For a project that is intended to benefit the state, California's proposed $98.5 billion bullet train is drawing fire from just about everybody but the governor. And the controversy is more political spin than anything else, from Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy in Bakersfield to Silicon Valley Democrats who don't like the routes through wealtnhy constituents' neighborhoods. All aboard!
From Ralph Vartabedian, Dan Weikel and Richard Simon in the LA Times: "This is not a train to nowhere," said California High-Speed Rail Authority board member Dan Richards, a finance expert appointed to the rail agency's board this summer by Gov.Jerry Brown. "It will be a train to where trains are waiting. That is the new strategy."
"The extended construction scheme still would begin next year with a controversial spine of track in the Central Valley, leading to initial operation of 220-mph trains to either San Jose or the San Fernando Valley in roughly a decade, officials said."
"However, the new construction schedule would lead to dramatically higher costs at a time when California's heavy debt load already has yielded one of the lowest credit ratings in the nation.""Opponents warned Tuesday that the system had become even more objectionable, and they vowed to redouble their efforts to kill the idea."
One citiy not included in the proposed project is San Diego, a traffic-clogged, air quality-challenged town that is California's second-largest city. If any town needs the high-speed rail, the locals argue, it's San Diego and its population of 1.3 million.
From the AP's Elliot Spagat: "Roberts also said he was concerned that costs will swell even beyond the latest projection, which was more than double the amount pitched to voters in 2008.
"If this were a private venture, I would guarantee you the company would say this has gone past the point of making any sense," he said."
"Jerome Stocks, chairman of the San Diego Association of Governments and deputy mayor of suburban Encinitas, questioned whether the cost was justified. Excluding the San Diego region is ludicrous, he said."
"If you want mass transit that works, you put it where the people are," he said.
Meanhile, one Republican lawmaker, whose district is about as close to the bullet-train route as Capitol Weekly is to a Pulitzer prize, wants to block the whole thing at the ballot box, citing the project's cost.
FromTorey Van Oot in the Bee: "LaMalfa, a vocal critic of the project, blasted the authority's earlier cost projections and pledges for federal and private dollars for the project, saying authority members and supporters "have known all along that these targets would not be met."
"The Richvale Republican said he plans to introduce legislation that would ask California voters to reconsider the $9 billion in bonds approved for the project in 2008."
"The voters were deceived in the original go-around with highly optimistic ridership and cost numbers that have not been born out," LaMalfa said in an interview, adding that the larger figures ""should have been in front of the voters to begin with so they would have the truth."
"LaMalfa also plans to push Senate Bill 22, legislation he introduced last year to freeze all spending on the rail line. While that bill failed this year to make it to a full floor vote in the Democratic-controlled Legislature, LaMalfa said he believes public outrage over the latest figures will give both of his measures a better shot when the legislators return to work in January."
After three years, an array of legal clashes, a titanic union-management fight and an international reputation as the poster child of municipal mismanagement, Vallejo formally emerged from bankruptcy Tuesday with things looking a little bit brighter.
From the Chronicle's Carolyn Jones: "I think we're all exhausted but exulted," said City Councilwoman Stephanie Gomes. "It's been a rough road."
"Vallejo's City Council declared bankruptcy in May 2008, faced with large deficits, few reserves, costly police and fire contracts and plunging tax revenue. Declaring bankruptcy gave the city protection from creditors and allowed it to renegotiate its employee contracts."
"Among other changes, city staffers now contribute more to their health insurance, new firefighters have lower pension plans, and the fire department no longer has minimum staffing requirements."
Finally, from our "And You Think Your Driving Test Was Tough" file, comes the tale of pregnant Emma French, who passed her test then drove straight to the hospital.
"And despite the pain, she passed and then drove herself to hospital to have her first baby. Emma was not due for another month but had woken at 4am to find her waters had broken.
"Yet when the baby did not arrive, she decided to sit the 8.40am test despite pleas from her family."
"She said: “Everyone was telling me to go to the hospital but I had waited so long for my driving test, I was determined to do it."
“I didn’t dare tell the examiner I was in labour in case he made me cancel the test. The nurses in the hospital were very confused because I was getting congratulations cards for both my baby and my driving test. When I told them, they were all in shock. They couldn’t believe it.”
What about the parallel parking?....
