Prepared by Jay Smyth November 22, 2004
Meeting Minutes
The Kickoff Meeting of the Southwest Rail Corridor (SWRC) Coalition was held at 300 West Clarendon Ave., Phoenix, AZ on November 19, 2004. Jay Smyth, Coordinator of the SWRC Coalition, chaired the meeting. Smyth called the meeting to order at approximately 10:10 am. In attendance were: Gene Caywood, Tony Haswell, Joy Herr-Cardillo, Bill Lindley, Marc Pearsall, Kevin Collins, Rob Bohannan, Sam Morse, David Schwartz, Michael Garey, Jack Tevlin, John Gale, Dean Preising, and Scott Friedson.
Smyth thanked David Schwartz of Goodman-Schwartz Public Affairs and his staff for their assistance in the arrangements for the meeting. Smyth also thanked the Friends of Transit for providing the meeting room and refreshments. The people in attendance introduced themselves. Smyth presented the following goals for the meeting that were accepted by the meeting attendees.
Meeting Goals
- Agree that the SWRC will benefit Arizona
- Agree on the initial development segment of the SWRC
- Develop draft of the Objectives and Scope of this project
- Select a Core Project Team
Rob Bohannan, President of the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, presented the right-of-way and background of the SWRC.
The group discussed the benefits of the SWRC, referring to the many studies of the corridor, in particular, the Phoenix – Tucson segment, that had been published. It was agreed that the coalition must develop a summary of the results of the various studies and as possible update the information. (After the meeting Smyth met with Pearsall, Lindley and Gale, who have been working on such a summary. They committed to having a five to seven page summary completed and ready for publication by January 31, 2005.)
The group discussed what portion of the SWRC should be identified as the initial passenger rail development segment. After various inputs, the group agreed that the Phoenix – Tucson (with possible extension to Nogales) segment would be the initial development segment the coalition would pursue. It was also agreed that the coalition would provide information and support for the development of other segments of the SWRC and other passenger rail lines in Arizona. This development would be in phases following the Phoenix – Tucson segment.
In developing the draft objectives and scope of this project the group came to the following consensus. The objectives of the coalition in chronological order are:
1.Develop/publish a summary of the past studies completed on the SWRC illustrating the cost and benefits to Arizona.
2.Build support in the business community and community organizations for the SWRC and the Phoenix – Tucson segment
3.Identify potential political allies in the development of passenger rail in Arizona
4.Determine the best government entity to develop and implement passenger rail in Arizona (e.g. ADOT, AZ Rail Authority, Multi-County Rail District, etc.)
The development of the scope of the project was left to the Core Project Team (see below).
Schwartz, from Goodman-Schwartz Public Affairs and Executive Director of the Friends of Transit, briefly discussed the approach and importance to developing a coalition of the business community and the political community to achieve the goals of the SWRC Coalition.
It was agreed to identify a Core Project Team from those present to develop and lead the project plan. The Core Team would coordinate and facilitate the development of a project plan to be presented for input to those in attendance and other interested parties.
Core Project Team
Jay Smyth, SWRC, Team Lead
Rob Bohannan, Arizona Rail Passenger Association
Mike Garey, National Association of Railroad Passengers
Joy Herr-Cardillo, Citizens for a Sensible Transportation Solution (Tucson)
Marc Pearsall, Arizona Rail Passenger Association
David Schwartz, Goodman-Schwartz Public Affairs
Jack Tevlin, Friends of Transit
Smyth provided a draft project charter to the group. The Core Project Team will revise this document for presentation to those in attendance. Smyth (with the assistance of Schwartz) will call the first meeting of the Core Project Team and make necessary meeting arrangements.
The meeting adjourned at 11:45 am.