It’s looking like a political slugfest, and Santa Clara County
Supervisor Don Gage, thankfully, appears ready to do battle for
South County.
It’s looking like a political slugfest, and Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, thankfully, appears ready to do battle for South County.
There are too many transportation needs and not enough dollars, so the Valley Transportation Authority is set to deal the cards and, as always, the deck is stacked against South County. Our representatives are simply outnumbered.
The VTA board is made up of 12 elected officials. Five seats belong to San Jose, two are occupied by county supervisors and the remaining five rotate among the county’s smaller cities. San Jose interests dominate the board, and that’s why the insanely expensive proposal to bring BART to San Jose lives on.
Two key VTA-driven issues that will affect South County residents for decades are currently running on concurrent paths:
n First is the VTA’s Southern Land Use and Transportation Study.
n Second is the VTA’s push to place another countywide sales tax measure on the November 2006 ballot.
The Southern Gateway Study is a sweeping regional transportation blueprint that covers everything from the extension of Butterfield Boulevard in Morgan Hill to the building of a new highway to connect U.S. 101 to Highway 156 at the Don Pacheco Y.
The main problem is that the projects are not prioritized.
That’s where Don Gage and Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy, who is about to rotate back onto the VTA board, come in. South County, outmanned and outgunned on the VTA, must present a united regional front. Our political leaders – including San Benito County officials – need to meet and confer on the Gateway Study and prioritize the list. Gage’s considerable knowledge and skills at give-and-take politics should prove to be invaluable. A unified list, presented clearly and strongly to the VTA, is crucial to keeping our projects high enough on the list so that when funds become available, projects begin and aren’t shelved in favor of some North County need.
That’s step one. In a righteous world, step two would be to quash the BART-to-San Jose insanity once and for all. The current VTA tax proposal would last for 30 years, and $4.7 billion of that cash would be used to build and operate a BART extension. Insane.
Imagine what $4.7 billion could accomplish. To put it into perspective, the flyover at the intersections of Highway 152 and Highway 156 at the Don Pacheco Y would cost $30 million.
So, while BART is a feather in the cap for San Jose officials, for the majority of county residents it’s money down the toilet.
If it simply can’t be stopped, then South County leaders have to extract more than a pound of flesh in establishing rock-solid priorities for transportation projects here.
At this point, though, it’s unfathomable to imagine local support for BART to San Jose. Too many other compelling needs deserve those dollars.
