High Cost Rail - Part 94 A "Creative argument" from the Guv

Refocusing away from the increasingly entertaining City Council race and back to high-cost rail for a moment, the SacBee's Dan Walters has another good round-up of the Governor's reaction to the adverse ruling we wrote about back in August.  Walters notes

Sacramento Judge Michael Kenny agreed with San Joaquin Valley opponents of the project that a series of financial and procedural requirements to commit funds from the bond issue had not been met, thus imperiling plans to start construction on an initial segment in that region.

The winning lawyers want Kenny to block any further work on the initial line and “go back to square one” to comply with the bond requirements, but such a delay could violate a looming federal government deadline for using its funds.

In response, state lawyers creatively argue that construction can begin with $3.24 billion in federal grants without using state money, under a waiver granted by federal authorities eager to score a high-speed success.

Please do click through and read the full article about Lockyer's reluctance to release funds and the threat to CEQA from a couple of federal bureaucrats who have "approved" a project that is entirely within one state.  We know that "blending" with Caltrain violates Prop 1A, but the Guv doesn't seem to care. This fight ain't over.

Comments

[jennifer]

Yet another slap in the face. HSR is out of control, like those science fiction movies where somebody hit the 'deploy' button and it's ticking down.

[Ron Fulderon]

And yet people still vote for the democrat party and trash tea party types. We get the government we deserve.

[Mark]

So I have another bone to pick with the HSR issue and the current elections and candidates. Why do some of the candidates, especially incumbents keep saying that HSR needs to go underground, like that is in the realm of possibility? something that is nice to say and rings well with people but seriously, where are they going to come up with the money for that? also Burlingame's power is really limited and why this city didn't join earlier lawsuits and later flip flop on the issue is beyond me.

HSR was never feasible and certainly won't be with dreams of underground tracks in Burlingame, so why even mention that dumb possibility other than you can appeal to both sides of the argument--say you're against it but offer up some possibility for a transit friendly underground HSR with no external effects. What a bunch of desperate vote seekers that are insulting our collective intelligence.

Which leads me to Russ Cohen, who like everyone else, puts his legs in his pants one at a time, except that he also has founded the high speed boondoggle web site that was and is the primary source of information going way back before our so called city elders were still in governmental diapers. And wow, he actually has a strong opinion on the issue and has for years, instead of wishy-washy doublespeak or bandwagon HSR haters that seem to go with whatever direction the wind takes them.

[jennifer]

As my husband has often remarked --
They don't even have the funding to do this project the wrong way, so why would anyone believe they will do this "right" through our city (ie. underground) ?

[leh]

That's because Burlingame's City Council, being the good demorcrats that they are, all want the HSR but don't know how to be a good democrat and also fight against what the majority of Burlingame residents don't want, the HSR. Most of them voted for it and most of them supported it when it came up for a vote way back when. I've been told over and over again that the HSR is dead and not to worry about it. Obviously, it is not and unless we get serious about it, we'll have it running through our town like a 6 lane freeway. Russ is the only one that has been against it from the start and the only one that continues to fight against it.

[Joe]

From today's DJ with my comments in CAPS:

SACRAMENTO — Attorneys for the California High-Speed Rail Authority argued Friday that Central Valley residents who sued the state over its bullet train plan have no grounds to stop the project, despite a judge’s ruling that the state violated the promises made to voters in a 2008 ballot proposition.

Instead, it would be up to the state Legislature to step in if lawmakers believed the $68 billion funding plan does not comply with Proposition 1A, which authorized $10 billion in high-speed rail bonds, Deputy Attorney General Michele Inan said.

“The taxpayers are represented through the legislative process,” Inan told Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny.

Kenny ruled in August that the rail authority “abused its discretion by approving a funding plan that did not comply with the requirements of the law.” He further said it had failed to identify “sources of funds that were more than merely theoretically possible.”

Still, Inan argued that since the Legislature approved spending the money to get started on high-speed rail, only the Legislature can undo it or ask for an updated funding plan. REALLY. I SEE THE JUDICIAL BRANCH JUMPING IN A OVERRULING THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH ALL THE TIME. WHY MIGHT THIS BE DIFFERENT? OH BECAUSE THIS IS MOONBEAM'S PET PROJECT.

[jennifer]

The latter.

[Joe]

I read this in the news today. It looks like it might be the playbook that Moonbeam will use to boost ridership if this boondoggle ever gets built!

Amtrak, the U.S. taxpayer-supported passenger railroad, is losing tens of millions of dollars a year on food and beverage service even after years of cost cutting, its inspector general said.

Almost all of last year’s $72 million in food-service losses were from providing meals on long-distance trains, Inspector General Ted Alves said in testimony at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing today. Contracting out some functions has the greatest potential to stem losses, he said.

“Amtrak’s operating losses on food and beverage services have been a long-standing issue, and they contribute directly to the need for federal subsidies to support operations,” Alves said.

Amtrak’s Auto Train from Virginia to Florida offers passengers COMPLIMENTARY wine and cheese, and three long-distance routes provide COMPLIMENTARY wine and champagne to sleeper-car passengers, Alves said, costing Amtrak $428,000 in 2012.

Amtrak employees traveling on FREE passes consumed about $260,000 in COMPLIMENTARY meals on the Auto Train, Alves said.

[Anne]

I just bought a round trip airline ticket to LA, LAX to be exact for $143.90 including $30 of tax. Will the high speed rail tickets be taxed?