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Read Executive Director Andrew T. Chesley's most recent Board
updates.
Update from January 25, 2012
Population Projections:
The Department of Finance
(DOF) for the State of California produces population
projections for all counties and the expectation is that we will
all use them to maintain standardization. However, the DOF has
used numbers that are heavily weighted to historical averages
and I have found those generally too high. The University of
Pacific (UOP) produced projections that we have been using the
past two years that were substantially lower and I have to admit
were uncomfortably lower than DOF; but we stuck with the
University. The Valley just completed a set of population
projections for all eight counties and the results are almost
spot on with the Univerisity’s numbers. I am feeling very good
about this confirmation and tipping my hat to the University’s
Business Forecasting Center for their good work in the face of
my obvious discomfort. Well done University of the Pacific and
Go Tigers.
The table of projections from the Valley’s
recent effort compared to DOF and a recent set of projections
from Caltrans can be view
here.
Valley Executive Directors Workshop:
Starting on Sunday January 29, the eight Valley
Executive Directors will be meeting in a workshop session
through lunch on the 31 to address growing working challenges
among the eight agencies. As we work more closely together we
are experiencing communication challenges. Also, we are
experiencing some shared budget issues. Underlying much of this
is concern over questions about consolidation of MPOs and the
questioned viability of certain regional agencies. As a group we
have been very successful at working together and it is
important to stem any potential bumps in the road before it
threatens our working relationships.
Valleywide
STIP:
The eight Valley regional agencies have
submitted our combined regional submittals into one Valleywide
proposal. Wil Ridder of SJCOG staff led the effort to integrate
the eight STIP submittals to maximize the delivery capabilities
of all agencies. As Tony Boren of Fresno pointed out, no agency
would have signed on to this if it didn’t produce a better
result by working together as opposed to going alone. Kudos to
Wil and to the staff from the other seven agencies for finding a
way to make this better for all.
Regional Target
Setting:
The Valley regional agencies are in the
process of working together to make a pitch to ARB to lower our
GHG emissions targets to more achievable numbers. Right now the
ARB has set them at 5% reduction by 2020 and 10% reduction by
2035. The largest four agencies have targets that are 8 or 9%
for 2020 and 13 to 17% for 2035. So far, three of the four have
produced draft RTPs that demonstrate they will achieve their
targets. Up to this point the Valley target setting effort has
been purely technical. As a result, some of the preliminary
results for each of the eight agencies are all over the map.
This argues that each agency will produce their own target and
advocate for it with ARB. In my opinion this is a losing
strategy. ARB has been clear that even though there are eight
separate MPOs in the Valley, they look at the Valley as one
target setting area. Air District staff have been clear as well
that their willingness to support the Valley COGs is dependent
upon a joint position that seriously addresses the ARB demands.
We can not be successful without the support of the Air
District. SJCOG staff will be working with our partners in the
Valley to come up with a joint strategy. To fail to do so is to
lose any opportunity to modify our targets but also potentially
puts us at odds with this administration at a time when the
status of eight MPOs in the Valley is a potential topic of
discussion.
Update from September 9, 2011
American Jobs Act:
The following is an excerpt from CJ Lake, our
consultants in Washington D.C. The Administration’s fact sheet
is HERE as
well:
_____________________________
Tax Benefits – tax
cuts account for more than half of the proposal ($245 billion).
The centerpiece of this section is extending a temporary
reduction in the Social Security pay roll tax ($175 billion).
Republicans have already said they are open to this proposal.
Jobs Programs
• Transportation –
President Obama again is asking Congress for an immediate $50
billion investment for highways, transit, rail and aviation.
This is a proposal that was first announced on Labor Day 2010.
President Obama is also proposing the creation of a national
infrastructure bank capitalized with $10 billion. This proposal
is modeled after the bipartisan BUILD Act (S. 652). The proposal
would also extend TIFIA, which provides loans, loan guarantees
and lines of credit to large transportation projects. The
proposal would also provide additional funding for the TIGER
discretionary grant program.
• Education – President
Obama is proposing $30 billion for states to retain and rehire
teachers. This is three times more than what
Congress sent to states last Summer. This proposal will have a
very difficult time getting through Congress. The administration
is also proposing $30 billion for school renovations – again
this will be a tough sell. Most Congressional Republicans have
said local funds should be used for school construction.
• First Responders – the proposal includes $5 billion for states
to prevent layoffs of police and firefighters
•
Neighborhood Stabilization – $15 billion to create a national
program to rehab and refurbish vacant and foreclosed houses and
businesses.
Aid to Unemployed
• Unemployment Insurance
– extend unemployment benefits and require states to overhaul
their re-employment services and allow states flexibility in how
they pay certain jobless benefits
• Low-Income Youth and
Adults – create a “Pathways Back to Work Fund” to pay for jobs
and training.
___________________________
As you can imagine we have focused largely on the
transportation portion of the proposal which is one of the least
likely to make it through the process intact. The extension of
TIFIA is a good thing though not likely to have any impact on us
in the near future. The National Infrastructure Bank has wide
support though not deep support. TIGER funding is not one that
Congress has been very support of. The proposal contains a fair
amount of funding for aviation infrastructure. There is a clear
and pressing need for aviation infrastructure improvements
especially in the air traffic control system. For almost twenty
years there has been a program to modernize the air traffic
control system but almost no funding to make it happen. This
however is not likely to be an immediate help to our region. The
President proposes expedited project approval through
administrative means. While welcome, Congress is likely to look
for more substantial steps to speed up project delivery.
