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Nobody is hiding
BART’s projected cost
On three separate days, The Mercury News printed the same misleading assertions about my “hiding” federal projections of rising construction costs of the BART Silicon Valley extension. Factual context is long overdue.
Last year, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published what it called “the worst plausible probable scenario cost” for the BART project of $9.148 billion. VTA engineers consistently assert that the FTA projection does not constitute the actual project cost.
The publicly released texts reveal that VTA officials asserted that construction contractors bidding on the project “were listening to everything” said publicly about its budget. Disclosing FTA’s “upper bound” projections would encourage contractors to increase their bids, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. When a pipe needs repair, no homeowner pre-empts the plumber’s estimate by blurting out, “Other folks say this will cost more than your last project.”
To be sure, public disclosure of rising cost estimates must occur in advance of any decision by an agency to spend the public’s money, but certainly not while contractors are preparing their bids.
Sam Liccardo
Mayor of San Jose
49ers’ political gift will
buy access in San Jose
Letter-writer Daniele Kriege seeks to allay voters’ concerns about the Santa Clara-based 49er’s potential influence on San Jose mayoral candidate Cindy Chavez with its $300,000 contribution to the political action committee, “Citizens for Cindy Chavez 2020.” She writes that the law precludes such influence. (“Chavez has no say in 49ers’ political spending,” Page A6, April 29)
Call me skeptical, but I don’t believe organizations like labor unions or businesses make such donations to promote “good government.” I’ll wager a Mayor Chavez will take a Jed York phone call over a call from a resident complaining about the unacceptable quality of city services.
Jerry Mungai
San Jose
Grid will catch up to
switch to all-electric
Re. “All-electric homes are the future; the grid isn’t ready,” Page A1, May 11:
Unfortunately, this article leads with a misleading headline that gives casual readers the wrong impression – that we can’t start electrifying our buildings and vehicles until the electrical grid is upgraded.
This is not true. We can’t wait. We must immediately start transitioning to a new modality that prevents new fossil-fueled devices from being installed – both in new and existing buildings – not just in Palo Alto, but across the nation. Absolutely, the grid will need updating, but this can be done incrementally as part of a planned and measured replacement strategy.
It’s doubtful that gas will be “shut off” to homes or entire blocks. That is just one strategy proposed by utility staff, and other strategies are more likely to gain acceptance.
To date, Palo Alto does not have a council-approved electrification plan. The goal is to have some robust plans put into place this fall.
Bruce Hodge
Palo Alto
Set a woman’s right
to choose as law
I am a mother. I love my child more than anything in this world. I gave birth to him because I wanted to, not because the state said that I had to.
My womb does not belong to the state, nor does my love for my child. Any effort by the state to take control of women’s wombs is fundamentally anti-life, and anti-freedom. If and when women become mothers must be their own choice. Not every woman becomes a mother, but every human being who has ever lived is absolutely indebted to the grit, grace and goodwill of a woman.
The notion that we can promote life without respecting women and the choices they make about motherhood is misogynistic, authoritarian and profoundly disturbing. The question that must be asked today is what is the value of human life if procreation is dictated by the state?
Indra Levy
Palo Alto
Source: www.mercurynews.com