There's been no shortage of skeptics as the California High-Speed Rail Authority has pushed forward on building its proposed project, but this week a new booster stepped forward.
Madera real estate developer Ed McIntyre told board members at a meeting Thursday that he and partners are ready to spend $1 billion developing a maintenance yard and more if the authority puts it on their property in Madera.
McIntyre told the board they're certain they can secure financing and recoup their investment through a lease-buy deal with the authority.
"Could you repeat that number?" Vice Chairwoman Lynn Schenk of San Diego asked him.
McIntyre caught the board's attention by dangling the prospect of private-sector investment – something critics suggest has been lacking in the business plans for the $68.4 billion system.
McIntyre has been involved in deals to develop the University of California, Merced, and Children's Hospital Central California in Madera County.
So far, the rail authority has not decided where it would prefer to have the maintenance station, considered something of an economic golden goose by officials up and down the San Joaquin Valley.
><;MX| >MONEY WATCH
Today's the second day of the 15th annual Speaker's Cup, a two-day golf outing in Pebble Beach to raise money for the California Democratic Party. It's being presented by AT&T, which has sponsored the event for more than a decade. Tickets start at $25,000 and top out at $65,000. Those prices are even steeper than for the Pro Tem Cup at San Diego's Torrey Pines Golf Course in March.
>WORTH REPEATING
"I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medicinal marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California."
NANCY PELOSI, House Democratic leader, in a statement this week criticizing the Obama administration's crackdown on dispensaries in the state
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.