State Transportation Commission Unanimously Approves Rail Corridor Acquisition
Published Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Peter Scott
People Power Members at the State
Capitol Building in Sacramento
On June 30, 2010—the last day to secure the Proposition 116 funding for purchasing the 32-mile Santa Cruz Branch Line rail corridor from Union Pacific—the California State Transportation Commission (CTC) met in Sacramento and voted unanimously to approve the RTC's request to purchase the rail corridor. While a few conditions remain to be met before the funds will be released, the CTC's vote is a major victory for Santa Cruz County.
About twenty People Power members journeyed to Sacramento—most of us on the Capitol Corridor train—to encourage a positive vote by the Commission. When the item came up, Supervisor Mark Stone (vice chair of our RTC) provided an excellent summary of the situation, and called out all the organizations in support, ranging from ourselves to a number of unions, the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, before asking all supporters in the audience to stand up to be recognized. Immediately we all stood, wearing our fine engineers' hats that People Power and FORT had supplied—it was a great moment.
Supervisor Stone was followed by Bill Tysseling, the Executive Director of our Chamber of Commerce, and Kris Reyes of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, both of whom registered their keen support. A letter of support from Senator Simitian was also submitted for the record. Nobody spoke in opposition.
Special thanks to CTC Commissioner Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, who made the motion to approve the 116 funding for the rail corridor acquisition. His quick action to clarify the CTC's staff recommendation was key, and kept us in suspense for a moment or two. Thanks also to everyone who wrote letters of support to the CTC.