(The following appeared on the San Jose Mercury News website on March 29, 2011.)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The group of local politicians in charge of Caltrain unanimously approves every item that comes before it, seldom debating or asking questions even as the rail line faces a historic financial crisis that soon could lead those same leaders to shutter half its stations.
For an astonishing three years, the Caltrain board has nodded along in unity to approve 200 straight items, including key decisions to cut service, raise fares, increase salaries and change policy, according to a Mercury News review of meeting records. Board members typically were silent before most of the votes, which all were based on recommendations from SamTrans executives who manage the rail line’s day-to-day operations.
Their final vote count since the last disagreement: 1,591 yes, 0 no.
The full story is at www.mercurynews.com.