Court of Appeal Hits HSR Critics Hard
07/31/14 Filed in: High-Speed
Rail
The Third District
Court of Appeal issued rulings in the
Atherton II
appeal and the Authority’s
Extraordinary
Writ petition recently. Both of them
were very hard on HSR critics. See the posts at
the bottom of the pages for links to the rulings
and brief explanations.
COURT OF APPEAL ALLOWS HIGH-SPEED RAIL TO VIOLATE BOND MEASURE
The Third District Court of Appeal late yesterday overturned two trial rulings that had hamstrung California’s still-embattled High-Speed Rail project. The Court ruled that "The Legislature appropriated the bond proceeds based on the preliminary funding plan, however deficient, and there is no present duty to redo the plan."
Plaintiff's lead counsel, Michael Brady, was disappointed with the ruling. He said "The voters approved Proposition 1A only because it included stringent requirements to protect the state from financial risk. The Court ruled that although the project did not meet the requirements, taxpayers have no remedy now. They can only sue after many more tens of millions of dollars are spent on design and analysis.”
Stuart Flashman, co-counsel added, "The court has essentially allowed the Authority to ignore promises it, and the legislature, made to California’s voters. It bodes ill for voters’ willingness to trust such promises in the future. Supreme Court review appears warranted.” Read More...
COURT OF APPEAL ALLOWS HIGH-SPEED RAIL TO VIOLATE BOND MEASURE
The Third District Court of Appeal late yesterday overturned two trial rulings that had hamstrung California’s still-embattled High-Speed Rail project. The Court ruled that "The Legislature appropriated the bond proceeds based on the preliminary funding plan, however deficient, and there is no present duty to redo the plan."
Plaintiff's lead counsel, Michael Brady, was disappointed with the ruling. He said "The voters approved Proposition 1A only because it included stringent requirements to protect the state from financial risk. The Court ruled that although the project did not meet the requirements, taxpayers have no remedy now. They can only sue after many more tens of millions of dollars are spent on design and analysis.”
Stuart Flashman, co-counsel added, "The court has essentially allowed the Authority to ignore promises it, and the legislature, made to California’s voters. It bodes ill for voters’ willingness to trust such promises in the future. Supreme Court review appears warranted.” Read More...
Plan Bay Area Court Decision Released
Alameda County Superior
Court Judge Grillo issued a ruling today in
the Bay Area
Citizens v. ABAG challenge to Plan Bay Area. He
denied their petition that sought a ruling that the
EIR was inadequate. See the decision and the briefing
at the bottom of this
page.
This page also contains the settlement between the
MTC and Sierra Club and Communities for a Better
Environment.