Crossposted from the California High Speed Rail Blog

One of my lingering concerns about the Obama Administration has been that they might be tempted to claim victory with the $8 billion in HSR funding added to the stimulus and not follow up on that money, which as we know merely pays for some initial costs. But Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made clear last week that in fact, the $8 billion in HSR stimulus really is intended as a signal to America that Obama is truly serious about building HSR:

LaHood said that for Obama building high-speed rail networks is, “if not his No. 1 priority, certainly at the top of his list. What the president is saying with the $8 billion is this is the start to help begin high-speed rail projects.” He added that the administration “is committed to finding the dollars to not only get them started but to finishing them in at least five parts of the country,” although he declined to elaborate on where these projects might ultimately be built.

And don’t worry about the right-wing freakout over the Vegas HSR project – California is in better position than any other HSR project in America to use that stimulus funding. We can begin construction in late 2010 or early 2011; no other project is anywhere close to that point.

This couldn’t be better news for us in California, where we have long known that at least $15 billion in federal aid, spread out over 10 years, will be needed to build the SF-LA line. Unfortunately the news is tempered by the fact that the Obama Administration’s support for HSR did not extend to mass transit as a whole. Here in California the state has decided to zero out the State Transit Assistance account, costing local agencies over $500 million in funding. The federal stimulus isn’t nearly enough to make up the difference. And as the San Jose Mercury News reports, that’s setting up a situation where HSR may be pit against local transit agencies:

The MTC meeting Wednesday in Oakland could turn contentious, as the current plan calls for allocating $75 million to help build the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, which would serve as the final stopping point for a high-speed rail line and Caltrain (UPDATE: the MTC now plans to seek train box funds from the $8 billion HSR stimulus, not the general transit stimulus funds – see Transbay Blog for more info) and $70 million to build a BART spur to Oakland International Airport. Those two projects alone would take 43 percent of the $340 million headed to the area in stimulus funds for local transit.

Some want money for those new two projects scrapped or reduced – and redirected to cover the cost of paying for day-to-day transit needs.

But MTC officials counter that building the Transbay Terminal now will save millions of dollars in later costs, and combined with the $8 billion in stimulus funds set aside for high-speed rail could accelerate that program.

I support using that money for the Transbay Terminal, although I’m less certain about whether BART to OAK is all that necessary; the AirBART buses work pretty well (I used them on numerous occasions when I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley, although that was 10 years ago).

But I really hate it when HSR pitted against other forms of transit. I have said it before and I will say it again – HSR and other mass transit need each other to be successful. It should not and must not be an either/or choice. I don’t blame the MTC for being stuck in this position – that blame lies in Sacramento and Washington DC. But we transit advocates need to not fall out along modal lines.

I’d like to propose a solution, one that I don’t even know is possible under state law but makes a ton of sense to me. The nine-county SF Bay Area region should implement its own gas tax, which will solely be used to fund public transit. I haven’t penciled out the numbers so I don’t know exactly what the tax amount should be, but it should be indexed to the price of gas, and not a fixed cent number.

This money would initially be used to backfill the loss of STA funds, and allow the federal stimulus money to go to new transit infrastructure such as Transbay Terminal or BART to OAK. Ultimately the STA funds must be restored by a statewide gas tax increase, but it is much more politically possible to implement a gas tax in the Bay Area first than to try and get the Central Valley and the Southern California exurbs to buy into this (they can be brought on board later, once the 2/3 rule is eliminated).

It’s very difficult for folks living in the nine counties to evade the tax, with the possible exception of Gilroy residents who might drive to Hollister to fill up. Most folks will simply pay the increase rather than drive far out of their way to get a cheaper gallon of gas.

I’m not sure if this option has been explored by the MTC and the member counties, but it ought to be. It’s a sensible solution that would not only help spare transit agencies from “Armageddon” but would itself be a long overdue policy shift that would give a real boost to transit efforts in the SF Bay Area.

Note: I work for the Courage Campaign

Still vivid in my memory is the night in March 1991 when I stayed up to watch the KTLA News at Ten for their breaking news, which turned out to be a shocking video of the LAPD beating the hell out of a guy they’d pulled over – Rodney King. It came against the background of rampant police brutality under the leadership of Darryl Gates, and even as I watched the video I knew that the public reaction would be furious.

At least Rodney King survived the attack. Oscar Grant did not. When he was shot and killed by a BART police officer on New Year’s Day it revealed an ongoing lack of accountability from the BART police toward the public they serve. As the San Francisco Bay Guardian noted BART police have been involved in two other shooting deaths that appeared unjustified in recent years.

