Blog note: this opinion piece references a grand jury report.
In his Jan. 4 column appearing in the IJ, Dick Spotwood wrote, “the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District, has now released its ridership statistics pursuant to my California Public Document Act request.” It’s no secret that Spotswood is a fan of the SMART train, its governing board and, in particular, its general manager.
Under the California Public Records Act, all citizens must be treated equally with regards to records requests.
I have been formally requesting the ridership information now available on SMART’s website since October 2019. This was roughly when SMART’s board voted unanimously to place a 30-year sales tax extension measure on the March 3 ballot.
While SMART responded within the legally required time limits, the answer to my requests was invariably: SMART does not maintain records in the format you requested. Given what we know now, no matter how I or anyone framed the question, SMART would have provided the same response. They didn’t want to release the information to me, nor, as I understand it, to at least one other journalist asking the same questions.
What changed? SMART got caught stonewalling. They then magically produced reams of numbers overnight, timed to satisfy the request of a political ally who could then preemptively spin the disappointing figures.
Spotswood reminds us that “transparency is always a virtue.” SMART has neither been transparent nor virtuous in this matter. How many times does the Marin County Civil Grand Jury have to issue reports to stop these bad actors?
I’m voting no on SMART’s Measure I and I’m not a naysayer. I’m just informed.
January 9, 2020
Marin Independent Journal
Letter from Bruce Vogen, San Anselmo
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