WHEREAS, On September 20, 2010, The City Council of Palo Alto, California, unanimously passed a resolution declaring No Confidence in The California High Speed Rail Authority; and,
WHEREAS, the resolution passed calls on the Governments of The State of California and The United States of America to pull funding for the project that is intended to connect San Francisco to Anaheim; and,
WHEREAS, a majority of residents along the planned routes support the High Speed Rail project which will follow existing railroad right-of-way along the Peninsula and through Palo Alto; and,
WHEREAS, the project would bring thousands of jobs statewide for construction and operation at a time when these jobs are desperately needed; and,
WHEREAS, it is essential that the statewide rail network connect San Jose and San Francisco directly via the Peninsula; and,
WHEREAS, it is not in the best interests of the California High Speed Rail Authority or The State of California to build The City’s preferred tunnel due to sparse development along the corridor and the prohibitive expense of such a tunnel; and,
WHEREAS, The City of Palo Alto and other cities along the Peninsula could tax themselves to pay for a tunnel just as The City of Berkeley did during the construction of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System in the 1960s.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that by this Resolution The California Streets Blog website at CaliforniaStreets.org joins with the majority of Californians in declaring No Confidence in the Palo Alto City Council’s ability to provide leadership and represent its constituents on High Speed Rail and all issues regarding sustainable transportation.
MATT NELSON
Editor, CaliforniaStreets.org
