BHUSD Seeks Court Order for MTA Documents (Patch )

BHUSD Seeks Court Order for MTA Documents

The school district says the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is dragging its heels in releasing requested subway information regarding contested expansion route for Century City.

Link: http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/bhusd-seeks-court-order-for-mta-documents

By Laurie Lande | Email the author | May 11, 2011

The Beverly Hills Unified School District filed a petition Monday seeking a court order compelling the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to release technical information on tunneling and station locations related to the Westside Subway Extension.

In a petition filed with Los Angeles County Superior Court, the BHUSD alleges that MTA officials have violated the California Public Records Act by improperly withholding public documents requested by the BHUSD over a period of several months. As Patch has reported, the BHUSD opposes an MTA proposal to possibly tunnel under Beverly Hills High in order to place a Century City subway stop on Constellation Boulevard.

“[The] MTA has not been forthcoming with a full production of documents or copies of the ongoing studies which MTA promised it would produce in response to BHUSD requests,” the 36-page petition says in part.

Metro is considering several locations for the Century City stop, and the MTA board is scheduled to make a final decision by August. The BHUSD and most city officials favor a subway route that would go underneath Santa Monica Boulevard to a stop at Avenue of the Stars in Century City, while an alternate Metro proposal would tunnel under BHHS to arrive at Constellation Boulevard.

“We tried to work with the MTA, but they chose to ignore or reject our numerous requests for information,” Board of Education President Lisa Korbatov said in a statement posted oncenturycitysubway.org, a website organized by the BHUSD.