Prelude to "Speak Up 2005"
Message from the Board...
Events leading up to "Speak Up 2005" (get ideas here):
HARTFORD -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell promised yesterday to address transportation issues in her upcoming budget and seek more input on Metro-North's controlling board during a transportation rally at the Capitol.
Through a spokesman, Rell said she would make "a substantial new commitment to alleviate congestion on our highways." Rell's office did not elaborate on the proposal.
Phil Dukes, the governor's counsel for policy, told those at the rally that Rell also will appeal to New York Gov. George Pataki to win a seat on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board of directors.
The 23-member MTA board is appointed by Pataki and oversees Metro-North. Members are recommended by New York county executives, labor groups and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. However, there is no representative from Connecticut. Rell was at home recovering from breast cancer surgery earlier this month, Dukes said. Calls seeking comment from Pataki were not returned yesterday.
More than 100 commuters and legislators were on hand for the statement at a rally organized by the Connecticut Citizens Transportation Lobby, a transportation advocacy group of "concerned citizens."
Most participants traveled by private bus to the Capitol, to lobby for statewide transportation improvements and a comprehensive funding strategy to pay for it all.
The rally was endorsed by the Connecticut League of Women Voters, the Connecticut Sierra Club and the Hartford-based rail advocacy group, All Aboard!, which all sent members.
Many of the attendees, mostly women in their 60s and 70s, were lobbying for the first time, and were unsure of what to expect.
"I'm excited . . . but I hope the legislators greet us with some enthusiasm," said Jill Kelly, a Fairfield resident and co-chairwoman of the Citizens Transportation Lobby, along with Fairfield resident Carol Leighton. "This won't be an easy sell."
"We're at a crossroad," said Mitchell Fuchs, a Fairfield resident who collected about 1,400 signatures from Metro-North commuters. "And we have a window of opportunity here."
Many commuters said they joined the rally because of their miserable experiences using the state's roads and rails.
Athena Bradley, an interior designer from Westport, said she recently had a difficult time getting a visitor on a train back to Grand Central Terminal.
"The train just sat there," she said while sitting on the bus yesterday. "Fortunately we found someone who was driving in to New York who was willing to give him a lift."
Mary Frost, a daily commuter from Fairfield to Stamford, said she had planned last week to take a 7:17 a.m. train to work and ended up waiting more than a half hour before it arrived.
"And it was so crowded," she said. "It was like riding a New York City subway."
Once they arrived at the Capitol, commuters and legislators shared their stories and stressed the need to provide funding for mass transit, specifically to replace rail cars on the New Haven Line.
"This is our problem as a state," said state Sen. John McKinney, R-Fairfield. "We can't make this a regional issue."
State Rep. David McCluskey, D-West Hartford, was the only lawmaker present from outside Fairfield County. Also absent were representatives from state agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection.
"This should be their rally, too," said state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford.
McDonald received a loud ovation when he said, "I look forward to a budget that does not look to solve these problems by building more roads."
State Rep. Antoinetta "Toni" Boucher, R-Wilton, said the rally reminded her of a "revival meeting," because of all the speeches that were stopped by applause. Boucher has introduced a bill to abandon plans for a "super" Route 7 from Norwalk to Danbury. Instead, more land will be sold along Route 7 to fund upgrades of the Danbury branch line.
Rell's statement generated the most buzz at the rally despite the lack of details.
"I'm very pleased that she wants to make transportation a priority," said Karen Burnaska, a member of the Transportation Strategy Board and co-chairwoman of southwestern Connecticut's Coastal Corridor Transportation Investment Area. "I look forward to hearing what that plan will be."
Some in attendance said that until they hear a specific plan from Rell, they refuse to get excited.
"We still haven't seen any action," Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said.
Malloy, who is running for governor in 2006, added that the DOT submits its own budget every year and there still haven't been any significant changes to the state's transportation system.
"We'll have to see what makes this year any different," he said.
Rell's desire to
get a spot on the MTA board was
applauded by Jim Cameron, vice chairman of the Connecticut Rail
Commuter
Council, who said the council had been lobbying unsuccessfully for many
years to get a state representative on that board.