 Okay, it is Thursday, March 17, 2022. It's 9 a.m. and I'll simply call to order the meeting of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission Transportation Policy Workshop. Clerk, will you please call the roll? Commissioner Bertrand. As in? Commissioner Brown. Commissioner Johnson. Oops, sorry about that. Commissioner Gillis. Here. Commissioner alternate Hearst. Here. Commissioner Caput. Commission. Commissioner alternate shift friend. Here. Commissioner friend. Commissioner Koenig. Here. Commissioner McPherson. Commissioner Peterson. As in? Commissioner alternate Pegler. Here. Commissioner Rockin. Here. And Commissioner Brown. Here. You have a quorum. Thank you. Thank you. We'll proceed to item two, oral communications. Any member of the public may address the commission on any item within jurisdiction of the commission that is not already on the agenda. The commission will listen to all communications, but in compliance with state law, it may not take action on items that are not on the agenda. Speakers are requested to state their name clearly so that it can be accurately recorded in the minutes of the meeting and each speaker will have two minutes. And we'll call on you in the order that hands were raised. Our first speaker will be Mr. Barry Scott. Good morning, commissioners, and thank you for holding this meeting today. I just wanted to thank the commission for years and years of hard work and transportation policy is a big idea and an important topic policy. And I'm reminded of a letter that brings me joy. That was from director Preston to the California Transportation Commission in dated March 8, 2019. And I think it speaks to the best and highest transportation policy that this county has ever expressed. And I'll read a couple short passages from it. While there have been proposals by some community members and groups to rail bank or remove the railroad tracks in January 2019 after extensive analysis and public input conducted through the unified quarter study. The RTC board unanimously affirmed its commitment to leave the railroad infrastructure in place, maintain freight rail service and institute high capacity public transit service. You know, we've since then had the transit quarter alternatives analysis that showed us that electric light rail is the best transit use and along with the trail, this is the right thing to do. So I'm grateful for the work that the commission is authorizing to be done on the railroad to keep it in good order. And another short passage from the same letter. The RTC purchase the rail line to increase mobility options for our community visitors and businesses. The rail quarter provides an alternative to congested road roadways and cities connects to rail lines serving the rest of the state. Supports more compact development and more predictable travel times and can help us meet state greenhouse gas reduction targets. So for all of that and more I thank you. Thank you, Mr Scott. Next up Brian trail now. Hi thanks this Brian from trail now we have thousands of supporters across the county. You know I remember a decade ago, I was meeting with former supervisor Ellen Perry, and she was on the this board during the procurement of the Santa Cruz coastal corridor. Her statements well she said, you know there's never going to be a train doesn't make sense she said that. And she said I wanted to acquire the corridor to protect this public access and she did. That is very key. I remember her saying, which was shocking to me that train people and this first time I ever heard this term would stop the use of the corridor and I'm shocked that over over a decade now the corridor has sat unused. And we've spent millions on studies and maintaining that corridor, Ellen Perry said that they would stop it and she was right unfortunately. Now we know rail banking based off of the study report from our TC director guy Preston is legal process it's for preserving this corridor. It allows us to pull the rails and build the trail, and this isn't new to us. It's actually 24,000 miles across America. It's done. So this isn't new information. So we as a community truly need this rail banking to occur. And we need to start using this property we need to open it up for real mobility, letting it sit there with the old railroad tracks is not leadership. We need this organization to move forward with rail banking and opening the corridor as soon as possible. It is a major issue for our community. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. people's speaker will be Miss Judy giddison. Hey, thank you commissioners I want to say counter to the previous caller that the this is an environmental crisis era and to eliminate any possibility of rail which Greenway wants to do is a crime. It's criminal. I want to keep our environment is as lovely as it is do not allow any highway widening. Please be responsible to the bills that have gone before you and repair the tracks. That is your duty as public servants to do what you have already authorized and allowed yourself to do. This is an opportunity to make your grandchildren proud and to keep an area of pristine. Do not allow for private interest to take away public transportation. We in Watsonville. I'm a Watsonville citizen and I teach people with special needs. They are very dependent on public transportation and to keep the possibility of rail in the future is what you have already signed to do. And this measure is is moving reversing the public voice already and it is an irresponsible action to support this so I wholly support the non passage however voting no on measure D that Greenway is doing a disservice to the community and you as commissioners have an obligation to follow through with what you have already stated you would do. Thank you. Thank you miss giddison seeing no other hands raised in the public will proceed to item three additions or deletions to consent or regular agendas to director Preston are there any additions or deletions. No chair clinic there are no additions deletion for changes to the agenda. Thank you then I will proceed to the consent agenda with any member of the commission like to make a comment or I have a question on the consent agenda. While we for public comment, but I'll prepare to move the consent agenda. All right, thank you. I'll take it out to the public are there any members of the public that would like to comment on the consent agenda. I see a hand raised by Joshua matcha. Go ahead Joshua. Sorry I was muted. I didn't really raise my hand for the public comment but if I may I would like to make a comment. I'm going to have to ask you to reserve that for the next public meeting that with the commission has we have moved beyond public comment for the general agenda at this time so just for consent agenda. All right, seeing no other hands from the public to speak to the consent agenda. Is there a offering back to the commission is there a motion. Move we can approve the consent agenda. Seconds motion by Commissioner Rock and second by Commissioner Schiffrin any further discussion. Seeing none clerk roll call vote please. Commissioner Bertrand. I approve. Commissioner Brown. I. Mission alternate Dallas. I. Mission alternate first. I. Commission alternate Schiffrin. I. Mission iconic. I. Mission or McPherson. I. Mission or Peterson. I. Mission alternate Pegler. I. Commissioner Rock and I. That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. So we'll now move to item six on our regular agenda, which is a review of items to be discussed in closed session. Council or. Director Preston will you be. Yeah, I'll be introducing this item. We will be having a closed session today. What. Our attorney Steve Mattis will be joining us for a conference on item five six point nine D to. Significant exposure to litigation. One case and we do not expect a reportable action. All right. Thank you. And is there any member of the public that would like to speak to items on our closed session agenda. I see a hand raised from Mr. Brian peoples. Go ahead Brian. Thank you. This is Brian from trail now. Thank you. I don't really know what the closed session is, but I do want to make some comments about the lawsuits that continue against the RTC. You know, the RTC staff is doing a phenomenal job. On deciding on improving our transportation commission. Corridors. They're moving forward with widening highway one. We're making a complete longer term R H O V lanes and pole roads and that really aligns to where California is going in and the technology is going with transportation. The organizations that are suing the RTC campaign for sensible transportation in Sierra Club, both if you recall, were the organizations that were against measured. was phenomenal for our community. We were a big supporter of it. And if we didn't have measured the funding where I think we're getting $26 million a year now and we're able to get other funding, that was a huge. And if you recall, those organizations did not want to move our community forward. And it feels like these organizations are doing the same thing. They're not helping our community move forward. They actually have been opposing opening the Coastal Corridor as well, which is really unusual. Why are they preventing opening up Coastal Corridor for our community to use for active transportation? So hopefully this lawsuit is shot down, I believe it's in May, this is the court case. And really we support you, RTC, thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Peoples. The commission will now go into closed session. There is no reportable action. So for those of you who want to continue to be engaged with the RTC process, you can join us at our next regular meeting, Thursday, April 7th at 9 a.m. Commissioner, you should have. Let me just say, Manus, so people know that there's a link that we got this morning from community television to the closed session. It's in your email. Right. All right, thank you. And I will now go into closed session.