SMART Opponent Wrote:
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A letter from Charles McGlashan in June 3 IJ
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The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit district
remains committed to its original plan described
in Measure Q: delivering the passenger train and
pathway to our citizens by 2014. We stand by that
commitment.

In his Sunday IJ column, Dick Spotswood implied
otherwise based on options presented by staff
during the adoption of our updated Strategic Plan.
Mr. Spotswood, having served in office, should
know better than to criticize an agency for
considering staff options in a transparent manner.

Doing so is prudent and reasonable. Those options
remain options until the board makes policy. Staff
does its job by giving us conservative projections
and a selection of options; the board decides what
to do.

The SMART board's policy is to deliver the project
as described, despite the terrible economy and the
gloomy spin delivered by the press. Our board is
confident that staff has updated projections in
the most conservative way, and we are equally
confident of our ability to meet the objectives of
this project.

Despite the seeming simplicity he suggests,
locomotives are not an option; if they were, staff
would have offered them for board consideration.
They are not an option because they are much less
fuel efficient and are environmentally inferior,
emitting more particulates and greenhouse gas.

That's why they were set aside before the 2006 EIR.
People often imagine that somehow some obvious and
elegant idea is missed by dumb politicians and
their staff. SMART staff knows what it is doing
and the board is composed of thoughtful
policymakers. With hard work, concerted efforts to
save money and a determination to raise additional
federal funds, we will deliver the project we
described to the voters.

Nothing good is ever easy. We know that and will
keep working hard to do it anyway.

Charles McGlashan, chairman, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit
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Here is the Column mentioned in the above letter:

Dick Spotswood: What SMART must do to deliver on its promise

By Dick Spotswood, Posted: 06/02/2009 11:53:08 AM PDT

SMART, the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit district, is in a
tight spot. It seems that the Great Recession has created
unanticipated financial difficulties. The agency contends
that the commuter rail plan it promised to voters might
need to change. That would be a major blunder permanently
destroying the rail district's credibility. It need not
happen if prudent decisions are made before it's too late.

The dilemma is that bond financing is now less available
and more costly. Construction costs escalate while sales
tax revenues decrease.

SMART general manager Lillian Hames floated a concept to
address the looming shortfall: delay construction on the
most northern section of the line and phase in the
promised parallel bicycle-pedestrian pathway.

District directors wisely put the suggestion on hold, but
as SMART spokesperson Chris Coursey puts it, "phasing
remains a backup plan" if bond markets remain in the tank.

The golden rule in business as well as in politics is
that a deal is a deal. Break a deal and bonds of trust
are irrevocably breached. That's bad business and poor
politics, yet that's what will happen if SMART goes
back on its core commitment.

When 69 percent of North Bay voters bought into
Sonoma-Marin commuter rail, they accepted the deal
promised by SMART's proponents.

In return for enduring a one-quarter cent sales tax
increase, the transit agency would build a rail
commuter line 70 miles south from Cloverdale to the
Larkspur Ferry all paralleled by a bicycle route.

It was promised to be open for business by the end
of 2014. While skeptics scoffed, Hames and board
chair Charles McGlashan vouched that financial
projections were sound. In an interview just two
months ago, Hames assured me that all was on track
for a timely, on-budget completion.

Now SMART discloses that its finances aren't so
solid. The result: a potential $154.7 million
shortfall. The only good news is that any decision
need not be made for two years. In the meantime
final engineering proceeds with construction bid
requests set to go out in 2011.

That's ample time for bond markets to return to
normal. Whether the current decline in sales tax
revenues will rebound is anyone's guess. Federal
assistance is possible, but by no means is assured.

Whatever the financial future holds, SMART must
stick to its core promise: commuter rail from
Larkspur to Cloverdale plus the bike-walkway all
in operation by 2014. That commitment can be
assured by making economies today that allow the
agency to survive even a prolonged recession.

SMART chose "commuter rail" for its economy of
construction and operation. Even with a frugal
plan, further efficiencies remain possible.

Stations need be made more basic, upgraded as
ridership increases and funds become available.
I've just ridden rail commuter lines in the East.
Stations often consist of little more than a
paved strip for passengers, a handicap ramp
and adjacent parking.

Hames says that the purchase price for SMART's
passenger cars will escalate. That's due to the
agency's insistence on using innovative
self-propelled diesel railcars. Those vehicles
have much to recommend, but there's a cheaper option.

Purchase or, better yet, lease off-the-shelf
double-deck locomotive-propelled trains. It's
how commuter rail lines successfully operate
in San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles and on Caltrains'
Peninsula service. North Bay residents don't care
about the trains' technology so long as they are
efficient, fast, comfortable and environmentally sound.

The Marin-Sonoma rail agency needs to retain
credibility by keeping its word and delivering
on time and on budget as promised. Do that by
eliminating enough of the bells and whistles
so that SMART's core commitment to voters is honored.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley shares his
views on local politics every Sunday in the IJ.
His e-mail address is spotswood (at) comcast.net