Your High-Speed Rail Authority at Work

Here is a YouTube video of High-speed Rail Authority board member Rod Diridon, Sr. discussing "serious media relations problems" for high-speed rail on the mid-Peninsula:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRecXlwFXWA

I wish it were longer than a minute and a half, but it does give you a feel for his style.

Comments

[Joe]

The local activist group Don't Railroad Us collected 1,050 signatures over the weekend on the petition described here:

To: Dominic Spaethling
Re: California High Speed Rail Authority, Alternatives Analysis Comment

We have attended meetings, coffees, teach-ins, outreach sessions, City Council meetings and CSS orientations, all in an attempt to participate in the process of planning High Speed Rail in our Peninsula communities. It quickly became apparent to us that many decisions had been made, long before public input.

Throughout the CHSRA outreach process, we have been assured that all alignment options are being considered, but evaluation of the HSR business plan and budget lead us to believe otherwise. The train has left the station and the beautiful communities of the Peninsula appear to be in the way.

We had hoped that you would understand our concerns. However, as we continue to witness High Speed Rail board members and representatives who live elsewhere, in some unfortunate cases discount us with name-calling, it is evident that no one in the planning process has knowledge of our community or empathy for our situation. Without a Peninsula representative on the CHSRA board, it is brilliantly clear that the intent is for us not to have a voice on High Speed Rail.

But we do have a voice, in fact 1050 voices. Please find attached a petition of signatures quickly collected by residents who care deeply about Burlingame and the Peninsula and don't want it ruined forever. These signatures may represent a variety of opinions on the best build options for high speed rail, but one thing we all agree on is:

“We, the undersigned residents of the Peninsula, oppose any above-ground High Speed Rail through the middle of our communities.”
Rest assured, we are not daunted by being branded “Rotten Apples,” “Nimby’s” or “Trouble-makers.” We will continue to grow our numbers and raise our voices to be heard by CHSRA. Only when we are given the consideration our community deserves, will we stop.

With Best Regards –
Don’t Railroad Us! Burlingame
A group of citizens concerned about High Speed Rail done right

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000256147505]

Hey Joe, THANKS! I am proud to be one of the 1,050 voices.

[Ron Fulderon]

I think there is no way that any entity - the cities, the states or the fed can afford to do tunneling up and down the peninsula. In fact we/they at this point can't afford to do the project above ground. And I say "at this point" because it's going to probably get a whole lot worse when the wave of baby boomers start retiring and removing more money from the system. The HSR scheme is a pipe dream and will fall apart one way or the other.

The real issue is how much damage will it cause as it goes broke from underfunding (underfunding being anything less than a $100B -- check out what it costs to do civic construction these days). I think the cleanest thing to do would be to get a proposition back on the california ballot to cancel HSR and be done with it.