Enviros couldn't win, so they changed the rules

As the completion of the 241 seemed more and more likely, the enviros sensed that they weren't winning.  They didn't have the support of Orange County where traffic congestion worsens every day.  They knew they wouldn't win in the courts (they have sued TCA 15 times to stop previous road project and lost all 15).  They knew that Camp Pendleton was federal land, so their liberal lefties in Sacramento couldn't help them.  So, like a three-year-old whose losing at Candyland, they just kicked over the board and said, "do-over!  new rules!" 

They recognize their best hope to keep Orange County in gridlock is to get the politicians in Sacramento to stop the project.  So they got their minion in San Diego (Congresswoman Davis) with the support of her Orange County collegue in Santa Ana (Congresswoman Sanchez) to hand over control of Pendleton to Sacramento.  Nullify the contract the state signed with the feds, and give the state and Coastal Commission control over the property.

It should be very interesting the next time the Marines want to dig a foxhole and a Coastal Commissioner prohibits it saying that the habitat of the Pacific Pocketmouse might be impacted. 

Just got back from the Foothill-Eastern TCA Board Meeting and the extreme frustration was palbable. 

On the Davis Amendment

Jerry Amante:  "(The Davis Amendment) is a callous use of the political system to block the quality of life for all of Southern California."

Peter Herzog:  "Opponents (to the completion of the 241) believe contracts don't mean anything (referring to the fact that the state signed a contract with the federal government in 1971 acknowledging the fact that a roadway easement was part of the state park lease).  They are now trying to abrogate the contract by legislative fiat."

Environmental Protection

Lance MacLean:  "A recent report shows that the Gnatcatcher (an endangered species of bird) population is greater today than before the roads were built."

Jerry Amante:  "We've gone above and beyond for environmental mitigation.  What the environmentalists are telling you is a lie."

Peter Herzog:  "San Mateo Creek does not flow into the ocean except during El Nino conditions (this was confirmed by Paul Bopp, Chief Engineer for the TCA, who said that the berm at San Mateo Creek has not been breached for two years).

Traffic Congestion

Peter Herzog:  "The accident last week backed up traffic on the 405 to the airport and on the I-5 to the 22 freeway.  Had the 241 been completed, drivers could have gone up the 133 to the 241 and reconnected to the I-5."

Justin McCusker (representing Pat Bates):  "Mission Hospital is the only major trauma center in the area and it serves Northern San Diego County too.  How would you get to Mission Hospital if there were an accident on the I-5?  We need an alternative."

Photo in the OC Register

Peter Herzog:  "Look at the picture: 

1)  It shows San Mateo Creek is dry and there is a berm that prevents the water from reaching the beach

2)  It shows pylons both for the train tracks (there's a reason it's called "Trestles") and for the freeway that are IN THE DRY CREEK BED.

3)  It shows that the 241 will connect to the I-5 a half-mile from the beach.

Unfortunately, Chris Norby had a good point, "What can we do?"

Loretta Sanchez either doesn't know or doesn't care about the traffic congestion problem in South Orange County.  And with the Republicans no longer in control in Washington DC and with little clout in Sacramento, the enviro-left has seized the opportunity to change the rules after they realized they were going to lose.

Unfortunately, the real loser will be Orange County resident's quality of life and the damage to the economy that the increasing traffic congestion will cause.  Right now surveys show that support for the completion of the 241 hovers at about two-thirds support in South Orange County.  Expect that number to skyrocket the first time a hammer meets a nail to build the first home in Rancho Mission Viejo.

RMV says that connecting the 241 to the I-5 isn't necessary to accomodate traffic for their 14,000 homes.  That's what the surrounding city streets and I-5 freeway are for.  We'll see how the communities of Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente feel about that.

Stay tuned.

Comments

[Karl Rove]

Chris Norby comments- "What can we do?"

Part of the responsibility for this turn of events must lie with TCA. They never took the enviros ability to play politics seriously. They have suffered for a number of years under poor strategic leadership at the staff level, in particular on the public relations front, poor political leadership at the board level, and poor strategic leadership at the legal level. And today was the end result.

I have spoken to many of the board members and staff members over the years, and not once have any of them ever acknowledged the serious threat that the enviros really did pose to this road. They never acknowledged the fact that the Sierra Club made killing this road one of their national priorities. All they did was rest on their laurels that they have beaten every environmental lawsuit they have faced.

Well, they forgot about the political piece of the equation, and now they have paid the price.

It is clear, that there needs to be a new order at the TCA, because the current strategists, the current philosophical direction the existing regime is expounding, and the lack of political estuteness is clearly beginning to show.

[Not true Karl]

That is not true at all. TCA at all levels has taken the environmental threat to the road extremely seriously. They have extensively lobbied in Washington and Sacramento and worked at every level to keep this project on track.

The reality is that there are no lobbyists or political strategists in the world that could have turned Congresswoman Davis or Assemblyman Huffman into a 241 supporter.

With the Dems in control of both houses in Washington and both houses in Sacramento, and with union influence waning in both places, this seemed inevitable.

[Paul Revere]

You guys have selective memory.
It was the Ken Calvert who first "changed the rules" in that same Armed Services Committee by leveraging the road's location on Camp Pendleton to exclude it from state review.
Talk about gall: exempting the project as it traversed a State Park!
And now you whine about what is, more accurately, the Dems changing the rules BACK.
I agree with Greenhut. A pox on both your parties.