7PM Thursday, January 21
Palo Alto City Council chambers
250 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto, CA

The driving force behind this hearing is committee member Senator Joe Simitian, whose district includes Palo Alto. Here’s what Simitian had to say to the Mercury News about the meeting:

“I’m looking forward to hearing what folks have to say,” Simitian said in a statement. “I see this meeting as an opportunity to clear the air on an issue that evokes strong feelings on all sides. As I’ve often said, I support high-speed rail — as long as it’s done right. That means making sure the project has the capacity to succeed, and it means responding to local concerns in a meaningful way.”

The hearing will include a presentation from Jeff Barker of the CHSRA and Bob Doty of CHSRA/Caltrans, and representatives from cities will be able to speak as well. There will be a public comment period of 2 minutes per person, and Simitian has pledged to give every citizen in attendance a chance to speak. In other words, this is probably going to go much like the Menlo Park Town Hall, although people will be able to make statements and won’t necessarily have to phrase it in the form of a question. Since this is a state legislative hearing, anyone is able to attend and speak, it’s not limited to people in Simitian’s district.

Already the HSR opponents are organizing to stack the hearing with their people in order to try and show the other legislators that the Peninsula hates HSR and that there is some sort of huge opposition. We may not be able to outnumber them Thursday night. But HSR supporters in the Bay Area ought to make an effort to attend. Your voice is needed.

HSR supporters will be organizing in other ways, as you’ll find out tomorrow. But for right now, if you don’t have any plans for Thursday night, I’ll see you in Palo Alto. And before you complain about the distance, consider that I’ll be driving up from Monterey, which is further away from Palo Alto than most Bay Area cities.