The demise of the light-rail Centerline and of the El Toro airport has breathed new life into another big-ticket idea,a “gamblers’ express” between Anaheim and Las Vegas. The OCTA board has instructed its Washington, D.C., lobbyists to stop chasing federal funds for Centerline and start pitching the California-Nevada Super Speed Train as the ideal candidate for a planned federal demonstration project of magnetic-levitation technology. Regional planners long have envisioned a “maglev” train that carries fun seekers from Anaheim to Vegas in 90 minutes alongside the I-15. Far-fetched? Maybe not, if you factor in the increasing traffic congestion and the airport shortage in Southern California. Anaheim envisions the Amtrak station by Angel Stadium as an airline hub, with travelers leaving their cars and checking their bags before being whisked via the Vegas line to flights in Ontario or Victorville. The train’s price is staggering,$10 billion by some estimates. But Nevada is offering private financing for its leg, which could be an edge in a grant competition. Meanwhile, prospects dim for a proposed state bond issue to fund an alternative SF-to-L.A. line …
Dan Weil of Chicago has won the gold-plated desk clock inscribed to California Finance Director Tom Campbell. Weil, who learned of the bidding from his OC buddy Keith Butler, will send the Golden State a check for $382.45. Eight billion dollars more and we’ve balanced the budget. Weil also gets a proclamation drawn in Campbell’s own artistic hand. Campbell cited a self-imposed gift ban when he declined the clock after addressing the OC Forum. The Insider thanks Campbell, the Forum and the bidders for being good sports, and notes that during the auction only once did it inadvertently refer to Tom Campbell as John, and never as Bill …
Why is George Argyros using a cane? He had double-knee surgery last month and won’t take it sitting down …
Estimating his net worth at $4.3 billion, Forbes recently ranked The Donald (Bren) 122nd among the world’s wealthiest people. The OCBJ figures Bren at $7.5 billion, which would put him in the top 60. Whose guess is better? Consider that Forbes had Bren at $4 billion in 2000 and he’s barely budged since; if they’re correct, he hasn’t even kept pace with inflation during OC’s real estate surge …
Correction: The OC Register’s decision not to advertise at Angel Stadium this season was communicated among underlings, not personally by Chris Anderson to Arte Moreno …
The above-mentioned Campbell (Tom, not John or Bill) has been added to Ardelle St. George’s bevy of VIPs attending the Association for Corporate Growth confab at the Marriott Desert Springs Resort this week. Other speakers include Michael Milken, “Wall $treet Week with Fortune” host Karen Gibbs, sports announcer Al Michaels and Research in Motion (BlackBerry) CEO James Balsillie.
