OC Blog

Loretta Sanchez Supporting the 241?

Apparently that's what a news release from Janet Nguyen's office is reporting which appeared on today's edition of the Viet Bao Daily News, a Vietnamese language newspaper based in Little Saigon.  Here the part about Loretta Sanchez promising Janet that she would support the completion of the 241 Foot Hill Toll Road which was sent over by a Vietnamese friend:

Trong hai ngày thứ Năm và thứ Sáu 8, 9 tháng 11, 07, Giám Sát Viên Janet Nguyễn hội luận với nhiều Thượng Nghị Sĩ, Dân Biểu Liên Bang, Phụ Tá Cao Cấp của các văn phòng như Dân Biểu Ken Calvert, Địa Hạt 44, thuộc Ủy Ban Tài Nguyên nội dung cuộc thảo luận liên quan đến việc phát triển đường Cao Tốc 241 để giải tỏa áp lực quá tải của ba xa lộ 5, 55,22 liên quan đến Địa Hạt 1 gồm 4 thành phố Santa Ana, Westminster, Garden Grove, và Midway City.

Trong cuộc gặp gỡ với Dân Biểu Loretta Sanchez, Địa Hạt 47, Bà Loretta Sanchez hứa sẽ hỗ trợ dự án đường cao tốc 241, vì địa hạt 44 của bà Loretta nằm cùng chung ranh giới với địa hạt 1, bà cũng hứa sẽ đi quan sát con đường cao tốc này với các Giám Sát Viên Quận Cam.

I didn't know that Janet Nguyen could be so charming...It is either that or she was fooled by Sanchez.  Maybe Quang or Bolsaman can translate the Vietnamese text in red for our readers.

Sen. Tom Harman Embraces 241 Toll Road Completion

I heard Friday evening that Sen. Tom Harman had changed his long-held position on completing the 241 toll road from opposition to support. I played phone-tag with his District Director, Cynthia Determan, over the weekend and was able to catch up with her a few minutes ago.

Cynthia confirmed Sen. Harman had indeed re-thought his position and endorsed completing the toll road, and she arranged for me to speak with the Senator about his change of heart.

Sen. Harman said it took place over the last couple of months and started with a helicopter tour of the proposed 241 completion alignment he took at the invitation of the Transportation Corridor Agencies (readers may recall I took the same tour about the same time) He said he had never toured the area before and the chopper tour gave him a good view of how the alignment did and didn't impact San Onofre State Park.

Foothill-South would protect San Clemente

The 241 Toll Road has proven to be a godsend both for firefighters and for families fleeing the flames (if you'll pardon my alliteration).  Firefighters have used the 241 as a staging area to battle the blaze and the 241 provides a firebreak protecting homes to the west, although the extreme high winds did cause the fire to jump the 241 in Irvine.

Thankfully, there is currently no fire east of San Clemente that threatens that community.  But if there were, the I-5 freeway would be the only escape route out of town and if that is gridlocked, there are no other alternatives. 

Despite 20 years of environmental analysis conducted by TCA, EPA, US Fish & Wildlife and others designed to protect the native plants and habitat of the Arroyo Toad and Pacific pocket mouse, it took just a few days of a fire to do more to damage tens of thousands of acres than the completion of a 16-mile roadway could ever do.  In fact without the 241 in the foothills of Lake Forest, the fire damage and destruction to both homes and wildlife would probably have been worse. 

The completion of the 241 would give our firefighters access to east San Clemente, it would provide a firebreak to protect the homes to the west, and it would provide an escape route for the residents.

Suddenly investing $20 million and 20 years into analyzing the protection of a two-inch mouse from a roadway is put into perspective.

I-5 Widening Study Deemed Bogus. Now, where are the alleged Steelhead Trout?

For more than a year, Foothill-South opponents have been hanging their hat on their "study" that "proves" the I-5 can be widened while demolishing just 31 homes (better to boot 31 families onto the streets than damage one hair on a flea-infested Pacific pocket mouse I always say!).  This study - conducted by Smart Mobility, a four-person engineering firm in Vermont, was used by the Coastal Commission as "proof" that Caltrans, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and the Transportation Corridor Agencies didn't know what they were talking about when their 20 year, $20 million analysis of alternatives showed that more than 1,200 homes and businesses would have to be removed.

LA Times reporter Dan Weikel investigated and found that - shockingly - the Vermont engineers, who aren't even licensed to work in California, got it wrong.  The smoke and mirrors of this "study" have been blown away.

