GETTING THERE FROM HERE-Throughout our county, throughout our state, and throughout our nation, there is the great divide over transportation spending--liberals and Democrats want more transportation/infrastructure spending with more taxes, while conservatives and Republicans want more transportation/infrastructure spending with better confirmation over how the money will be found to fund it ... but both sides want more transportation/infrastructure spending.
It's not just the conservative San Gabriel Valley and San Diego/La Jolla region pushing for their new light rail lines, while the liberal Westside, Mid-City and Downtown areas are fighting to build their own lines.
It's not just the conservative Orange County spending their mass transit dollars on Metrolink and not light rail, while LA County chooses to spend much more on MetroRail than Metrolink.
It's not just conservative Republicans favoring highway spending over rail lines, or liberal Democrats favoring a California High Speed Rail line over widening the I-5 freeway.
It's about conservatives stepping up to the plate and confronting the reality that we must spend more on all sorts of transportation funding, to say nothing of infrastructure to handle water, sewage and electricity.
It's about liberals stepping up the plate and confronting the reality that we're not spending our tax dollars well, and that the money that should be going to transportation/infrastructure is being sucked away to less meritorious priorities.
It's about Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey getting over their fighting about past funding disputes and remembering that the New York/New Jersey rail tunnel finally has to be funded, or the economy and quality of life in that entire region will suffer!
It's about whether Los Angeles--future Olympics or not--and the rest of the Southland will suffer from gridlock and lack of access to jobs, tourist attractions, schools, and have a lousy environment with respect to both Mother Nature and Father Economy.
It's about Congress figuring out not IF, but HOW the multi-year (Three years? Six years? Ten years?) Highway Trust Fund will be paid for...to the tune of approximately $100 billion if that bill is funded for six years.
It's about BOTH parties knowing that they can kick the can down the road this year on that Fund, but that if they don't come up with something for the voters (who now are working more, regardless of whether their jobs have good pay or benefits, and they demand and need mobility) by the 2016 elections, there will be election-year blowback next November.
It's about the Congress remembering that there's enough misspent education, military, social services funds that could easily be realloted to transportation, and it's about innovative new funding sources to be raised from business and the taxpayers for our transportation/infrastructure network...so long as it's spent well, and transparently.
And it's certainly about the next presidential election having transportation/infrastructure as a legitimate priority that won't get pushed aside or ignored.
Let's hope that transportation/infrastructure, which is as nonpartisan an issue as it gets (compared to other issues, at least), will serve to bring most of America together--both literally and intellectually--as we strive to get past partisan childishness and forge ahead into the 21st century.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] He also does regular commentary on the Mark Isler Radio Show on AM 870, and co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 66
Pub: Aug 14, 2015
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