HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02122008 - SD.1 SD.1
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Date February 12,2008 Matter of Record
On this date, Federal D. Glover, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, invited the public to speak.
The following person spoke:
• Mr. Michael Sarabia, Bay Point resident, thanked the Board for their support of public
transportation in East County.
THIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY
NO BOARD ACTION WAS TAKEN
Michael Sarabia, Bay Point. Thank you for letting me to speak on a matter o interest to me.
1. Tri-Delta Transit and BART, with your support,are doing a magnificent job. The new Tri-
Delta Transit Route 201 and higher BART frequency, every 15 minutes,give us clean air and
less congestion. Businesses will not ask "how many live nearby-but ask: "How many live
within walking distance of a bus route." Evidently, Contra Costa County leads the fight on
congestion and Global Warming. Calif. per capita gas use is 50 gals less than US avg. Yearly
gasoline use, to Oct. 2007, dropped 2%(while population grew 500,000;yearly total is like China's).
2. Last month I was at a RAPC (Regional Airport Planning Committee) meeting on local
airports, they described actions and plans in local airports -the common interest category.
This made me wonder about other transportation modes, like shipping ports. There was
mention of container transfers in Vallejo from ships to barges,towed to Stockton and loaded
on trains. Plans for Richmond and Pittsburg ports ended. The latest plan is to dredge from the
Bay to Stockton. The problem is a seasonal container ship traffic that overloads the Oakland
port,piling up containers.Long Beach/Los Angeles ports have larger pile ups.The cost,a few
years ago, for 11 days of idling ships, trucks and cargo was $70 billion. An expert said (Bob
Wolf, Southern California Leadership Council): "The challenge is not only to move all these
goods east, but to do it without paralyzing communities they're moving through." Like the
impact from new plan on CC County from up to 40 trains daily from Oakland to Sacramento.
3. However, if the river is dredged to Stockton, this may let ships be unloaded in Concord,
Pittsburg and Antioch. It may be that,after due consideration county and cities would support
Stockton's efforts, and join this job-crating work. Los Medanos College training programs
could help in this efforts. Would a Regional City Planning Committee with County
Leadership, like RAPC, be useful? Other multi-city issue categories to consider:
A. A Unified Contra Costa Port (UCCP) stops ruinous competition for cheap labor that
benefit no one. Multiple port management is used by Sacramento and Oakland. In UCCP,the
ability to assign traffic and workers to optimum port lowers costs and increases utilization.
B. Issue category: Issues that affect two cities, for example, Pittsburg has some impressive
hills which may be filled with 5,000 homes, while foreclosures rates routinely break new
records. Concord has a big land parcel that may be ready for bids by the end of the coming
recession and help end recession effects in Contra Costa County. A committee may help
Pittsburg and Concord find a formulation with balanced beneficial aspects. The hills may
induce decision-makers to bring jobs to Concord and built Executive Housing on hills
overlooking Concord. Concord will be a great job-source for CCC, with their land, housing,
schools,Airport,North Concord BART Station,near AMTRAK Martinez, St. Rd 4,1-680 and
a port. Goggle just learn Mt. View banned their Company jet from landing in Moffett Field.
C. Issue category: Promoting Joint City Views. Is eBART better than BART, promised to
a CCC Supervisor., years ago? Will changes from electric to Diesel be banned? Was
eBART/BART cost: data valid? Will eBART keep BART from Discovery Bay, Byron and
Tracy? When will EPA ban coal and oil? Would cities agree to jointly promote, in
Sacramento, river and delta water cleaning, levee repairs and doubling Vaqueros Dam size?