At yesterday’s BART board meeting activists demanded the creation of an oversight board along with other measures to reform BART and bring the officer who killed Oscar Grant to justice. Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Senator Leland Yee have proposed legislation at the state level to mandate BART create such a board.

If that effort is going to be successful, the public needs to mobilize behind the creation of a civilian oversight board – that has real teeth – for the BART police.

That’s why the Courage Campaign is asking our members to sign a letter supporting the creation of an oversight board for BART. Our effort is cosponsored by ColorofChange.org.

Oscar Grant deserves justice, and the officer who shot him needs to be held accountable. We also need to work to ensure that this horrible event never happens again on the BART system. A civilian oversight board is a necessary step in that direction. Properly implemented, it can mandate changes in BART police methods, and provide the public transparency and accountability in police actions. The board can help get to the bottom of controversies and rebuild trust that is clearly lacking.

The civilian oversight board won’t solve the problems alone. But it is a necessary part of the long-term solution.

The email we sent out today is reproduced over the flip.

Dear Friend,

Never again.

I’m sure you’ve seen the shocking video.

On January 1, Oscar Grant — already subdued by police and lying face down — was shot in the back and killed by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale station.

BART’s failure to take direct action and immediately investigate this tragedy has fueled community outrage. As a resident of San Francisco and frequent BART rider, I was deeply disturbed, as were my fellow Courage Campaign staff members.

Unfortunately, this tragedy is not a first for the BART police force, which has been accused in the past of using excessive and unnecessary force in two other shooting deaths. In this case, however, multiple cell phone videos have been released revealing the shocking events that ended Oscar Grant’s life.

One way we can bring justice to Oscar Grant and heal the community is to make sure his horrifying death produces long-overdue change — change that may prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.

Unlike most police departments around the country, BART police are not subject to a civilian oversight board. For years, Bay Area citizens have called for BART to create one — like the boards that have improved accountability and police conduct in so many other communities.

But BART has refused.

Never again. Last night, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Senator Leland Yee promised to introduce legislation requiring BART to create a civilian oversight board. While this is a significant step in the right direction, we must ensure that the legislature passes a strong bill.

Will you join the Courage Campaign and our friends at Color of Change by signing on to our letter thanking Ammiano and Yee for their legislation — and demanding that the leglislature pass a bill with the strongest civilian oversight possible?

http://www.couragecampaign.org…

The officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant must be held accountable. But that alone will not ensure this never happens to any other BART rider again.

Public accountability is the foundation of justice. At a time when public trust in the BART police is at rock bottom, a citizen oversight board would provide the community vigilance that BART is currently evading — and that has allowed BART’s past impunity to fester.

As Tom Ammiano and Leland Yee point out, “unlike the San Francisco Police Commission, BART lacks any real means for the public to air their grievances regarding police conduct or for an independent body that can propose corrective actions.”

Never again. Please sign our letter to Assemblymember Ammiano and Senator Yee supporting their call for a BART police civilian oversight board and demanding that the bill provide the strongest citizen oversight possible. With your support, we can ensure that Sacramento legislators, the BART board and the BART police department understand our community’s demand for justice in the memory of Oscar Grant:

http://www.couragecampaign.org…

We grieve with Oscar Grant’s family. And, along with our friends at Color of Change, we stand with the community in determination that his death will bring real change — the kind of fundamental reform that will prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.

Thank you,

Eden James

Managing Director

Crossposted at www.communityorganize.com.

Yesterday 150 former Obama campaign volunteers and staff, and other organizers from around the Bay met in San Francisco to reflect on the successes of the campaign and to strategize about how to support community organizing in the Bay Area and across California. Participants came from San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Marin, Contra Costa County, San Joaquin County, Tri-Valley, Fremont, Palo Alto and Santa Clara. Most had worked for the Obama campaign, including traveling to other states and organizing hugely successful phonebanks.

We spent the afternoon working on our vision of community organizing, and thinking about the incredible potential of this group working together on a local, regional and statewide level.

Here’s some feedback shared at the meetings and in the small groups:

On the successes of the campaign: “Respect, Empower, Include.” “No drama Obama.” “Empowerment and access given to us.” “The campaign came to CA to organize, not just for $.”

On what we have learned: “Learned about own capacity for leadership.”

