[Editor’s Note: Before the City Council quietly approved an agreement with West Los Angeles College last Monday night to operate a free shuttle service for students for the next two years that began in February, community watchdog Neil Rubenstein filed an objection. He started with a written statement he sent to the Council on March 2, one month after the service was inaugurated, adding that he has not received a response.]
“Mr. Mayor and Members of the Council: Please tell the citizens how the busses operated by West Los Angeles College in direct competition with our city system will impact us getting funds and grants.
“If our system is predicated on the number of riders and if the college students use their busses, will that affect the subsidies that Culver City receives?
“Your help always is appreciated.”
Two months later, Mr. Rubenstein remains concerned that the free shuttle service connecting college students to the Fairfax, Slauson and Palms areas will imperil city revenues.
“West wants to utilize one bus stall at Fox Hills Mall and reimburse the city for revenue lost by the campus shuttle operation,” he said.
“I am deadly against this. If we had a very poor system, if our busses were old and decrepit, if our drivers were not professional, didn’t maintain the schedules, I would say perhaps.
“But none of those conditions exist.
“Instead, the college has used money for these busses, this bus system.
“People may remember a few years back when the Community College Board of Trustees went around asking everybody to vote for their bond issue. Naturally thought the money would be used to build buildings and for other situations at the various community colleges to benefit the learning of students.
“But how I was mistaken.
“It seems to me that West wants to give us money for doing something that, in my opinion, is blatantly illegal by the college. One quasi-governmental agency is in direct conflict with another governmental agency. Who is to say in the future if the resources from Sacramento and other areas dry up for the college, then they stop the bus line.
“My bottom-line concern is that the city may be being deprived of rightful revenue it normally would be receiving from ridership and funds from the state.
“Here is what we are doing. We (the city) get money from the state and various federal and county agencies based upon our ridership.
“If the college takes our riders away from us, then we get less money to maintain our fleet. We get less money, then we would get fewer busses. The busses would not be replaced as often as they should be.
“We lay off people, such as bus drivers, mechanics and others.
“Let us say that in the future, if we allow them to do this, and all of a sudden they decide to run a bus from the college over to the Green Line, and run another bus up to UCLA so their West L.A. students can go ahead and take classes simultaneously in Westwood.
“It seems to me that by us taking this money this time, what we are doing is acknowledging the fact the college has a legal right to do so.
“Therefore, I suggest we do not take their money, that we instruct the CityAttorney to immediately file restraining orders against the college, to do what is necessary to maintain the full faith and integrity of Culver City and its bus lines.”
