Wednesday during an appearance on Birmingham radio Talk 99.5, Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth challenged the claim of the purpose of October’s meeting of the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge, and Tunnel Authority as a forum for those to offer alternatives to the proposed $2.1 billion I-10 Mobile Bay Bridge project and toll structure to finance the project.

According to Ainsworth, that responsibility should fall on the Alabama Department of Transportation and its director John Cooper.

The lieutenant governor also called attention to the binary offering from Cooper on the project.

“I want to say this because this is an important point: It really shouldn’t be the job of citizens and other people to have to come up with a plan. We’ve got an organization that is well funded in this state called ALDOT and a gentleman named John Cooper that is running it that really should come to this meeting with a series of other alternatives. And you’re going to see us come out and push on that pretty hard. They’re the experts.”

“He has taken a position, just like he’s done in the past on some things that ‘hey, it’s this way or nothing,” Ainsworth continued. “And from talking to other experts across the country, that’s not the case. But really, they should be – ALDOT and John Cooper – should be saying ‘these are all the different options we can do,’ if we want to do it in phases over a 40-, 50-, 60-year period. ‘These are some things we can do.’ But you don’t hear that from them. It’s basically, my understanding – I was not able to attend one of the meetings down there – my understanding was it was basically this or nothing. That’s not leadership. That’s not solving problems.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.