The SacRT board decided on Monday to NOT move forward with the Dos Rios light rail station serving Mirasol Village and the neighborhood (see SacRT board to decide Dos Rios and Dos Rios Light Rail Station on SacRT Monday agenda). They did not slam the door to a future station, but might as well have. It is unlikely that there will ever be as much transit capital funding available as there is right now, from the state and federal government, so STAR feels that not moving forward at this time will ensure that the station is never built. The entire concept of Mirasol Village was premised on the light rail station, which would provide access for residents of affordable housing to jobs and other opportunities in the region. The area is currently very isolated and has completely inadequate bus service.

When the board minutes become available and we can see the details of the decision, we will post again with those.

In the SacBee article (Planned Sacramento light rail station won’t be built anytime soon, board decides), the board members who voted against the light rail station were: County Supervisors Patrick Kennedy and Pat Hume, as well as Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, Rancho Cordova Mayor Linda Budge, Citrus Heights councilman Bret Daniels, and Folsom councilman Mike Kozlowski. Notice these members eo not represent people in this area of Sacramento, nor do they really have any interest in these people.

STAR reminds people that these kinds of votes, which are not democratic, are the result of the recent board policy of one member – one vote, which means that representatives of small cities such as Rancho Cordova, Folsom and Citrus Heights have an outsized weight in determining the direction of SacRT. The population of the City of Sacramento is 528,001, double the size of these three combined, and Sacramento County is 1,584,169. STAR believes that only population-weighted board voting can accurately and fairly represent the people of the SacRT service area. If board votes were weighted by population, the weights would be as shown below (population is 2022-07 estimate from the US Census Bureau):

place	population	percent
City of Citrus Heights	86,433	5.5%
City of Elk Grove	177,558	11.2%
City of Folsom	83,269	5.3%
City of Rancho Cordova	80,598	5.1%
City of Sacramento	528,001	33.3%
Sacramento County unincorporated	628,310	39.7%
Sacramento County total	1,584,169

Members of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors theoretically represent all citizens in their district, and therefore all citizens in the county, but in practice, they mostly represent the members of their district living in unincorporated areas.

• Dos Rios Light Rail Station
• SacRT