This article is by Michael Doyle from the Sacramento Bee. For those in the know, that's a MacClatchy newspaper, among the more responsible print media organizations in this slowly dying business.
After having read this article, if you don't have the feeling that you have to throw up, there's something wrong with you. This sort of information is sickening. It confirms, if nothing else, my mantra about it not being about the train, but being about the money.
The insider politicking, the names that are being mentioned, Feinstein, and in almost the same breath, Tom DeLay, the salaries, the size of the contracts, the scheming and manipulation! It really makes we want to puke. This is so incredibly disgusting.
My government, my elected officials who represent me, my best interests, my tax dollars. How do they get away with behaving like this? How low can they go?
Ogilvy is the public relations firm hired by the CHSRA for a $9 million dollar contract to manipulate the public into believing that HSR is good for them. While their hand is in our pocket, they are distracting us with specious advertising about a product no one really needs. Here, in the article below, are some examples of how they relate to the public.
Is this what high-speed rail is all about? Where is the indignation? While all this may still be within the borders of legality, it is sleaziness at its worst.
Is this what the California voters voted for when they approved the $9.95 billion Proposition 1A bond measure in 2008?
We have been saying for over seven years that high-speed rail in California has been promoted by back-room politicians without a clue or interest in solving California's transit problems and needs. And, that's become more apparent than ever.
What bothers me even more than this reprehensible behavior is the indifference of our citizenry to how their government is plundering and pillaging with impunity.
My experienced, politically sensitive, and knowledgeable friends up and down the Peninsula still persist in believing the rail authority can be negotiated with; will be accommodating to the concerns of the communities through which the rail route will pass, will conform to the wishes and directives of the Legislature, and will behave rationally. I anticipate for them a major shock of recognition and stunned disbelief.
We are watching scoundrels at work.
A word about my own city, Menlo Park. I have yet to feel comfortable believing that my city council, for which I voted, will represent me adequately as the high-speed rail plans unfold. Some actions are commendable, like the participation in lawsuits the intent of which is to make the rail authority obey the law. Other actions, not so much.
It turns out that one of the representatives of Ogilvy (mentioned in the article), the organization whose job it is to shut up the opposition and lobby for funding in Washington, also represents the residents and citizens of Menlo Park. Conflict of interest doesn't begin to describe it. It's more like the fox guarding the hen-house.
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California bulks up high-speed rail lobbying ... but is it working?
By Michael Doyle
mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com
Published: Sunday, May. 22, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 22, 2011 - 10:24 am
WASHINGTON – The California High-Speed Rail Authority has bulked up its lobbying efforts even as some lawmakers question its effectiveness.
Facing a skeptical Congress, the Sacramento-based high-speed rail group this year enlisted a Republican who learned the ropes alongside former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The Republican lobbyist, Drew Maloney, augments a Democrat, Mark Kadesh, who once served as chief of staff to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Both have their work cut out for them.
For high-speed rail, the questions are sharp, the competition is motivated, and the money is tight.
"With the Federal Railway Administration being our major project and funding partner, we think it important to have representation in D.C. to interface with the administration and with members of Congress," said Jeffrey Barker, the high-speed rail authority's deputy executive director.
Barker said Kadesh and Maloney, while registered lobbyists, are serving as "our actual federal policy advisers," augmenting a 20-member California staff. He said they keep federal officials "informed about the status of our project (rather) than … advocate."
Still, lobbying and other disclosure records shed light on how much money is being spent in California and beyond to reach lawmakers.
California's competitors include the Western High Speed Rail Alliance, with dreams of building a system connecting Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. It paid its chief lobbyist $120,000 last year, records show.
In a similar vein, the Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Commission paid its lobbyists $40,000 last year.
Florida High Speed Rail followed suit in January, hiring lobbyists who formerly worked for Florida lawmakers. The American High Speed Rail Alliance has paid its lobbyist $70,000 since hiring the firm in October.
"It's a tough environment," Kadesh acknowledged Friday. "All major projects are under the microscope … but, we have the strongest and best ally, who is the president of the United States."
So far, the Obama administration has provided California nearly $3.5 billion for a high-speed rail system whose initial route would stretch from Bakersfield to near Chowchilla.
For fiscal 2012, the Obama administration has requested $8.2 billion in national high-speed rail funds. Separately, lawmakers will write a transportation bill this year that could include a high-speed rail section. Both the appropriations and public works bills are traditional catnip for lobbyists, but both will also be particularly difficult to pass this year.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority first hired Kadesh in June 2007, disclosure records show. Last year, he was paid $100,000 by the rail authority.
Kadesh served as Feinstein's chief of staff for seven years. Two of his lobbying associates likewise formerly worked for Feinstein.
In January, when the House shifted to Republican control, the California High-Speed Rail Authority hired the Republican Maloney as well.
The California rail group paid Maloney's firm, Ogilvy Government Relations, $30,000 during the first three months of 2011, records show. Ogilvy Government Relations is a subsidiary of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, which has a multimillion-dollar contract with the rail authority.
Kadesh targets Democrats and Maloney targets Republicans. It's a standard tactical division of labor, though it can sometimes seem schizophrenic. Some California congressional offices on both sides of the rail debate say they haven't yet been contacted by Maloney or the Ogilvy team.
"I wouldn't recognize him if he walked down the hallway," said Democratic Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno, a longtime high-speed rail advocate. "I've been frustrated, and I've questioned the authority several times about (Ogilvy's work)."
A lost opportunity, Costa said, occurred recently when the California Legislative Analyst's Office released a scathing 28-page critique of the high-speed rail project. No one tried to coordinate a unified Capitol Hill defense, he said.
Costa, while praising his fellow Democrat Kadesh as "effective," said that the California High-Speed Rail Authority "ought to save themselves some money" and consider ending the Ogilvy contract.
Katherine Strehl, the high-speed rail project lead for Oglilvy Government Relations, responded Friday that the Republican lobbyists were brought in "due to their strong relationships with incoming members and leadership," and said they have worked successfully.
"They have conducted significant outreach to California members and those who make transportation-related decisions on both sides of the aisle," Strehl said.
Seen another way, the dispute underscores just how politically delicate the high-speed rail lobbying issue has become.
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