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Background On the Public
Forum
What Is the
Reason Why Greg Perry Was Replaced By Swegles?
Who Benefitted from Mr. Perry's Snubbing?
Who Lost from Mr. Perry's
Snubbing?
Who Do
I Write To About the (biased) Public Forum Panel?
Background On the Public Forum
On April 21 at 12:30pm in San Jose, a panel of experts was to debate the pros and cons of the proposed BART extension to San Jose. They were to explain the current objections and obstacles to the project and discuss the various options that are still on the table - including the full BART plan versus a modified or staged project, or no BART at all.
The forum was held at the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Younger Street Auditorium, 55 West Younger Ave. and North First Street, San Jose. (The Auditorium is two (2) blocks north of Civic Center light rail station and the bus stop for the 36, 62, 66, and 180 bus lines.)
The forum featured:
Afternoon Panelists featured:
The schedule for the forum was as follows:
The forum was co-sponsored by the California State Automobile Association, the Mineta Transportation Institute and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. A newspaper account of the public forum can be found here.
What Was the Real Reason Why Greg Perry Was Replaced On the Panel By Swegles?
Mountain View City Councilmember Greg Perry is a big critic of the San Jose BART extension. He has already been the target of attempts to recall him from his seat on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) by business interests led by SVLG CEO Carl Guardino because of his criticism of the San Jose BART extension.
Because of his status as a critic of the San Jose BART extension, Rod Diridon Sr., Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute and a co-sponsor of the public forum, replaced Mr. Perry with Sunnyvale City Councilmember and fellow PAC member Ron Swegles for no reason. An email conversation on April 14, 2005 between Mr. Perry and SCVTARU Founder Eugene Bradley about the replacement revealed that Mr. Perry was "rather angry" at the replacement and the lack of reason given for it.
MORE...
We have also learned that according to the Commonwealth Club web site's biography on CEO Gloria Duffy:
She is a Senior Fellow of American Leadership Forum/Silicon Valley and in 1998-99 served as co-chair of the transition team for San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales. She is married to Rod Diridon, Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute in San Jose.
SCVTARU Foudner Eugene Bradley personally emailed Ms. Duffy demanding Mr. Perry's reinstatement to the panel. No reply whatsoever was received from her.It must be questioned what factor Ms. Duffy's marriage to Mr. Diridon - and her prior political connections - played in Greg Perry's ouster from the forum panel.
Who Benefitted From Mr. Perry's Snub From the Panel?
Supporters of the San Jose BART extension. With all four of the panelists expressing some form of pro-BART stance, what should have been a two-sided debate on the merits and downside of bringing BART to San Jose basically became a pro-BART press conference - complete with a captive audience. This was accentuated by SVLG CEO Carl Guardino bringing about 40 people from the business and labor communities chanting "We Want BART!".
Mr. Perry's "replacement" with another PAC member whose views on BART to San Jose are not well known successfully squelched opposing viewpoints - when in fact its strongest voice was silenced. This clearly smelled of politics.
Who Lost from Mr. Perry's Snub From the Panel?
The audience at the public forum. Reports from the forum from SCVTARU members and supporters indicated they never received information about the current true cost of the full extension of BART to San Jose. According to the February 9, 2005 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle, the FTA's estimated cost of the San Jose BART extension is $6.2 BILLION - well above the $4.2 billion commonly quoted by VTA and supporters of the San Jose BART extension based on 2003 figures.
The Commonwealth Club. By having politics matter in who the audience saw in the public forum, the credibility of the Club on having "open debate" in its public forums was diminished. It raises the question of how the panelists were selected in the first place - whether it is their knowledge of the facts for or against the San Jose BART extension, or how much the panelists' beliefs on BART to San Jose are in sync with Club CEO Duffy and/or her husband, Rod Diridon, Sr.
County Taxpayers. The latest VTA proposal to bring BART to San Jose involves spending nearly $3 BILLION of your local and state tax dollars on the portion between Berryessa to the extension's terminus in Santa Clara. Remember that the extension will involve tunneling underneath downtown San Jose, hence the location of nearly half the extension's true costs. The rest of the extension from Berryessa to the Warm Springs section of Fremont will attempt to qualify for nearly $900 million in federal funding. Concerned taxpayers in attendence at the public forum never got to hear from anyone opposed to the extension unless they saw or heard the impromptu debate before the forum took place.
According to estimates from Greg Perry, this arrangement will cost you an additional $300 million to $500 million of your tax dollars. This means that VTA's latest sales tax proposal - even if it passes at the November 2006 - will not be enough to cover the BART extension's operating costs and other expenses. Potentially, county voters could be asked to pay for a third sales tax to complete and operate the BART project in 2008 or 2010 depending on economic conditions. No reminder is needed on how these sales taxes have contributed to Santa Clara County's high cost of living.
Who Do I Write To About the (biased) Public Forum Panel?
There are two (2) people you need to contact:
Contact the office of Rod Diridon, Sr., Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at (408)924-7560 or email Mr. Diridon, Sr. at diridon@mti.sjsu.edu. POLITELY demand that Greg Perry be reinstated to the April 21 Forum panel.
Contact Gloria C. Duffy, Ph. D, President and CEO of the Commonwealth Club at (415)597-6700 or email Ms. Duffy, Ph. D at gduffy@commonwealthclub.org. Let her know that the public interest the Commonwealth Club promotes is not being served by Mr. Perry's snub by co-sponsor Rod Diridon, Sr.
--SCVTARU - April 5, 2005
revised April 22, 2005
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