In Sacramento, track and field is filled in at the final spot, and they struggle to fill the minor league ballparks they call home. That doesn’t mean that our Capitol is lacking in serious hardballs.
We meet our old friend, Frank McCourt, a California State Senator.
Former Dodgers owner McCourt first pitched a gondola from Union Station to Dodger Stadium in 2018. Latest Developments from May: The Court of Appeal ordered a redo of the Environmental Impact Report, citing two flaws that need to be revised.
At the time, a project spokesman said these flaws could be categorized as “minor and technical issues” and “addressed quickly.”
If another lawsuit arises challenging the gondola project on environmental reasons, McCourt and his team want to ensure that such lawsuits are dealt with promptly.
On Monday, state lawmakers will consider a bill designed to place a 12-month limit on court proceedings related to environmental issues to certain transport projects. The current challenges for the Gondola project are 16 months of challenges and are counted.
The bill does not cite any particular project in all legislative prose. However, a state Senate analysis calls the gondola proposal “one profitable project.”
Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), author of the bill, said he had not met with lobbyists from the McCourt entity registered to do so. Wiener said the bill included gondola-related languages at the request of lawmakers from the Los Angeles area.
“For me, it was easy,” Winner told me.
A rendering of the proposed gondola carrying fans from Union Station to Dodger Stadium.
(Laariari Rapid Transit)
The bigger purpose of the bill: to cut the deficit for buses, bicycles, trains, ferries, and other means of transportation that could escape from cars. If the gondola can do it, he said, bring it.
“In California, we need more sustainable transportation options,” he said. “We need to make it easy for people to move without driving.
“Dropping a car off the road benefits people who don’t need to drive, but it benefits drivers too.
The Senate analysis listed 52 organizations supporting Wiener’s bill, but there was no opposition. Weiner said he hadn’t heard from the other person.
This was about John Christensen of the LA Parks Alliance, one of two groups that filed a long-term environmental lawsuit against the Gondola Project.
Christensen, who recently scrambled by the Coalition to hire its own Sacramento lobbyist, said he has no problem facilitating legal proceedings. He said his problem is the bill that “single a billionaire favor project.”
Nathan Click, a spokesman for Zero Emissions Transit (Zet), the nonprofit organization responsible for building and operating Gondola, said the bill simply extends provisions of previous laws.
“The majority of Angelenos want and deserve a zero-emission transport solution that reduces traffic and reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions,” Crick said.
Click was rejected to say why he felt that he was forced to pursue inclusion in the law if environmental issues had already been reduced to what was called “minor technical matters” two months ago. The project’s opponents argue that gondola ridership estimates are overly optimistic.
Ultimately, what happens in Sacramento may not be that important.
The Gondola project still requires approval from the City Council, Caltrans, Metro and the State Parks Agency. The latest target for the grand opening – 2028, construction may be needed next spring, in time for the Olympic baseball tournament at Dodger Stadium. No funding commitments have been announced for projects estimated to cost between $385 million and $500 million. This has definitely risen in the two years since it was publicly shared.
There’s nothing inappropriate or unusual about lobbyists defending the profits of large corporations, but it’s not cheap. State records show that over the past five years, McCourt’s Gondola has spent more than $500,000 doing so.
Source link
