A call has gone out for volunteers to serve on a committee that advises the Regional Transportation District on the agency’s FasTracks commuter rail and bus program.
People who want a seat on the 17-member FasTracks Citizens Advisory Committee must submit a brief application letter and resume by the close of business Sept 21.
The panel is open to all who are served by RTD.
But some of the most bitter critics of the FasTracks project to date say serving on the advisory panel won’t yield many results.
“I think with the problems we have had is going to take a lot more than a citizens advisory committee,” said Longmont City Councilwoman Katie Witt. “I really don’t know if the RTD administration is ready to care what others have to say about FasTracks at this time.”
Officials in Longmont and other northern cities are angry over setbacks in the FasTracks plan which call for commuter rail to come into their communities by 2044.
This after voters approved a FasTracks tax in 2004 that initially scheduled rail lines for the north and northwest corridors for 2020.
Longmont Mayor Dennis Coombs said his city is studying a variety of proposals that would bring rail to the city long before that. Coombs also isn’t convinced a local volunteer from Longmont could do much to sway opinions on the citizen board, which is tilted heavily toward more populous sections of the district.
“I think we might be deluding ourselves on how much power we’d really have on that committee,” he said.
But the RTD governing board has relied heavily on the citizens panel for guidance in its biggest decisions. That includes whether to pursue a new tax increase this fall to add new services to the northern cities, said FasTracks spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas.
“The board has come to highly respect the opinion of the CAC,” Tonilas said.
Board members come from a variety of backgrounds and not just engineering or business, Tonilas said. “We want a diversity of experience and knowledge,” she said.
All letters of application must be sent to Dale.Honor@rtd-denver.com by September 21.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or