Now, which reporter will look into the allegation by Surfrider that the 241 will impact the Steelhead Trout in San Mateo Creek, when there is no evidence that they even exist there?  And what about the canard that having the 241 connect to the I-5 will change the shape of the waves coming into Trestles a half-mile away?  Apparently, if you've got green credentials you can get away with any allegation as fact and no one will call you on it.

Rep. Calvert: Unofficial Survey Finds 75% Disagree With Coastal Commissariat On 241 Completion

Found another item on the transom, this one from Rep. Ken Calvert's office:

Seventy-five Percent of Survey Respondents Disagree with Coastal Commission on 241 Foothill-South

WASHINGTON, DC. October 11, 2007 – Today Congressman Calvert (R-CA-44) released an unofficial survey of residents in California Congressional District 44 which includes parts of Riverside and Orange Counties.

The survey was distributed via an e-newsletter discussing the recent California Coastal Commission Staff Report recommending that commissioners deny certifying the Foothill-South Toll Road Project.  The Report concluded that that adding capacity to our freeway system will lead to more congestion.  The Staff Report also suggests that a better alternative to the Foothill-South is a proposal to expand Interstate 5 in San Clemente despite the fact it would require significant use of eminent domain to condemn long existing houses and businesses.  The report dismisses any concern about the broad use of eminent domain by stating it is a “more easily quantifiable social and economic mitigation.”

Diane Harkey On Completing The 241

This is from Diane Harkey's "OC Lite" newsletter that just came over the transom:

Tolling the Truth about Our Quality of Life

Good News! The October 11th California Coastal Commission Hearing regarding the SR 241 Tollroad completion has been postponed. So a delay is good news? Yes, no matter which side of the aisle you sit on this issue.

If you’ve been tuned in, you know that there has been an increasingly active movement by State Parks, Surfriders and others to halt the final 16 miles of the tollroad. Opponents site State Park and surf/beach annihilation as their call to arms. Most proponents and local residents merely assume things will work out, as they did with the SR 73, and the road will be built. After all, as in the SR 73 battle, opponents have time and emotion on their side, and proponents face delays that cost money and future political uncertainties – nothing new.

Shocker! Coastal Commission Staff Opposes Toll Road

Why do reporters always use this passive style in lead paragraphs?:

The proposed Foothill South toll road would likely drive an endangered mouse to extinction, wipe out vital habitat, shatter the peace of a popular campground and even worsen global warming, according to a report by the staff of the California Coastal Commission released today.

It leads the reader to believe what they are reading is a fact, rather than an opinion. I've never understood why journalists can't simply reverse the order and use the active voice:

The Coastal Commission staff claimed today that the proposed Foothill South toll road...

That's a more honest, accurate presentation, in my opinion.

TCA Offers To Help Pay For Extending San Onfore Beach Lease Extension

This just came over the transom from the OC Business Council:

As a part of ongoing efforts to complete the 241 Toll Road, the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency Board of Directors offered $100 million today to fund improvements to the California State Parks System including funds to extend the lease at San Onofre State Beach Park and Trestles Beach. Preserving these areas will allow completion of the 241 in a way that is sensitive to the environment.

OC Tax To San Diego Mayor: Support 241 Completion

This came over the transom yesterday from the OC Taxpayers Association:

To:        The Honorable Jerry Sanders, Mayor, City of San Diego

From:        Reed Royalty, President, Orange County Taxpayers Association

Date:        September 24, 2007

Subject:    Extension of SR-241 Toll Road                                                                

Most public testimony on the proposed completion of the SR-241 Toll Road in the counties of
San Diego and Orange focuses on the environment.

The Orange County Taxpayers Association (OCTax) cares about our environment too.  That’s one reason we support toll roads.  Free-flowing traffic causes less pollution than stop-and-go traffic.  Just as importantly, it generates economic wealth that enables us to maintain our parks, beaches, housing, water and sanitary systems, flood control, landfills, recycling facilities, fire protection and other services that enhance the environment.  The worst ecological disasters occur in economically distressed areas.  Good roads, by their effect on our economy, are essential to our environment.

Here are additional reasons OCTax supports the completion of the 241 Toll Road.

241 Tollroad Opponents Hire Some Firepower

Opponents of completing the Foothill-South toll road have hired some high-powered political talent to assist their campaign to "save" Trestles, the habitat of the steelhead trout somebody thinks they saw once upon a time, the Arroyo Toad and anything else that might come in handy in stopping the 241.

Matt Klink of Cerrell Associates of Los Angeles and Joe Rodota of Forward Observer of Sacramento have been brought on board by...I don't know yet. I have calls in to both Klink and Rodota.