Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Wishful Thinking Continues
Mercury News | 03/22/2004 | Cities add priorities to VTA's to-do list:
It seems many on the board still hold out hope that their BART dreams
will be saved by a white knight in flowing financial armor. They still
hold out hope for federal and state money to fully fund their favorite
projects, and for a turnaround in the local economy to boost sales tax
revenue.
Rather than deal with the fiscal realities we face today, they insist
on ignoring the obvious facts of the current situation by:
These points are all too obvious when observing board members during their
meetings and watching their stone faced responses to repeated appeals
from citizens and groups in attendance to see reason, and watching them
vote in direct opposition to their desires.
The public commenting periods during these meetings are a sham. They
are a part of the hearings only to create the illusion that your needs
are being seriously considered, when in reality their vote is only a
formality to record the decisions already made behind closed doors
before the meetings are held.
"Let's complete the preliminary engineering and see where we are in the next 18 to 24 months,'' said Ben Tripousis, a transportation manger for San Jose. "The federal situation could change. The local fiscal picture may change.
"At that point you can make a more intelligent decision about what to do with a project the magnitude of BART.''
It seems many on the board still hold out hope that their BART dreams
will be saved by a white knight in flowing financial armor. They still
hold out hope for federal and state money to fully fund their favorite
projects, and for a turnaround in the local economy to boost sales tax
revenue.
Rather than deal with the fiscal realities we face today, they insist
on ignoring the obvious facts of the current situation by:
- spending $52 million to study the BART extension to San Jose
- refusing to cut back administrative staff to save money
- ignoring the outcry from city councils across the county to
fairly allocate transit funds - and pretending that their plans are in line with the desires and
needs of the communities they are bound by law to serve.
These points are all too obvious when observing board members during their
meetings and watching their stone faced responses to repeated appeals
from citizens and groups in attendance to see reason, and watching them
vote in direct opposition to their desires.
The public commenting periods during these meetings are a sham. They
are a part of the hearings only to create the illusion that your needs
are being seriously considered, when in reality their vote is only a
formality to record the decisions already made behind closed doors
before the meetings are held.
Comments:
Post a Comment
