ROBERT BEAULIEU, San Clemente
I find it a little difficult to accept the council’s recent concept of agreeing to the OC Transportation solution plans with the caveat that we have Sen. Pat Bates withdraw her two bills in the state legislature to end the toll road at its current point.
The TCA did not formally agree to the OC Transportation solutions, thus leaving open for them to change their mind and continue their quest to bring the 241 Toll Road through San Clemente.
Remember when Surfrider Foundation and other groups helped stop the TCA from bringing the 241 all the way through San Clemente to I-5 at Trestles? Good move on the TCA’s part. All they did was tell the Surfrider they wouldn’t bring the 241 to I-5 at Trestles if Surfrider would not go against any other solutions they might propose.
I would ask the council to reconsider their support for the OC Transportation plans.
We must recognize Supervisor Lisa Bartlett as a former chair for the toll road agency and that the leadership of Rancho Mission Viejo refused to pay for any new roads when they presented their development plans in 2004, saying they didn’t need any new roads for the more than 14,000 homes they would build.
Our council also recently voted to leave our seats on the TCA boards, giving us no insider information as to the TCA’s plans. The 241 boards and our supervisor have not been all that honest and transparent with San Clemente. Why should they start now?
We, as a city, cannot take the bait one more time. We need to push our council to end this fiasco once and for all.
