Of course it is road interests that are behind the Novato lawsuit And of course they are playing on Marin County's notorious hostility towards anything that smacks of low income, including public transportation. Just look at how they have managed to wall off the latino Canal area from the rest of San Rafael.

The plan is to kill off the railroad and parcel out the right of way, thereby eliminating any threat to divert monies to rail projects that could be spent on highways. Enough delays could do in the NCRA in the face of an imploding state budget and a recessionary economy.

I am not even sure that a Sonoma County yes vote on SMART is certain in November. In addition to SMART the ballot will probably contain some hot button initiatives and particularly if the County stupidly adds an anti-casino measure it could bring out lots of voters with a deeply negative mindset.