No one can grandstand like Assemblyman Van Tran. I received an email press release from his office touting his helicopter tour of the pristine area that some developers are trying to ruin by extending the 241 through it.
Tran teamed up with GOP Congressman Ken Calvert as they teamed up to “to urge the California Legislature and Congress to allow for the construction of the proposed extension of the 241 Toll Road.”
Calvert, who represents Corona, said
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You can request the Black Helicopter Tour for yourself, Art. You get a tin foil helmet and UFO abduction insurance.
I think that would be appropriate to your level of reality.
Matt,
Your surly response speaks volumes. Looks like you don’t want to admit who paid for the copter ride. Probably with good reason.
That’s the problem with you Reeps. You talk tough about taxes, etc., and then turn around and misuse tax money so you can get free PR for your dumb ideas. Nice.
As I live closer to the proposed 241 extension than any other Juice blogger I guess it’s appropriate for me to jump in.
Let me also say that around 10 a.m. today we drove to San Juan from our home in Mission Viejo and intentionally stayed off Interstate 5.
As anticipated, the traffic headed towards San Diego was bumper to bumper. And this being a holiday weekend is no different than any other weekend.
We saw the same gridlock last Sat going to the same location in the morning. We simply have more cars on the road than lanes to support them. Multiple 241 extension routes have been reviewed for more years than I care to admit. We can argue that the extension benefits developers but the county has already approved the 14,000 new homes to be built off the Ortega Highway. If my memory is correct they will also include around two to three million square feet of office buildings in that Rancho MV project. This does not include the thousands of homes currently being constructed in San Clemente’s Talega development off Pico.
As to the “chopper” ride I cannot comment. This is the first I have read about it. It would provide a birds eye picture of traffic patterns that those with authorization to accept or reject the extension can benefit from. A PowerPoint presentation would not have the same three D overview.
What’s most important is not the free ride but traffic solutions.
It surely is better than someone from the Bowers Museum making around 50 trips to China to see the Terracotta warriors.
My “surly” response is in proportion to the IQ of this post, which is right up there with Art Pedroza’s usual standards of no facts and lots of “insinuations” — which I believe is the word you use to describe what you do, Art.
Let’s see.
The TCA will build the road. A TCA staffer served as the “tour guide” on the chopper.
Who do you think paid for the helo tour for Calvert and Tran? And what is wrong with that? After all, Art, there’s no road along the entire proposed route to take a tour on.
Matt,
Thanks for confirming that the flight was an utter waste of tax money.
Does Van Tran represent the area where the 241 extension is proposed? I don’t think so. Shouldn’t the local Assemblyman have been on board as well?
Art.
I’m going to “wing it” with this comment. I believe the Congressman for this area is Ken Calvert and perhaps Daryl Issa. While this proposed route is surely out of Van Tran’s district, if he serves on any SAC transportation committee then that would justify his joining the overview team.
And lastly I am not defending Van Tran due to his having an R after his name. You know me better than that. We must figure out how to move the people currently living in, or commuting through, south County. From what I read last year I think the 241 extension would be privately funded and, compared to widening the 5, would have a smaller impact on the use of “eminent domain.” Those are the issues that concern me the most.
Thanks for confirming that the flight was an utter waste of tax money.
What tax money?
Does Van Tran represent the area where the 241 extension is proposed? I don’t think so. Shouldn’t the local Assemblyman have been on board as well?
Neither do Representatives Susan Davis and Loretta Sanchez, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to kill the 241 completion.
The helicopter ride is about as pertinent to traffic solutions as if taxpayers bought these folks a ticket to ride the tilt-a-hurl at the fair.
Good call, Art.
Larry,
According to Van Tran’s website, these are the committees he sits on:
Governmental Organization
Judiciary
Utilities and Commerce
I don’t see transportation on the list. Remember that the GOP is the minority party in Sacramento. The Democrats don’t hand out juicy committee appointments to Republicans.
My question was – who is the Assemblyman for the area where they want to extend the 241? Would it be Mimi Walters? Why wasn’t she on the helicopter?
And why was Matt Cunningham the only media person on the helicopter? Shouldn’t a legitimate news reporter have been there?
I agree that traffic is an issue along that stretch of the 5, so why not just widen the 5?
“The helicopter ride is about as pertinent to traffic solutions as if taxpayers bought these folks a ticket to ride the tilt-a-hurl at the fair.
Good call, Art.”
LOL
Art, you crack me up. Just when you realize that NO ONE shares your obsessive hated of Van Tran, you give yourself some “props” anonimously.
Oh yeah, and don’t give us the whole “Everyone knows I don’t post anon” story because you’re the only one that still believes that.
It is just disgusting.
Art. Thanks for the data.
