On Eve of Stimulus Anniversary, Obama Administration Denies Funds Due to Civil Rights Failures

Dateline:

02/16/2010

Source:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2010
Contact: Wynn Hausser, 650-619-1032

On Eve of Stimulus Anniversary, Obama Administration Denies Funds Due to Civil Rights Failures $70M taken from BART project, Distributed among Bay Area Transit Agencies

San Francisco, CA – In the first action of its kind, the Obama Administration has
pulled $70 million in federal stimulus funds from a proposed Oakland Airport
Connector (OAC) project due to multiple civil rights violations by the Bay Area
Rapid Transit district (BART). The strong action underscores a recent promise
made in the President’s State of the Union address to continue “prosecuting civil
rights violations.”

In a stern letter to BART and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
(MTC), sent late Friday, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Chief Peter Rogoff
rejected BART’s “corrective action plan” seeking to address violations of Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and advised MTC to reallocate the funds before a
March 5 deadline. FTA’s action resulted from an administrative Title VI complaint
filed with FTA in September by nonprofit law firm Public Advocates Inc. on behalf
of Urban Habitat, TransForm and Genesis.

"I am required to reject your plan…Given the fact that the initial Title VI complaint
against BART was well founded, I am not in a position to award the ARRA funds
to BART while the agency remains out of compliance,” Rogoff wrote. “It is
imperative that BART, as a recipient of FTA funds, come fully into compliance
with Title VI as soon as possible.”

Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination by recipients of
federal funds. U.S. Department of Transportation Title VI rules require federal
fund recipients to analyze projects closely to ensure there will be no
discriminatory impacts and that minority and low-income communities will share
equally in the benefits of public investments. FTA’s investigation found that BART
failed to prepare the required “equity analysis” of the OAC project. FTA
uncovered other violations, as well.

“We applaud Administrator Rogoff for bringing civil rights enforcement to the
forefront,” said Richard Marcantonio, Managing Attorney for Public Advocates.
“Low-income people and communities of color will now have the chance they
were denied at the start of this process to shape the project and to share fairly in
its benefits.”

“The FTA, by halting the spending of $70 million because of Title VI violations, is
government at its best—listening to the concerns of low-income people and
people of color, and then using the power of the purse to make agencies
accountable. It signals seriousness on the part of the Obama administration to
uphold its commitment to civil rights and work courageously to expand
opportunity for all,” concluded Angela Glover Blackwell, CEO, PolicyLink.
Rogoff concluded that MTC must now work together “to ensure that [American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act] funds can create and preserve jobs in the Bay
Area.” Under a resolution MTC adopted on Jan. 27, the $70 million in stimulus
funds will now be distributed among all Bay Area transit systems. Most of these
agencies, including BART itself, face dire operating deficits, similar to those
faced by transit systems across the nation.

“FTA is sending an unmistakable message that projects are not shovel-ready
until they are fair,” said Public Advocates staff attorney Guillermo Mayer.
FTA is not only focusing increased scrutiny on BART but is also investigating
MTC, the regional agency responsible for the distribution of federal transportation
dollars and for ensuring the civil rights compliance of its subrecipients. In a
separate letter to MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger on February 3,
Administrator Rogoff stated that “the fact that BART has not conducted the
necessary service equity analysis for the OAC project or fare equity analysis
raises concerns that your agency does not have procedures in place to monitor
its subrecipients.” FTA ordered MTC to provide information within 30 days.
“This should be a wake up call to state and local agencies across the country that
they will be held accountable for making sure all taxpayer dollars are spent
appropriately and wisely, whether from ARRA, the upcoming Jobs Bill or any
other federal funding,” said Bob Allen, Transportation Program Director at Urban
Habitat.