Update: July 6, 2014. With the RTC rejecting the second call for an independent investigation on June 26, and going ahead with adoption of the $5.6 billion transportation plan, it has given me the opportunity to re-evaluate this campaign and how I can be of service. This is the conclusion I have come to: We, the public, paid for the RTC traffic pollution reduction program, and we have a right to know exactly what went wrong and why. Therefore I am going to continue to push ahead with the demand for an independent investigation. Over the weeks ahead I will be writing to all thirteen RTC transportation commissioners, continuing to provide more evidence to build the case. How many letters to transportation commissioners will be needed for an independent investigation to be agreed to? I hope you can join us. - Paul ----------------------------------------- I’m an entrepreneur / commute consultant in Santa Cruz, California who develops and implements commute programs to reduce traffic and pollution. The purpose of this petition is to bring to light actions taken over the past five years by my local transportation agency that have: - Directed public funds into known ineffective traffic reduction, pollution reduction strategies - Prevented public funds being directed into known effective traffic pollution reduction programs - Undermined, and attempted to discredit valid concerns raised - Deceived the public Brief history of events: From 2005 – 2014 I have been working with the City of Santa Cruz to develop and provide commute programs to shift single occupant vehicle (SOV) commuting to alternative commuting: biking, carpooling, transit, walk, etc., with positive results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qePeHoSLDTs I have also worked with the County of Santa Cruz (independent from the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission – the target of this petition), also with positive results: http://greenstartupstory.com/2012/08/28/rsclients-in-santa-cruz-county/#santacruzco In 2008 a local community college, Cabrillo College, applied for an *AB2766 traffic pollution reduction grant to use my services to reduce their largest source of CO2 – the commute. To support Cabrillo College’s grant application I provided commute services for free for six months starting April 22 (Earth Day), 2008. Again with positive results: http://greenstartupstory.com/2012/05/26/welcome-spotlife/grantadvocacyletter-small-highlighted/ [*AB2766 is a $200M/year California-wide traffic pollution reduction grant fund paid by drivers through vehicle license fees. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) oversees the AB2766 fund.] Unfortunately, rather than supporting Cabrillo’s grant application, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (SCCRTC) ‘competed’ with Cabrillo’s grant application, with false and exaggerated claims of their own capabilities to achieve effective traffic pollution reduction. These false claims by the SCCRTC resulted in the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District (Air District) denying Cabrillo’s top priority funding request, and instead funding the SCCRTC with $120,000 AB2766 public funds to serve Cabrillo College’s commute program needs, as well as the commute program needs of all other employers in Santa Cruz County. With funding being denied, Cabrillo College’s successful commute program had to be shut down in September 2008. Keeping in touch with Cabrillo College I learned that the SCCRTC program delivered no benefit from 2008 - 2012. In May 2012, the Air District (responsible for managing the AB2766 grant fund locally) were asked about the performance of the SCCRTC program. Their response: ‘The District feels that SCCRTC has made adequate progress'. June 2012: After further investigation, findings were summarized in a report calling for an independent investigation: http://greenstartupstory.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/ridespringcabrilloreportjune2012-2.pdf The report was provided to the SCCRTC and Air District. In a Santa Cruz Sentinel article in July 2012, both the SCCRTC and Air District dismissed concerns, and reiterated confidence in the SCCRTC program: “We still believe this is a great program” (with 0.16% of the projected traffic pollution reduction achieved). http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_21168663/ June 2013: SCCRTC Executive Director describes report calling for an independent investigation as ‘misleading and untrue’ January 2014: Air District issues Stop Work Order against SCCRTC program. Stop Work Order confirms key concerns raised in report: http://greenstartupstory.com/2014/02/25/ad-stopworkorder-rtc/ March 2014: Attempting to bring attention to this issue at an SCCRTC public hearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc0pZf7FyxI What’s next… June 26, 2014: The SCCRTC is scheduled to approve a $5.6 billion transportation plan claiming priority and capabilities in effective traffic pollution reduction. Highlights from the SCCRTC plan include: Page 13 ‘Much effort on this 2014 RTP and the 2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan has been focused on prioritizing projects that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions primarily from a reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT)’ Page 19 ‘With the passage of the California Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 (SB 375) and the establishment of regional greenhouse gas emissions targets, a much greater emphasis is being placed on transportation plans to reduce the number of vehicle miles we travel’ Page 140 ‘The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is taking a proactive approach towards identifying strategies for reducing greenhouse gases in the 2014 RTP’ Page 140 ‘The 2014 RTP relies on reductions in vehicle miles traveled along with improvements in vehicle speed to achieve the five percent greenhouse gas emissions reduction’ Page 220 ‘The California Air Resources Board (ARB) requires a five percent reduction in per capita ...

