Author: Paul

Republicans took a look at Donald Trump and did the math. They saw that the number of people at his “rallies” who screamed approval of his bigotry, when combined with the usual number of registered Republicans who can be counted on to vote Republican regardless of who the candidate is, if these two cohorts could be combined, especially in certain electoral districts, it just might be enough to beat Clinton in those districts.So they swallowed their principles (what ever those might be) and fell in line behind a known con man, a grifter, whose unique talent is his ability to give voice to the worst in our human nature. Republicans knew that Trump was mendacious in the extreme, disgustingly vain, of limited intellect and limited patience, among many other things. What they didn’t expect was that Trump would be mentally dense enough not to grasp the effect of his “zero-tolerance” policy on families seeking refuge from inhuman conditions in their home countries. Most Republicans probably did not expect anywhere near the degree of cruel indifference exhibited so far by the White House. But cruel indifference is the only way to label what is going on down at the border.
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

What more proof do we need that Republicans are absolutely and totally incapable of governing, than what they have done (and not done) since they gained complete control of everything? They are good at gerrymandering and voter suppression, but, obviously not interested in anything having to do with regularly governing the greatest nation on earth .
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

Actually, it is a good thing that the SCRTC has handed off to a more appropriate operator for the UP rail line. We are better off with the railroad being run by someone who knows how to run a railroad than with a bunch of bus people, anyway. Now that this major change is underway, perhaps some progress can be made in getting a trolley/ shuttle bus system going.

Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

On the subject of breaking up families seeking asylum at our southern border, Kathleen Parker wrote an excellent commentary for the Sunday Sentinel, the last sentence of which is worthy of repetition: “To the extent that we’re willing to dehumanize them so that we may inflict suffering upon children without the burden of conscience, we have far greater problems than illegal immigration”.

Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

Is there any kind of action the Trump administration can dream up that will cause more heartbreak and misery than what they are doing to the families coming to our borders seeking asylum from murderous conditions in their home countries? If there is anything worse than breaking up a family, what would it be?
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

After what has been happening to Paul Manafort and some others, one wonders how many of those others might wish they had never heard of Donald Trump.
By the way, is there any particular reason why you give so little coverage to the Trump administration practice of breaking up families that seek political asylum at the border? The subject, so cruel and horrific, deserves front-page treatment every day!
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

“Rail banking” is the absolute worst thing we could do to the rail line. With the tracks in place, we can always start passenger service with a minimum cost at the front end. Without rails in place, passenger service options are severely limited, with heavy upfront costs, either to replace the tracks or pave the right-of-way. The next worst thing is to turn Santa Cruz County into an LPG storage yard. Greg Becker is wrong. It is not rail or trail, one or the other. If the RTC could only adopt a decision to use self-propelled trolley cars on the tracks, with small shuttle buses collecting riders in the neighborhoods, we would have both rail and trail much sooner, and at practically no public taxpayer outlay.
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

Please tell the world that you are not seriously considering a deal with a freight – oriented rail road company to operate freight and eventually passenger service on the U P line. As I have explained many times before, a TRAIN with locomotives pulling freight or passenger cars simply wouldn’t work: there is hardly enough freight volume to bother with; and a TRAIN cannot make enough stops and starts in the heavily populated area to pick up or discharge enough riders to make it pay. There is, however, an alternative that can be put into operation sooner, and at far less startup cost, with none, repeat none, of these safety problems, and with the ability to put public transit within reach of practically the entire population of the county. So, do this. Tell the people of Santa Cruz two things: 1. A TRAIN is out and 2. The trail people can proceed with their plans without factoring in fences and walls for safety purposes. If the RTC decides to start passenger service with self powered trolley cars, the safety factor is eliminated.
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

Of all the labels that could be applied to the Trump administration so far, and considering their policy of breaking up families at the border, the best way you can describe the Trump administration now is with the word “CRUEL“‘!

Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com <mailto:hfs@sosbee.com>

Greenway Advocates have gone to considerable effort and expense to promote their vision of a bike and hike pathway in the UP corridor after the tracks have been removed. My position is that there probably is no greater civic crime that could be committed than to remove those tracks. The absolute best use is for a trolley line covering at least the Watsonville to Santa Cruz’ West side with stops at every cross street in between; and small shuttle buses running at frequent intervals on short routes along the cross streets connecting the tracks to the neighborhoods. The Greenway Advocates present a false comparison by assuming that public transit, if it ever happens, means Train, with a locomotive pulling passenger cars. This would be logical if there were not a quarter of 1 million or so citizens of Santa Cruz County living within walking distance of the track itself. Considering that fact and using the Greenway format, the advantages of trolley cars and shuttle buses are overwhelming:
Safe: trolley cars, pedestrians, and bicyclists have shared the road all over the world for generations…to this very day. The ability of a trolley car to stop in such a short distance eliminates the safety factor that would exist with either a train or buses.
Affordable: if the track in its current condition can handle a heavy locomotive and passenger cars, certainly it can easily handle a little trolley car. For for this reason, the necessary repairs to put a trolley on that line tomorrow are mostly nominal and routine.
Transit: whereas a Greenway can easily accommodate “thousands” of bike and pedestrian users a day as quoted by Greenway advocates, a trolley line would serve hundreds of thousands.
Equity: as with the claim for a Greenway, no new taxes would be required to establish the trolley system. Rolling stock can be obtained by lease without any outlay of cash, assuming the creditworthiness of the Regional Transportation Commission or the County of Santa Cruz, or both. Otherwise, the trolley line can be incorporated, call it the Metrolink, with a public stock offering to raise working capital, still with no new taxes.
Future options: the options are virtually unlimited as long as the tracks are there. Pull up those cracks and all is lost. To replace the tracks (as they are discovering in the Los Angeles metropolitan area) costs multiple millions which we don’t have and will not need as long as those tracks are in place.
Environment: modern trolleys create less noise, by far, than a diesel or propane powered bus or any locomotive. Exhaust emissions are, also avoided.
Beauty: the point here is that a trolley is no less beautiful than a train, but neither would a trolley detract from the natural beauty of the corridor, especially in the undeveloped areas.
Health: hiking and biking are certainly healthy activities. Nothing about an electric trolley car would in any way diminish the opportunity for both in the same right-of-way as a Metrolink trolley.
For lack of a better label, we use the term Metrolink because the trolley cars would form a valuable, nay priceless, link to the rest of our Metro system. If the RTC could see fit to declare that the public transit choice will be electric trolley cars, not locomotives pulling trains, then organizational work could begin immediately
Howard F. Sosbee 1400 Weston Ridge Road Scotts Valley CA, 95066 831, 335, 8401 hfs@sosbee.com
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