Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas
As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new chairman of the board, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas met with state officials in Sacramento Monday to unveil his vision for Los Angeles County’s rapidly expanding public transit system and to seek millions in grant funding for various projects.
“LA County deserves a safe, reliable and affordable public transit system that increases mobility throughout the region, and is a catalyst for economic development,” he told officials, including California State Transportation Agency Secretary Brian Kelly and several members of the state Senate and Assembly at the state Capitol.
Together with Metro Chief Executive Officer Phil Washington, the supervisor endorsed SB 767, which would allow Metro to seek a new sales tax via ballot measure to pay for additional rail and highway improvements; and AB1X-2, which would allow Metro to continue using private investment to hasten the construction of certain projects. The bills have been championed by state Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon and Assemblyman Henry Perea, respectively.
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas also advocated for $8.6 million in grants for the Rail to River project, which would transform a blighted stretch of unused railroad tracks in South LA into a greenbelt with walkways and bikeways.
The proposed renovation of the Rosa Parks Station in Willowbrook received part of a $38.5 million grant last week, but the supervisor told state officials at least $3.5 million more is needed to complete the project.
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas’ trip coincided with the “extraordinary” legislative session called by Governor Jerry Brown to discuss California’s transportation infrastructure needs, and how to pay for it.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Tweet This
Facebook
Digg This
Bookmark
Stumble
RSS
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.
12 Comments
Idiot !!
Does he know what’s going on in the country of Greece right now?
An unnecessary expense. Unbelievable!
Wonder if he has ever taken mass transit??
Why not take that money to ship in water!
Wonder if he does his own finances this way, buys things he can’t afford, eventually asks his friends for money to pay for it.
Yeah, let’s build a train instead of water resivior. Every problem this state has is because of idiots like this. Stupid ideas that no one wants and we have to pay for it! No more taxes!
He spent a million to re decorate his office. This sounds like a great idea.
Eventually – you run out of other people’s money.
High speed rail over the San Andreas fault line? NO THANKS! Like if you’re NOT an idiot!
Yeah more money
Worse than an idiot! An imbecile who actually believes stealing money from hard-working citizens to fund a make-work project is a good thing. How did this nut case get to be in a position of power? I didn’t vote for him. Just sayin….