What’s a community organizer? Someone who listens, who doesn’t give up, who “empowers people for a common cause” and who can “be a bit of a hardass” when needed. Community organizing is “Getting the resources that are needed but that we don’t yet have.” It means “passion” and “commitment” and “clear goals.”

We shared a host of critical issues facing our nation, state and community that concern us, like health care for all, dealing with the California budget crisis, getting out of Iraq, marriage equality, education, and supporting union organizing.

And we collected seven bags of donated food for the San Francisco food bank, and lots of surveys with written feedback about the campaign and future organizing.

We will be sending out the results of all of this feedback to participants in the next few days, and plan to get together again soon after the New Year.

In the meantime, former Obama campaign organizers are rolling out a new website, www.communityorganize.com, to link volunteers across the state who want to continue working together.

(Oakland checking in! – promoted by Dante Atkins (hekebolos))

(Cross-posted at Living in the O.)

This morning, after some bus mishaps (omg, I can’t wait for BRT!), my girlfriend and I arrived in front of Oakland City Hall for the Join the Impact rally for equal rights. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was great to see thousands of advocates gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza.

The crowd was incredibly diverse – filled with people of every age, gender, race, and sexual orientation. And there were so many families – kids everywhere! It was great to run into so many people I know and to see so many others I’d never met before. Serendipitously, one of the first people I ran into was Matthew, my precinct walking partner on election day. We formed a special bond that day, a bond that can only be formed by going door to door in a hilly precinct where most doors were up several flights of stairs. It was so great to see that the election results hadn’t gotten him down too much and that he was still working towards marriage equality.

Several LGBT leaders gave moving speeches throughout the day, but the star of the show was Coby, a boy whose parents started an LGBT family coalition. He started off saying that for many years he didn’t know that there were people who didn’t approve of his parents’ union. He didn’t realize that his family was different from others because, well, they’re his family. Coby went on to explain that when he heard kids at his school make fun of gay people, he thought it was because they didn’t understand what it meant to be gay. His mothers then made an effort to educate the students at his school, and ultimately, he thought that kids understood this issue more than many adults and should have more say in our society.

After him and his mother spoke, the rally organizer introduced Rebecca Kaplan, Oakland Council Member-elect who is the first out lesbian to be elected to the city council. She talked about how strange election night was, and her story closely mirrored my own election night emotional roller coaster ride. At 8:00pm, Rebecca found out that Obama had been elected president, and shortly after that she found out that she had won her council seat with 62% of the vote. So for the next three hours, she celebrated, joining hundreds of people spontaneously partying in the streets of downtown Oakland. But then she started to face the fact that Prop 8 was going to pass. Rebecca spent the next day crying, wondering at the irony that she was just elected to the council but was also stripped of her human rights. She ended her speech by saying that this fight for equality is not about fighting against faith. After all, her own faith tells her not to eat pork, but she’s not forcing that rule onto others. After speaking, she lifted her shofar (a ram’s horn) and blew loudly, as the crowd erupted into cheers.

Sean Sullivan, who ran for an Oakland City Council seat in June and who currently is the development director for Equality California, was up next. He started off talking about the myth that has been spread around that Prop 8 was about blacks vs whites. Sean reminded us that Fox News had started spreading this myth, but that it is not the case. All you had to do was look around the diverse crowd in Oakland this morning to see how right he was about this. Sean then delved into the history of this fight, explaining that Equality California has been working for years to secure the right for same-sex couples to marry. He  said that the fight is not over – they’re currently taking this fight to the California Supreme Court and preparing to put an initiative on the ballot in 2010. Sean implored all of us to join this fight because it won’t be an easy one – we’ll need everyone who cares working hard to help make marriage equality a reality.

It was a very inspiring day for me and helped bring some amount of closure to the mixed emotions I’ve been feeling since election night. After seeing such energy in Oakland, and reading about incredible rallies throughout the country, I feel confident that we will overturn Proposition 8 and restore equality in California and beyond.

My girlfriend and I took hundreds of photos, but here are some of my favorites:

For a bunch more incredible photos of the Oakland Join the Impact rally, check out The Inadvertent Gardener’s Flickr page.

Disclaimer: I do some work for No on H

It seems no good deed goes unpunished. Sunday, the Yes on H ran the strangest attack rally yet, calling anyone who opposes Prop. H a “liar.” And yet, in promoting the rally, which was both pro-Prop. H and against Prop. 8, the ban on same-sex marriages, it seems the pro-H people engaged in a bit of lying of their own.

