I have no problem with a presentation. But how I feel is irrelevant, we go by consensus. As long as there are no objections raised over email, or at tonight's meeting, let's do your presentation next month. All on this list, does anyone have concerns regarding Katherine's proposed Muni big ticket discussion (see below) being agendized in March? Eric B grrlfriday@mac.com wrote:
Eric --
I can't come tomorrow night. But I would like to discuss MUNI's big-ticket items -- the Central Subway, BRT, and the Transbay Terminal -- and see if they are really conducive to the best long-term plan for MUNI. MUNI is spending millions of dollars a year in Prop K money on engineering studies for these projects, bleeding money while the rest of the system languishes. Then they complain about shortfalls at every turn. My thinking is that if they weren't hemorrhaging so much money on pork they would have enough to run a decent system. The Green Party needs a comprehensive platform about these three issues, so we can educate the public about them. It is my opinion that MUNI is taking a wrong turn, and the only people who benefit are people like Stuart Sunshine, who is still making over $200 k/year, most of it paid for by MUNI, even AFTER he left his MUNI post.
I would like you to look at a Web site called "Light Rail Now", and look at the "Myths" section. It explodes a lot of the myths about BRT and shows how it was mostly promoted by Republicans. Republicans hate transit because it shows that public systems can really work, which undermines their privatization agenda. By the same token, Peter Strauss has consistently underfunded surface transit on Stockton to make the Chinese community demand the Central Subway. These are things we ignore at our peril. If the Green Party won't focus on them, I don't know who will.
Please let me know if you are willing to set this up for next month's meeting. If you are willing to study the Light Rail Now site, I have a friend who is a MUNI planner who would come and talk with us about these things. But he told me that unless people are willing to get some background on these issues he doesn't think it's worth it to come, because he won't be able to convince you anyway. Please let me know how you feel about this. I know some of these things are part of the official Transpo platform, but they haven't been revisited in awhile, and I think they have new resonance these days that bears taking a closer look.
--Katherine
"Let's have a moment of silence for all those Americans who are stuck in traffic on their way to the gym to ride the stationary bicycle." - Earl Blumenauer
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