues to receive:

You’re right, we were wrong

W e want to thank readers for catching the inadvertent typo in our recent guest-opinion piece regarding the Northwest commuter rail line.

The careful readers are 100 percent correct, and we do appreciate their pointing out the error. We know very well that we are dealing with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, but did not catch the mistake in the final draft review.

In our efforts to keep the public informed on the process and progress with the Northwest rail line, we are pleased to see the continued high level of scrutiny this project receives. Such public attention will ensure that we design the best possible commuter rail system for the Northwest Corridor.

LEE KEMP

RTD Board, District “I”

JOHN TAYER

RTD Board, District “O”

But, the next time I make such a public statement . . . hopefully I won’t need to correct such an embarrassing error.