Perry is the right pick for VTA seat Perry is the right pick for VTA seat (December 09, 2005)

Where does the Mountain View City Council stand on the BART-to-San Jose project?

That is a key question as the council decides next week who among its members will be selected to take the rotating Valley Transportation Authority seat that goes to Mountain View for the first time since 2001. The term is for three years, and the new member will participate in the vote on whether to proceed with the controversial BART project.

Conventional wisdom would give the edge to Greg Perry, who wants the seat and currently represents the city on the VTA Policy Advisory Board, a panel that has little clout in the decision-making process. From this perch Perry has been able to gain quite a reputation over the last three years as an outspoken, and sometimes irreverent, opponent of BART to San Jose. His tactics on this and other matters do not sit well with some council members, who earlier this year bypassed him when his turn came to take the largely ceremonial mayor's post.

Then, late last week, council member Laura Macias announced her interest in the VTA board seat, which will give Perry a serious challenge in an area he has worked hard to master. Now it is up to the council to select either Macias, who may not be a VTA expert but who has the trust of her colleagues, or Perry, the maverick who ruffles feathers but knows his transit issues.

Both Perry and Macias should be commended for being willing to take part in what will be one of the most important decisions on mass transit in the history of Silicon Valley. And because it is so important, we think the council should take a hard look at the issue and determine, in advance, what they expect out of their VTA representative.

Members should be concerned about Caltrain improvements, zero-emission buses, better light rail equipment, and other transit improvements that are not connected to San Jose's BART project -- and so they should stick with Perry, who knows a responsible VTA budget cannot afford the BART project, at least as it is configured now.

Due to shrinking sales tax revenues and increased costs, BART is expected to take more than 80 percent of the $5.1 billion in expected Measure A sales tax revenue through 2030. (When voters renewed the half-cent sales tax in 2000, the ballot arguments said BART to San Jose would take only 33 percent of the total.)

We believe Mountain View, like other north- and south-county cities, must unite to block San Jose's attempt to force this huge BART project on local voters. Perry knows that approval of BART is likely to wipe out any meaningful transit projects in Mountain View for the next 30 years. He knows the issues and should be given the opportunity to counter the one-sided reasoning put forth by the BART-at-any-cost advocates from San Jose.

Mountain View could be a leader in this discussion, and Greg Perry has already proven that he is up to the task.

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