TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Kern County has found an unexpected ally in advance of a decision next month on whether the first leg of the proposed California High-Speed Rail project will run between Bakersfield and Fresno or Fresno and Merced.

Steve Geil, CEO of the Economic Development Corp. serving Fresno County, said Wednesday that he supports the southern option because it appears to be less expensive and it would accommodate a roughly 100-mile test track the system requires.

Geil's endorsement is noteworthy for several reasons: His leadership role in Fresno's bid for a lucrative train maintenance facility that would be part of the system has put him in an adversarial relationship with Kern County, which also wants to be home to the facility. Also, Fresno benefits economically regardless of which initial route is selected. Supporting Kern also puts him at odds with Merced County, which wants the maintenance facility as well as a place on the first leg of the rail system.

At an estimated cost of $4.3 billion, building the system's first segment between Fresno and Bakersfield would likely benefit Kern in that it would provide local construction jobs. Also, no money has been identified so far to build a second segment of the $43 billion project.

"It is a huge economic boon to whichever segment gets built," said Teresa Hitchcock, an administrative analyst with Kern County.

Geil, who has announced plans to leave his post in favor of other opportunities in Fresno, said Central Valley communities need to put aside their differences and choose what's best for the rail project.

"I'm not looking at it from the benefit to Fresno, if you want to know the truth," he said, emphasizing that he does not speak for Fresno County.

David Spaur, president and CEO of the Merced County Economic Development Corp., said he doesn't buy that.

"There must be some strategy," he said. "If the decision is north or south of Fresno, Fresno wins either way. Why would they align? They don't have to."

In fact, Spaur said, a Merced County supervisor is trying to win the first-leg endorsement of Henry Perea, a Fresno County supervisor who has been instrumental in organizing his county's push for the maintenance facility. Perea could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

Spaur agreed that the test track location could be an important consideration for the California High-Speed Rail Authority's vote Dec. 2 on which leg to build first. Although the Fresno-to-Merced link may be shorter, he said it could also accommodate the test track.

A spokeswoman for the rail authority was unable to provide estimated lengths and costs of the two proposed segments. She also said that although the test track will be a factor, it won't be a primary one.

"The main decision point for (the) first segment to be construction has little to do with the best location for the test track and more to do with the best place to start the core of the system, to ensure successful completion of the WHOLE system," she wrote in an e-mail Wednesday.

Richard Chapman, a member of the Kern County team trying to realize maximum local benefits from the rail project, said he was glad to have Geil's support.

"Sometimes you make strange bedfellows, right?" asked Chapman, president and CEO of the Kern Economic Development Corp. "It's good. We're just trying to get more people (to be) part of the coalition."