Simitian Calls for 'Meaningful Congestion Relief Throughout the Entire County'

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN JOSE – The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider options to fund traffic congestion relief efforts here in Santa Clara County. County Supervisor Joe Simitian kicked off the conversation last fall when he called for analysis by County staff of the sources and uses of funds from the 2000 and 2008 transportation tax measures (subsequently expanded to include tax measures from 1994 and 1984).

Upon review of that analysis, Simitian noted that the two most recent transportation taxes, passed in 2000 and 2008, had allocated nearly 80% of their total funds to bringing BART to San Jose, which he said leaves precious few resources for other forms of congestion relief throughout the County.

Simitian said that if a new transportation tax was going to be placed on the ballot in November 2016 (either by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority or the County Board of Supervisors) he would have two primary goals:

• Ensuring that the funds collected by such a measure provide, “meaningful congestion relief throughout the entire County;” and,
• Ensuring that there will be some limit placed on that portion of the proceeds funding BART to San Jose, either through an absolute dollar cap or a limit on the percentage of the total proceeds which might be used for BART to San Jose.

Simitian said he and his constituents, “supported the 2000 tax measure, and continue to see BART to San Jose as an important project for the region.” In fact, Simitian’s District Five, which encompasses 20% of the County population, provided 24% of the total votes necessary for the 2000 funding measure.

“However,” he said, “after 15 years and an 80% allocation to BART, we’ve got other pressing congestion relief efforts that require funding.” 

Simitian’s office refined the data provided by County staff to provide a breakdown of the funding for each of the five supervisorial districts in the County, and the refined data produced some startling results. Simitian’s District Five, which includes portions of the North County and West Valley, has provided 24% of the vote in support of these measures, contains 20% of the County’s population, and has paid 16.35% of the tax revenue, but has received only 5.3% of the total funding.

But in making these points, Simitian said, “I want to be very clear. This is not a problem limited to any one district. This is a countywide issue. At the other end of the County, folks in South County cities like Morgan Hill and Gilroy have to be asking themselves, ‘Where is the congestion relief they’ve been paying for all these years?’” Simitian said, “And vast swaths of San Jose are underserved by the allocation of the previous two taxes.”

Simitian specifically noted that he does not have a “wish list” or even a single specific project that he is championing, just the two goals he has reiterated from the beginning of the conversation: meaningful congestion relief throughout the entire County, and some limit on the portion of funds dedicated to BART to San Jose.

“That's my bottom line,” he said. “The need for action on traffic congestion is immediate and obvious, but I can’t support a measure that doesn't provide meaningful congestion relief throughout the entire County and that doesn't put some reasonable restriction on expenditures for BART to San Jose.”

Mountain View Mayor John McAlister agreed. “It’s critical that we address the transportation bottlenecks of today,” McAlister said, “and develop a vision to tackle where we know the issues will be in the future based on employment and housing trends.”

“Santa Clara County residents come and go from their homes to work, to shop, and to visit neighbors and friends. In many ways city boundaries are irrelevant to the transportation challenges local residents face on a daily basis,” said Simitian.

“So, on the one hand,” Simitian said, “we need a countywide approach and we really can't be parochial about it. On the other hand, it's entirely understandable that folks in every part of the county are going to be asking themselves ‘what's in it for us?’ if they’re asked to support this transportation tax next November.”

Simitian noted that a thoughtful allocation of funding was important, "if we’re actually going to get the problem solved, if we’re going to provide some measure of equity, and frankly, as a matter of political necessity.”

“As a practical political matter, I don’t think we can expect the public to support a transportation tax without some assurance that the benefits of that tax would reach all parts of the County,” said Simitian. “If, after 15 years, folks feel like they've been paying and paying but not seeing the congestion relief they hoped for, it's going to be hard to persuade them to step up once again, particularly if they've been getting just one dollar of congestion relief back for every three dollars of taxes that they’ve been paying.”

“I'm happy we’re having this conversation sooner rather than later,” said Simitian. “It gives us time to really hear from folks around the County, and to get it right.”

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