Let’s take them one at a time:
Based on Van Tran’s commitee assignments he should NOT have been one of the players.
Second. Without checking you may be correct in pointing out that part of the proposed extension is in Mimi’s AD. I have not asked her if she was invited to participate in this “outing.”
Third. While Matt is a high profile blogger, as bloggers we are not recognized as members of the traditional, credentialed media. Kudos to Matt for “catching a ride” but he respectfully does not work for the Register or LA Times.
Before presenting your case you need to find out who invited him along, who paid for his seat?
i.e. Was it a public agency, etc.
If so we have a problem Houston.
There are times when we scoop each other. That happens in every line of work. If Matt was invited by a public official than your argument should be directed to that person or department. If it was privately funded, including the Privately owned Toll Roads, it’s harder to make the same argument.
As to the traffic in south County.
I will visit OCTA to check on their assessment of the number of families and businesses that would need to be displaced by eminent domain if Intersate 5 is widened.
It will not be a pretty picture.
Larry-
Art has been told more than once that TCA (private owned toll road company) paid for the tour.
He chooses to ignore it to create ambiguity where there is none.
Oh and my “pajaritos” tell me that Mimi Walters was invited and was interested but had a scheduling conflict.
Poster 10,
I do not post anon – ever. We happen to use sitemeter here at the Orange Juice. You can check to see who is posting what. You cannot do that over at Red County. We are quite open about what goes on here and everyone knows that if I have something to say, I do so with my name.
Poster 12,
Private you say? Well then I would imagine that their board would reflect that. So let’s take a look at who is on the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency Board of Directors:
1. Lance MacLean, Mission Viejo City Council
2. Jerry Amante, Tustin City Council
3. Sam Allevato, San Juan Capistrano City Council
4. Jim Thor, RSM City Council
5. Lisa Bartlett, Dana Point City Council
6. Pat Bates, OC Supervisor
7. Carlos Bustamante, Santa Ana City Council (Why the heck is Carlos on this board?)
8. Bill Campbell, OC Supervisor
9. Jim Dahl, San Clemente City Council
10. Peter Herzog, Lake Forest City Council
11. Jan Horton, Yorba Linda City Council
12. Sukhee Kang, Irvine City Council
13. Lucille Kring, Anaheim City Council
14. Mark Murphy, Orange City Council
15. Chris Norby, OC Supervisor
Oh, sure, that looks like a private organization’s board of directors. Not.
Even the TCA website admits that the toll roads are public infrastructure. They are paid for by bonds, and their website admits that the bonds are paid for with toll proceeds. And who pays the tolls? The public.
I rest my case. The copter ride was a waste of money meant to showcase Tran and Calvert, and the extension of the 241 is all about serving the developers, not the public.
What we need to do is widen the 5.
Poster 13,
Did Mimi have a “scheduling conflict” or a “campaigning conflict?”
Couldn’t they just reschedule the PR opportunity, since that is all it really was?
Poser 13,
One more thing, my pajaritos tell me that Van Tran was there for ONE reason. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is opposed to the 241 extension. He wants to run for her seat. Figure it out. You were spun by the OC GOP machine and the Tran cabal. Now that you know the truth, don’t you feel better?
Looking at the map, it is easy to see that the 241 needs to be built.
As for a Tran vs. Sanchez in the 47th. I would think Art would like to see Sanchez move on.
She is in her 6 term and that is 12 years. I think Art is on the record that 8 years is enough for anyone to hold office.
Cook,
Take another look. The extension starts in Coto de Caza, where our illustrious Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream lives. Maybe he wants to get to San Diego quicker? We can only hope he is going to get a job there and get the heck out of our city.
Joking aside, the extension goes through a whole lot of NOTHING. The smarter recourse would be to add more lanes to the 5.
Wouldn’t it have been nice to be a fly on the wall when Rancho Mission Viejo negotiated with the OCBOS regarding their plans to add a massive number of homes and commercial buildings off Ortega Highway?
Did the ranch propose adding roadway infrastructure for all these new vehicles or were they given any assurance of public or private roads in the immediate area? The Nov 1990 Measure M Argument reads in part that it “guarantees: a growth management program that requires new development generating any new traffic to pay for additional streets and roads as development occurs.” I would suggest that a project of this magnitude surely adds traffic on our system of roads. If the ranch paid sums to the County for said improvements, than what traffic relief alignment plan was submitted and approved?
The Mission Viejo ranch plan has already been approved. Houses will be built with or without the toll road.
Your tinfoil hat is very flattering.
Anonymous 2:16 p.m.
You like my tinfoil hat? I have just started wearing it this summer. Obviously your brain may be fried because you fail to wear yours. Sent with love to Mr. Anonymous whom I do recognize.