Recent Headlines: CPUC Addition

Friday, July 30, 2010 17 Comments

For those of you that missed it, yesterday the California Public Utilities Commission approved the at-grade crossing and station for the Expo Line at Farmdale Avenue by Dorsey High School. What follows is a summary of stories on the project and after the jump is the reaction of Fix Expo's Damien Goodmon. Here's a quick preview, Goodmon doesn't believe yesterday's decision was the "Last Battle of Farmdale."

CPUC Official Statement (CPUC)
Actual Video of the Approval (Transit Coalition Boards)
Have Your Safety Concerns Been Addressed? (LA_Now)
CPUC Approves At-Grade Crossing for Farmdale (Curbed)
Breakdown of the Proposed Decision (Friends for Expo)
State Commission Approves At-Grade Crossing (LAist)
Renderings of Farmdale Station (Build Expo)

Goodmon writes to his followers:

As expected, the CPUC reversed themselves and approved the street-level crossing at Farmdale at yesterday's CPUC meeting: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-expo-line-20100730,0,6087806.story

Bernard Parks stated in his newsletter that came out last night, that the CPUC's decision ends all legal challenges and the railroad crossing will be installed across Farmdale this weekend. Bernie's understanding of CPUC law is no better than his understanding of campaign finance or MTA ethics law. You will remember that his illegal fundraising from MTA contractors for his failed Supervisorial campaign, which we first exposed (http://tinyurl.com/parks-mta-atm), resulted in him being forced off the MTA board (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/parks-steps-dow.html), after I called for him to resign for just that violation (http://tinyurl.com/goodmondemandsparksresignation). Parks mysteriously remains on the Expo Board, a subsidiary of MTA.

FACT: THE CPUC DECISION CAN AND WILL BE APPEALED TO A REAL COURT

The reality is that every CPUC decision can be appealed to the California Court of Appeals, and our legal team is at work on that as I type. After it became apparent last winter that the CPUC had no intention on sticking to their initial decision that REJECTED an at-grade crossing (http://tinyurl.com/pucrejects), we began focusing our efforts on an appeal. The great news is that the CPUC decision is so wrought with factual inaccuracies, literally and quite blatantly misinterpreting the record, that our appellete rights are pretty strong. Aside from having a crossing previously ruled unsafe suddenly ruled safe after hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars went toward lobbying the CPUC, the decision claims has such gems as that "there are no issues in dispute." I can't make this stuff up.

So today, we actually celebrate the opportunity to get out of the CPUC court, where the Commissioners essentially do what the politicians tell them to do, and into a real court where judges black robes are far more likely to give us a fair hearing.

FACT: THERE WILL BE NO CROSSING INSTALLATION AT FARMDALE THIS WEEKEND

Also regarding construction, much will be going on at Farmdale in preparation of a variety of things unrelated to the railroad crossing. The first of which will be installation of a new sewer line, which is expected to begin on Monday and last at a minimum of two weeks.

NEXT MEETING

We're currently locking down a venue for our next community meeting. We hope to send out a formal newsletter tomorrow or Sunday with the date and location of the meeting so we can bring people up to speed and explain our next steps.

Erik G.

Damien Newton,

I think this post really needs to be reformatted to be very very clear which Damien it is coming from.
http://www.livablestreets.com/people/alecpm Alec Mitchell

I agree. This is pretty confusing, especially in an RSS reader, where the “after the jump” distinction is not so clear. It would probably be better to either simply link to Mr. Goodmon’s release or publish it as an article/editorial under his byline, separate from the Headlines post.
http://www.livablestreets.com/people/jass jass

It also took me a second to realize where Damien 1 ended and Damien 2 began
Angelo

The sad Damien show continues…someone who should really be ignored forever. Can’t we all just MOVE ON.
Spokker

What was wrong with a pedestrian bridge? Kids can’t behave?
Spokker

By the way, I was in San Clemente today and the tracks are right near the beach. People are able to cross them over and over again. Their kids play on the rocks next to the tracks and manage to not get hit.

When the bells start to go off the mother says, “Okay (whatever the kids name is), what’s that sound? Okay, look and listen.” Then she holds the boy’s hand while the train goes by, then they resume doing whatever it is they were doing.

