Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Open Board of Directors Meeting
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Dimitrios Alexiou, Deborah Barmack, Carole Beswick, Tom Brickley, Erin Brinker, Ron Fremont, Dick Hart, Fran Inman, Ed Lasak, Sue McKee, John Mirau, Lou Monville, Steve PonTell, John Prentice, Larry Sharp, Paul Shimoff, Wendy Strack, Phil Waller, A.J. Wilson and Ray Wolfe.
Guests: Sarah Benoit, Garry Cohoe and Todd Warden
Announcements: 1) On July 11th the Randall Lewis Seminar series, held at UCR, will present guest speakers Assembly Member Jose Medina and Senator Richard Roth discussing 6 months in Sacramento-Reflections from Riverside Legislators. For more information and to register for the seminar please use the link provided http://or.ucr.edu/Event/index.aspx
Steve PonTell introduced Marnie Primmer, Executive Director, Mobility 21.
Mobility 21 was created in 2002 to bring together elected officials, transportation providers, businesses, local municipalities, labor and community leaders to develop solutions to the transportation issues facing Los Angeles. The group developed resolutions on land use, public transit, streets and highways, goods movement, aviation, transportation financing, and coalition building. In 2007, Mobility 21 became a regional effort focusing on the transportation efforts of Southern California. Mobility 21 is comprised of Los Angeles County, Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura Counties that engage in a conversation about regional transportation priorities that affect its 17 million residents.
Primary Goals
- Support practical solutions to Southern California’s transportation challenges
- Mobilize regional support for transportation funding and legislative priorities at the federal and state levels
- Unite political leaders around common priorities for transportation
- Bring together residents, civic leaders, business groups and industry experts to inspire them to act and to educate them on how to effectively speak out in support of transportation
Primary Objectives
- Travel to Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, CA at least annually to advocate legislative and policy priorities.
- Communicate through regular action alerts, emails and newsletters to coalition and Summit participants and other stakeholders on progress related to identified legislative and policy priorities
- Increase public involvement in advocating for public transportation funding
- Educate government officials and the community at large on the importance of a unified vision for transportation in Southern California through regular contact and meetings by coalition participants
Mobility 21 is a 501(c) (6) and operates on a $500,000 annual budget which is funded through membership dues and an annual transportation summit.
Our national freight infrastructure is in poor condition. Repair costs and needed improvements just in California are estimated at a cost of $60 billion. Southern California has a disproportionate share of freight traffic with 44% of consumer goods coming thru the ports of LA & Long Beach. The infrastructure investment must increase in Southern California or there will be ripple effects for the entire nation. Legislators should be encouraged and held accountable for our transportation funding which is critical. We must push our electeds for a comprehensive federal freight policy. TIFIA is helpful but is only a finance mechanism.
The group is working thru the complicated “Buy America” provisions and its interpretations. The provision is part of the American Recovery & Investment Act that restricts the purchase of supplies that are not domestic end products. The U.S. is no longer a major manufacturer and many companies have complex inventories that have multiple parts and components made in many places. Companies and all their suppliers are having difficulty proving compliance. Our legislators need to be educated on the real life impacts these provisions have and we need their help providing reasonable and practical legislation.
The gas tax cannot sustain our system. Alternatives like Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) carry privacy issues for many although smart phones also track locations of users. Additional toll roads, like the successful 91 Express Lanes, are being analyzed, as are High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes.
Goods movement is critical and we must remedy and improve our infrastructure or it will affect our global competitiveness.
A Q & A period followed.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 a.m.