San Carlos, CA – SamTrans Chair of the Board of Directors Charles Stone issued this statement after several Joint Powers Board partner agencies abruptly halted a government review process Friday that had been agreed upon by the full Caltrain Board:
“SamTrans is deeply disappointed that its partner agencies have abruptly halted the $2 million plus governance review process in their refusal to participate in the long-planned workshop #3. This process was agreed to by the Caltrain Board. This refusal to hear information from staff and consultants today comes as great shock.
“The orchestrated abandonment of today’s meeting to address governance issues is puzzling for several reasons:
“First, the renewed effort by SamTrans to inquire about efforts to ensure reimbursement of a decades-old debt cannot be a surprise to our partner agencies that have all acknowledged such reimbursement is owed.
“Second, Santa Clara and San Francisco have long insisted that the investment reimbursement obligation has no bearing on the review of the governance structure. And although the San Mateo County members of the JPB were accused of withdrawing from the governance review, all three of its JPB members were present and prepared to engage in today’s discussion.
“Third, it would seem that our partners are staging an oversized drama here. SamTrans sent no demand for immediate payment or any itemization of debt. Rather, all it has done, as a good partner seeking transparency, is write letters asking what efforts have been and are being made, as long promised, to reimburse SamTrans for its substantial investments over 30 years.
“Our partners’ refusal to participate in today’s meeting is simply a stark example of why, on behalf of San Mateo County taxpayers, SamTrans has had to demand their attention to the historical failures and seek collections of long past due obligations. The same can be said for the failure of CCSF and VTA to fund the necessary system maintenance costs in this year’s budget. In the FY 21-22 Capital Budget, CCSF and VTA contributions to the Capital Budget were $0. San Mateo County said that we were willing to make our $5 million contribution if the other member agencies made theirs.
San Mateo County and SamTrans have lived up to their agreements. We hope that our partners will re-examine their commitment to the JPB and be prepared to advance the current business of the agency concurrently with fulfilling their promise to satisfy outstanding debts.
Zennie Abraham is Zennie62Media, Inc. CEO and Zenophon Abraham Zennie62 YouTube Channel vlogger, and pioneer African-American creator of Oakland News Now Blog and Zennie62Media’s 100-blog network. He’s covered the NFL, San Diego Comic Con, The Night of 100 Stars Oscars Party, The NFL Draft, and CES Las Vegas annually , and for more than 10 years. Zennie created Oakland’s first true blog, Oakland Focus, and Oakland’s first YouTube Partner Channel Zennie62, and now Oakland’s only news blog aggregator, OaklandNewsOnline.com . Zennie also holds the distinction of forming Oakland’s only bid to host the NFL’s Super Bowl Game, in 2000 for the 2005 game that Jacksonville won the right to host. He’s also the founder of Sports Business Simulations and the creator of The Oakland Baseball Simworld and XFL Simworld. Zennie was born in Chicago on August 4th, 1962. A proud graduate of Bret Harte Jr. High, and Skyline High School, He’s lived in Oakland since April 8th of 1974. He has an undergraduate degree from Texas-Arlington and a Masters Degree from U.C. Berkeley, both in City Planning with a focus on urban economics and public finance. Zennie is an expert in system dynamics modeling.