3.1 Desk ItemNEO
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: FEBRUARY 2, 2016
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: LAUREL PREVETTI, TOWN MANAGER
MEETING DATE: 02/02/16
ITEM NO: 3.1
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SUBJECT: ENDORSE THE DRAFT PREFERRED ALLOCATION OF 2016 TRANSPORTATION
SALES TAX MEASURE FUNDS WITH DISCRETION FOR THE MAYOR AND
TOWN MANAGER TO ADVOCATE THE TOWN'S POSITION AND REFINE THE
DRAFT ALLOCATION IN COORDINATION WITH NINE WEST AND NORTH
VALLEY CITIES.
After the Addendum was distributed on January 29, 2016, staff received the attached public comment
(Attachment 4):
Attachments 1-3 (Previously received with Staff Report on January 28 2016)
1. Draft Preferred Allocation of 2016 Transportation Sales Tax Measure Funds
2. Guiding Principles of the North and West Valley Cities
3. Correspondence with VTA from the North and West Valley Cities
Attachment received with this Desk Item:
4. Public Comment received from 11:01 a.m. Friday, January 29, 2016 through 11:00 a.m. Tuesday,
February 2, 2016.
PREPARED BY: MATT MORLEY
DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND PUBLIC WORKS
Reviewed by: Assistant Town Manager Town Attorney Finance
Dear -
I look forward to your conversation tomorrow evening at the Los Gatos Town Council meeting,
as you and your colleagues discuss the specifics of a potential transportation funding measure for
next November.
Please find below a letter that I mailed to you and your Council colleagues today, and am now
sending via email this evening, as you continue your conversation.
As always, I am available to you and your colleagues as we continue to work together to improve
our transportation system throughout our County.
Kind Regards,
Carl
February 1, 2016
Dear :
On behalf of the 400 Member Companies who comprise the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, I
wanted to reach out to thank you for your efforts to identify local funding solutions to tackle
some of our Valley's most pressing traffic challenges.
As we mutually consider a potential transportation funding measure on the November, 2016
ballot, it is our strong belief that we have much in common:
First, our Member Companies, along with you and your Council colleagues, recognize that
decades of under -funding transportation needs at all levels of government place us in a position
to once again seek local funds, with local transparency and accountability, to address local
transportation needs. It is why, for 3 -plus years, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group has been
working on sound policy solutions to meet some of our highest priority transportation needs. It
is why you and some of your colleagues in other West Valley & North County cities have been
meeting to discuss needs that face our County as well as your portions of the County. We
applaud your efforts.
Second, the results of our work over the past 3 -plus years, with our Member Companies and
private and public sector partners - along with your work on a Draft Expenditure Plan - reveal
considerable common ground regarding the categories of improvements that should be funded in
any new local measure. For instance, Leadership Group Members, along with you and your
Council colleagues, concur that categories should include street maintenance and pothole repair
(with a flexible use of those funds for jurisdictions with a Pavement Condition Index at or above
70 percent), Caltrain Commuter Rail Improvements, key improvements on our Countywide
Expressway system, completing the BART extension into Downtown San Jose and Santa Clara,
bicycle and pedestrian improvements (especially near schools) and key improvements on our
Highway interchanges that cause traffic tie-ups that could be better alleviated.
ATTACHMENT 4
Third, I believe we share a recognition that this is an iterative process. The Leadership Group
has invested more than 3 years in reviewing and developing policy -driven improvements to
should help bring some needed traffic relief throughout the County, along with transportation
options to single -occupant automobiles. To your credit, your professional staff and Council have
been conducting similar efforts, often in concurrence with our professional staff. Over the next
few months, the Valley Transportation Authority Board of Directors will determine whether to
place a measure on the ballot, and - if yes - the specifics for that measure. Like you, we will do
our best to provide them with thoughtful details as to what we believe is good transportation
policy to enhance our quality of life and improve our economic competitiveness.
Our Request to you and your Council: Over the days and weeks ahead, let's continue to work
closely together. At the Leadership Group, we do not view the work that we have been doing -
or the work you have been doing - as "Us Vs. Them." Rather, we view this opportunity as a
chance to collectively develop a plan that is best for all of us. From what we can tell about the
thoughtful plan adopted by the City of Mountain View, the similarities with our on-going work
give us great hope (The need for a local measure, almost all of the same categories to be
funded). Where we will still need to come together is now more focused on how much funding
might be allocated to each category of improvement. We would seek on-going dialogue about
these points.
Please allow me to point out three examples of categories which would benefit from further
refinement:
* Countywide Alternative Analysis ($500 mullion): The Draft Expenditure Plan you are
considering calls for $500 million to alleviate traffic, through new transit improvements, after a
multi-year Alternative Analysis is conducted countywide. As currently suggested, there is no
guarantee that any of those dollars would return to the West Valley, which we believe would be a
lost opportunity. Instead, we suggest (as professional staff to the Leadership Group) that the
Alternatives Analysis be limited in scope to the West Valley Corridor, with a full local share of
$250 million for transit improvements identified in that more geographically -focused
Alternatives Analysis.
* Finishing the BART Extension: We appreciate the recognition that we must finish the BART
Extension to Downtown San Jose and Santa Clara. The full extension will carry 90,000 weekday
passenger trips, and will travel from Downtown San Jose to Downtown San Francisco in only 61
minutes (much faster, and much more consistent, than a commute -time trip by automobile). Our
only difference is that the amount of funds in the Draft Expenditure Plan you are considering,
$1.2 billion, is not the local share needed to finish the extension. As Supervisor Simitian has
pointed out in his public request that additional BART Extension funds be limited to no more
than $1.5 billion, such a "cap" further ensures that at least 75 percent of the remaining fimds will
be available for other improvements, while still being sufficient to meet the funding need
identified by the VTA to finish the job. The Leadership Group believes that number could be as
low as $1.4 billion, which would still allow us to better compete for the remaining State funds
($750 million) and Federal funds ($1.5 billion) to finish the job.
* Transit Services for Seniors, the Disabled, Students and low-wage workers: Currently, the
Draft Expenditure Plan you are considering does not have a category of funding to meet these
OWN
important needs. We believe that at least $300 million is needed to help meet the needs of some
of our most vulnerable neighbors throughout the County. Please note - these improvements do
not always lead to "traffic relief - as seniors, the disabled, students and low-wage workers often
do not have cars, and often are traveling outside of traditional commute times when traffic
congestion is at its worse. Rather, the Leadership Group simply believes these funds are
necessary in any measure that tries to meet the needs of all of our residents; not just for our
workers and their families.
As you consider adoption of a Draft Expenditure Plan at your Council Hearing, it is our hope
that you will note all that we have in common, as well as those items that we will still need to
fine-tune. In that way, we can best work together to meet the needs of our Valley and all of
our residents, while also adopting a plan that recognizes the tremendous needs in the West
Valley and the North County.
Thank you again for your leadership and support.
Kind Regards,
Carl Guardino
President & CEO
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Carl Guardino, CEO
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
408-501-7864 svl .or
@CarlGuardino
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ATTACHMENT 4
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