Comments on: Metro Board Preview: LRTP, AnsaldoBreda, Silver Line and Tolls

By: calwatch

calwatch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:37:34 +0000

AnsaldoBreda deserves to be slammed just for hiring Chris Lehane as their spokesman. No man has done more to throw politics in the gutter than him. I’m sure he is the one orchestrating the bogus argument that Siemens should be disqualified because one arm of huge company has civilian operations in that country. That has classic Lehane written all over it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/16/politics/campaigns/16LEHA.html among other links you’ll find when you search for his name.

By: Erik G.

Erik G. — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:29:03 +0000

At least California wotnt lose the Pittburg AnsaldoBreda facility if the Metro board votes down the extension:

Should L.A. shut out AnsaldoBreda, the company still wants to build a manufacturing plant in the United States and it will consider Pittsburg, where it already has an assembly plant for contracts with BART and San Francisco’s MUNI and where it builds L.A.s light rail cars. The Pittsburg assembly plant employs about 60 people.

“We’ll give the Bay Area a pretty close look if things don’t work out like we hope on Thursday,” said Chris Lehane, a spokesman for AnsaldoBreda.

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2009/07/pittsburg_might_be_winner_in_la_spat.html

By: Erik G.

Erik G. — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:07:52 +0000

Y’know, at this point, I kinda hope AnsaldoBreda gets the contract, otherwise how are they going to pay for their latest rebate to a current customer (in this case Belgian Railways SNCB)?

From:

http://www.mdweekly.nl/914759/schadevergoeding-fyra-treinen-kan-oplopen-tot-24-miljoen-euro

The Google Translation from the Dutch is:

Compensation Fyra trains can reach 24 million euro

(Express.be / MD Info (13-7-2009))

Railway SNCB may recover damages of tens of millions AnsaldoBreda, the Italian manufacturer of high-speed trains Fyra. They were supplied with many years of delay. The Fyra as from next year a fast train between Brussels and Amsterdam guarantee.

At the conclusion of the contract provided that delays or abnormalities to compensation could result which could rise to 40% of the purchase amount. A Fyra train cost 20 million euros. Since the SNCB has ordered three copies, the damages can amount to 24 million euros.

Originally, the first test with the Fyra trains for more than two years ago have been implemented, but only in September next year will begin with a prototype runs on the route between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. AnsaldoBrede refers to the ever changing European standards of safety, which would have caused delays.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdweekly.nl%2F914759%2Fschadevergoeding-fyra-treinen-kan-oplopen-tot-24-miljoen-euro&sl=nl&tl=en&history_state0=

By: Dana Gabbard

Dana Gabbard — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:16:23 +0000

On the other hand, I have at least one person who I know that complains the Wilshire corridor meetings being held in the evening is inconvenient for him. And to be effective merely showing up isn’t enough–you need some knowledge of the issues and comments honed to make points aimed at what politicians care about (i.e. citing something that can hurt them with stakeholders , voters, etc.). In any case, you are limited to 60 seconds for your comments. And have to submit comment cards before the meeting starts. And suffer through a long meeting of a body with an ability to consumer vast amounts of time in mindless discussion while displaying nearly zero knowledge of the topic. That is why I am glad Kymberleigh Richards covers these for SO.CA.TA. My tolerance for this circus ended about 5 years ago.

DJB, you can complain but sadly this is the hand we have been dealt and all we can do is make the best of it. This has been the setup for at least a decade for the Metro Board meetings so it seems unlikely to change anytime soon…

By: DJB

DJB — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:29:47 +0000

You’ve gotta love the timing of this meeting: 9:30AM on a Thursday! That seems carefully crafted to minimize attendance.

God forbid people with jobs show up and make their voices heard.