High-cost Rail Part 141 Gubernatorial Candidates

The Chronicle has done the public a service by getting each gubernatorial candidate to state his or her position on high-speed rail.  With some waffling aside, the responses are enlightening.  Remember, this is at least $100 billion dollars of taxpayer money regardless of whether it comes from bonds, pollution credits, federal funds or whatever scheme comes next.  So here with a couple of my comments in italics is the Chronicle's reporting.

Travis Allen:  There would be no place for high-speed rail, which he calls “the train to nowhere,” in Gov. Allen’s California.  “I’d defund high-speed rail and return the money to the people of California,” he said. “But I’d leave what’s up there now as a monument to Jerry Brown’s folly.”

John Chiang:  Chiang sees it as a way of uniting California.  High-speed rail “can connect the people getting STEM degrees at UC Merced with jobs at Google and other technology companies” in Silicon Valley or Southern California, he said.  Finding the billions needed to complete the project is key, Chiang admitted. (From the guy who is state treasurer!) “If the Central Valley to Santa Clara was the only leg, people would be investing in it, because it connects (affordable) homes to jobs,” he said. “That piece has to be built.” (Never mind that building half the system would be illegal because it violates the original Proposition).

John Cox:  Cox opposes what he calls “the crazy train” and has promised to stop construction if he’s elected. The project “is a monument to corruption,” Cox said, arguing that it shouldn’t have been built down the middle of the Central Valley, where its right of way has claimed farmland and businesses and provoked a flood of lawsuits.  “Why not put it down the middle of Interstate 5, where we already have the land?” he asked.

Delaine Eastin:  Eastin admits to mixed feelings about the rail plan and argues that she — and the state — have higher priorities.  “I’m a fan of the concept, but I don’t want to see general obligation bonds used, since they make everything more expensive,” she said.  If there were an identified revenue source for the project, she would be more supportive, Eastin said.  (IHOP's waffles aren't as good as this).  One way to raise money for high-speed rail, she said, is with an oil severance tax on companies that extract fossil fuels, something the state has been talking about — and rejecting — for years.

Gavin Newsom:   While Newsom has become less enthusiastic about the project as the schedule has lengthened and the price tag has grown, he still wants the rail system built.  (Flip-flop alert) Connecting the Central Valley to Silicon Valley could be a huge boost to the state’s economy, he says. Extending bullet trains to Los Angeles “is a question of resources,” but “if we get the first phase done, we can develop the technology and get the private sector involved” in a Southern California expansion.  (The technology is 30+ years old and fully-developed).

Antonio Villaraigosa:  Villaraigosa calls it essential to California’s economic development.  The rail system will “connect the two engines of the California economy,” providing the coastal giants with a link to the affordable housing in the Central Valley and allowing valley residents access to the good-paying jobs on the coast, he said.  The changes in the rail construction plan and the more realistic funding figures have made a difference, Villaraigosa said. “I’m for it now.”  (What changes in construction plans and funding figures?  What planet is this guy from?)

There you have it.  Pretty much straight down the party lines with the candidates who need union funding and votes being cautiously for it amid a bit of hand-waving.  And those that know they will get neither union money or endorsements are clearly ready to kill the boondoggle.  Any questions?  The primary is June 5th via all mail-in ballots in San Mateo County.

Comments

[Becca]

Thank you for the summary makes voting easier!

[Jennifer]

Gavin had it right about 3 years ago when he announced the program was bleeding money and should be killed off once and for all (or something to that effect)....For his candor, he got lots of goodie points from me at least. But then, he must have realized the position wasn't earning him any him buddy points (translates into $$$) from the democrats, and so he did a total about-face. He lost me forever with that one. No integrity at all...

[Cassandra]

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

[Joe]

The LA Times is keeping track of Newsom's flip-flops:

While mayor of San Francisco, Democrat Gavin Newsom supported high-speed rail in California so strongly that he partnered with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 to push for a $10-billion state bond measure to help build it.

Six years later, Newsom pulled his support, citing exploding cost overruns and delays. Two years after that, he was back on board.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-governor-race-gavin-newsom-issues-shift-20180820-story.html

[Cassandra]

Cox

[Cassandra]

Speaking of wasted money on HSR: Cancel this boondoggle and find safety measures for BART. Today at the Millbrae station a man got on, started screaming and chased people through four cars. Commuter called BART police and got a recording.

[resident]

BART has been a disaster for years but until some poor girl gets her throat slit nobody cared. Fare jumpers costing $25 million a year and new gates will cost $200 million. If they can't run a train in the bay area how in the world will they run one through the whole state? Are we going to have special HSR police who are as useless as the BART cops?

[Joe]

As the election approaches here are a couple of things to remember (hat tip to Govern For California):

The state runs a K-12 education system serving 6.2 million students and administers a single-payer Medicaid system (Medi-Cal) serving 13.5 million low-income residents. Together the two systems receive $200 billion in public funding, 50 percent ($65 billion) more than five years ago.

Performance is unsatisfactory. Despite an extra $25 billion of annual K-12 spending compared to five years ago and spending of $16,000 per student, only about half of students meet or exceed reading and writing standards and only 39 percent meet or exceed math standards. Despite an extra $40 billion of annual Medi-Cal spending, emergency room visits are up, Medi-Cal appointments are often difficult to get, there’s little evidence of improved healthfulness, and unproductive emergency spending is crowding out more productive spending.

It's not as if elected officials don't know the truth. They do. Yet those same officials still deliver $200 billion a year to providers of K-12 and Medi-Cal services, many of whom make political donations to them. The recipients of that $200 billion are among the most powerful special interests in Sacramento.
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So ask yourself if your goal is to vote for "more of the same"?