HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 3911
City of Palo Alto (ID # 3911)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 6/24/2013
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Draft Letter on PCJPB Member Configuration
Title: Review and Approval of a Draft Letter to Valley Transportation
Authority Board Chair Pirzynski on Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Representation
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Planning and Community Environment
Recommendation
The Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee and staff recommend that the City Council
approve the attached draft letter to Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board Chair
Pirzynski on Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPC) representation.
Background
The PCJPB is the owner and operator of Caltrain. At the present time, the PCJPB is
comprised of nine representatives with three representatives coming from each of the
three counties that fund Caltrain. The three counties that fund Caltrain are San
Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. Each county has its own method for appointing
their representatives. In Santa Clara County all three representatives are appointed by
the VTA.
Executive Summary
The City Council Rail Committee has long been interested in the PCJPB representation
structure being updated to more accurately reflect ridership levels. Specifically, the
Committee is concerned that there is no Palo Alto representation on the PCJPB, despite
Palo Alto having the highest ridership in Santa Clara County and the second busiest
station on the entire Caltrain line.
Therefore, as an interim step prior to structural PCJPB representation changes, the City
Council Rail Committee approved the attached draft letter (Attachment A) for City
City of Palo Alto Page 2
Council review and approval by a 3-0 vote on April 25, 2013 (Kniss absent).
The draft letter asks the VTA to designate one of its three seats on the PCJPB to come
from a VTA Group 2 city. “Group 2” encompasses the cities of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills,
Mountain View, and Palo Alto. The Palo Alto and Mountain View stations are the first
and second busiest stations in the county, so representation with a single seat on the
board would be an appropriate step toward fair representation.
At the time the letter was approved the Rail Committee also directed staff to inform the
City Managers and Mayors of the other “Group 2” cities that this draft letter would be
going to the Palo Alto City Council for review and approval, which staff has done. At
the time this report was drafted staff has not heard back from those cities.
Attachments:
A - Draft VTA / PCJPB Representation Letter_6-24-2013 (PDF)
DRAFT
June 24, 2013
Chairperson Joe Pirzynski
Valley Transportation Authority
3331 North First Street
Building B - 1st Floor
San Jose, CA 95134-1927
Re: VTA Group 2 Representation on the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Dear Chairperson Pirzynski:
The City of Palo Alto is writing to express our interest in updating the representation structure of the
Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB). As you know, the PCJPB is the owner and operator of
Caltrain, and consists of representatives from San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The
City of Palo Alto has long been interested in the PCJPB representation structure being updated to more
accurately reflect ridership levels. Specifically, the City is concerned that there is no Palo Alto
representation on the PCJPB, despite having the highest ridership in Santa Clara County and the second
busiest station on the entire Caltrain line. In fact, there is no representation for Santa Clara County
north of San Jose despite over 75% of Santa Clara County boardings being north of San Jose.
Last fall, Caltrain created the Caltrain Local Policy Maker Group (LPMG), comprised of representatives
from each city on the Caltrain line. This advisory group is a positive development that Palo Alto supports,
but it does not give Palo Alto the opportunity to be directly involved with PCJPB policymaking.
Therefore, as an interim step prior to structural PCJPB representation changes, the City of Palo Alto is
asking the VTA to act to designate one of its three seats on the PCJPB to come from a VTA Group 2 city.
“Group 2” encompasses the cities of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. The Palo
Alto and Mountain View stations are the first and second busiest stations in the county, so
representation with a single seat on the board would be an appropriate step toward fair representation.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Greg Scharff
Mayor, City of Palo Alto
c: Palo Alto City Council
Palo Alto City Manager
California Governor Jerry Brown
California Senator Jerry Hill
California Assemblymember Rich Gordon
Peninsula City Mayors
Peninsula Cities Consortium
Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
California High Speed Rail Authority
Bay Area Council
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