SANTA CLARA VTA RIDERS UNION P. O. Box 390069 Mountain View, CA 94039-0069 http://www.vtaridersunion.org/ MEDIA RELEASE TO: Editor, News Assignment Desk, and Transportation Reporter * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * Press Contacts (in alphabetical order): Eugene Bradley 24 hr. cell/pager (408)888-2208 Christopher Lepe 24 hr. cell/pager (408)425-4430 GROUP CONTNIUES FIGHT AGAINST VALLEY TRANSIT PUBLIC IMAGE PROPOSAL Says $7.7 Million Public Relations Proposal Best Used To Stabilize Transit Fares in Santa Clara County MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (October 26, 2004) – The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU – http://www.vtaridersunion.org/), a transit advocacy and watchdog group in the South Bay, continues its opposition to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)'s proposed $7.7 million expenditure on public relations firms and government lobbying groups. SCVTARU proposes instead that the funding be used to repeal the fare hike the VTA's Board of Directors approved in June. Deferred at their September and October Board meetings due to public and media pressure, the VTA will vote on the $7.7 million public relations proposal at November's Board meeting: DATE: November 4, 2004 TIME: 6:00pm PLACE: Santa Clara County Supervisors' Chambers, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose SCVTARU notes the timing of the deferrals of the final vote of the proposal to November 4 - two days after the most critical Election Day in local memory. "VTA wants to continue spending money on things other than public transit," said SCVTARU founder Eugene Bradley. "VTA is using pre-Election Day hype to cover themselves in yet another attempt to waste our tax dollars." While the VTA continues to insist that the $7.7 million is NOT for a "public relations makeover," reporting by the San Jose Mercury News' Barry Witt, VTA staff memos, as well as web surfing by SCVTARU members revealed otherwise. Amongst the groups who stand to benefit from VTA's $7.7 public relations expenditure if approved include Public Affairs Management (http://www.publicaffairsmgnt.com/) with offices in Philadelphia, PA and throughout the East Coast. They do government lobbying and other legislative advocacy. Their clientele is based on the East Coast but includes Fortune 500 companies like Wal-Mart, BFI Waste Systems, and Novartis. From their own web site (http://www.publicaffairsmgt.com/whatwedo.html): "Public Affairs Management LLC develops proactive communications strategies to help prevent, minimize or quickly diffuse difficult situations...Our principals serve or have served in local, state and federal government positions.” VTA claims their latest fare hike – the third in three years – will save $5 million this fiscal year. SCVTARU says that VTA can use just over $5 million of the $7.7 million public relations proposal to rescind that very fare hike. The rest of the money can be used to restore some of the service VTA has reduced since 2001. Effective January 1, 2005, VTA's latest fare hike – the third in three years - would raise the adult base fare to $1.75 from the current $1.50 – an increase of 17%. A senior/disabled monthly pass will increase from $17.50 to $27.50 – an increase of 57%! Specific information on VTA's latest fare hike can be found at http://www.vtaridersunion.org/statistics/farechange2003-2005.html. Should VTA approve this latest example of tax waste on November 4, Santa Clara County taxpayers as well as VTA bus and light rail riders end up the biggest losers. Many of the firms due to work on VTA's proposed public relations expenditure have offices outside Santa Clara County. (SCVTARU has more information on who benefits from VTA's latest tax waste scheme on our web site, at http://www.vtaridersunion.org/vtameetings/vtaboard-11042004.html.) This means that the vast majority of the $7.7 million of your tax dollars will benefit the local economies in Oakland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC - enhancing their local economies at the expense of Santa Clara County's economic recovery. For VTA bus and rail passengers, the $7.7 million in tax dollars wasted on out-of-state public relations and government lobbying firms is money that can be used to stabilize public transit service and fares. Worse, the VTA staff memo on this public relations proposal describes how arrogant the transit agency truly is. In that memo (http://www.vta.org/inside/boards/packets/2004/10_oct/24.html) they make the following statement: "We seem to be criticized for wanting to serve our community with a diverse array of transportation options... One of the benefits of a coordinated public involvement effort would be to educate the community about our current services, new transportation programs, and how those programs will be integrated to offer improved travel options. This concept is consistent with VTA's mission, vision, and strategic goals." SCVTARU calls upon all County residents to perform an extra patriotic act before November 4 - urge VTA to use the public relations money to rescind the fare hike it approved in June. How County residents can contact VTA Board members for their area is detailed below: City of San Jose ---------------- Cindy Chavez, City Council Member (cindy.chavez@ci.sj.ca.us) (408-277-5231) David Cortese, City Council Member (dave.cortese@ci.sj.ca.us) (408-277-5242) Pat Dando, City Council Member (pat.dando@ci.sj.ca.us) (408-277-5251) Ron Gonzales, Mayor (MayorEmail@ci.sj.ca.us) (408-277-4237) Forrest Williams, City Council Member (forrest.williams@ci.sj.ca.us) (408-277-4282) Ken Yeager (VTA Board Alternate), City Council Member (ken.yeager@ci.sj.ca.us) (408-277-5166) Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Santa Clara ----------------------------------------------------------------- David Casas, Los Altos Council Member (dcasas@pepalum.com) Dean Chu, Vice Mayor of Sunnyvale (CouncilDeanChu@yahoo.com) John McLemore, Santa Clara City Council Member (jmclemore@aol.com) (408-984-3250) Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga ------------------------------------------------------ Joe Pirzynski (VTA Board Vice Chair), Los Gatos City Council Member (joep@joep4lg.com) Milpitas -------- Patricia Dixon, Vice Mayor (pdixon@ci.milpitas.ca.gov) (408-586-3028) Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors --------------------------------------- Don Gage (VTA Board Chair), District 1 (Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, South San Jose) (don.gage@bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us) (408-299-3273) Pete McHugh, District 3 (Milpitas, North San Jose, Sunnyvale) (pete.mchugh@bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us) (408-299-2443) In addition, concerned County residents are urged to come to the November 4 Board meeting at 6:00pm at the County Supervisors' Chambers at 70 W. Hedding Street in San Jose. There, they can speak out against VTA's latest attempt to waste tax dollars on issues other than public transit. SCVTARU hopes the VTA's Board of Directors enhance their public image by using the $7.7 million to repeal the January 1, 2005 fare hike as well as restore some of the service cuts made since 2001. Such a move will send a message that VTA is willing to invest in affordable, reliable, public transit, enhancing Santa Clara County's economic recovery. Should the VTA approve the $7.7 million public relations expenditure on November 4, SCVTARU founder Eugene Bradley is prepared to file a civil complaint with the Santa Clara County Grand Jury against VTA on November 5, citing illegal use of tax dollars. ### About the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union -------------------------------------- Founded in October 2000 by Eugene Bradley, the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union is a grassroots-based organization dedicated to ensuring that elected officials improve and implement cost-effective, frequent, and reliable mass transit in Santa Clara County. Our web site is at www.vtaridersunion.org. We are based in Sunnyvale, CA. Our organization has absolutely no affiliation with, nor is endorsed by, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in any way whatsoever. Note to Editors and News Desks: More information on SCVTARU can be found at the following URLs: http://www.vtaridersunion.org/whoarewe/who.html http://www.vtaridersunion.org/PR