Santa Monica Daily Press, August 14, 2007

Page 1

INSIDE SCOOP

EDITORIAL

PARENTING

THINGS LOOK UP FOR THE DISPLACED PAGE 3 HUG A TREE WHILE YOU CAN PAGE 4 PRESCHOOL SCRAMBLE PAGE 9

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2007

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Volume 6 Issue 233

Santa Monica Daily Press

JAZZING UP CITY HALL SEE PAGE 12

Since 2001: A news odyssey

THE MOVING TARGET ISSUE

Playing games with rail line BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer

DOWNTOWN LA Behind the smiles and celebration at the historic ground-breaking ceremony of the Exposition Light Rail last week, questions loomed as to whether more project funding would be made available by the state next month. Today marks the 45th day since the beginning of the fiscal year — 45 days without a new budget whose passage once again reached an impasse on Aug. 1, when the state Senate failed to approve it 26-14. A two-thirds vote is required to pass the

budget in California, leaving the state Senate one vote shy. The state Assembly has already approved the budget — which includes diverting $1.3 billion of transportation funding to the general fund — in July. From there, it has gone on to the Senate, where it has been mired in political infighting for over a month. The California Transportation Commission, the state agency that allocates funds for transit construction projects, plans to wait until its September meeting to appropriate money for transit projects, including an estimated $314 million for the Exposition Light Rail project, which is slated

to reach Santa Monica once completed. The vote next month is pending adoption of the state budget, said John Barna, the executive director of the CTC. The delay in funding puts Expo leaders and advocates in a nervous situation, awaiting word on whether they will get their millions sooner rather than later, as construction has already begun on the first phase of the project. The first phase of the project — which will travel from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City — is estimated to cost $640 million, of which more than $550 million will come from state funding. The state govern-

ment has already allocated about $250 million, bringing the total amount in the coffers to about $300 million — enough to take construction halfway of the 8.6 miles of track in phase one, said Samantha Bricker, the chief operating officer for the Exposition Construction Authority. Bricker said she is confident that the California Transportation Commission will make good on its promise and allocate the $314 million when the time comes. “We are under construction and we are a high rated project,” Bricker said. “We are SEE EXPO PAGE 14

CITY GOVERNMENT

FICUS FIASCO CONTINUES City Council decides the fate of downtown trees STORY BY MELODY HANATANI PAGE 13

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