First, they put out press releases claiming that the Alice B. Toklas Democratic club was participating in the rally. Not true, according to sources at the Toklas Democratic Club, who declined to particpate formally as a group.

But second, they seemed to omit the fact that PG&E, one of the sponsors of the No on H campaign has given a significant donation to the No on 8 campaign, as have many large corporations (Apple and Google being some of the most notable).

Now here’s where the tortured logic begins. It seems that giving to No on 8 is not “good enough” for the angry partisans supporting Prop. H, which frankly I don’t understand. The No on 8 campaign needed help. Many large companies decided to stand up and give significant donations to fight Prop. 8. To me, that sounds like a good thing.

Now, obviously, when it comes to any issue, be it Prop. H, what search engine to use, or what computer to buy, there is going to be a diversity of opinion within the LGBT community. That’s fine. What’s not fine is seeing Prop. H engage tell lies about it, and condemn a corporation that is now the target of a boycott campaign for standing up against Prop. 8 and make the suggestion that PG&E is for Prop. 8.

That’s the worst kind of lie, especialy when we see the hateful actions of folks on the other side.

From today’s Beyond Chron.

Hey Bay Area, how’s it going? Greetings from the Central Valley. You remember us – it’s that yellow place you drive through on your way to Burning Man. Wanted to talk politics with you today. I know, I know, you’ve got issues of your own. Issues like, hmmm, should we elect the lefty Democrat, or the far left progressive? Wow, times must be tough for you guys. But just for a second, I wanted to let you know that, um, well, we miss you guys. Because over here, we’re having some real trouble. Those people you read about in the Sunday New York Times, who believe ‘Rush is Right’ and abortion’s cool like, never? Yeah. They’re over here. Big time. And that whole budget thing, that ended up having disastrous consequences for poor and working class people everywhere? Well, that was sort of our fault. Not to sound like we’re trying to tell you what to do, Bay Area – we know how you hate that – but we did want to point out that without your help, we might be in this mess a long time.

Look, we know how good it feels to be around people just like you. Heck, a lot of us lived in the Bay Area for a while, or at least go there for concerts and think, damn, this is niiiice. But the problem is, after our visit, there’s so few of us when we get back home, the Republicans get to run the show. And with no one around to hold them in check, they can get a little crazy.

Remember that John Doolittle guy? You know, U.S. Representative, took some huge bribes in the Jack Abramoff scandal? This might jog your memory: loyal Bush supporter, opposes gun control and abortion, wants to privatize social security, and anti-immigrant. Wow, sounds scary, huh? Must be from Kansas!

Hey, get this, Bay Area – you could get in your car right now and drive an hour and a half east and be in John Doolittle’s district. Woah! Freaky!

Ok, so now you’ve at least got some kind of idea of what goes on over here, right down Highway 80. Now let’s turn to this whole state mess.

Hopefully you’re at least aware that Republicans in Sacramento get to hold the state budget hostage every year. There’s this wacky thing called the two-thirds rule that means 2 out of 3 members of the Senate and Assembly have to approve a budget or any new taxes to be approved.

‘Wait a second,’ you ask. ‘Isn’t California, like, 92 percent Democrat, 7 percent Green, and 1 percent Peace and Freedom Party?’ Wrong there, Bay Area! 32 out of 80 members of the Assembly and 15 of the 40 members in the Senate are red-blooded Republicans. And in addition to the usual litany of conservative beliefs that go along with that party affiliation, almost every one of them signed pledges to never raise taxes. Never.

“Well,’ you follow up. ‘They must all be from Orange County! That filthy place! It must be all the Scientologists turning them into crazy people!’ Ah, if that were only the case. In the State Senate, the minority leader Dave Cogdill’s district includes chunks of land west of Stockton. That’s right, Bay Area – right in your back yard! No Scientologists for miles! And another big name, Dave Cox, includes part of Sacramento County and…brace yourselves…your beloved Lake Tahoe! Your winter weekends are watched over by the Republican Vice-Chair of both the Appropriations and Local Governments Committee.

Surely the Assembly can’t be as bad, right? Um…how do I say this…

Let’s start with Roger Niello. The Vice-Chair of the Budget Committee, Niello served as the Republican lead on this year’s budget, playing the role of the loudest ‘no new taxes’ cheerleader, and essentially working tirelessly to drive the whole budget process into the ground. He represents – you guessed it – a big portion of Sacramento County and areas east of there.

