Published Monday, Sept. 3, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News 
   
Local deadlock could endanger federal funds for transit extension

   A year ago, the biggest hurdle to bringing BART to San Jose, it
   seemed, was persuading Santa Clara County residents to pay for it with
   a sales tax. But selling voters on the transit extension, it turns
   out, was a lot easier than getting Bay Area governments to agree on
   it.
   
   About five months of negotiations have gone practically nowhere,
   putting much-needed federal funding at risk. Transit officials are at
   odds over key issues such as how much the South Bay should pay to join
   the system and whether Silicon Valley representatives would sit on
   BART's governing board.
   
   The standoff prompted Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, who sits on the
   House Transportation Committee, to meet with transportation officials
   at his local office Thursday. Representatives from BART, the Valley
   Transportation Authority, and the Metropolitan Transportation
   Commission attended.
   
   But the parties left the meeting farther apart, said a source familiar
   with the talks.
   
   ``It was real clear at that point that there was no movement, that
   negotiations were just dead in the water,'' the source said.
   
   The impasse could delay, if not jeopardize, roughly $1 billion in
   federal funding for the project, which needs to round out financing.
   The extension is expected to cost $3.8 billion.
   
   Timing is critical. The Bay Area faces a November deadline to submit a
   regional transit plan listing its top priorities for federal money. If
   the BART extension misses the list, it could be out of luck when
   Congress convenes next year.
   
   As U.S. Transportation Secretary and former San Jose Mayor Norman
   Mineta said in March, ``If you can't justify this locally, there is no
   reason for us at the federal level to say, `Hey, here is some money
   for you.' ''
   
   [...]
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   Mercury News Staff Writers Alexis Chiu and Becky Bartindale
   contributed to this report. 
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   Have a tip on Silicon Valley politics? Send an e-mail to
   [62]InternalAffairs@sjmercury.com, or call Mike Zapler at (408)
   275-0140, or Edwin Garcia at (408) 286-0264.