241 Toll Road: You Can't Serve Two Masters
Posted by: Jubal | 02/29/2008 2:16 PM
An interesting story has emerged from last month's California Coastal Commission hearing on the 241 toll road completion.
The LA Times' David Reyes mentioned the rapid-response operation toll road opponents had going at the hearing. Whenever a speaker testified in favor of completing the 241, this operation would print out the speaker's name, their remarks and a rebuttal and pass it out to the media.
This slick operation was due to the efforts of Cerrell Associates and Sacramento-based GOP consultant Joe Rodota, who were brought on board to help kill the 241, as I reported in September 2007.
Rodota is a long-time Republican consultant with a background in opposition research. Cerrell Associates is represented in this fight by Executive Vice President Mattt Klink. Cerrell was hired by the California State Parks Foundation to, among others things, help stop the 241 completion. Rodota never returned my phone call last September, so I don't know if he's being paid by the CSPF or some other anti-241 organization.
It's disappointing enough that a conservative like Rodota hired himself out to the Environmental Left to assist their dishonest, hysterical campaign against the 241.
But for Cerrell Associates, it's a huge conflict of interest.
Cerrell Associates is paid at least $250,000 a year by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) for media and public relations services.
SCAG also strongly supports the completion of the 241/Foothill-South project. It is part of SCAG's Regional Transportation Plan. Laguna Niguel Mayor Paul Glaab, speaking as SCAG's representative at the Feb. 6 hearing, urged the Coastal Commission to approve the 241 completion.
In other words, Cerrell Associates is being paid by the California State Parks Foundation to kill a project being supported by another client -- SCAG -- that's paying Cerell at least $250,000 a year (according to sources it's more like $350,000).
Understandably, as word of this has spread, SCAG isn't too happy. I'll keep you posted.
The LA Times' David Reyes mentioned the rapid-response operation toll road opponents had going at the hearing. Whenever a speaker testified in favor of completing the 241, this operation would print out the speaker's name, their remarks and a rebuttal and pass it out to the media.
This slick operation was due to the efforts of Cerrell Associates and Sacramento-based GOP consultant Joe Rodota, who were brought on board to help kill the 241, as I reported in September 2007.
Rodota is a long-time Republican consultant with a background in opposition research. Cerrell Associates is represented in this fight by Executive Vice President Mattt Klink. Cerrell was hired by the California State Parks Foundation to, among others things, help stop the 241 completion. Rodota never returned my phone call last September, so I don't know if he's being paid by the CSPF or some other anti-241 organization.
It's disappointing enough that a conservative like Rodota hired himself out to the Environmental Left to assist their dishonest, hysterical campaign against the 241.
But for Cerrell Associates, it's a huge conflict of interest.
Cerrell Associates is paid at least $250,000 a year by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) for media and public relations services.
SCAG also strongly supports the completion of the 241/Foothill-South project. It is part of SCAG's Regional Transportation Plan. Laguna Niguel Mayor Paul Glaab, speaking as SCAG's representative at the Feb. 6 hearing, urged the Coastal Commission to approve the 241 completion.
In other words, Cerrell Associates is being paid by the California State Parks Foundation to kill a project being supported by another client -- SCAG -- that's paying Cerell at least $250,000 a year (according to sources it's more like $350,000).
Understandably, as word of this has spread, SCAG isn't too happy. I'll keep you posted.
CATEGORY:
241 Tollroad
Debbie..Sorry that you feel that way about Harry..Remember their are others on the council. Harry has been a...
Stay on this one Jubal. It is only the tip of the ice berg.
Is it a conflict of interest, or a company accepting money every which way they can?
And the story you can't find re: the rapid-fire anti-241 response appeared in the LA Times shortly after the Del Mar meeting.
And the story you can't find re: the rapid-fire anti-241 response appeared in the LA Times shortly after the Del Mar meeting.
Thank you. For some reason, I originally thought it was Mickadeit, but I haven't been able to find it.
Is it a conflict of interest, or a company accepting money every which way they can?
Both.
It would have been like me doing community relations for Disney while I was part of the SunCal consultant team on Platinum Pointe.
Jubal,
You really need to give up the ghost on this toll road business dude. ts becoming an obsssion for you.
I do?
Never mind that it's one of OC's biggest public policy issues and is still being fought out?
Thanks for the advice. I will give it the consideration it is due.
The 241 Toll Extention will actually increase traffic by allowing more development in South Orange County.
There will be bottlenecks at I-5/ 133 & I-405/133 interchanges. Also taxes will be increased to help pay for the toll road auxiliary "development" (local streets, ect.)
If that wasn't enough divers in the area will have to pay over 1 billion dollars to utilize the toll road. At some point you have to ask yourself how much development is enough.
Great. Maybe we can deploy the National Guard at the state line, the airports, the train stations and ports and stop any more people from moving to California.
Because you know, more people means more cars on the road, more houses being built, more people breathing the air, blah, blah, blah.
Why stop there? Let's pass a law forbidding pro-creation, and the population attrition of Californians dying off will relieve congestion and make our environment more "sustainable."
