CaliforniaCityNews.org

Palo Alto Takes a Stance Against High-Speed Rail Station; Federal Funds Boost Project

It appears there won’t be any boarding of trains in the city of Palo Alto, as the City Council recently voted unanimously against allowing a stop for High-Speed Rail in its city. Council members decided to inform the California High-Speed Rail Authority that they don’t want a train station in Palo Alto to be part of the rail’s route up in the Bay. Palo Alto, along with Mountain View and Redwood, were being considered for a 67,000-square-foot mid-Peninsula station, but officials voted against it due to concerns about traffic and the costs of building a large parking structure for it. The station would have been along the route from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Mercury News reports:

“The council fell short Monday night of taking a formal stance against a station anywhere along the mid-Peninsula, saying it doesn't want to speak for other cities. ‘I'm a little uncomfortable with telling Redwood City what to do,’ Councilman Larry Klein said as the council considered a recommendation by Councilman Greg Scharff to expand the letter to express opposition to a station anywhere on the mid-Peninsula. Though the council rejected Scharff's suggestion, it agreed to include in its letter that most of the reasons it opposes the station would apply to other potential locations along the mid-Peninsula.”

In other rail-related news, the project has gotten a big financial boost from the federal government, thanks to a $902-million grant that was awarded for rail improvements throughout the Golden State. The high-speed rail system is slated to receive at least $731 million. Much of the money has been specifically tagged for the Central Valley, as $715 million will help pay for the design and construction of a section of the planned bullet train in that region; in addition, around $16 million will go toward a route between San Francisco and San Jose. Gov. Schwarzenegger said the following of the grant: “These additional funds are a tremendous vote of confidence for California's high-speed rail project. I thank the federal government for recognizing the value of accelerating the pace of our project and look forward to the many groundbreakings sure to follow." Overall, the federal government is dishing out $2.5 billion for rail projects throughout the nation. Read more here.

Derailed: Peninsula Cities File Lawsuit Against High-Speed Rail Authority

The cities of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton are looking to throw the high-speed rail project off its tracks, as they have filed a lawsuit against the California High-Speed Rail Authority. These Peninsula cities, along with three environmental groups, two citizens groups and a San Mateo resident, are responsible for the litigation and are arguing that those in charge of the project have failed to properly account for the train’s negative impacts in the region. Specifically, there are concerns about noise, eminent domain, and tracks dividing neighborhoods. Also, the suit is alleging that the rail authority has not considered enough other options for how the tracks will run in these cities. High-speed rail has been controversial in many cities, but especially so in this Peninsula region, as two of the involved cities also filed a similar suit back in 2008, but it was eventually dismissed. The suit alleges the following:

“The project description in the FRPEIR (final revised programmatic environmental impact report) was inadequate because it included inaccurate ridership and revenue figures that were derived using a defective and previously-undisclosed ridership/revenue model. The defective and inaccurate ridership and revenue information ... resulted in the (California High-Speed Rail Authority) not being able to make accurate and informed choices among various project alternatives and in not being able to properly or accurately determine the financial feasibility of various project alternatives and mitigation measures.”

The authority’s ridership projections and environmental impacts are also attacked in the suit. For more on the litigation, see here.

Palo Alto Not on Board with High-Speed Rail; Cmte Declares ‘No Confidence’ in Project

We recently relayed that a study out of UC Irvine concluded that high-speed rail would boost the economy in Southern California by providing over 100,000 permanent jobs and would continue to expand the state’s green economy. As for up north, one city isn’t too keen on the transportation plans that have been released for the rail project thus far and is making its opposition known. The high-speed rail committee for Palo Alto’s City Council recently voted to declare “No Confidence” in the plan and its governing body. As a result, the resolution will be voted on by the entire City Council on September 13th. The committee’s vote of “No Confidence” was unanimous. Opposition stems from views that the current rail plan is not viable, is not responsive to local communities, funding issues, and is based on a problematic business plan. Councilman Larry Klein, chair of the High-Speed Rail Committee, wrote the resolution and said the following:

“It's time for us to recognize what the facts of life are and to act accordingly. We need to be proactive in defense of our community and our region, or else this will be just rammed down our throat and all the studies and alternative designs won't make a bit of difference.”

Klein also expressed concerns that the project’s true costs would be imposed on local communities and was the only forceful voice in suggesting the possibility that the project should be stopped all together. Based on how the council votes later in September, Palo Alto could join both Atherton and Orange in formally opposing the project. The committee’s resolution calls for the California High-Speed Rail Authority to be replaced and for pressuring lawmakers and the governor to pull funding. Mercury News reports that Mayor Pat Burt stated, “It's a difficult decision because we've been attempting, as many cities up and down the state have been attempting, to work in a collaborative manner.” Read more here and here.

Study: High-Speed Rail to Bring 127,000 Jobs to SoCal and Expand Green Economy

According to a new study by UC Irvine, the Los Angeles-Orange County area would benefit from the creation of 127,000 permanent jobs by 2035 through the construction of high speed rail in the region. The study was conducted by UCI’s Institute for Transportation Studies and was presented before 100 elected officials, business leaders, transportation experts and academics and was partly sponsored by the by the Orange County Transportation Assn. Reportedly incomes would increase by $701 million for workers in the area. The LA Times reports:

“Plans call for one of the initial phases to be built between Los Angeles and Anaheim. During construction, the report states, the Anaheim to Los Angeles segment would provide more than $700 million in wages for workers who would have otherwise been unemployed. The study estimates that the project would create more than 57,000 fulltime construction jobs that would last a year. By 2035, the reports states, the enhanced transportation network and increased mobility created by high-speed rail would attract more than 127,000 permanent jobs to the region.”

