Six
SEWRPC committee members attended hearings
May
30, 2006-- Six of
27 members of the Southeastern Wisconsin
Regional Planning Commission's Regional Transportation
Planning Advisory Committee attended public
hearings held on the plan in April, according
to SEWRPC.
storyhill.net,
relying on court reporter notes of the meeting,
previously reported that two committee member
attended. To see the SEWRPC list of attendees,
click here.
Transportation
plan moves ahead
Agency promises to review
low-income, minority concerns
May
25, 2006 -- A $20 billion regional
transportation plan moved forward Wednesday
after a SEWRPC official said the agency would
make another attempt to provide information
about the plan's low-income and minority impact
analysis.
Ken
Yunker, deputy director of the Southeastern
Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, said
the agency would make a "good faith"
effort to address concerns raised by representatives
of low-income and minority communities.
Yunker
also said SEWRPC staff would take steps to emphasize
in the final report the importance of implementing
the transit recommendations made in the plan.
City
of Milwaukee representatives on SEWRPC's Regional
Transportation Planning Advisory Committee requested
both the additional transit emphasis and that
low-income and minority community concerns be
part of the agency's Regional Transportation
System Plan.
ACLU
of Wisconsin attorney Karyn Rotker, who for
months has raised questions about SEWRPC's low-income
and minority impact analysis, said she was pleased
with SEWRPC's willingness to incorporate issues
affecting low income and minority communities
into the report. She said, however, that she
would reserve final judgment until she sees
the final results of the changes and clarification
that Yunker said the agency would provide.
"We
saw some small steps, but progress," Rotker
said. "Now we have to see how SEWRPC staff
and the Commission deal with these issues -
and what steps they will take to ensure thather
the state and local governments act upon rec-ommendations
of concern to underrepresented communities."
To
read the ACLU's latest letter to SEWRPC, dated
May 23, click here.
Washington
County Highway Commissioner Kenneth M. Pesch
said during the meeting he did not think the
issues should be considered further.
"I
think some of my previous comments were interpreted
as being against poor people or against people
stuck living in the city of Milwaukee."
--Washington County Highway Commissioner Kenneth
Pesch
The
ACLU's comments came in too late, he said. "Now
we're rescinding what we did and adding more.
For that reason, why would anybody vote 'yes'
for this motion?"
Pesch
"Sometimes
more is better when you're considering the quality
of life of human beings, the environmental health
and well-being of human beings, the impact that
your decision is going to make on babies, children,
seniors, folks who can least afford to move
away from these congested areas," City
of Milwaukee representative Larry Moore said.
"I think it's the least that you can consider
to do is think about what decision, what impacts
your decisions made at this table are going
to make on thousands of people. From that perspective,
doing a little bit more gets you more instead
of costing your more."
"I
happen to disagree with those comments,"
Pesch said.
Moore
Pesch
later said that "I think some of my previous
comments were interpreted as being against poor
people or against people stuck living in the
city of Milwaukee."
That
is not the case, he said.
The
full commission is expected to act on the plan
in June.
$20
billion transportation plan approved by SEWRPC
Committee
Panel delays action on low-income,
minority impact
May
10, 2006 -- A $21 billion, 30-year regional
transportation plan was approved Wednesday by
a committee that could not agree if low-income
and minority impacts were adequately analyzed.
Click
here
for video of part of the meeting.
The
Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's
Regional Transportation Planning Advisory Committee
approved the transportation plan, but delayed
action on the agency's low-income and minority
impact analysis until May 24.
No
committee member asked questions about the plans
$21 billion price tag, or the $65 million annual
funding shortfall projected by SEWRPC. The cost
of the plan, which assumes that gasoline will
be priced at $2.30 per gallon in 2005 dollars,
was not discussed at all.
Because
the projected revenue and funding shortfall data
was released after the public comment period closed,
members of the public will not be allowed to have
any say about it.
While
SEWRPC Deputy Director Ken Yunker emphasized the
plan's proposed improvements in mass transit,
the plan is heavily tilted toward highways. For
every $1 spent on transit, $1.94 would be spent
on highways and roads.
Ironically,
city representatives voted in favor of the plan
the day Mayor Tom Barrett vetoed study of the
proposed $300 million Connector project because
of unanswered fiscal questions; and the Milwaukee
County representative voted for the plan as County
Executive Scott Walker continued to blast the
Connector project cost.
The
delay in approving the low-income/ minority impact
statement was prompted by a May 2 letter from
the American Civil Liberties Union outlining concerns
about the SEWRPC process, and a May 9 SEWRPC response.
When it became clear that most committee members
had not read the nine-page
ACLU memo, or the seven-page
SEWRPC response, Committee Chair Frederick Patrie
gave them five minutes to do so.
The
five minutes was not enough time "to allow
me to fully synthesize the information,"
City of Milwaukee representative Larry Moore said.
Moore
said the ACLU's letter contained some serious
allegations. "Deficiencies in data collection,
some of the other points made here I take very
serious....I know if these wereissues raised about
my performance in my job, I would be really concerned."
Racine
County Public Works Director Glenn Lampark said
the said the "commission's letter gives a
good response to all those allegations."
Some
committee members said they wanted to delay action
on the entire transportation plan until the low-income
minority impact analysis issues were resolved,
but SEWRPC Deputy Director Ken Yunker said the
committee needed to act. He did not, however,
specify why.
"There's
a need to move forward with the regional transportation
plan at this time," he said.
Several
commitee members, unhappy the ACLU letter came
in after the public comment period ended April
20, said that the ACLU's concerns should have
been raised at the public hearings that only two
of 27 committee members attended. Patrie attended
four of the nine meetings, and Lampark attended
one. Other committee members received bound volumes
of comments and transcripts to peruse.
Members
of the public are generally not allowed to actually
speak directly to SEWRPC committees, but the ACLU
attorney Karyn Rotker was granted 30 seconds to
make her case.
Rotker
said a number of groups meeting with Yunker and
SEWRPC representatives had requested in March
that they be allowed to make a presentation to
the Advisory Committee about their environmental
concerns. It was only about May 1 when she realized
that would not happen.
Milwaukee
City Engineer Jeff Polenske asked if that request
had indeed been made.
"Sure,
that was discussion at those meetings," Yunker
said.
"Would
that be considered appropriate?" Polenske
asked.
Yunker
shrugged. "I think that's at the pleasure
of the committee."
"To
be honest, I'm not sure I recall having that discussion
with this body on whether that should have been
allowed for," Polenske said.
Polenske
said the committee should get input on environmental
justice issues, but other commitee members made
clear they did not want to do that.
"I
surely don't want to open this committee up to
every group that is responsible for certain aspects,"
said Washington County's Kenneth Pesch.