And isn't it funny how the enviros could care less about the economic costs of their schemes, but are beside themselves at the cost of a toll road (which is paid off over a period of decades, at which point it becomes a freeway).
Yo,
I'm not saying stop development or keep people out. I'm saying talk about the real issue. The toll road extension is about developing (housing) south orange county and allowing some 25,000-50,000 more people to move there. Which will impact the rest of the county's traffic flows.
If the people want we could have a county that looks like L.A. or even Hong Kong.
What do you want?
I'd like to live in a place where I can get to work in under an hour the toll road will not accomplish this, if anything is will do the opposite even if it were a freeway.
Yo,
Those 14,000 homes in Rancho Mission Viejo have already been approved. Once the housing market comes back they're going to be built whether the 241 is finished or not.
That's 35,000 - 40,000 new neighbors going through the city streets of Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente to get to the already congested I-5.
Don't confuse Becktemba with the facts. He/she has her story and is sticking to it!
Here are the facts:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/ortega-pata-road-1997282-toll-traffic
The area is surrounded by the Rancho Mission Viejo development to the east – where 14,000 homes are expected to be built over the next 20 to 25 years – the Ortega Widening project to the west, the planned La Pata extension to the south, and the toll road farther north.
The opposition culminated with the Coastal Commissions denial last month of the Foothill South, following environmental concerns about the projects impact on San Onofre State Park. While the toll road's supporters are appealing the decision to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Coastal Commission's decision may have meant the end of the project.
"The Ortega, the toll road and La Pata were all tied together, that the county would move on La Pata, that Caltrans would move on Ortega and that the toll road would move forward," said heiress Joan Irvine Smith, whose Oaks Farm is located along Ortega. "When the toll road went down, everything came to a stop."
The Ortega widening is already facing delays of its own, with community outcry from residents fearing that the work would turn a scenic highway into a major thoroughfare forcing Caltrans to pursue a full environmental review of the project. While the widening of Ortega on county controlled land is expected to begin during the fall, construction on the city portion won't begin until 2011 at the earliest, Project Manager Ahmed Abou-Abdou said.
Caltrans officials said the toll road decision has yet to change their Ortega plans, since the Foothill South is still included on the county model used for traffic projections. Abou-Abdou indicated that "significant change" in regional plans could force them to either revise or re-visit Ortega's environmental studies.
"It all revolves back to a county decision to revise the basis for the traffic numbers," he said.
Without the toll road, Ranch traffic would be limited to Ortega Highway to the west and Antonio Parkway to the north. If completed, La Pata would provide a southern route.
"Most of the impact would be on Ortega Highway," said Nasser Abbaszadeh, San Juan's engineering director. "Whether Ortega can handle the traffic that will be generated remains to be seen
_______________
Without the toll road online the Ranch project will be called into question because the traffic model that assumed a toll road being built will not be viable.
I'm sure some homes will be built on the Ranch but not the 14,000 homes without the toll road.
Also I've seen the traffic models that show most of the traffic generated by the Ranch will be traveling northbound to the jobs located in Irvine.
Again, the toll road extension is about development not about reducing traffic. Its the Airport Argument all over again. The question is what type of county to the residents want to live in.
I think the answer is "One that will grow slower and One that isn't ultra populated".
More Roads = More People | Its a law here in California.
Without the toll road online the Ranch project will be called into question because the traffic model that assumed a toll road being built will not be viable.
Called into question by whom? Are the enviros going to file a lawsuit to overturn the county's approval?
Dude, the this road far predates any development plans. As for your moronic "more roads+more people" formula: as others have pointed out, we've tried that. Thanks to Gov. Jerry brown we stopped building roads for 20 years.
Guess what? We still got more people.
Without the toll road online the Ranch project will be called into question because the traffic model that assumed a toll road being built will not be viable.
Called into question by whom? Are the enviros going to file a lawsuit to overturn the county's approval?
Dude, the this road far predates any development plans. As for your moronic "more roads=more people" formula: as others have pointed out, we've tried that. Thanks to Gov. Jerry brown we stopped building roads for 20 years.
Guess what? We still got more people.
erry Brown was an idiot when it came to transportation (and many other things).
Even with that, L.A. got almost got all the roads it wanted and I'm sure you love driving through L.A.
If the Gov. Brown was smart he would have cut put that money into other forms of transportation and California would be the better for it. Look around you how many roads do you think we can continue to build? I'm no environmental fruitcake. But I am concerned about quality of life issues. The toll road would create more of the things that degrade my quality of life like higher taxes, traffic, pollution and higher cost of living. I have nothing to gain from it. What about you? To ease traffic congestion? Yea, maybe for a few years. We have choices to make, this is not one I agree with. I put the toll road extension on par with the 710 being stopped at Pasadena. Enough already. Lets try something else.
"Let's try something else"
What do you suggest? More busses? Do you take the bus to work every day?
Subways? Monorails? Jet Packs? What is the "something else" you would try?