SMART Votes to Issue Bonds while Recall Effort Gets Underway

Now that the sale of $191 million in bonds has been approved by the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit board at its Wednesday board meeting in Santa Rosa, the focus of the passenger rail debate in the two North Bay counties turns to construction getting under way right when the RepealSMART campaign is getting more and more serious.

A financial consulting firm told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that the marketability of the bonds will take a hit because of the effort to repeal a quarter-cent sales tax increase for 20 years that is the primary funding for the commuter rail system. The firm, Public Financial Management, also said the push by RepealSMART could lead to $10 million in added costs for SMART.

So, Mariners, how do you feel about all this? You might have voted for Measure Q to raise funds for SMART in 2008. You might be just as much an advocate for the train system now as you were before, eying fewer vehicles on 101 burning fossil fuels and pumping greenhouse gas emissions into the air.

But you might point to of the rail authority and the — which includes just one train station rather than two — and be ticked off at what SMART is proposing now.

Take our poll below and let us know if you think the recall effort will succeed, or fail.