It was no surprise that the Expo Authority Board of
Directors voted to certify the Phase 2 FEIR on February 4. What was surprising
was the pre-publication of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavskys “yes” vote in a slick PR
piece distributed by the Expo Authority’s newly hired public relations firm,
Consensus, Inc. His position on the project was never in doubt, but out of
respect for constituents, generally the Board members will at least hear public
testimony before publicly announcing their vote.
Also surprising,
was the last minute decision of sitting Expo Board member Bernard Parks to
renege on a promise made some weeks ago to allow City Councilmember and Expo
Board Alternate Paul Koretz the opportunity to sit in on the vote to certify
the Phase 2 FEIR, as it affects CD-5 and not Parks’ district. Coucilmember Koretz was, instead, allowed to
make a statement regarding the project. In the statement he identified many of
the same FEIR faults pointed out by NFSR over the last three years (flaws in
the Metro Grade Crossing Policy, Expo misapplied CEQA regulations evaluating
crossings in WLA, and the failure to study grade separations). In addition, Koretz made the bold statement
that he would have voted no on the FEIR certification. Please read the
Councilmember’s response in its entirety. Also read Supervisor Mark
Ridley-Thomas’s letter to MTA Chief Art Leahy about the failures of the Metro
Grade Crossing Policy to include safety and environmental considerations.
Over 100 local
community members carpooled or drove to the Expo board meeting to support the
Neighbors For Smart Rail platform asking that the FEIR not be certified until
its many deficiencies are remedied, including their failure to study and
provide documentation for an underground alignment from Overland to
Sepulveda. Thanks to all who came and
spoke to the Expo Board, or lent their support to those who did. The importance of getting community input on
the record cannot be overstated. The
politicians need to see a critical mass of people opposing this project as
designed. It is also vital to protest
Expo’s sloppy environmental evaluation devised to mask impacts and overstate
the benefits of running these trains at grade though our residential community
as often as every 2 ½ minutes, 22 hours
a day for the next 75 years. It is
necessary that Expo understand our community resolve for them to, “Build it
right or don’t build it.”
CEQA Attorney
Robert Silverstein presented NFSR’s response to the FEIR along with a banker’s
box of evidence documenting the FEIR’s CEQA failures. Attorney Silverstein will be representing
NFSR through the filing of a Writ of Mandate, and any subsequent trial.
There were
supporters of Expo’s plans present as well. Their support was for the line as
proposed, with few if any comments from them on impacts other than the need to
preserve the coral trees on Olympic and to relocate the maintenance yard to
protect the quality of life in the Santa Monica neighborhood adjacent. The
biggest chunk of the “go Expo” crew were the two busloads of students in aqua
t-shirts from Santa Monica College, who stated for the record that they were
there because they were given “extra credit” from the college for
attending. Three commercial real estate
developers from Santa Monica, including one who claimed to represent several
thousand hospitality workers in Santa Monica hotels, are also anxious to get
the train up and running. Clearly development and commerce in Santa Monica
depends on Expo speeding through the residential community of West Los Angeles
ASAP.
So, where do
we go from here? NFSR held an Expo Light Rail community meeting on February 21,
(details here) to discuss where we are and the next steps in our legal
challenge, and most important, fund raising strategies and public relations.
Read about it and how you can help!
