Subway or Monorail? Debating the Merits of Valley Transit Proposals : Putting the issue on the November ballot would take it out of the hands of special interests and decide once and for all who speaks for the region.

Declaring itself in favor of a Valley east-west subway may have been politically correct for the San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors, considering some of the powerful industry groups that also support this technology. But as one of 102,810 people who voted for a monorail type technology on the Ventura Freeway in the June, 1990, advisory election, I feel betrayed by this organization.

As we approach an Oct. 26 decision by directors of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the city is learning about faulty materials, contractor short cuts and lack of safety precautions in Hollywood subway building. The federal government has put a hold on funds for subway construction until it is convinced MTA has solved the tunneling problems there.

And that isn’t the only problem with subways.

Practically as the realtors’ association was endorsing one for the Valley a few weeks ago, the MTA staff was releasing a report describing a so-called “open air” subway on the Southern Pacific’s Chandler and Burbank boulevards right of way.

The realtors’ group said the Burbank-Chandler line “is more feasible and will be less disruptive to residential areas.” Of course, an “open air” subway, which would be closer to grade than a full subway, would be less expensive, but it would also be less environmentally sound and much more disruptive. And I believe it would violate the state law mandating a subway if that route is chosen.

MTA staff has desperately tried to undermine the concept of a monorail on the Ventura Freeway since its inception. The primary pro-monorail argument has always been the cost difference between the technologies, and MTA staff has continually overstated a monorail’s cost.

The idea of an inferior “open air subway” is a ploy to reduce the cost of a subway and allow MTA to build on the railroad right of way, for which it foolishly paid nearly $120 million in the 1980s.

Frankly, I don’t think the voters in the San Fernando Valley are nearly as stupid as some of our elected officials and the MTA staff think they are.

Remember, in the advisory vote in 1990 102,810 Valley voters chose the monorail system on the Ventura Freeway versus 22,044 voters in favor of a subway.

Those in favor of the subway argue that the people voting for monorail did not know what they were voting for.

But did the handful of people voting for subway know of the water leaks in the tunnels and problems that have caused the MTA to cease tunneling in Hollywood pending an independent investigation into why sidewalks and buildings along Hollywood Boulevard were being undermined?

Would the handful who voted for subway do so today if they knew of the 10 whistle-blower lawsuits filed against the MTA and its contractors in the last three years alleging fraud, abuse and corruption during subway construction?

To those who still argue that the monorail voters did not know what they were voting for, I have a challenge.

Why not place the issue on the November ballot in the San Fernando Valley? This will take our elected officials off the hook and will decide, once and for all, who really speaks for our Valley. The cost of one more referendum would be far less than the cost of the wrong choice for rapid transit that we and our children will have to live with forever.

Do I think our officials will accept the challenge and place this referendum on the November ballot? Of course not!

The politically correct thing for them and the realtors’ association to do is to follow the wishes of certain special interest groups and a handful of people who chose subway against monorail, while ignoring the wishes of the general public.