Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education Unanimously Passes Resolution Opposing Measure J

The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education today announced that it has unanimously passed a resolution opposing Measure J, a ballot measure placed on the November 6, 2012 ballot by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) that proposes to extend the half‐cent transportation tax previously approved by voters for an additional thirty (30) years, or until 2069.

The BHUSD board took this action because it “has previously opposed Metro’s plans for the Westside Subway Extension to the extent that said plans call for tunneling and tunnels underthe heart of the prime building area on Beverly Hills High School, which tunneling and tunnels impact the current and future uses of the high school site and the District’s educational mission… To the extent that Measure J would speed up construction and therefore impact on Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education opposes Measure J.”

Commenting on the unanimous vote, board of education president Brian D. Goldberg stated, “The Metro Board of Directors has repeatedly refused to hear our valid concerns about locating the subway under instructional buildings at Beverly Hills High School, and have shown a complete disregard for the will of the people of Beverly Hills on this matter. We took this action to send the message that Metro has to clean up and change the way it does business and listen to the citizens impacted by its decisions, instead of just the corporations and special interest groups, such as real estate developers and construction and engineering firms, who stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars off of Metro’s taxpayer funded projects.”

The full text of the resolution reads:

BEVERLY HILLS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF EDUCATION

RESOLUTION 2012-2013-009

IN OPPOSITION OF MEASURE J

WHEREAS, Measure R was approved by the voters of Los Angeles County in 2008;

WHEREAS, Measure R requires a one-half cent sales tax for a period of thirty (30) years to finance new Transportation projects and advance projects already in the pipeline;

WHEREAS, Measure R is not set to expire until 2039;

WHEREAS, In June of 2012, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board authorized placing Measure J on the November 6, 2012 Ballot for the purpose of extending the half cent transportation tax for another thirty (30) years, until 2069; 

WHEREAS, Metro asserts the additional funds will be used to sell bonds which will allow it to accelerate the construction of transportation improvements, including seven rail and rapid transit projects and up to eight highway projects;

WHEREAS, Measure J allows transit and highway funding priorities to be shifted between projects within subregions of Los Angeles County, if approved by a two-thirds vote of the Metro Board;

WHEREAS, Measure J would enable Metro to bond against future Measure R revenue and build transportation projects much sooner than originally contemplated;

WHEREAS, Metro asserts that phases of the Westside Subway Extension will be accelerated by Measure J;

WHEREAS, The Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education has previously opposed Metro’s plans for the Westside Subway Extension to the extent that said plans call for tunneling and tunnels under the heart of the prime building area on Beverly Hills High School, which tunneling and tunnels impact the current and future uses of the high school site and the District’s educational mission;

WHEREAS, To the extent that Measure J would speed up construction and therefore impact on Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education opposes Measure J.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education formally opposes Measure J on the California November 6, 2012 Ballot.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we hereby authorize the listing of the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education in opposition of Measure J.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 9th day of October, 2012 by the following vote: 6 Ayes 0 Nays

0 Absent

           /s/                                                                                              /s/

Brian David Goldberg, Ph.D.                                                    Gary W. Woods, Ed.D.

President, Board of Education                                                 Supervisor of Schools

BHUSD VOWS TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT AGAINT THE ROUTING OF THE WESTSIDE SUBWAY EXTENSION UNDER BEVERLY HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

LOS ANGELES (May 24, 2012) – Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education President Brian Goldberg made the following comments regarding the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) decision on routing for the Westside Subway Extension:

We are disappointed that the Metro board made this decision, but it was expected. It has been clear that this was a biased process from the very beginning. Metro decided long ago that it wanted to put the Century City station at Constellation and it is spending a considerable amount of taxpayer money to do just that.

Today’s decision is further evidence of Metro’s continuing reckless disregard for both the process of law and for the citizens whose tax dollars are being squandered pushing through an unnecessary alignment when viable alternatives can provide better service at lower cost.

We have not given up this fight and will pursue all means available to protect Beverly Hills High School from what we see as a threat to its very survival.

