Keep promise to voters

Regarding “Highspeed rail: It’s about jobs, climate and justice.” (Open Forum, March 8): The Open Forum piece by state Sen. Scott Wiener about the California highspeed rail project is misleading.

As author of the bill creating the California HighSpeed Rail Authority and also of Proposition 1A, a $9,950,000,000 state general obligation bond issue approved on Nov. 4, 2008 by California voters for commencement of genuine electrified highspeed rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles and chairman of the authority governing board from 2005 until January 2009, I condemn subsequent project alterations, illegal acts and misrepresentations to taxpayers. Contrary to Wiener’s misrepresentations, no contracts for laying track for 119 miles in the Central Valley have been let.

Several billion dollars from the bond issue have been spent for bridges, viaducts, moving portions of Highway 99 and taking land, but not on building track. Necessary rightofway purchases from landowners haven’t been completed.

The authority’s current business plan violates the prohibition against taxpayer subsidy of operating expenses and provides for only one track, electrified, meaning trains can run only in one direction at a time.

To avoid the subsidy ban, the authority’s business plan delegates to the Capitol Corridor operation of such train. That’s unlawful under Proposition 1A. Wiener’s claim that President Biden and his transportation secretary are “looking for transformative projects, like high speed rail” represents wishful thinking in a divided Congress and, despite promises to voters, not a penny has been raised from private investors.

With $5,492,000,000 of general obligation bonds unsold, government waste must be stopped and the original promise to voters reinstated or remaining bond funds be divided between commuter rail systems in the Los Angeles Basin and the San Francisco Peninsula after voter approval.

Quentin Kopp, San Francisco