Politics & Government
BH Councilman: Metro Subway Vote Is Still Happening
The Beverly Hills City Council had requested a public hearing with the Metro board in an effort to delay the vote.
Beverly Hills city officials expect the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors to proceed with its Thursday vote on the Westside Subway Extension before granting Beverly Hills' on the project’s final environmental impact report.
"I bet they are going to vote and then schedule a hearing," Beverly Hills Councilman Barry Brucker said Tuesday at a monthly Parent-Teacher Association Council meeting with the PTAs from all five Beverly Hills schools.
The Metro board has scheduled its meeting for 9:30 a.m. Thursday to discuss and vote on the subway’s Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report (FEIS/R). The report recommends a subway route to Constellation Boulevard in Century City, which requires tunneling under Beverly Hills High School.
Find out what's happening in Beverly Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In a , the Beverly Hills City Council adopted a resolution to request a public hearing, revision to the final environment report and redistribution of the document to address the city's concerns that "have not been adequately addressed by Metro, or addressed at all by Metro," Beverly Hills Vice Mayor John Mirisch said.
City Attorney Larry Wiener told Patch that Metro has between 15 and 60 days to schedule the public hearing.
Find out what's happening in Beverly Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Brucker also said that the final vote Thursday rests in the hands of a few swing voters among the 13 Metro board members.
According to Brucker, the following members are expected to vote for the FEIS/R: Los Angeles Mayor and board Chairman Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Lakewood Vice Mayor Diane DuBois, Los Angeles Councilman Jose Huizar, and Metro Directors Richard Katz and Mel Wilson.
Los Angeles County Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich, Gloria Molina and Mark Ridley-Thomas are likely to vote against the FEIS/R, Brucker said.
That leaves the deciding votes to Santa Monica Councilwoman Pam O’Connor, Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian, Duarte Mayor John Fasana and Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe.
The MTA Planning and Programming Committee voted 3-1-1 on April 18 to recommend that the full Metro board approve the staff recommended Westside Subway Extension. Subcommittee members DuBois, Katz and Yaroslavsky voted in favor, Antonovich against and O’Connor abstained.
