By Tom Mulhern My dad has a saying that he often uses when
startled by the insanity he encounters in day-to-day dealings, such
as
“customer service” at his local tire store: “Sometimes I think
I’m dealing with crazy people.”
By Tom Mulhern
My dad has a saying that he often uses when startled by the insanity he encounters in day-to-day dealings, such as “customer service” at his local tire store: “Sometimes I think I’m dealing with crazy people.”
That’s exactly how I felt after reading Matt King’s story about how the House of Representatives, at Richard Pombo’s request, passed a bill granting $25 million in federal funds to clean up perchlorate in Santa Clara County. Then I found out about CalTrain’s plan to cut its stops, possibly including Gilroy.
Olin Corp. fouled the water in our end of the valley by dumping sodium perchlorate into the ground for years from their flare-making plant in Morgan Hill. Everyone seems to agree that this is true, including Olin. So, why in the living heck should the taxpayers – federal or otherwise – be stuck coughing up $25 million for this misadventure?
Why should the people of Wisconsin, South Carolina, Colorado or any of the other 49 states be reaching into their pockets because of improper actions by a company operating in California?
Pombo should have been sponsoring a bill that would have made Olin unable to do business in California until they cleaned up their mess, rather than shaking down people in Omaha or Annapolis. I’m sure the suits in the boardroom at Olin are howling with laughter over this.
Meanwhile, the Central Coast Regional Water Control Board has issued an order giving Olin until June 2006 to prepare a final plan for cleaning the groundwater.
That’s just to prepare a plan, mind you. So, they have more than a year to write up any kind of document that might or might not include actual remedy for the mess they made. And who’s to say that they won’t show up on the assigned date proudly proclaiming that they have a “20-year plan” for cleaning up the groundwater?
Eventually, the contamination may dissipate on its own. The chemical industry has allies in the government who are jury-rigging the standards, so Olin may simply bide its time till it’s off the legal hook.
But here’s another twisted detail. King’s story includes the following: “The funds are for projects outside the scope of the cleanup order issued to Olin Corp., and are dependent on a local agency such as the Santa Clara Valley Water District raising 35 percent in matching funds.” Say what? This is like one of those Nigerian scams on the Internet where they tell you to send $500 as “earnest money” so that they can be sure you should receive $50,000.
Why should we ante up anything? The water in our ground was probably close to perchlorate-free until Olin oozed into it.
They should have to pay for everything that even smells like it has something to do with perchlorate contamination. Until it’s found that the rocket engine plant in the foothills of San Jose is another source of similar contamination, that is.
The craziness continues, in the form of Caltrain. It’s no surprise Caltrain and VTA lose money. They’re so mismanaged, their routes so nonsensical, and their lack of cordination so breathtaking, that it’s a wonder they exist at all. But public transit can indeed work, and does so in many cities.
So, all of a sudden, the board running Caltrain thinks, “Gee, those bullet trains are something! Let’s make them a cash cow.” They want to cut out train service to some stops, and are even considering cutting out Gilroy altogether. Gilroy has one of the best centralized transportation hubs along the entire line, not to mention a place to park trains at night and on weekends.
VTA and Greyhound buses, and shuttles that go to our nearby counties, all terminate at Gilroy’s transit center. Ending the route at Morgan Hill or San Martin makes absolutely zero sense, and makes no provisions for the explosive population and business growth here in Gilroy.
If the people running Caltrain had any brains at all, they’d run bullet trains out of Gilroy to Morgan Hill, to Blossom Hill, and then to San Jose. Add speed where it conquers distance faster. And run trains up and down the entire line at least once every two hours to every stop, all day long. Taxpayers want value and convenience and have actually voted to pay for it.
More bullet trains and fewer stops will only move some of the existing passengers faster, but ridership won’t increase. In fact many current customers will give up on the already marginal service and just put up with the drive, sending CalTrain to its doom.
