Light rail could be left up to voters

Deirdre Newman

Facing a critical lack of congressional support -- in the form of

half a billion dollars worth of federal funds and simple backing --

county transportation officials will decide later this month whether

to place plans for a light-rail project on the November ballot.

Putting the project, now in its final stage of preliminary

engineering, before voters comes at the behest of Orange County

Transportation Authority Board member Cathryn DeYoung, who believes

the only way to get congressional support is to show that people are

behind the plan.

But even that might not be enough. One member of the local

congressional delegation, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, said even if county

voters support CenterLine, he would not champion the project

financially. He doesn’t believe Orange County, an

automobile-saturated environment, would support it.

And even if voters do, he doesn’t think the federal government

should pay for it.

“If the ballot measure is to be real, it should be real in the

sense that the public has to pay for something in order to receive

it,” Rohrabacher said. “Let them put a bond or tax increase that will

pay for Centerline [on the ballot] and then we’ll know if the public

really supports it or not. If they don’t, why should we go to the

federal government and tax everyone around the country, if the

public’s not willing to pay for it here?”

CenterLine is slated to run 9.3 miles from Santa Ana to John Wayne

Airport through Costa Mesa. Half of the funds are coming from Measure

M, the half-cent sales tax to fund transportation improvements in

Orange County. The transportation authority is hoping to receive the

matching funds -- about $500 million -- from the federal government.

But so far, it has received zilch.

While the money is part of a bill still working its way through

Congress, Rohrabacher pegged the likelihood of CenterLine receiving

any federal funding at zero.

“I don’t know any Republicans that support it,” Rohrabacher said.

“And frankly, when I’m out in the street, I don’t hear anybody

supporting it. I hear basically social engineering types who are

trying to restructure our society by their little game plan.”

A survey conducted on CenterLine by Cal State Fullerton and the

Orange County Business Council last September found 43% of county

voters strongly agreed that the light rail should be part of the mix

of transportation in the county. Only 11% strongly disagreed, the

survey found.

One supporter, county Supervisor Jim Silva, said he is

disappointed that lobbyists for CenterLine have spent between

$300,000 and $400,000 over the last few years in Washington, D.C.,

and have nothing to show for it.

“The streets and freeways are maxed out,” Silva said. “Every time

we add another lane, as soon as we open it on the freeway, it’s at

capacity. The CenterLine will not solve the county’s problems, but it

will be part of the solution.”

Putting it on the ballot is a dicey proposition, though, Silva

acknowledged. If voters reject CenterLine, “in terms of game hunters,

it’s called a dead duck,” Silva said.

Another light-rail proponent, Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan, said

he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to rush CenterLine onto the

November ballot.

“I don’t know if it’s good timing, because whichever side

prevails, [the other] will cry foul because of the short time and

confusing campaign,” Monahan said.

Tim Keenan, a transportation authority board member, said he

doesn’t see the need to put the plan on the ballot, especially since

voters already approved the light rail with Measure M.

“Hello, it passed by 55%,” Keenan said. “That was the third time

[a 1/2-cent sales tax] was voted on, but the final thing that was

voted on and the only reason it passed was because of the addition of

[a high-technology rail system].”

If the transportation authority board does approve putting

CenterLine on the ballot, the county Board of Supervisors would have

to give the ballot measure its final approval by August.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.