The credit for the favorable outcome of this week’s Metro Board meeting can be given to every San Gabriel Valley resident who has ever uttered those three prophetic words: I Will Ride. (As in, I will ride the Gold Line Foothill Extension when it’s built – hopefully by 2013.) At least that’s what Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board member Michael Antonovich thinks:
“I have to give credit to the San Gabriel Valley people who kept showing up to meetings to lobby for this.”
“Hurry let’s it done! More jobs, less cars, less smog, happy faces, the future is here. Let’s ride =) !”
“Going to Pasadena used to be a favorite thing to do, until the traffic got to be too much. I would ride, for sure.”
“Moving forward with the Gold Line extension creates job(s) that stimulate the economy and cleans up our environment of automotive pollution. It also helps solve gridlock.”
“All the great cities have good public transportation systems – except LA. There is no more land to expand freeways but the land for the Gold Line is paid for and ready. It is past time to move ahead.”
Sorting through the confusion and circus that was yesterday’s Metro Board meeting (you can follow the minute by minute coverage on our Twitter feed @iwillride), we came away with the impression that the Metro Board of Directors had chosen to delay any action on the $10 million budget item for the Gold Line Foothill Extension when they approved the 2010 fiscal year budget. That was not the case.
Metro’s Board Secretary confirmed to us after the meeting that Motion 9.4 of the agenda (which directs the CEO to allocate $10 million from the nearly $28 million in unallocated rail funds to the Foothill Extension) was approved by the Metro Board as part of the overall package of budget items that they had voted in favor of.
So now the Foothill Extension is one step closer to that 2013 opening reality. But really, yesterday’s result was more like a toe (not even a foot) in the door.
The $10 million allocation now has to come from a proper funding source, which the Metro staff will try to determine next month before the Foothill Extension can be listed in the Long Range Transportation Plan. We can only assume the proper pot of money will be the Measure R rail funds but we’ll find out when Metro let’s us know. That will be a whole other battle in itself, mainly because Metro will be forced to put up real dollars for the Foothill Extension – something the Board hasn’t done in our two decades and has rejected at every opportunity in the last year.
For those who were at yesterday’s meeting to witness the Board succumb under the pressure of a big agenda and a large crowd of passionate supporters, one can assume that the Board of Directors were saving the real talk about funding for next month. How this pays off for the Foothill Extension remains to be seen. However, upon reading the comments of the Metro spokesperson in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, there appears to be an assurance that the Foothill Extension would get its funding.
If you followed our live-tweet @iwillride of last week’s Metro Budget and Finance Committee meeting, you would have known that the committee voted in favor of recommending to the Metro Board of Directors that the Gold Line Foothill Extension receive a $10 million increase in Measure R funding for 2010 – a substantial upgrade from the original $127,000 it was slated to receive. Hence the use of the word “Big” in the title.
If you’re wondering why the Metro Budget and Finance Committee recommended such a big increase for the Foothill Extension, one only has to look at where the $10 million is coming from. Metro staff has estimated the (somewhat-disputably low) first-year projection of Measure R revenue for 2010 to be $361 million. Of that total revenue, approximately $125 million will be dedicated to rail projects. Of that $125 million, Metro budgeted $97 million for specific rail projects, leaving an unallocated fund balance of $28 million. And that $28 million is where Supervisor Mike Antonovich proposed the additional $10 million for the Foothill Extension come from.
So it should be a simple task for Metro to approve about a third of its unallocated funds to the shovel-ready Foothill Extension right? Here’s hoping. A majority of the 13-member board must approve the proposal.
Look for a wave of yellow-gold shirts tomorrow at the MTA building, and join us while you’re at it! We encourage all supporters to come and speak their minds to the Metro Board of Directors.
The meeting takes place tomorrow at 9:30 AM in the Metro Board Room at the MTA building.
For those not attending, we’ll be covering the meeting (this never gets old) live on our Twitter feed @iwillride. You can also listen live by calling in at (213) 922-6045.
“I feel very strongly that residents of the Valley have an option for public transportation that is practical for our lifestyles. There is no excuse to take the funds away from the Gold Line extension since the infrastructure is ready + the people are ready for it!!!”
“This is one of the best things that could happen to the San Gabriel Valley. I live in Pasadena + see the positive impact the Gold Line has made.”
