SamTrans board looks for new public member SamTrans board looks for new public member (December 21, 2005)

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

For the first time, SamTrans is engaged in a public process to invite San Mateo County residents to apply for a seat on the nine-member board that operates San Mateo County's bus system.

Interested residents have until 5 p.m. Friday, December 30, to apply for the seat being vacated by longtime San Mateo County supervisor and transit leader Mike Nevin, who is leaving the board to concentrate on his race for the state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jackie Speier.

Under a new appointment policy adopted by the SamTrans board last February, the new member must live in either the southern or central region of the county. The applicant must not have held elective public office for the last 12 months.

Applicants will be interviewed by a nominating committee by January 29, according to Jonah Weinberg, the new public information officer for the county's three transit agencies. The appointment will be made in public at the SamTrans February meeting. Under the new policy, the vacancies have been advertised in three newspapers.

The new policy emerged from a major political flap last year when Supervisor Nevin left the Board of Supervisors after 12 years because of term limits.

His departure meant he lost his seat on the SamTrans board, as well as on the three-county board that runs Caltrain, and on boards of three other regional transportation agencies.

He needed to stay active in transportation to keep up his profile for his 2006 race for the state Senate against two strong competitors: San Francisco Assemblyman Leland Yee, and former Assemblyman Lou Papan.

The political storm arose when the SamTrans board unanimously voted to name Mr. Nevin as its new public member. Longtime public member Al Teglia, also of Daly City, stepped down; there was no public announcement of the vacancy.

Charges of cronyism intensified when the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to appoint freshman supervisor Adrienne Tissier, also of Daly City, to represent the Board of Supervisors on the SamTrans board. The SamTrans board thus continued to have four representatives from Daly City.

The new policy, adopted February 5, emphasizes diversity on the board, and assures that no one can move straight from elective office to the SamTrans board as a public member.

Noting that three of the nine members of the SamTrans board are from Daly City, former Menlo Park councilman Steve Schmidt said: "It's stacked, and it's going to continue to be stacked."

The three from Daly City are Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, City Councilman Mike Guingona, and public member Shirley Harris.

Mr. Schmidt, who served on the SamTrans and Caltrain boards for close to five years when he was on the Menlo Park City Council, said he will apply for the public member position on the SamTrans board.

The SamTrans board includes three members appointed by the Board of Supervisors; three city council members representing north, central and south county; and three public members, including one from the Coastside, appointed by the six other members.
Member resigns

The recent resignation of John Barbour, the public member from the Coastside, has opened up another vacancy on the SamTrans board.

The new representative from the Coastside will be chosen according to the board's new policy. The deadline for applications is Friday, January 20, at 5 p.m.
INFORMATION @inotext:Applications for appointment to the SamTrans board seat may be downloaded from samtrans.com. They should be returned by 5 p.m. Friday, December 30, to Jennifer Hardie, San Mateo County Transit District, P.O. Box 3006, San Carlos, CA 94070. For information, call Ms. Hardie at 508-6200.

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