Doesn’t seem like a hard skill to instill in your child, to be safe around trains. Hell, don’t we teach them to be safe around cars?
Fallopia Simms

I’m still waiting for the “nuke” attack that Damien “Nuke” Goodmon promised us sometime back. Sad and delusional. Can we have a response from a supporter of the Expo Line. If not here is a victory quote from Karen Leonard of Light Rail For Cheviot: Statement by Karen Leonard and Sarah Hays, Cochairs of Light-Rail for Cheviot: “Those who have been following this know that this at-grade resolution sets an important precedent for the Overland/Westwood crossings further west, with a station between those streets and closer to Westwood. We hope this victory for all (a station for the students and nearby residents, a safe at-grade crossing for efficient use of public funds, an equitable grade-crossing decision according to the Expo criteria for crossings all along the line) will preclude similar costly delays and conflicts as the line goes west along Phase II.”
http://ubrayj02.blogspot.com ubrayj02

I can’t decide whether this is a benign SimCity rendering, or a Roller Coaster Tycoon theme park from hell where the roller coasters are designed to derail into a line of waiting patrons – sending balloons and limbs a-flying.
Spokker

“Roller Coaster Tycoon theme park from hell where the roller coasters are designed to derail into a line of waiting patrons”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oheptZAnkq8

Warning: The most hilariously offensive video about transit ever. I don’t know what compelled this person to create this, but good God it makes me laugh so hard, mostly because someone actually did it.
Warren

Damian Goodman, sad little boy. I can’t believe that anyone still pays attention to his worthless screeds.
Fred Green

Damien Goodmon:

Stop destroying my city.
http://ubrayj02.blogspot.com ubrayj02

Damien Goodmon,

Stop destroying my city with all the emails you send and community organizing you do.

-Angry person

p.s. how is babby formed?
Nathanael

This looks like a very safe design apart from the mysterious parking lot behind the rail platform.

I hope the misguided “community activists” accept this intelligent, safe design. This sort of level crossing has worked very well with 100mph trains in England; the slow trains running down the Expo line will work far better with it.
http://socata.net Dana Gabbard

Once I first heard about the station option I immediately saw it was the likely solution and end point of this drawn out process. I expect IF an appeal is filed that it won’t get too far. Ditto the Cheviot suit against Phase 2. The anti-strategy of the West L.A. crowd was by their own admission having this crossing battle in South L.A. stall/kill the project or provide precendents to their advantage. This instead backfired; the PUC’s ruling plus LAUSD cracking down on the sort of Board member antics that embroiled the District in this mess guarantees Phase 2 won’t face this level of nonsense. A big blow to the Terri Tippet crowd jihad.
Jerard Wright

Its funny all that sound and fury by the FixExpo folks and yet not a word of it on their website almost 5 days after the fact.

http://www.fixexpo.org/

Hell it hasn’t been updated in quite awhile.
http://socata.net Dana Gabbard

Goodmon of late has mostly communicated via e-mails from Fix Expo world headquarters. Ari Noonan of the Culver City based online news site The Front Page has done us all a public service by making these available as articles

The latest missive posted by Noonane written by Goodmon includes more “you ain’t seen nothing yet” rheortic, claiming a succesful appeal to the Circuit court is a sure thing. Plus all the usual suspects Goodmon has gathered up over the years of his “crusade” are trotted out with the same old quotes and claims.

http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/articles1-7933/FightingBackLegallyAfterCPUCallsAmazingStreetLevelRulingatFarmdaleDorsey

First, we’ll see if any appeal is actually filed (Goodmon has in the past publicly spoke of impending legal filings that never were made). Then whether the Court even sees an issue worth considering. Just because you have latched onto an impressive latin phrase like “res judicata” doesn’t mean that a court necessarily considers it to be raising an issue worth reviewing. Despite all the bluster of “rope-a-dope legal strategy” this is a hail mary and if it fails Goodmon’s “crusade” will be finito…
Aaron K

This has been the most pompus & time consuming part of the Expo line. Take the example of the Blue line, which no one seem to want to use as such. It passes by a number of schools (mind you Primary & Secondary) yet you never or rarely hear about accidents involving children.

This is grandstanding at its best by Mr. Goodmon, who has underlying motives for these delays.