Rep. Levin, Officials Discuss Importance of Funding Rail Solutions

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH

Congressman Mike Levin and other local officials braved the rain at San Clemente State Beach late last week, to provide updates about actions to ensure future rail service along Southern California’s coastline.

As a reminder of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor’s importance to businesses, passengers and more, Levin announced on April 13 that he’s pursuing $4 million in federal funding to assist in local efforts to study solutions for rail planning.

Levin’s request for the second phase of federal community project funding comes weeks after the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors approved a two-phase study to investigate short-, medium- and longterm solutions for rail planning efforts.

“This request will go through the Congressional appropriations process, and I’m going to continue to advocate for these funds for our district along with whatever federal dollars are needed,” said Levin, the 49th Congressional Dis- trict representative who oversees cities in South Orange County and North San Diego County.

Katrina Foley, Fifth District Board Supervisor of Orange County and an OCTA board member, said Levin’s request would “certainly contribute to expediting the process” of landing the estimated $7 million needed for OCTA’s study on the long-term solutions.

She added that the state government’s previous grant of $6 million to assist in the recently completed $12 million track stabilization project in south San Clemente assured her of OCTA’s “good partnership” with the state.

Levin’s appearance in San Clemente was the last stop on the roughly fourhour journey up the coast last Thursday, as he hosted Amit Bose, administrator for the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

They started by boarding a North County Transit District COASTER train near Torrey Pines to head toward a press conference in Solana Beach before hold-

“I think it’s been a pretty expeditious process for most of the properties,” he said. “There is the one that’s taken a little bit longer, and we’ve gone the extra mile to reach out to that property owner or their representative and try to get more information.”

Since last week, Duncan hasn’t spoken with the property’s representatives, but he stated that if they haven’t already turned in their report, the city hopes they do so soon.

The next steps are for each owner to review what they need to stabilize and how they can rebuild the back patio areas, the latter of which will concern the California Coastal Commission.

“Right now, we have to be vigilant about all of our bluffs,” said Duncan. “But we don’t have any immediate work to do in that vicinity or elsewhere.” ing the second in San Clemente.

“I was able to show Administrator Bose the precarious railroad conditions, particularly the section of the bluffs in Del Mar where the tracks run within several feet of the cliffside,” Levin said. “It’s only a matter of time before those tracks will be over the cliff’s edge.”

Then he mentioned how the train trip ended in Solana Beach because of the rail closure up to San Clemente, which was emblematic of the issues freight and passenger interests must face because of coastal erosion’s effects.

Both Metrolink and Amtrak resumed passenger rail service this week following OCTA’s monthslong construction project to stabilize the tracks in south San Clemente, where movement had been detected last fall amid heavy rainstorms.

California’s appropriation of $300 million toward a tunnel project that will realign the corridor near Del Mar and funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill are examples of taking action for the long term, according to Levin.

“We have an opportunity—a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity—to leverage the state funds and bring the necessary resources to relocate the tracks,” he said.

He emphasized that he would continue to attempt to secure “every last cent of federal funding” necessary to address the challenges facing the LOSSAN corridor.

President Joe Biden’s administration has made safeguarding rail systems against natural events a priority, according to Bose, who added that $66 million from the bipartisan infrastructure bill will help the cause, in addition to other funding.

“FRA has already obligated an unprecedented $4.3 billion to Amtrak, and more than $4.5 billion right now is available through the federal state partnership program to support the restoration and expansion of existing passenger rail service and future rail service across the country,” said Bose.

The Department of Transportation’s other multimodal grant programs will also continue to fund projects along the LOSSAN corridor, he said.

In responding to a question about whether the railroad would be relocated to avoid traveling along the San Clemente coast and other nearby areas, Bose declined to make any “premature” judgments before studies were completed.

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Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, also spoke.

Sanders said he has studied the risks along the Southern California coast in varying capacities for more than a decade, including using satellite imagery to chart the changes that Cotton’s Point in San Clemente has experienced.

Nearby residents are correct when they say that what used to be a stable beach facing gradual decline took a drastic turn for the worse around 2015, according to Sanders.

“The tipping point is not yet fully understood, but is likely a combination of higher than normal sea levels associated with the El Niño (storms) from 2014 to 2016, which elevated the sea level by tens of centimeters, and also big, large swell waves that came in during Hurricane Marie in 2014,” he said.

Sanders added that man-made infrastructure to protect inland areas and to protect cliffs has restricted the natural supply of sand up and down the coast.

He endorsed sand nourishment projects as the action that will best serve Californians.

Foley announced that she had asked Sanders to participate in a task force she is creating that will address sustainability and climate action planning in Orange County.

Other speakers included State Sen.

