2013-07-04 message from Bay Localize [www.baylocalize.org/]:
Yes, $289 billion...do we have your attention? That's the funding at stake in the Bay Area's Sustainable Communities Strategy. The regional plan is supposed to reduce greenhouse gases, fund transportation, and build more affordable housing so we can all continue to live in the Bay Area. The regional The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is voting on the plan July 18th!
The 6 Wins for Social Equity Network of community advocates, including Bay Localize, developed the Equity, Environment and Jobs (EEJ) Scenario which reduces greenhouse gas emissions the most! The agencies' own study shows that the EJJ Scenario will also mean better health and more protections for disadvantaged communities, But, it's notthe plan the agencies are moving forward with. We need community members to tell your elected officials on the MTC that you want the Equity, Environment, and Jobs Scenario!
Take action to bring EEJ Scenario into Plan Bay Area
[salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50598/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11078]
Speak Up Today for a Healthier, Greener and More Equitable Bay Area!
6 Big Wins for Social Equity Network: [http://www.publicadvocates.org/6-big-wins-for-social-equity-network]
2011-07-18 "Community Advocates Take on Powerful Bay Area Agencies"
by Parisa Fatehi-Weeks from "Ella Baker Center for Human Rights" [http://ellabakercenter.org/blog/2011/07/community-advocates-take-on-powerful-bay-area-agencies]:
The summer has been a turbulent one for Bay Area social justice advocates engaged in a high-stakes struggle with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The two agencies are tasked with reshaping our transportation system, as well as housing options for the region’s growing population, over the next 25 years. They will be spending billions of dollars of public funds. But will they improve our region, or continue more of the same failed policies, leading to longer commutes and more traffic, more segregation by race and income, and worsening air quality and public health? It’s still too early to tell, but I can tell you this much: we haven’t been standing by hoping for the best. Instead, a coalition of community groups called the 6 Wins for Social Equity Network (PDF: [http://www.publicadvocates.org/sites/default/files/library/6_wins_networks_overview.pdf]) is fighting for a better future, one in which people of all backgrounds and incomes live together and ride transit together, in which the people who commute to work in opportunity-rich cities can live with their families in affordable housing near their jobs. Convincing MTC and ABAG to give this more equitable and environmentally-friendly future a chance hasn’t been easy this past month, and the campaign is far from over. Here’s a quick recap of the summer’s ups and downs:
* A last-minute disclosure of five “alternative scenarios.” Early in June, we learned that MTC and ABAG had developed five “alternative scenarios” in the community planning process. Even though MTC and ABAG’s own advisory groups had asked for an equity-maximizing scenario, low-income communities of color hadn’t been included in the work developing concepts. We had only a few days to analyze what had been done, and soon realized that none of the five took adequate steps to advance social equity.
* Development of an “Equity, Jobs, and Environment” Scenario. Our network of organizations quickly put together a recommendation for a sixth option that would: a) maximize the funds needed to operate local transit service and b)provide affordable housing in both job-rich suburban communities and the urban core. Because it advances multiple regional goals, we called it the Equity, Jobs, and Environment Scenario. We described it in a letter sent to MTC and ABAG that was endorsed by 20 organizations. We also advocated for its inclusion at the June 10 MTC/ABAG meeting. We wanted to show that we weren’t just there to complain; we were there to offer a new solution, proving that we should have been involved in the planning process from the outset. It seemed to work. Our demand to maximize social equity was heard loud and clear, and received explicit support from a handful of MTC commissioners and ABAG board members.
* A threat to our sixth scenario. Even after receiving the support of their own advisory groups and over 20 organizations, a June 16 memo on MTC and ABAG’s website indicated that the agencies’ executive directors had rejected an equity-maximizing scenario after all. They proposed going back to the full MTC Commission and ABAG Administrative Committee on Wednesday, June 22, with the same five scenarios as before, leaving out the Equity, Environment and Jobs Scenario that many of us worked so hard to put forward.
* A partial win on June 22. At the June 22 meeting, our coalition came out in force, pressing for the equity scenario in comments and by carrying bright orange signs. Despite this effort, MTC and ABAG did not vote to approve a stand-alone equity scenario. Instead, they chose to move forward with staff's proposed five alternative scenarios. But here’s something to celebrate: they did so with the assurance that staff would take our ideas and "incorporate equity into all of the scenarios." More important, they directed staff to explore a sixth equity scenario and come back with more details so they could consider it at an upcoming meeting in July. We will have to hold them accountable for this in the coming month.
We expect this issue to be revisited at the ABAG Executive Board meeting on July 21 at 7:00pm, and an MTC meeting on July 27 at 9:30 a.m. We need to keep pushing by showing MTC and ABAG that Bay Area residents care about transit, housing, and climate justice. If you want to join us and our partners in the networks advancing 6 Big Wins for Social Equity (PDF), please contact me at [pfatehi@publicadvocates.org] or Lindsay Imai at [lindsay@urbanhabitat.org].
2011-06 photo showing ACCE community activists at an MTC meeting:
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