The following is an open letter to MTA Chief Executive Officer Roger Snoble from Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich in response to his letter to Congressman David Dreier:
[view:node_ad=5]Dear Mr. Snoble,
The information in your letter to Congressman David Dreier is not consistent with what I was told last month when I was in Washington D.C. meeting with the Secretary of Transportation and the Chief Counsel of the Federal Transit Administration. Both made it quite clear that the reason the Gold Line Foothill Extension project has not been able to progress under the FTA’s “New Starts” program was due to the MTA’s failure to prioritize the project as part of its long-term project list.
By not allowing our Congressional delegation to pursue federal funding for this vital transportation project, you are holding the residents of the San Gabriel Valley hostage for the next 30 years to a flawed sales tax as there only saving grace to fund the extension.
In essence, you are telling our Federal Congressional representatives to take a hike and not lobby to get Federal dollars for the project and instead have San Gabriel Valley residents sign on to a sales tax plan that they were never a part of.
The MTA should both support our Congressional delegation in pursuing federal funding and simultaneously engage the San GabrielValley in a meaningful sales tax measure that incorporates completion of the Gold Line to Claremont .
Sincerely,
MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH
Supervisor
cc: The Honorable Congressman David Dreier
The Honorable Congressman Adman Schiff
The Honorable Congresswoman Grace Napolitano
The Honorable Congresswoman Hilda Solis
Mr. Steve Hymon , Los Angeles Times
Mr. Dan Abendschein, San Gabriel Valley Tribune