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Metropolitan Transportation Commission to discuss affordable housing at posh Sonoma retreat (Calif)
San Jose Mercury News ^ | 11/27/18 | Anon

Posted on 11/28/2018 10:37:54 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom

Talk about tone-deaf.

Members and staff of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission are holding a holding a $29,000 taxpayer-funded, overnight retreat this week at the posh Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, where the first order of business will include discussion of affordable housing.

Seriously. You can’t make this stuff up.

Seventeen of the 21 commission members are expected to attend. Of those, 14 are expected to stay overnight, including Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. In addition, 15 commission staff members will attend and 12 will stay overnight.

It’s great that commissioners want to engage in serious discussion of policy issues. But the 7 1/2 hours of planned meetings could have, and should have, been held in one day in downtown San Francisco, where the transportation commission two years ago moved into a new $256 million regional government building.

The building was masterminded by outgoing Executive Director Steve Heminger, who deceived the public about the deal. The state auditor slammed MTC for bogus accounting on the project. And the state Legislature’s attorney questioned the legality of using bridge tolls for the building.

The least the commission could do is use the building, which is accessible by public transportation, for its meetings rather than gallivanting off to Wine Country. Especially just as it’s about to raise bridge tolls by another dollar Jan. 1.

(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: corruption; waste
Your betters doing their finest work to make housing affordable.

The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn is known for its fine-dining restaurant, Sante, and luxurious accommodations.

1 posted on 11/28/2018 10:37:54 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

It’s always best to have fine wine and pheasants in pleasant surroundings when talking about the peasants.


2 posted on 11/28/2018 10:41:27 AM PST by glorgau
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I stayed there for a week back in 1997.

Pretty posh digs.


3 posted on 11/28/2018 10:42:59 AM PST by Catmom (We're all gonna get the punishment only some of us deserve.r)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Affordable housing? Just what Mexifornia needs...housing for more illegal voters for the RATs and to build their dependency class. Power-mad libs building their nirvana.


4 posted on 11/28/2018 10:43:33 AM PST by EagleUSA
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

The author is not Anon. It is the Murky editorial board.


5 posted on 11/28/2018 10:50:18 AM PST by Lisbon1940 (No full-term Governors (at the time of election!)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

The MTC and their main cash cow, long ago paid off in full, is The Golden Gate Bridge.

It subsidizes a host of Bay Area transportation mechanisms, all at exorbitant cost,, but not quite as bad as some metro areas back East.

but they’re working on it,, in hot tubs and fine restaurants..

California , where corruption flows like wine.


6 posted on 11/28/2018 10:51:48 AM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi - Monthly Donors Rock!!!)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I’ve stayed there.
One of my top 20 hotels

Ventana Inn is still #1
Tickle Pink Inn, Carmel Highlands #2
The Phoenician, Phoenix #3
Pita Maha, Bali #4
Royal Palms, Phoenix #5
Fairmont Sonoma Mission #6


7 posted on 11/28/2018 11:09:31 AM PST by Zathras
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To: glorgau

“All of this might have been easier to swallow if MTC were doing a good job. But have you looked at the Bay Area’s traffic lately? Or ridden public transit? Commutes take longer. Tolls are going up. Fares and property taxes are escalating.”

Yep, we commute from Danville to Napa several times a week. You have to “choose” the time of day ( there is about a 3 hour window mid-day) to make the round trip, because in neither direction can you get into or out of Napa thanks to the lack of needed interchange improvements in Napa County. The real kicker is that they made highway 12 through Jamison Canyon four lanes, except for one single lane overpass that connects it to I80. So during evening commute the entire length of Jamison Canyon (6 miles) backs up to Highway 29 at the Napa Airport. If you elect to take 29 to Vallejo, you have to traverse the little $hithole town of American Canyon, which the State has allowed to “signalize” a half dozen cross streets that intersect with Hwy 29.
I’d suggest against riding BART because you may be mugged. And they just raised the state gasoline tax by $.12 per gallon and increase vehicle license fees by 20% to “pay for the road repairs.” But the enabling legislation doesn’t prevent the Legislature from using this money to buy more votes with our illegal alien population.
We’re too old to move, so we just hope we live to see California’s coming financial collapse, because that will be the only thing that will get the RATS out.


8 posted on 11/28/2018 11:24:20 AM PST by vette6387
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To: Zathras
Great list of inns! Haven't stayed at any of them. Ventana has been on my list for 30 years or more.

We really like the Mission Ranch Inn in Carmel.

Tickle Pink looks great because it's next door to Pt. Lobos.

9 posted on 11/28/2018 11:42:44 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: glorgau

Nice alliteration there...and so, so true!

Peasants while talking about the peasants. I’d chuckle if it were so damn maddening.


10 posted on 11/28/2018 11:43:56 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: vette6387

We bought a second home in North Idaho earlier this year. Our car registration fees are about one-quarter of the California fees and the roads there are FAR better than here. The Idaho roads are not torn to pieces and are not filled with curb-to-curb potholes. The main arterial roads down here in the South Bay must be the worst in the entire nation. Of course, the ten North Idaho (Panhandle) counties have one-third million people — about the population of Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto combined. But North Idaho is 21,000 square miles vs. 50 square miles for those three cities here on the peninsula.


11 posted on 11/28/2018 11:58:52 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

“We bought a second home in North Idaho earlier this year. “

Enjoy your winter along with the other “benefits” that go with living there! Yeah, Idaho is a good and decent place. But the only way a move makes sense is if it’s your permanent residence. Having any interests in California subjects you to some of its tax policies. I do think though, it will take the Liberals half a lifetime to make any serious inroads there, unlike neighboring Nevada which is now handily run by Clark County.


12 posted on 11/28/2018 12:07:01 PM PST by vette6387
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To: vette6387

They are making inroads everywhere in the country, unfortunately. We keep debating whether to make it a permanent residence. My wife is going to work another couple of years, so we don’t need to decide immediately. The winter IS a bit of a drawback. ;>(


13 posted on 11/28/2018 12:57:10 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

This is ok with me if the attendees are paying for hotel and transportation. If not and taxpayers are footing the bill then they should be ashamed and fined.


14 posted on 11/28/2018 1:00:43 PM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Whoa. Let them eat cake.


15 posted on 11/28/2018 1:03:55 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: 1Old Pro

It’s a government-paid boondoggle. That is a very Lux / Posh place. There is no way those people would be paying their own way there. The worst part is the Transportation Commission just finished building themselves a luxury palace for their government “workers” and they aren’t even using that for this meeting. They need to “retreat” for some reason.


16 posted on 11/28/2018 2:00:51 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Deport the 10 Million Illegal Alien Foreign nationals in the State and watch how “Affordable” housing becomes overnight.


17 posted on 11/29/2018 3:22:43 PM PST by eyeamok
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