Council Approves Resolution Opposing Assembly Education Bill

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH

The San Clemente City Council approved, in a 3-2 vote, a nonbinding resolution opposing the education-oriented Assembly Bill 1078 at its meeting on Tuesday night, April 18. Mayor Chris Duncan and Councilmember Mark Enmeier were the dissenting votes.

The resolution, which concerns the “state usurpation of local control” as stated by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Knoblock, was originally intended to be discussed at the April 4 meeting before being pushed back.

Days before the meeting, AB 1078 was pulled from the State Assembly Education Committee’s March 29 agenda at the request of its author, Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson (D-Riverside).

The legislation proposes to require local educational agencies and districts to receive approval from the California

Catherine Blakespear of the 38th District, which encompasses northern San Diego County and parts of South Orange County, and North County Transit District Chair Jewel Edson.

Blakespear confirmed that she is chairing the new subcommittee on LOSSAN Corridor Resiliency, intended to identify investment opportunities to maintain and improve the corridor’s infrastructure.

Responding to a question about whether similar slope movement could occur again in the coming months, Levin said that it is only a matter of time. “I think we all know that we live in an environment with increasing threats from climate change, and it really is only a matter of time before we’re going to face another erosion-related closure,” he said. “That’s why we’ve got to do everything we can, not just to fix things in the near term, (but) fix them for the long term.”

Community Meetings

THURSDAY, APRIL 20

Zoning Administration

3-4:30 p.m. The city’s Zoning Administration will conduct a regularly scheduled meeting at San Clemente City Hall, located at 910 Calle Negocio. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

FRIDAY, APRIL 21

Beachside Chat

8-9 a.m. Join San Clemente residents and dignitaries for the weekly Beachside Chat, a spirited, town hall forum on community issues led by a slate of rotating hosts. Capt. Jay Christian, chief of San Clemente Police Services, will be the guest speaker. The chats are held at Dorothy Visser Senior Center, located at 117 Avenida Victoria, San Clemente. All are welcome.

TUESDAY, APRIL 25

Because I Love You (BILY)

6:30-8:30 p.m. The organization

Because I Love You (BILY) will continue conducting its weekly meetings on Tuesdays via Zoom. For detailed instructions on how to participate, email bilysanclemente@gmail.com. Noble Path Foundation, 420 N. El Camino Real, San Clemente.

State Board of Education before removing instructional materials; stopping the teaching of certain curricula; and removing books and other publications from libraries.

AB 1078 would also prioritize adding people of all gender expressions and people who are LGBTQ+ to a list of diverse groups required to be accurately portrayed within instructional materials.

“I know a lot of people are concerned (that) this isn’t a city function, but at the same time, it does deal with local control,” said Knoblock. “It does deal with important issues regarding all of our kids, so that’s why I brought it up.”

Knoblock initially agendized the matter at the council’s March 21 meeting, where he passed out a draft copy of the resolution to his colleagues, which resembled language in a similar resolution drafted by the Orange County Department of Education. Support from Councilmembers Victor Cabral and Gene James led staff to write an official resolution for discussion Tuesday night.

Addressing public concerns, Knoblock said he didn’t believe the council was overreaching. The state’s intrusion into local government, be it school govern- ment in this case, and the fact that AB 1078 was still a “live bill” were reasons for the city to get involved.

He also commented on the mention of teachers’ rights from a public speaker.

“Teachers don’t have rights,” said Knoblock. “Parents grant their kids to the school districts to be taught and trained. The kids have rights, the parents have rights, and (they) shouldn’t be subordinate to the teachers or the (California Teachers Association) or the State Department of Education.”

James added that he’d had enough of Democrats in the State Legislature who were “hellbent” on stomping out parental rights and giving teachers unions more rights than the parent, and Cabral said he concurred with James and Knoblock.

“The government in Sacramento is taking too much control,” said Cabral. “Cities have to fight for themselves, they have to fight for their colleagues (in) local school boards, and as long as I’m here, I’ll continue to do that.”

Enmeier, a teacher at San Clemente High School, said the matter was strictly a school board issue.

During the council’s discussion, Cabral challenged Duncan about his participation in activities that included the National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation and Mayors Against Gun Violence, as well his supporting vote for previous letters expressing opinions on bills in the legislature.

James jumped in to do the same, citing Duncan’s use of city letterhead to issue a statement on abortion rights in August 2022.

Duncan contended the assertions, saying each matter did concern the city or was made to concern the city. Additionally, he said that while he supported local control, he called the resolution a “culture war political item” outside of the council’s purview.

“I can only conclude that it’s an attack on public school teachers like (Enmeier),” said Duncan, adding that public schools and administrators were being targeted as well.

Cabral said that he did agree with Duncan on one of his points that San Clemente has great schools.

“I want to keep them that way, (and) I want to keep control at the local level and not have Sacramento make decisions for us about what’s best,” said Cabral.