James,

Back to your original question on TRAC? It is my understanding through correspondence that I've received that the TRAC Board overwhelmingly voted to support Proposition 1A.

I would ask Paul Dyson to give us an update on the vote for RailPAC, I have recieved nothing on it, as yet. But several folks I heard from would lead me to believe that the RailPAC Board appears to support it, as well.

It is also my understanding that several TRAC Board members may have not voted, or voted no, on the position to support Proposition 1A. Mr. Tolmach's ballot arguments, which are against Prop 1, if I recall correctly, should not constitute any interpretation of opposition by TRAC, or its Board to Proposition 1A.

As to some of the other comments, if you think that America is past its better days, then no, we are not capable of this or almost any of these undertakings to rebbuild our nation. We can continue to spend $700 billion a year on imported oil, or on the now weekly bail outs of Wall Street, which will only leave us more vulnerable in the future. So, I think we are at least as good as the Europeans, or the Indians at these things, and maybe if we tried, almost as good as our own grandparents at doing these things?

Are there problems with the CHSRA that cry for reform? Yes. Just as we have seen the need to have a more responsible and accountable process on rail passenger safety. This is the reason that many organizations supported SB 53 by Ducheny to eliminate the CHSRA and create a Department of Rail, directly accountable to the Governor, Legislature, and taxpayers.

Also, due to lots of work by the rail advocacy community, the enabling legislation for Proposition 1A, known as AB 3034 was substantially rewritten before final adoption to include oversight. This includes mechanisms to make sure that there was technical and regional oversight to the project development. In effect, that it is vetted by those regional stakeholders, as a reality check. This will help assure the projects built are not just useless segments that would indeed be boondoggles, but are part of a strategy that integrates with and is mutually supportive of local rail improvements and systems.

BOB2