A $50 billion investment in transportation infrastructure is
certainly welcome and some of it will work its way to our
region. We will look for and push substantive expedited project
delivery options, a quick approval process on projects to be
funded, and opportunities to leverage this federal investment.
It should also be said that the dollar component of the
President’s proposal is the least likely to make it through
Congress intact.
Dana Update:
Dana
Cowell is recovering from several surgical procedures he
underwent over the past week and a half at Stanford. I will be
seeing Dana later today. He is still keeping in touch with
staff, responding to emails, and offering advice and direction
on SJCOG efforts. His absence from the office over the last
three months has been sorely felt. Much of the news out of
Stanford has not been positive, but I am expecting to find him
more comfortable and energized than he has been in quite a
while. I think it fair to say that Dana’s time is limited and an
upcoming challenge for me is to prepare the staff, our partners,
and the board for the time Dana is no longer able to be with us.
But, no matter his illness, he remains an active and involved
member of this staff contributing to our efforts and moving this
agency’s agenda forward.
I-5 Groundbreaking:
The I-5 groundbreaking event will be at 10 a.m. on
Monday Sept. 12 at the American Legion parking lot off Country
Club Blvd. in Stockton. Work is apparent as crews have installed
k rail and are working on the decking of all the bridge
structures along I-5. River Drive has already been closed under
I-5 and beginning next week Brookside Road will be closed under
I-5. The County of San Joaquin and the City of Stockton Public
Works Departments approved the encroachment permits for the
project. Caltrans is managing the contract with the contractor.
Upcoming Conferences of Note:
Valley
Regional Fall Policy Conference will be at Bass Lake October 11
– 13. It is hosted jointly by Madera County Transportation
Commission and the Kings County Association of Governments. The
conference is always and excellent event to meet other Valley
regional leaders, and concentrate on shared Valley issues.
Shared efforts on goods movement and SB 375 will be choice
topics.
Focus on the Future will be in San Francisco this
year November 13 -15 at the Westin St. Francis. This is
a premier conference and focuses entirely on the issues that are
important to transportation sales tax authorities. A very
valuable event.
Update from August 2, 2011
Debt/Budget Deal and
Transportation:
The “deal” announced by
Congressional leaders and the President yesterday has an impact
on transportation. First it will eliminate the firewall that has
existed between the Highway Trust Fund and the rest of the
federal budget. Effectively this means that whatever dollar
commitment is in the last transportation extension or a
potential future extension is not guaranteed and in fact will
likely be less.
SJCOG Input Challenge:
Local public works departments and community
development departments have seen work force reductions that
have challenged their level of participation in SJCOG
activities. Public Works departments just can’t make the time
available any more. We are looking at consolidating requests,
eliminating some task forces, and possibly concentrating more
effort at the Technical Advisory Committee. Other things we are
working on are more use of teleconference, video conference and
more visits to departments. There are tradeoffs though.
Teleconference is better as a monitoring tool than a tool for
getting participation. Video conference can be more interactive,
but equipment is not available everywhere and is not always
useful with a large group scattered. We are doing more one on
one meetings at cities and the county, which can build agreement
with a specific department but is not an efficient tool for
building consensus among departments across the county.
FAA Authorization Not Extended:
For those on
the One Voice trip, you may remember Congressman Mica talking
about reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Act. The Act has been
extended over the course of three years plus with extensions.
Two weeks ago, the House refused to act on the most recent
extension. The result is that while critical personnel and
services are still on the job, the Administration has begun
furloughing FAA employees and has been sending out stop work
orders on 241 FAA funded projects already in some form of
project delivery. I am concerned that this may very well be a
precursor for the Federal Surface Transportation Act. Congress
will no doubt need to extend the current level of funding in the
Act before a new authorization is approved. It may very well run
into the same challenge as the FAA extension.
Project Initiation Documents:
You are familiar with
Project Study Reports which are required before the beginning of
an interchange project or highway improvement. After months of
work the Self Help Counties Coalition succeeded in securing
funding for Caltrans in their oversight responsibility of these
project initiation documents. Unfortunately the Governor blue
penciled this funding in the final budget. Caltrans is now
precluded from staffing oversight on any new PSRs. This means we
are not in a position to move forward on new PSRs. The Self Help
Counties Coalition is not giving up though. We are working on
two fronts. One is to meet in two weeks with the Governor’s
Director of Finance to talk over this challenge. The second is
to continue to work with Caltrans on revising their model for
project initiation documents that allows regional agencies to
move forward on PIDs without Caltrans oversight. We will keep
you informed.
SanDAG RTP SB 375 Plan Criticism:
The San Diego Association of Governments is the first
regional agency out of the gate with an update to their Regional
Transportation Plan that requires a Sustainable Communities
Strategy under SB 375. And as one would expect it is being met
with a range of perspectives. Among the planners from other
regional agencies, SanDAG’s plan is being applauded in its
efforts to demonstrate achievement of greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets while still meeting the needs for mobility in
the San Diego region. Environmental organizations have not been
this kind, and their reactions range from “nice try, but needs
work” to “it’s a dud”. Click
here to view the SCS chapter of the SanDAG plan.
SJCOG staff is learning from the SanDAG effort. A couple of
immediate challenges for us will be that we will have less
effectiveness in some of our strategies due to decreased levels
of urbanization and a less mature transit network. None the
less, SanDAG’s range of projects are a better model for us than
say the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the Bay Area
or even the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.
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