Very, Very Important Information on HSR
Just when you thought a government official could not sink any lower…
Push play and listen to the ridiculous reason High Speed Rail board member and Curt Pringle idolizer Quentin Kopp gives for not having a business plan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEkWWZOXA68
I’ve always said, Quentin Kopp should not be allowed out in public without a nurse. What is especially frustrating here is that BOTH of them are in violation of the law! The CHSRA violated the terms of AB3034 by not submitting a Business Plan to the Legislature by Sep 1, which was required prior to submitting Prop 1A to voters to approve HSR bonds. But it was the Legislature that put Prop 1A on the ballot without any Business Plan toback up the claims on the ballot statement. So in effect Ashburn was grandstanding. Both sides in their own way fed deceptive information to the public, and had the public seen the real numbers (which we STILL do not have 2 years later) it is highly unlikely that HSR would ever have been approved. It makes ya dizzy to follow this run around.
Forgive me for asking, but you first have to have a business before you have a business plan? I’m sure that there is a better term than business plan?
The Business Plan is the exact term for what was supposed to be produced. Stan if you recall the HSRA was showing all kinds of fancy commercials to the public prior to the election, making claims that the HSR would have all there riders and it would generate income for the General Fund, and our children would be well behaved and our spouses better looking if only we would approve HSR’s bond measure. Well those promises were supposed to be based on a Business Plan, which was created from the work of the many, many contractors we have been paying hundreds of millions of dollars to study this thing for years. We have paid for studies of how many riders would enjoy this thing (the study has been challenged by some of the best transportation experts in the biz) and we have paid big bucks for experts to study routes and costs and ticket prices, and all of that was supposed to be available to voters so we could make an informed decision before HSR approved. The promises made in those slick commercials were based on wishful thinking. Voters were fed what HSR wanted us to hear. And while the CHSRA was wrong to not produce the Business Plan in time (because the State did not fund the study in time) instead of pushing the project back until voters could be presented with factial info, the Legislators instead declared it an emergency, and put the Prop on the ballot without the info! Your tax dollars at work, and Admin here caught it on film.
Excuse me, “these riders” not “there riders”
The elected (and appointed) public officials who do their jobs properly and diligently deserve thanks and respect from the community. We still do have such folks in public service.
The increasing number of malfactors in public service suggests a failure of the sanctions which must have been more common in days past.
My thought is that we lack sufficient instances of recent vivid “examples” made of folks who fail to perform their public duties.
I don’t know. Perhaps at one time Kopp had a good reputation. I hear this about him sometimes, but that is definitely not my experience, not with this project or BART. Among other misleading statements, Mr. “Impeccable Honesty & Integrity” (Kopp) told the citizens of the SF Peninsula that the HSRA only needs a 50′ right-of-way. They actually need 80′ PLUS construction staging PLUS potential shoofly track widths. How could such a bright guy say such a thing publicly? Honestly, I worry that he’s losing it, because he is/was too smart to lie.
And here, I can’t believe he thought he could justify a wrong with a wrong. Well, actually, in following HSR very carefully, I can. No wonder our state is screwed up. Unfortunately, the arrogance of Judge Kopp is not exclusive to him. The HSRA board as a whole is extremely arrogant and willing to overlook the spirit of CEQA, the pleas of communities and the financial realities in order to get the shovels in the ground. HSR has become about power and money, and not about people and laws.
Of course, it doesn’t do any good to get mad at Judge Kopp. He truly believes he is doing his job. It is the legislators who pull the purse strings, and thereby control this project, that we should be lambasting. If you haven’t yet, get off your duff and make sure they hear from those of you who take issue with the way this project is being carried forward or else make way for the rationale of people like Quentin Kopp.
Watching this tape, both of course seem to have valid points however how could the HSRA come out with a business plan with dramatically lower ridership numbers and higher costs only 3 weeks after the election. They were working on these numbers and my opinion is they knew the answers and chose not to reveal them until later. If it had been disclosed maybe the proposition wouldn’t have passed afterall it was close. Their plan worked since no one challenged them.
The Authority was warned many times during the year of the election to produce this plan, when they did have money. Instead they paid for slick commercials. I think it was their plan to do it this way. Last, I think it’s the fault of the legislators who allowed it to go forward to the voters without the business plan- there was too much money on the line and I feel this was completely irresponsible. The legislators should have called it off but it would have been the 4th or 5th cancellaton of this measure. There certainly was a drop dead date, you give us this business plan or we will pull it from the ballot. But no one did it.
Bad deeds are all around this project, right from the beginning. None of our elected officials seem interested in enforcing the laws, the Attorney General’s office is representing the Authority which means the only recourse taxpayers have is to sue. What a tragedy!
Now that, Ms. Kathy, is an interesting idea….
Very, very interesting I might add…
Yes Kathy, and can I remind everyone that our Attorney General, Gerry Brown, is now running for the Governor’s Office. And do you know what he did on his way out of the Governor’s office last time back in the early ’80’s when HSR was ultimately stopped due to insider trading? He slipped in last minute legislation to exempt HSR from CEQA. Sound familiar? It should. Arnie is trying the same thing. If elected Governor, based on his history, you know where Gerry will come down. And today we are dealing with many of the same players as were involved 30 years ago.
Is Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly on this band wagon? He loves to waste money.