And Mike Villines? Top Republican dog in the Assembly, big time righty, and enemy of progressives everywhere? Well, he’s just down the road in Fresno. Alan Nakashi’s in your backyard of Stockton, and the representatives of Districts two, three and four are all Republican, and all in beautiful Northern California.

Sorry to depress you, Bay Area, but here’s the point – your local battles are important, there’s no question about it. But huge decisions get made in the state capitol all year long, and they’re being made by people that you wouldn’t shake hands with. So c’mon, Bay Area.

Follow our state races, and help us out when you can. You wouldn’t believe the difference you could make.

Or maybe … just maybe … what if you moved here? I know it sounds like crazy talk, Bay Area, but hold on … houses over here are like 5 bucks! Ok, ok, I just got carried away. But they are cheap. And cool people are over here, too, Bay Area. Did you know the band Pavement is from Stockton? No joke! ‘Course, they move Portland, but who doesn’t move to Portland eventually anymore?

Also, we know like half of you grew up over here. Don’t try to deny it. Dad’s getting older, Mom worries about you all the time. C’mon, return home, prodigal sons and daughters. Frankly, us Democrats out here, we’re not much different than your parents…

…we admit it, Bay Area. We miss you.

The presumptive presidential candidates have taken sides in a labor dispute that has engulfed the Bay Area this week–and that reflects the growing income gap that is engulfing our country. While Senator Obama stands with area janitors who are fighting to win a higher standard of living for themselves and their families, Senator McCain is lunching with the CEOs of the multi-billion dollar corporations whose floors the janitors scrub for poverty wages.

Today Obama spoke out against the “unacceptable and ever-growing divide between the wealthiest and poorest among us” that keeps hard-working janitors like Cisco cleaner Maria Lopez making just $11.04 per hour after nine years on the job.

McCain, for his part, embraced that divide yesterday when he attended a campaign fundraiser in Atherton hosted by Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers. The tech industry giant’s sprawling Silicon Valley campus is cleaned by the striking janitors who currently are paid just $23,000 a year–less than one third of what the Center for Economic Policy reports it takes to survive in California.

Some striking workers–on their way to a 600-person, 3-mile “march to close the gap” in Palo Alto–dropped by the fundraiser to call on the two Johns to stop turning a blind eye to the poverty their policies and decisions help to create. When they left, the workers left behind this flyer highlighting a scandalous equation: 10 tickets ($2,300 each) to the fundraiser = 2 tickets for the event’s VIP reception ($25,000 per couple) = 1 year’s salary ($23,000) for a Silicon Valley janitor.

The candidates know what’s at stake in this strike and they’ve made their allegiances clear. I encourage you to learn more and do the same.



~posted by Nadia, SEIU staff

The presumptive presidential candidates have taken sides in a labor dispute that has engulfed the Bay Area this week-and that reflects the income gap that is engulfing our country. While Senator Obama stands with area janitors who are fighting to win a higher standard of living for themselves and their families; Senator McCain is lunching with the CEOs of the multi-billion dollar corporations whose floors the janitors scrub for poverty wages.

Today Obama spoke out against the “unacceptable and ever-growing divide between the wealthiest and poorest among us” that keeps hard-working janitors like Cisco cleaner Maria Lopez making just $11.04 per hour after nine years on the job.

McCain, for his part, embraced that divide yesterday when he attended a campaign fundraiser in Atherton hosted by Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers. The tech industry giant’s sprawling Silicon Valley campus is cleaned by the striking janitors who currently are paid just $23,000 a year-less than one third of what the Center for Economic Policy reports it takes to survive in California.

Some striking workers-on their way to a 600-person, 3-mile “march to close the gap” in Palo Alto-dropped by the fundraiser to call on the two Johns to stop turning a blind eye to the poverty their policies and decisions help to create. When they left, the workers left behind this flyer highlighting a scandalous equation: 10 tickets ($2,300 each) to the fundraiser = 2 tickets for the event’s VIP reception ($25,000 per couple) = 1 year’s salary ($23,000) for a Silicon Valley janitor.

The candidates know what’s at stake in this strike and they’ve made their allegiances clear. I encourage you to learn more and do the same.  

I and others in the blogosphere (including Calitics) have given Jerry McNerney (CA-11) plenty of well deserved flack for his past statements and votes on the Iraq War.

Last week, he voted to deny $163 Billion for the purpose of continuing the war.  I was glad to see McNerney squarely on the correct side of this vote.

Roll call here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/200…

Cross posted at: http://ca-11.blogspot.com