Dear friends and neighbors, Please see the attached article for an update on some comments that were made last week at the public hearing. During the hearing, former Bakersfield City Councilmember, Terry Maxwell said that it was a mistake for the City of Bakersfield to pursue a high-speed rail station at F Street. In the words of Maxwell "Had [the council] known the details of what it was going to take to put it where it is on [Highway 204] and F, I think we all would have said no. As I have looked at this, I have come to the conclusion that the only place to put this high-speed rail station is on Truxtun Avenue. It’s the only thing that makes sense for the revitalization of downtown,” Maxwell said. “The general public of Bakersfield, I think, is against this idea of putting a station at F and Golden State, especially once they know the details.” Read Maxwell's comments in The Bakersfield Californian's recent article "New HSR rail route would follow 204, miss heart of downtown" http://www.bakersfield.com/news/new-hsr-route-would-follow-miss-heart-of-downtown/article_824ed502-e5e2-11e7-b4d8-db83a394d17d.html For more information on the F Street and Truxtun Avenue high-speed rail stations, please visit www.hsr.ca.gov Please take a brief minute to send a short email expressing your preference for a high-speed rail station at Truxtun Avenue next to Amtrak. Comments must be received by January 16th and can be sent to: Fresno_Bakersfield@hsr.ca.gov Please share the petition with your friends and family. Make sure your neighbors understand why this important for our future, and make sure that they add their voice to the dialogue so that the City Council and the High-Speed Rail Authority know that we don't approve of a Westchester train station at F Street and Golden State Avenue. Happy holidays, Citizens for Downtown Bakersfield