SamTrans seeks unpaid debt

“The taxpayers of San Mateo County deserve to be made whole,” Stone said.

SamTrans, or the San Mateo County Transit District, said the debt is due to an initial $82 million investment in 1991, when San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties formed the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board and purchased the railroad right of way for Caltrain, using state funds and money advanced by SamTrans. It said the $82 million debt is worth more than $150 million in today’s dollars. SamTrans said the precise amount depends on agreements regarding the governance and management structure between the three controlling agencies. The city and county of San Francisco, SamTrans, representing San Mateo County, and the Valley Transportation Authority, or VTA, representing Santa Clara County, are the three agencies.

Caltrain Board Member Shamann Walton, also the president of the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors, said by email San Francisco had understood from the onset there were outstanding resources owed to SamTrans. Walton said there was a past agreement made for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, or MTC, to pay the outstanding debt to SamTrans. He said the agreed-upon amount was much less than $82 million, saying it was closer to $20 million. MTC is the Bay Area regional transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency.

“What I don’t understand is Charles Stone’s manufactured narrative that San Francisco and Santa Clara County want control of Caltrain. That sounds like an oppressive stance. Equity in decision-making does not equal complete control. It is very unfortunate that he is insinuating that SamTrans has pulled out of the governance process we all agreed on via resolution. This is divisive and extremely unproductive,” Walton said by email.

Stone, in response, said he had not heard anything about the Caltrain governance discussions ending prematurely.

“Our partners promised to use best efforts to address amounts due to the San Mateo County Transit District over a decade ago. I’m surprised if anyone finds a reasonable request to document those efforts divisive,” Stone said by text message.

VTA Board Member Cindy Chavez, who also serves on the Caltrain board and as a Santa Clara County supervisor, said everyone understood SamTrans and San Mateo County needed to be repaid and was never in question. She was disappointed SamTrans appeared to be withdrawing from the process to analyze options for Caltrain governance, including repayment to San Mateo County.

“We have to underscore this is a departure from a process that we all agreed to participate in. That can’t be stated strongly enough,” she said.

Chavez called SamTrans’ decision to apparently choose a different path disappointing and a little surprising. She described the approach from SamTrans as extremely disingenuous and appeared to be an attempt to derail the discussion at the Caltrain board level. A Caltrain governance meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 25.

Caltrain has previously discussed long-term governance model changes earlier this year, including keeping the current structure, a new model or possible mergers. The board has previously agreed to a 2021 governance process roadmap to reach a final governance change recommendation at a December Caltrain meeting for adoption.

At its June 22 meeting, the SamTrans board passed a resolution authorizing Acting General Manager Carter Mau to seek a written response from the city and county of San Francisco and the VTA about reimbursement details. The board has also authorized Mau to take any action necessary to implement the reimbursement of funds. It held a closed session with legal counsel about anticipated litigation that lasted about an hour. Following the closed session, the board unanimously approved the resolution.

SamTrans will talk with MTC concerning any reimbursable funds available to it. SamTrans will inquire if steps have been taken by either of the other Joint Powers Board members to secure funds on its behalf.

Randy Rentschler, MTC director of legislation and communications, said while the issue is a long-standing dispute between the three parties that manage Caltrain, MTC has for many years sought opportunities to bring the parties together, such as providing $23.7 million to SamTrans in 2008.

“As far as future discussions, we are open to assisting the three parties and are available to do so,” Rentschler said by email.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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