BEVERLY HILLS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT URGES METRO BOARD TO DEFER DECISION ON WESTSIDE SUBWAY EXTENSION SO SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS CAN RECONCILE CONFLICTING DATA, CONCLUSIONS

Members of the Metro Board of Directors

Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority

One Gateway Plaza

Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952

Re:         FEIS/EIR on Westside Subway Extension Project

Dear Honorable Chair and Members of the Metro Board:

At the May 17, 2012 hearing, conducted pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 20639, the City of Beverly Hills presented compelling expert testimony establishing that the West Beverly Hills Lineament was formed by erosion, not faulting, and that the claimed faults plotted (and replotted) by Parsons Brinckerhoff on the Beverly Hills Lineament and the Santa Monica Fault Zone were either nonexistent or occurred well before the Holocene Period, rendering them likely inactive and irrelevant for the purpose of Alquist-Priolo.

Both the quality and quantity of expert commentary on these issues conclusively demonstrates that further scientific investigation is warranted to confirm the viability of both the Constellation Station and Santa Monica Boulevard Station alternatives from a seismic perspective. This investigation may include both borings and trenching based on site availability, etc.  The precise location and testing methodology required can quickly be developed by the scientists given their current familiarity with the site.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District requests the Metro Board defer any further approvals on the Project and immediately convene a meeting of all retained expert geologists who have studied these locations, including geologists from the California Geological Survey to formulate a consensus on the appropriate testing protocol necessary to resolve the outstanding pertinent questions.

Very truly yours,

Kevin H. Brogan

of Hill Farrer & Burrell LLP

Geologists, Engineers Dispute Metro's Seismic Claims About Westside Subway Extension Through Century City

Data Does Not Support Need To Tunnel Under Beverly Hills High School

LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- After months of exhaustive study, a team of geologists and engineers today concluded that many of the claims made by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) about the need to build a subway tunnel under Beverly Hills High School do not hold up to scientific scrutiny.

The conclusions, described today during a public hearing, cast doubt on Metro's assertion that the only viable route for the Westside Subway Extension through Century City is an alignment that tunnels directly under aging classrooms at Beverly Hills' only public high school.

"Today the city of Beverly Hills and the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) were finally able to commence a serious discussion about the proposed subway station location in Century City," said BHUSD attorney Kevin Brogan. "Highly respected experts in geology, seismology, subway construction and school construction testified that the facts they uncovered differ substantially from the conclusions reached by Metro and its contractors. Given these findings, we anticipate and expect a full and careful consideration of an alignment that protects the city's only public high school from unnecessary risk and disruption."

The city and BHUSD support the Westside Subway Extension – two stations along the $5.3-billion project would be built within the city limits – but oppose Metro's current alignment under the campus because it would severely restrict the district's ability to modernize and expand as required by a voter-approved bond measure.

Experts from Leighton Consulting, Kenney GeoScience, Earth Consultants International and Primesource Consulting conducted extensive new testing under the direction of the California Geological Survey that included significant trenching, one of the most definitive methods for determining the existence of geologic faults. They also conducted a thorough review of existing data about the geologic conditions in Beverly Hills and Century City.

They concluded:

• Faults identified by Metro consultants on the Beverly Hills High School campus do not exist or are inactive, a finding verified by the California Geological Survey.
• Faults that were identified by Metro consultants along Santa Monica Boulevard, long the preferred route between Beverly Hills and Westwood, should be classified as inactive because they have not ruptured in the past 11,000 years.

"What we demonstrated today is that all of the data Metro uses to justify an unnecessary alignment is suspect and simply does not stand up to serious scrutiny," said Tim Buresh, the district's lead engineer studying Metro's proposed alignments. "Early projections by Metro showed that a Santa Monica alignment would be cheaper to build and serve more riders, but those considerations were brushed aside to move the station at taxpayer expense by claiming faults made it too dangerous to build along Santa Monica. Today, we are demonstrating that those conclusions are flawed, and we expect additional studies to only bolster our findings. It is entirely possible for Metro to serve more riders and save taxpayers money without tunneling under Beverly Hills High School."

SOURCE Beverly Hills Unified School District

See this press release online on PR Newswire.

Preview: Beverly Hills Scientific Studies

On Thursday, May 17th, Beverly Hills will present its scientific studies relating to the Century City subway in a hearing before the Metro Board from 1:30 to 5 p.m. The hearing will be held in the Metro Board Room at 1 Gateway Plaza in downtown Los Angeles.

For a preview of the data to be discussed, read Leighton Consulting Inc.'s summary of its findings at the link below.

FAULT HAZARD ASSESSMENT OF THE WEST BEVERLY HILLS LINEAMENT [PDF - 37 pages]