Governor Schwarzenegger made several appointments to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board on the eve of his departure. The Governor is allowed to appoint 5 of the 9 members of the Authority board, and none of those appointments require Senate confirmation. The Governor took action on three of the slots. According to the […]
Archive | 2010
California High Speed Rail Project : How far does $1.232 billion get you?
On December 9th, the Federal Railroad Administration awarded the California High Speed Rail Authority another $616 million to extend the train tracks planned for the Central Valley. The terms of this money require California to match the funds with $616 million of its own dollars, bringing the total available to $1.232 billion. The Authority will […]
California High Speed Rail Peer Review Committee Releases Critical Report
Peer Review Report November 2010 The High-Speed Rail Authority’s independent Peer Review Group released this extensive report detailing issues that confront the HSRA. Highlights of the report are covered by Dan Walters, New study sharply criticizes high-speed rail project, and John Cox, Peer report calls for ‘thorough reassessment’ of high-speed rail project, who outlines the […]
How many jobs will the California High Speed Rail project create?
Questions are being asked about what we can expect from the $4.15 billion of construction just approved by the California High Speed Rail Authority. Last year, we published a short report looking at the job creation claims, which applies to the current situation. The bottom line is that very few, if any, net new jobs […]
CARRD’s comments on corridor selection process
Elizabeth Alexis from CARRD made these comments at the December 2, 2010 California High Speed Rail Authority Board meeting in Sacramento, in response to the corridor selection decision: You are being asked to keep hope alive in Merced. Sometimes it is better to just rip off the bandaid. The staff memo lays out an efficient […]
Preview of upcoming California High Speed Rail Authority board meeting
The California High Speed Rail Authority Board is expected this week to select which corridor will be the first to be constructed. The staff recommendation is for a 65 mile route between a place called Borden located just north of Fresno and Corcoran, a small town on the way to Bakersfield. Things to note about […]
The High Speed Rail Authority’s Plan B
The California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is meeting federal requirements for “independent utility” with a plan to have Amtrak trains use the Central Valley tracks, if and only if, the rest of the high speed rail project is not built. Some potential issues with this plan: 1) Someone will have to be responsible for […]
Board members received gifts in violation of their own policies
We presented this document Conflict of Interest Gifts CHSRA to the California High Speed Rail Authority board this morning (November 4, 2010). The CHSRA forbids any gifts to contractors – current and potential. Unfortunately, certain members of the board never “got the memo”, as evidenced by the fact that they received gifts and reported them […]
The Attorney General responds to our letter about incompatible offices
CARRD got this letter from the Attorney General’s office. In a nutshell, they are not going to do anything until they finish writing an Opinion. State Senator Alan Lowenthal requested an opinion at the end of August and one has not been issued yet. We have read ten years worth of similar opinions and are […]
CARRD sends letter to the Attorney General 10/2/2010
You can read our letter to the Attorney General asking him to initiate quo warranto proceedings, the legal process to remove someone who is illegally in office.