“I work ~1/2 mile from the existing Fillmore station and work at the City of Hope in Duarte (near a proposed station). If you build it, I will ride to work EVERYDAY because I cannot stand driving on the 210.”
“I like the idea of anything that reduces pollution and creates jobs. Also I have some disabled family members who need transportation such as this. Build it safe, we will ride.”
A week from today, on May 28, the Metro Board of Directors will consider the agency’s 2010 budget. We need your help to ensure that the Gold Line Foothill Extension receives its fair share of Measure R funds so we can get the line open to Azusa in 2013. The proposed budget includes less than $127,000 for Foothill Extension, while giving tens of millions of dollars to projects that are still being studied. This level of funding will delay our project by four years.
Fortunately, there is a proposal to add $10 million in funding for Foothill Extension without taking a dime from any other project. Metro’s Budget and Finance Committee has recommended approval of the motion. We need you to attend the Metro board meeting next week so you can personally tell the directors that you support the Foothill Extension and you favor funding the line so the next phase can be built by 2013.
As you know, the Foothill Extension is ready to go, and it is the only rail project that could begin construction within 12 months. That means jobs. By delaying and minimizing Gold Line funding, Metro is losing the ability to get 3.3 million people off the road and onto trains every year past 2013. Metro board members and staff say they are committed to funding the Gold Line, but so far no guarantee has been made as to when the line will be funded.
We need you to join us in demonstrating to Metro that the San Gabriel Valley wants the Foothill Extension Funded Now!
Metro Board Meeting
Thursday, May 28, 2009
9:30 a.m.
Metro Headquarters, Board Room
One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Map
A couple of hours of your morning will make an impact in the lives of millions of San Gabriel Valley Residents.
The first 30 people who RSVP will receive a free t-shirt at the board meeting!
We can’t afford to wait! Tell Metro that the Foothill Extension can reduce freeway congestion and pollution and no other local rail project meets the “ready to go” criteria for economic stimulus.
Thomas Pellegrino knows a thing or two about the need for alternative modes of transportation – seeing that he is the Employee Transportation Coordinator for the thousands of employees at the City of Hope in Duarte, CA. Here he speaks about the need for a better commute for staff at the world-renowned medical campus.
If you would like to submit a video in support of the Gold Line Foothill Extension, visit the Speak Up page and submit your YouTube link.
Two big public meetings remain to be held by Metro in May to determine the (funding) fate of the Gold Line Foothill Extension.
The outcome of last week’s budget workshop on the 2010 fiscal year budget didn’t go too well with Foothill Extension advocates, so here’s hoping that today’s meeting gives us better news. After learning that the Foothill Extension was slated to receive a paltry $126,778 in 2010 instead of the previously-allocated $4 million (or the $735 million needed to build the extension), Supervisors Gloria Molina and Michael Antonovich, along with Duarte Mayor John Fasana, requested that Metro increase the budgets for both the Foothill Extension and Green Line. So that leaves us with today’s meeting, where Metro’s Finance and Budget Committee will take up the issue of increasing funds for both rail projects.
We encourage everyone to attend today’s meeting, which takes place at the MTA Building at 2:30 PM. For those not attending, you can follow us @iwillride on Twitter as we live-tweet the meeting or you can listen live by calling in at (213) 922-6045.
That was the reaction of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune’s editorial board when it was announced that a certain extension of the Gold Line would be getting $66.7 million in federal funds. Yay? Not really. It wasn’t the Foothill Extension that was the recipient, but the Eastside Extension – a project that is almost complete. The editorial’s biggest gripe towards Metro can be summed up in the irony surrounding the federal funds that were given to an almost-completed transportation project:
Meanwhile, the Gold Line Foothill Extension here in the San Gabriel Valley got zero dollars. Local officials estimate the Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa would have created 26,530 new jobs, while the Eastside, since it will open in a month, won’t create any new jobs. Instead, the money will help the MTA pay off its bond a little faster.
We are not making this stuff up. It’s all true. The MTA, the powerful transportation board that takes federal dollars for new projects, has said to hell with creating new jobs with stimulus money. While the Eastside line will be a fine addition to rail transit in the county, it didn’t meet the spirit of the $787 billion stimulus bill because it is a month shy of opening!