We are asking all Anne Arundel County families (which include all current Monarch families) to support the opening of Monarch High School. Many of our children are looking for a smaller high school experience with a special educational philosophy (e.g., expeditionary learning) that enhances their educational path. Moreover, many children who enter the county's Monarch elementary and middle school programs want to continue within this unique learning culture at the high school level. Let's join together to give all of our children MORE CHOICE when it comes to high school options in our county!

Help protect motorists, pedestrians and juveniles from being stopped and searched for no reason other than their color, ethnicity or age. Help ensure police practices are fair, unbiased and professional. Both community and police worked hard to create this bill, and both support it. We need your help to pass it this year!

There have been irrefutable facts, as well as personal and professional opinions presented showing that Robert Herbert is not a good fit for the Palestine Police Department YET Palestine City Council has chosen to ignore the facts and sugar coat the problem to make it slowly melt away. We must show the officers that we will support them. We must put our 'money where our mouth is' and put our name on this document showing Palestine's City Manager, Mayor and Council that we will not stop until positive change has been created.

Why is one of the nation's most prominent Catholic archbishops scheduled to speak at a virulently anti-gay rally? San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is appearing at the upcoming "March for Marriage" in Washington, D.C. The event is organized by the National Organization for Marriage, an organization that has equated gay marriage with incest, and co-sponsored by the Family Research Council, a hate group that blamed gay marriage for the recent mass shootings in Isla Vista. By speaking alongside these extremists, Archbishop Cordileone risks lending the church's authority to their vitriol and hatred - and undermining Pope Francis's call for a more compassionate church. We need to make it clear to Archbishop Cordileone that encouraging bigotry is unacceptable, regardless of his position on marriage for same-sex couples.

Move to Amend does not go far enough, because money in politics operates not just by corporate giving but also because of the impact of the wealthy in giving, and most powerfully by the ability of corporations to threaten to move their assets if local, state or national legislation requires environmental responsibility or adequate pay for workers or adequate safety and health protections, etc. That threat is sufficient to make even the most liberal Democrats back down and modify their attempts at environmental sanity, a carbon tax, a living (not just a "minimum") wage, and other humane and earth-preserving legislation. That's why the Network of Spiritual Progressives is launching this campaign (read the full legal language of the Amendment at www.spiritualprogressives.org). This ESRA may never pass, but the campaign for it will have a dramatic impact in changing consciousness and opening up energies to challenge corporate environmental irresponsibility and the power of money in politics.

The lack of leadership from the football commissioner. This years flag program was absolutely horrible. The kids weren't covered under the insurance policy. The Football Program is rapidly failing with no signs of recovery. The numbers are at a all time low. In fact the lowest they have ever been in the history of the program. With more parents on the fence right now threatening to leave and move on. Something needs to happen RIGHT NOW !!!!

Recent reinterpretation of law by a state agency has abruptly and unjustifiably eliminated the protective natural buffer along Georgia's marshlands and other contiguous wetlands. The health and productivity of Georgia's tidal marshes will be degraded by eliminating the buffer, jeopardizing coastal fisheries, recreational areas, tourism, and quality of life. To prevent such threats the buffer must be restored. Since 1997, the Center for a Sustainable Coast has represented the public interest in safeguarding Georgia's coastal resources including shorelines, waterways, wildlife habitat, fisheries and vast areas of tidal marsh.

The plight of Iraq's Christians has now lasted longer than a decade, and recent militant uprisings in Mosul threaten to expunge the neighboring Chaldean-Assyrian-Syriac villages. This preliminary campaign will help kickstart a transnational movement focusing on development of a sovereign territory for the indigenous Iraqis.

GMOs aren't without risk - some are designed for increased pesticide use, which has been linked to serious health and environmental effects. Sufficient independent pre-market testing has not been done on GMOs to determine the long-term health effects on humans. Monsanto’s pocketbook is also hard at work to defeat GMO legislation in Massachusetts, and reports indicate that Monsanto and its allies are set to spend over $6 million to defeat a current ballot initiative in Oregon. Consumers have a right to know whether the foods we eat contain GMOs, and special interests like Monsanto should not be spending millions to leave us in the dark.

Local citizens have personally maintained the channel markers throughout the years. We were informed by Hillsborough County that we are not allowed to continue doing this. For the safety of all the boaters coming in and out of Rocky Creek daily it is necessary to petition to have Rocky Creek channel markers installed and maintained properly as requested.

The Washington Post actually just published an opinion piece mocking sexual assault survivors and saying that women want to be raped. The author, conservative columnist George Will, goes so far as to write that colleges are making "victimhood a coveted status" by taking public steps to curb sexual assaults on campus. He even implies that non-consensual sex is not rape, when in fact it's the very definition of rape! George Will makes his living writing columns that many people disagree with. But his latest column has gone too far. Rape is a serious crime--accusing women of making it up and arguing schools shouldn't be addressing sexual assault puts both women and men at risk. By publishing George Will's piece, The Washington Post is amplifying some of the most insidious lies that perpetuate rape culture. It's not just wrong--it's dangerous.