LA's got new mojo because Measure R is providing money, mobility, more jobs, and momentum! On Wednesday night Move LA honors these ten transit champions at our annual awards ceremony because they are helping create that mojo! At Union Station's fabulous Fred Harvey room. Get tix on our website below! We are honoring:
· • LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina — because she got things done while the rest of LA County was standing around wondering whether LA would ever build another rail line. Determined to move the Eastside rail project forward, Molina secured federal funding for the underground portion of the line and built the rest using county sales tax dollars to meet the Eastside’s long-standing need for transit connections to jobs and regional destinations — 30 percent of residents do not own cars.
· • LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas — for his role in championing the use of renewable energy sources at LA Metro. A policy he co-authored with Metro Board Member Pam O’Connor was unanimously adopted last September, making it a matter of course that renewable energy sources are considered for all facilities and lines. This acknowledges the money-saving potential for Metro if the agency captures solar and wind energy along its many tracks, lines, stations, maintenance yards and facilities.
· • LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky — not only for being an exceedingly successful advocate for transit, but also because he was one of the principal forces behind Measure R. Recently he blogged: “Our public transportation system, a national laughingstock just a generation ago, is on a roll. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say we’ve entered a golden age of public mass transit . . . made possible county voters’ overwhelming approval of Measure R.”
· • Duarte Mayor and Metro Board Member John Fasana — for distinguishing himself as a regional thinker who is deliberative, consultative and who genuinely cares about fairness, a critical quality as the board weighs regional priorities all the time. Fasana has, for example, advocated for the Orange Line, Expo and Crenshaw lines, and began championing light rail in the San Gabriel Valley way back in 1991, even before there was an LA Metro and the Gold Line was called the Blue Line.
· • Santa Monica City Councilmember Pam O’Connor, immediate Past President of the Southern California Association of Governments — for helping to bring SCAG’s 83-member Regional Council to consensus on an ambitious and remarkable 2012 Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy. She was able to help guide deliberations toward a highly successful conclusion because of her thorough understanding of the issues, positive working relationships with 83 Regional Council members, and her skill at managing wide-ranging debates with many participants.
· • California Senator Kevin Murray (retired) — for the bill he authored when he was chairing the Senate Transportation Committee in 2003 allowing LA Metro to put on the ballot a half-cent sales tax for transportation projects for up to 6.5 years. That bill, which was signed by Governor Gray Davis but never acted upon by LA Metro, was the template for Measure R and for Assemblyman Michael Feuer’s AB 2321, which got Measure R on the ballot in 2008.
· • Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) — for his brilliant and adept leadership in developing the region’s first Sustainable Communities Strategy, which together with the 2012 Regional Transportation Plan was hailed in the LA Times as a “model of sustainability” and prompted national headlines such as this one on Atlantic Cities: “Is SoCal America’s Next Environmental Success Story?”
· • Robbie Hunter, executive-secretary of the LA/OC Counties Buildling and Construction Trades Council — who negotiated a Project Labor Agreement with LA Metro for transportation construction work over five years, an agreement expected to produce tens of thousands of jobs, beginning with construction of the Crenshaw Line.
· • Art Hadnett, vice president at Stantec — for always being so willing and able to mobilize ACEC, the American Council of Engineering Companies, and its 5,000 member companies and 500,000 employees around the U.S. in support of America Fast Forward, the national version of the “30-10 plan” to build 12 new rail lines in a decade.
· • Darrell Clarke of Friends 4 Expo — for stepping up and advocating for the Exposition Line at a time when transit’s future looked especially bleak 20 years ago. Friends 4 Expo has inspired many others including Bart Reed and the Transit Coalition, Ken Alpern and Friends of the Green Line, and Denny Zane at Move LA!
· • LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina — because she got things done while the rest of LA County was standing around wondering whether LA would ever build another rail line. Determined to move the Eastside rail project forward, Molina secured federal funding for the underground portion of the line and built the rest using county sales tax dollars to meet the Eastside’s long-standing need for transit connections to jobs and regional destinations — 30 percent of residents do not own cars.
· • LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas — for his role in championing the use of renewable energy sources at LA Metro. A policy he co-authored with Metro Board Member Pam O’Connor was unanimously adopted last September, making it a matter of course that renewable energy sources are considered for all facilities and lines. This acknowledges the money-saving potential for Metro if the agency captures solar and wind energy along its many tracks, lines, stations, maintenance yards and facilities.
· • LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky — not only for being an exceedingly successful advocate for transit, but also because he was one of the principal forces behind Measure R. Recently he blogged: “Our public transportation system, a national laughingstock just a generation ago, is on a roll. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say we’ve entered a golden age of public mass transit . . . made possible county voters’ overwhelming approval of Measure R.”
· • Duarte Mayor and Metro Board Member John Fasana — for distinguishing himself as a regional thinker who is deliberative, consultative and who genuinely cares about fairness, a critical quality as the board weighs regional priorities all the time. Fasana has, for example, advocated for the Orange Line, Expo and Crenshaw lines, and began championing light rail in the San Gabriel Valley way back in 1991, even before there was an LA Metro and the Gold Line was called the Blue Line.
· • Santa Monica City Councilmember Pam O’Connor, immediate Past President of the Southern California Association of Governments — for helping to bring SCAG’s 83-member Regional Council to consensus on an ambitious and remarkable 2012 Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy. She was able to help guide deliberations toward a highly successful conclusion because of her thorough understanding of the issues, positive working relationships with 83 Regional Council members, and her skill at managing wide-ranging debates with many participants.
· • California Senator Kevin Murray (retired) — for the bill he authored when he was chairing the Senate Transportation Committee in 2003 allowing LA Metro to put on the ballot a half-cent sales tax for transportation projects for up to 6.5 years. That bill, which was signed by Governor Gray Davis but never acted upon by LA Metro, was the template for Measure R and for Assemblyman Michael Feuer’s AB 2321, which got Measure R on the ballot in 2008.
· • Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) — for his brilliant and adept leadership in developing the region’s first Sustainable Communities Strategy, which together with the 2012 Regional Transportation Plan was hailed in the LA Times as a “model of sustainability” and prompted national headlines such as this one on Atlantic Cities: “Is SoCal America’s Next Environmental Success Story?”
· • Robbie Hunter, executive-secretary of the LA/OC Counties Buildling and Construction Trades Council — who negotiated a Project Labor Agreement with LA Metro for transportation construction work over five years, an agreement expected to produce tens of thousands of jobs, beginning with construction of the Crenshaw Line.
· • Art Hadnett, vice president at Stantec — for always being so willing and able to mobilize ACEC, the American Council of Engineering Companies, and its 5,000 member companies and 500,000 employees around the U.S. in support of America Fast Forward, the national version of the “30-10 plan” to build 12 new rail lines in a decade.
· • Darrell Clarke of Friends 4 Expo — for stepping up and advocating for the Exposition Line at a time when transit’s future looked especially bleak 20 years ago. Friends 4 Expo has inspired many others including Bart Reed and the Transit Coalition, Ken Alpern and Friends of the Green Line, and Denny Zane at Move LA!
No comments:
Post a Comment