Our View: MTA skips Gold Line - SGVTribune.com

Our View: MTA skips Gold Line - SGVTribune.com

Our View: MTA skips Gold Line
Posted: 05/13/2009 06:30:02 PM PDT


WHEN it comes to decisions by the MTA, the old saying "the truth is stranger than fiction" applies.

Earlier this week, the MTA indicated it would throw $66.7 million in federal stimulus dollars at the Eastside Extension, a light-rail project that is nearly complete. Meanwhile, the here in the San Gabriel Valley got zero dollars. Local officials estimate the Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa would have created 26,530 new jobs, while the Eastside, since it will open in a month, won't create any new jobs. Instead, the money will help the MTA pay off its bond a little faster.

We are not making this stuff up. It's all true. The MTA, the powerful transportation board that takes federal dollars for new projects, has said to hell with creating new jobs with stimulus money. While the Eastside line will be a fine addition to rail transit in the county, it didn't meet the spirit of the $787 billion stimulus bill because it is a month shy of opening!

How could Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who runs the L.A.-based MTA, go against the spirit of the Democratic Congress and Democratic President Obama? Because like bullies on the playground, they've done it before and always gotten away with it. The power structure of the MTA heavily favors L.A. city projects, including the mayor's pet project, an exorbitantly expensive subway extension into West L.A.


 A new 2010 MTA budget includes $11 million for preliminary work on the subway, plus $60 million for a westside light-rail line extension for Expo, which is not yet in operation. This will grease the skids for federal funds in the future. The new MTA budget gives Gold Line Foothill a measly $126,000 for a staff worker whose job it will be to tell the Metro Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority "no." We stand corrected. The MTA will create one job.

With Villaraigosa all but certain to run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010, how can the Democrats support someone who turned his back on President Obama? It was Obama who insisted the federal stimulus for transportation be used to create jobs, not for hoarding. Remember the cry only "shovel-ready projects?"

There is no other rail project in the state that is more "shovel ready" than the Gold Line Foothill. It has been studied, planned, environmentally cleared and is ready to go. All the cities welcome it and some have even built stations and mixed use projects. Students from Citrus College and Azusa Pacific University have signed pledges to ride it. It has no opposition. Yet it was bypassed for federal funds.

The MTA will say well, the Gold Line will get money from the new Measure R half-cent sales tax. While it is scheduled to receive $735 million, the question is when. The Gold Line Foothill Extension folks are ready to start filling jobs now, for construction to start in June 2010 and completion of Phase One by 2013. But the MTA is talking about delaying the funding until 2013 and pushing back roll dates to 2017. At a meeting today, the MTA is talking about how the funding originally predicted from the sales tax ($40 billion over 30 years) will be considerably less. Some say the obfuscation and delays are happening, just as the San Gabriel Valley officials predicted last October when they campaigned against the measure. There are no guarantees when it comes to the MTA.

If and when the Gold Line Foothill gets Measure R funds, it will only be enough to extend the line to Azusa. The second phase to Montclair/Ontario will cost more - that's where the federal funding could've come in handy. It could become the first rail line in Southern California to connect to an airport - in this case, Ontario International Airport. Not even Villaraigosa or the previous configurations of the MTA were able to accomplish that task. Not even the Subway to the Sea will do that.