The bad news doesn’t stop there, as the editorial points out that the $40 billion (over 30 years) that Metro is scheduled to collect – through the Measure R sales tax increase – is now projected to be considerably less. This obviously leads to a situation that San Gabriel Valley elected officials had predicted would happen: more delays.
Besides being the first and only shovel-ready rail project in Los Angeles County, the editorial hopes the Gold Line Foothill Extension could become one more first for the region:
It could become the first rail line in Southern California to connect to an airport – in this case, Ontario International Airport. Not even [Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Chair Antonio] Villaraigosa or the previous configurations of the MTA were able to accomplish that task.
“This would be so useful to those of us living in the east end of LA County. My family travels often to Pasadena, and an extension would be immensely useful to us.”
With our rally at Citrus College behind us, the Metro Board meeting at the end of the month, and who knows what else might come up, May is going to be important month for the fate of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension. To help communicate how important the Foothill Extension is to the residents of the San Gabriel Valley, we’ll be publishing comments we have received from residents (read: future Foothill Extension riders) who responded to our mailing. After all, at the end of the day, this blog, our Twitter account, and everything else associated with I Will Ride have been acting as a voice for the San Gabriel Valley’s residents, quality of life, economic well-being, and ability to travel via alternative transportation.
If you missed our live-tweet @iwillride of the Measure R and Economic Recovery Information Forum this past Saturday, below is a summary of the meeting and an update on the status of funding for the Foothill Extension that was recently sent out from the Construction Authority’s CEO, Habib Balian. You can still visit our Twitter page to go more in-depth into the conversations that took place at the forum.
There was also a video that was shown at the Measure R Forum entitled “Waiting.” Care to guess what it’s referring to? The video is pasted below and also contains a tune known to brighten your day.
On Saturday, Assemblymember Ed Hernandez and the San Gabriel Valley Legislative Caucus hosted a Measure R and Economic Recovery Information Forum where elected leaders – including Assemblymember Mike Eng, Mayors Joe Rocha of Azusa, John Fasana of Duarte and Cory Calaycay of Claremont, City Councilmembers Keith Hanks of Azusa (Construction Authority chair), Doug Tessitor of Glendora (JPA chair) and Sam Pedroza of Claremont – along with Construction Authority gubernatorial appointee Lara Larramendi and Ed Rendon of the Teamsters Joint Council 42 – outlined the economic and jobs benefits that the Gold Line and other Measure R projects will bring to the fastest-growing portion of Los Angeles County. Councilmember Uriel Macias from Azusa and Citrus College Trustee Sue Keith were also in attendance providing support. Along with presentations focused on Foothill Extension readiness, Caltrans projects, and Alameda Corridor East progress, there was a candid discussion and Measure R Delivery update by Metro’s new chief executive officer, Art Leahy.
Leahy emphasized the Foothill Extension is a priority for Metro but he did not commit to when the funds will flow. “We are duty bound, honor bound, to do the project,” Leahy told the nearly 100 people in attendance at the Azusa Senior Center. He also recognized there is a rift between the Westside and San Gabriel Valley leaders and pledged to work to build consensus on the long-range plan.
Metro is currently analyzing financial data to determine how and when it will fund the projects promised to voters in the November ballot initiative. The board will discuss its finances and planning this Thursday (special board meeting on the budget), May 20 (public hearing on the budget and long-range plan) and May 28 (general board meeting). There is no Measure R Oversight Committee meeting in May.
Lastly, you may have heard some news that the Gold Line received federal stimulus package funding. The news refers to funding provided to the Eastside Extension, not the Foothill Extension. The Eastside Extension is scheduled to open in about a month. As we confirmed this morning, so-called “New Starts” stimulus rail funding went to projects currently in the federal grants stage. Had Metro included the Foothill Extension in its previous attempts at updating Long Range Transportation Plan and committed a small amount of funding, we would have been positioned to compete. As it stands today, our efforts are focused on securing Metro’s commitment of Measure R funding in 2010; this means revenue service to Azusa in 2013. The Extension is guaranteed to receive at least $735 million to help us build the line to Claremont by 2017. The total project cost from Pasadena to Montclair is $1.2 billion.
