It
’s time for the taxpayers of Santa Clara County to shout back at
the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority and the San Jose power brokers – most
notably San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales: “No more taxes for BART.”
Their collective pet project, bringing BART
to San Jose, is an expensive albatross that should be shelved.
Permanently perhaps.
BART to San Jose is a feather for political caps aplenty in the circle of San Jose-based power brokers. Is it fiscally responsible? No. Is it a full-proof solution to moving people to places they want to go? No. Has anyone figured out how to pay for maintenance if we build it? No. Is it incredibly expensive? Yes.
Given that, and the string of broken promises related to Measure A, the last VTA-endorsed sales tax, how can the SVLG and the VTA begin preparing for another 1/4 cent sales tax increase with a straight face?
On a more local level, how can Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy endorse such tomfoolery?
The VTA needs to get back to basics – building roads and working with existing infrastructure to improve the public transportation systems currently in place.
The agency is spending way too much energy on pleasing the power brokers instead of focusing on the real needs of communities. It’s all about the “big BART prize” and the picture cutting the ribbon.
Instead of lofty rhetoric and pipe dreams, South County needs additional and more efficient Caltrain service – and that should include weekend service that isn’t a week-long experiment, but a year-long commitment. We need country roads repaved and projects like the flyover for the Don Pacheco Y built sooner than 2008.
