Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Open Board of Directors Meeting
Norton Event Center
1601 E. Third St., Suite 138
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Patti Arlt, Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Ken Coate, Adam Eventov, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, P.T. McEwen, Dan Murphy, Roman Nava, Keven Porter, Kevin Pulliam, Dan Roberts, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Hassan Webb and Ray Wolfe.
Guests: Bizhan Behzad, “Cat” Pritchett, Arnold San Miguel and Julie Silvio.
Announcements: 1) A reminder that next Tuesday, the Executive Committee will meet at 4:00 p.m. at the Inland Action office to discuss changes in format and dates for advocacy trips. 2) Our speakers for the October 23, 2018 meeting are the Deputy State Directors for both Senators Feinstein and Harris. Leticia White from Innovative Federal Strategies facilitated this opportunity.
M/S/P: Minutes from September 25, 2018
Ken Coate introduced Denny Zane, Executive Director, MoveLA.
Denny Zane discussed the need to oppose Proposition 6 in the upcoming election.
Proposition 6 is aimed at repealing SB1, the transportation funding bill approved by the state legislature with a 2/3rd majority. Last year SB1 started providing more than $5 billion/year over 10 years for 6,500 projects in all counties and cities in California, helping to address the huge backlog of maintenance and repair needs—filling potholes and repaving crumbling roads, increasing the safety of bridges and roads, and relieving traffic congestion by improving public transit.
California has not kept up with maintaining our roads and bridges and the dedicated funding SB1 provides is needed. More than 50% of California’s 1,600 bridges and overpasses are 50 years old or older and structurally deficient. The cost of repairing and preserving bridges increases as they age and as they reach the end of their intended design life. Additionally, 89% of counties have roads that are in ‘poor’ or ‘at-risk’ condition. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were more than 3,600 fatalities on California roads in 2016. Poor road conditions are a major factor in vehicle collisions and accidents.
If approved, Prop 6 will stop thousands of projects currently underway throughout California to upgrade bridges and overpasses to meet earthquake safety standards and to improve the safety of our roads. The California Chamber of Commerce and business organizations throughout the state oppose Prop 6 because it would eliminate 68,000 jobs and $183 billion dollars in economic investments as thousands of road construction projects are halted.
Below are some facts addressing a few of the many misconceptions regarding the use of money from SB1-
- High speed rail– No SB1 funds are being used to support the high-speed rail project. California’s state-maintained transportation infrastructure is receiving roughly half of revenues to improve our state highways. The other half is going to local roads, transit and pedestrian and bicycle safety.
- Raiding the fund– Prop 69 passed, in June 2018, prevents Sacramento politicians from raiding transportation funds and ensures these funds are only used for transportation improvements. We should not eliminate transportation revenues that are accountable to taxpayers, can’t be diverted, and that voters overwhelmingly dedicated to fixing our roads.
- Lowering taxes– The annual savings at the gas pump may be as much as $700. However, the average California driver already spends $739. dollars per year on front end alignments, shocks and tire repairs because of driving on bad roads. Stopping projects that fix our roads means more car repairs and more money out of drivers’ wallets.
Below are projects currently underway in the Inland Empire that are at risk if prop 6 passes:
- 644-Projects filling potholes and repaving crumbling roads
- 103-Projects improving the safety of local roads and bridges
- 56-Traffic congestion relief projects
- 42-Safety improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists
We must reinvest in our transportation system because it determines our quality of life, our health and safety, and the strength of our economy.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned 8:27 a.m.