However, the study’s findings were based on a more costly approach that would not involve sharing existing tracks between L.A. and Anaheim. Thus, elevated structures would have to be built and existing homes and businesses would have to be condemned. Another focus of the study was the economic benefits that high-speed rail could bring to the state, namely preventing the release of about half a billion pounds of greenhouse gases each year. The study notes that the transportation system could spearhead the expanding green economy by providing an alternative to cars. You can read more here.

Stop that Train: Peninsula Cities Consortium Raises Objections to High Speed Rail Plans

The Peninsula Cities Consortium, made up of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Burlingame and Belmont, are saying not so fast when it comes to implementing the state’s plans for a high-speed train that would connect Northern and Southern California. Due to environmental and economic issues that the group feels need to be addressed further, the Peninsula Consortium stated its objections to the plans put forth so far and its goals in speaking out as follows: “Our objective is to have the California High Speed Rail Authority collaborate with the Peninsula Cities Consortium and its member cities in determining the alignment, the range of alternatives and mitigations. We believe that the final design should minimize the impacts, improve the quality of life in local communities and incorporate the best urban design ideas.” As the High Speed Rail Authority has issued proposed routes, opposition has formed, especially over plans that would run tracks down the peninsula from San Jose to San Francisco. In a statement about the plan, PCC Chair Richard Cline, who is mayor of Menlo Park, said the following:

“Common sense is absent from the high speed rail discussion. Right now the Authority plans to select a final alignment and release its draft environmental impact report by December of this year under an extremely rushed project schedule that is dictated solely by the desire for federal funds. The project is suffering from an enormous credibility problem, due to its widely criticized business plan, faulty ridership numbers and the absence of funding to carry out the project statewide – let alone offer realistic alternatives for the section planned on the Peninsula. There also is no stated plan for paying to operate high speed rail once it is built, and we fear local taxpayers may be left holding the bag.”

In addition to the objections of this consortium of cities, a report by the University of California's Institute of Transportation Studies has also been critical of the rail project. You can read the entire statement from the PPC here.

(Cross-Posted at California Propositions)

Mayor Pushes Mower to Save City Money

Stunt or no, you can't beat the image of the town mayor mowing the lawn in city parks to save cash.  Holy Toledo...

Prop 99 Passes While 98 Falls Short

CCN has been following the movement to reform Eminent Domain closely for close to a year.  In fact, CaliforniaCityNews' first post ever was a guest piece by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, who wrote: Eminent Domain Reforms Imminent.  On Tuesday, California voters fufilled that prophesy, passing Proposition 99 by a wide margin -- 63% - 37%. 

Prop 98, the Howard Jarvis sponsored measure that would have eliminated rent controls across the state, failed by a nearly inverse margin, garnering just 31% voter support.

CCN loves elections, and can never help itself from pouring over returns on the very well run Secretary of State website.  Some notes on these campaigns in particular:

• Prop 99 passed in every California county except Colusa, who rejected it by a 60 - 40 margin.
• Prop 98 passed in just 19 of the state's 58 counties.  These wins were primarily in the Central Valley and far northern areas of the state, and many of these victories were narrow -- less than 52%.
• Prop 98 failed in every major metro area (and anywhere virtually close thereto), suggesting the spate of TV ads in recent weeks had a strong effect on the outcome.

The Prop 99 coaltion should be congratulated on a well run campaign.  This was a critical effort to intiate eminent domain reform and defeat a deceptive measure in Prop 98.  Here's a rundown of major media coverage of the election: SacBee, LA Times, San Jose Merc, SFChron.

Prop 98 Garnering Just 33% Support

With just a week to go before election day, a new Field Poll shows Prop 98 supported by a scant 33% of voters.  View fuller details on the poll here, and please remember how critical this issues come next Tuesday.  Get thh facts on Prop 98 here.

Prop 98 Trailing at the Polls

A PPIC report released Thursday morning will show that Prop 98, the Howard Jarvis anti-rent control measure, is trailing at the polls and that support for the initiative has declined in the last 90 days.  CCN has a copy of the full polling data here, but the raw numbers are 30% Yes, 48% No and 22% Undecided. 

It is critical that you get out and vote June 3.  Prop 98 is trailing by a clear margin in this poll from one of the state's most reputable research firms, but we all know there's only one poll that matters: election day.  Read up one last time on why Prop 98 is dangerous to cities here.

UPDATE: Read the CoCo Times' analysis of the PPIC poll here. 

Prop 98 Protested in San Francisco

Groups including the AARP, the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters gathered near San Francisco City Hall Wednesday to protest Prop 98 -- the anti-rent control measure disguised as eminent domain reform. 

Read more here.  Kathy Fairbanks, who is the campaign director for the No on 98, Yes on 99 campaign, was quoted as saying "Voters are very smart and we don't think they'll be fooled," by 98's deceptive play.  This election is less than a month away, and make no mistake -- a lot is at stake in the Prop 98/99 battle.  Get more info on how these measure could affect California here.