Rift among several counties puts the fate of Caltrain in the balance
Proposal would forward tax measure to voters only if San Mateo County agrees
SAN JOSE >> A coalition of elected leaders, including the mayors of San Jose and San Francisco, have indicated they would support a sales tax to help keep the 160-year-old Caltrain commuter service alive. But there’s a catch.
In a joint statement released Tuesday, they said the governing structure of Caltrain — long criticized by San Francisco and Santa Clara County officials for favoring San Mateo County — must be changed.
That stance has elicited a stern warning from Peninsula legislators and congressional representatives that instead of helping Caltrain, they could contribute to its doom.
The joint statement signed by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, as well as some supervisors from Santa Clara and San Francisco counties, asks San Mateo County officials to “join us in supporting a comprehensive path forward for Caltrain.” Such a plan would include a one-eighth-of-a-cent sales tax increase measure on the November ballot on the condition that the counties engage “in meaningful and timely discussions of Caltrain governance reform.”
The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which owns Caltrain, is made up of three elected representatives and members of transit agencies from each of the three counties in which the rail line operates. But the San Mateo County Transit District actually manages the service, and its board of directors is made up entirely of San Mateo County of
ficials.
Critics also say the transit agency gets most of its money — about 80%, according to the joint statement — from San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, though representatives from those communities don’t get a say on how it’s spent because that decision is made by the San Mateo County Transit District.
The joint statement comes a week after San Francisco supervisors declined to endorse putting the sales tax measure on the ballot. On Tuesday, San Francisco supervisors agreed to reconsider its position on the measure July 28, and Santa Clara supervisors will vote on it Aug. 6.
Though Caltrain originally proposed the sales tax to fund an ambitious plan to transform the rail line into a BART-like mass transit system, ridership took a nose dive this spring when the coronavirus pandemic scared commuters away. Now, instead of using the $108 million-a-year cash injection from the sales tax measure to electrify the tracks, the agency says it needs the money to offset the loss of fares, which pay for the bulk of operating costs.
The elected officials who signed the joint statement say they first want to create “an equitable, accountable and transparent organization” before any of the money is used to keep the rail line afloat.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez, who signed the statement, said the county needs “to at least have a date for when governance will be resolved.”
“I believe this is a compromise our entire board can and will support,” San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney told this news organization Tuesday. “It’s our best and likely only way forward to get this measure on the ballot, especially with Santa Clara County introducing an identical version today.”
But in a concise and direct letter sent to the supervisors in Santa Clara and San Francisco counties, Congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo warned that their insistence in changing the governing structure could blow up the whole system.
“While it’s wildly popular, Caltrain could shut down without its own funding,” states the letter, also signed by state Sen. Jerry Hill and Assembly members Kevin Mullin and Marc Berman. “To prevent this, the Legislature passed a statute to allow the public to decide. The statute requires that, if the ballot measure passes, the tax money go to Caltrain. The new plan by San Francisco and Santa Clara County would violate the statute by making it possible that Caltrain might never see a dime.”
Mullin said in an interview he believes San Francisco and Santa Clara supervisors are playing “parochial politics” that are “taking precedence over the need of the riders.”
“This eleventh-hour power play defies the spirit of collaboration that is needed in these dire times,” he said. “This system is too important for political games.”
On the contrary, Haney depicted it as a last-ditch effort to save the transit agency and find compromise to bring in more votes.
“A week ago this was dead entirely,” he said. “It wasn’t even going to get a hearing. That was entirely unacceptable to me. My overriding goal is to get this on the ballot and get Caltrain funded, to help the essential rail system survive this economic crisis and secure a long dedicated funding source. I think this is a compromise that can get us there.”
Haney said there is still some time for an amendment if needed, though all final versions must be identical across the counties.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian said he supports the tax measure and is wary of legal trouble the new proposal could bring. “If there are to be socalled governance riders, my one ask is that we have a clear indication from county counsel prior to being asked to consider, let alone vote, whether or not such proposals are legal,” Simitian said. “That’s the least we can expect.”