REGIONAL MEETING MINUTES

April 23, 2003 1) Introductions/Announcements/Revisions to Agenda 2) Initiative Updates and Discussions a) Contra Costa Sales Tax Contra Costa County is considering putting a transportation sales tax renewal, Measure C, on the ballot in 2004. The tax would be a half-cent sales tax incurred over 20 years. The Transportation Authority is still in the process of collecting input on the Expenditure and Growth Management plans, and expects to have a draft plan ready by Summer 2003. TALC is working with a coalition of groups (Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance, Contra Costa Central Labor Council, League of Women Voters, Urban Habitat, etc.) to address this issue. The coalition held three public Strategy Sessions throughout the County with over 170 attendees, has presented to over 20 community groups, and drafted a Platform of program and policy recommendations for the new Measure. This Platform, "Transportation for a Livable Contra Costa," is available here. We are currently seeking endorsements from region-wide and Contra Costa organizations. We will probably present the Platform over the next couple months at a CCTA meeting and will need a lot of people there with us. b) San Francisco Sales Tax update SF is looking at the November 2003 ballot, and the Board of Supes will have to approve the ballot measure by the 2nd week of August. Right now the expenditure plan is looking like it will be 70% transit (with 20% going to operations), 10% bike/ped and 10% paratransit, leaving 10 or 20% for roads [NOTE: this wasn't clear in discussion. Perhaps the 10% in paratransit was included in the total percentage for transit.] The TA can be reached at 552-4800 for more information. Norman Rolfe is serving on the EPAC committee and will be able to keep us informed of the process. Dave Snyder is out of town, but according to those who attended the San Francisco chapter meeting at TALC's summit, he seems to be taking the lead on watching and participating in the development of the measure. 3) Bridge Toll Increase SB 916, the bridge toll increase bill will increase tolls by $1 on all state-owned Bay Area bridges if passed by the voters in March 2004. The bill, as written, requires a 50% majority, but passing it by 67% would reduce the possibilities of legal challenges. Perata has released the expenditure plan for the bill, and it is very strong( the list of projects is available soon on TALC website). The bill gives a little something to a lot of different projects, and Perata has made it clear that the expenditure will not change much before being put on the ballot. TALC may have a little wiggle room. Perata really fought for good stuff, but had to make political compromises (for example, the interchange in Solano). Suggestions from the meeting: · BART to Warm Springs line item probably came out of the money going to the BART seismic project. Margaret from BayRail Alliance suggested getting more money for BART seismic, not Warm Springs. · Eva from League of Women Voters was concerned with land use around the Warm Springs BART station. Can Perata include language about supportive land use around the Warm Springs BART station? · Howard from Sierra Club, seconded by a few others: Wants to pull some money for transit operations away from ferries and toward more cost-effective transit systems. · Cost-neutral parking facilities for proposed park and ride lots, or charge for the operations and maintenance of parking · Josh from SFBC suggested trying to get funds for a West Span bike lane (Bay Bridge). Others suggested instead finding money in the bill to do projections for "new riders" on the proposed west span. We should see if the existing study included research of use (including potential "new riders"). TALC Steering Committee voted to support SB 916 at the last meeting. The membership vote to support the Bill was set aside for the next regional meeting so member groups would be able to read through it. Howard moved that TALC should "beat the drum" to impose a congestion pricing pilot program on the Bay Bridge. MTC is pushing the idea of a $2 peak, $4 off-peak program. Clair seconded. Motion did not pass. 4) Gas Tax for Transit MTC is talking about trying to pass a gas tax for transit (5 cents), or a sales tax on gas (3%). The money would be spent on transit and local streets and road maintenance. A possible way to talk about the bill is "pennies for transit and potholes". Eva moved to support (in concept) the gas tax for transit. Dick seconded. Motion passed. 5) Upcoming Events a) April 29 - Rally Against Pombo Freeway in San Jose. Co-sponsored by TALC but led by Greenbelt Alliance-see www.greenbelt.org for more details. There is a flyer in the packet Pombo is trying to get money to study the freeway in TEA3, and he has a lot of power so it's a definite possibility. b) May 1st-Stop the VTA bus cuts Rally in San Jose. Sign on to TALC recommendations (passed out at meeting, available on website). VTA implemented 9% bus cuts this week on top of all the cuts occurring over the last two years. They are also talking about 20% cuts in the fall and then more cuts next year. TALC may file an environmental justice complaint with FTA regarding the bus cuts and VTA's legal opinion that Measure A money can't be used to save bus service. c) May 6th-Release of TALC's Best and Worst Report. Press conference to release will be in Fremont at the site of the proposed Walmart .4 miles from the Warm Springs BART station. TALC is looking for member groups to sign onto the Smart Growth Platform (attached in agenda packet). Which will form the basis of the recommendations section Comments on Smart Growth Platform were made and the following were adopted (and have been incorporated) into the document · Chris Pederson suggested we strengthen language of item 3D to make smart growth a criteria for approving transportation projects. This could possibly be done by requiring cities to use ABAG projections 2003 as part of the RTP process. · Community opposition to smart growth can be bypassed with community workshops. Therefore, money should be provided to local planners for charrettes, etc to get communities involved. TALC will send around the Smart Growth platform for review and sign-ons. d) May 8-Regional Bake Sale to Save Public Transit. Led by TransitWorks, with TALC involvement. Meant to publicize the precarious state of transit funding across the Bay Area. Local bake sales will be held across the Bay Area during the morning commute, and a large lunchtime bake sale and press conference will be held at MTC from 12-1. Check www.transitworks.org after May 1 for more information and locations near you! You can also call Amber at TALC-510.740.3105. 6) State Legislation a) Proposal to improve TALC legislative process. Member groups who want TALC to work on a specific piece of state legislation will have to do a little work first (fill out a form) and track the bill themselves and keep TALC updated. TALC will make the process clear and available on the website. b) SCA 11 and ACA 14, sponsored by STPP, will allow CA voters to lower the threshold for sales taxes and general obligation bonds if they contain a mix of affordable housing, transit and neighborhood improvement programs, open space, and general infrastructure. For more information see www.transact.org/ca/. 7) Annual Summit Summit was a success-over 250 people despite the timing right after the war began. Most of the suggestions were about extending the day to have more time. TALC will look into rearranging the schedule for next year to give more time for strategy sessions. Other comments included a suggestion to break the day up into more "introductory" sessions and then more planning or strategy-based sessions for people already familiar with Coalition work. 8) Segway demonstration and test rides A smaller group stayed late after the meeting and talked about Segway politics, their role in San Francisco and the Bay Area, and the role they may play in the future of personal mobility. Then we got to ride them around the conference room.