Issue date: July 07, 1999
By RENEE MOILANEN
Just days before proponents of a BART extension to Menlo Park vowed to pursue their project, the Menlo Park City Council passed a resolution firmly opposing such an extension, reaffirming a view already present in the city's general plan.
Councilman Steve Schmidt, who spearheaded the resolution, dismissed Councilman Nicholas Jellins' claims that it was too early in the process to pass such a resolution. "There is a certain urgency," Mr. Schmidt said June 29. "(This resolution) discourages the backers (of the project) from pursuing it."
The resolution passed on the same day that two BART board members spoke out against the extension. But, Mr. Schmidt said, opinions from two independent board members should not dissuade Menlo Park from opposing a BART extension, a point more relevant now that backers intend to spend $750,000 campaigning for the project.
Mr. Jellins abstained from the vote -- the only council member not to vote in favor. "I think we can do better. If we can take the time to do it, then I think we should," he said.
Mayor Paul Collacchi likened BART to a vampire that sucked the life out of other transit projects more highly valued to Menlo Park.
BART's funding uncertainties figured highly in the council's debate. Looking at BART's track record with cost overruns in the extension to San Francisco International Airport, Mr. Collacchi said, "I don't think voters wanted BART to SFO at all costs."
Putting an extension to Menlo Park on the ballot "limits voters from understanding the true cost of funding," he said.
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