Featured

Richmond Mayor Opposes Solar-Powered Light Rail Company

Published

8 years ago

July 1, 2016

Special to the Post

Richmond Mayor Tom Butt after a recent city council meeting posted a blog attack on local company CyberTran International, Inc.

(CTI) and the company’s president Dexter Vizinau. CTI is a transit innovation development company that for close to 20 years has been working to bring Ultra Light Rail Transit (ULRT) systems to market. In comparison, BART was first envisioned in 1946 and began a demonstration project in 1971.

BART technology could not have been implemented without government funding.

The light-rail system, if fully deployed, will eventually be in direct competition with BART. Butt’s company works as a consult for AC Transit, which is in competition with CyberTran.

Butt is against any government monies supporting such technology and has repeatedly refused to provide any letters of support even though he claims to support the technology.

Publicly, he has voted to support the efforts, but his actions demonstrate otherwise.

In his blog statement, Butt starts off by stating the company is not a legal company. CTI, a legal corporation since 1994, had a brief administrative mishap and is currently in good standing as a legal corporation.

Mayor Butt states that CTI has never built or tested anything.

According to Vizinau, all but one of Richmond’s City Council Members have visited the company’s facilities including Butt and have even sat in the 2nd generation prototype.

The system has already been built and tested with over $6 million dollars having been invested in the development of the technology. ULRT was designed to reach speeds up to 150 mph and has been analyzed by the American Association of Railroads.

According to CTI Board Chairman Neil Sinclair, “We don’t have engineering problems, we have political problems.”

The company has taken the prototype vehicle up to 60 mph and has proven the system can climb a 10 percent grade. This means the system can go over grades such as the Altamont Pass and the Grapevine on Highway 5.

Neither BART-type systems nor Bullet Trains can do this and have to tunnel, which is very costly. A study conducted by BART concluded ULRT would be a quarter of the cost to build and half the cost to operate and maintain, compared to a BART type of system.

BART is PG&E’s biggest customer, while ULRT will run on solar and generate eight times more energy than it consumes. The system is a power grid with a transit system in it that provides clean renewable energy to surrounding communities everywhere it will be installed.

ULRT is disruptive technology. According to Vizinau, there is no shortage of status quo groups that don’t want to see this technology move forward.

“Panic is setting in because we are so close to funding so there is a push to discredit ULRT,” said Vizinau.

In 2011, the Richmond City Council voted unanimously to explore a public-private partnership and seek ways to include the system in the city’s general plan. Since Richmond has taken steps to potentially be the first the city to deploy ULRT, the company has made great progress in Washington, D.C.

Washington is only interested in demonstrations that lead to deployment says Vizinau. Somebody has got to be first.

According to Richmond Councilman Eduardo Martinez, “We want to capture the opportunity to create good well-paying jobs in Richmond and be the first.”

However, Mayor Butt has a seat on the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC), and he is doing everything within his power to kill the idea.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

10 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

City Government

Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Beverli Marshall began her first day with the City on April 10. ICMA image.

Special to The Post

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.

Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”

According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.

“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”

When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.

At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”

While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.

On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.

“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.

The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.