Please remove me from this email list ASAP. I am out of the country, often working on slow computers that can't accomodate the multitude of emails. Thanks, Charles -----Original Message-----

From: John-Marc Chandonia <jmc@sfgreens.org> Sent: Aug 27, 2008 12:06 PM To: John Rizzo <jrizzo@sprintmail.com> Cc: sustainability@sfgreens.org, active@sfgreens.org, transpo@sfgreens.org Subject: Re: [Sustain] [SFGP-A] (fwd) GP Alameda County endorses NO on Prop.1

The bulk of Alameda's argument against Prop 1 is that all the money so far has gone to a corrupt contractor. However, the legislation does not require that contractor to actually build it; we could still approve the bond and then try to get our state reps to raise concerns about the contractor. Besides, if we blocked every government project built by corrupt contractors, we'd be living on sand dunes.

I also agree that the promotional case for rail is overblown in terms of ridership, but we should look towards how many people will want to ride the rail after the effects of peak oil become more apparent, and the cost of driving or flying to LA becomes prohibitive. The power for an electric train can come from a variety of sources, and don't necessarily have to come from coal. It's much more likely to get something built if we start now, and not after gas becomes even more expensive (as that will raise costs for construction and materials, and voters who can't afford to drive to work will be even less likely to pass a bond).

JMC -- John-Marc Chandonia (jmc@sfgreens.org) http://sfgreens.org/