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Updated: VTA changes board seats

May 9, 2008
By Marilyn Dubil

Recent changes to Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's board member appointments are aimed to provide more knowledge and experience to represent small cities like Morgan Hill and Gilroy.

The idea of changing the appointment process came out of a management audit conducted last year, said Morgan Hill Councilman and current VTA board member Greg Sellers.

After the audit, Sellers took the lead to make the changes, most of which were approved May 1.

There are 12 voting seats on the VTA's board of directors, spread out over five groups. San Jose, the biggest city in Santa Clara County, is a group with five seats. The smaller cities are split up into three groups. Group Two, made up of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, has three votes. Group Three, or Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos and Saratoga, and Group Four, or Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Milpitas, have one vote per group. Group Five is made up of two county officials, who get one vote each.

Directors are appointed by their city's mayor and confirmed by their city council, and rotate on a city-by-city basis every two years - in the smaller cities, that is.

The county and San Jose groups don't rotate because there's no group with competing or conflicting interests to rotate with.

The VTA has a $363 million annual budget to provide bus service, light rail and other public transportation to Santa Clara County.

Sellers, who's serving his second year on the VTA board, said the current system doesn't serve the smaller cities well. Not only do smaller cities lack the infrastructure that San Jose and Santa Clara County have - staff to review documents, for instance - but without longer-serving members, their representation on the board is at a serious handicap.

County Supervisor Don Gage, former mayor of Gilroy, agreed.

"It's a handicap to (the board's) progress," he said. "Newer members don't understand the history of things and tend to ask a lot of questions. You have to educate them, the meetings are longer. We get the business done, but it's not always pleasant."

The board voted May 1 to change appointment procedures to allow for, and encourage, longer-serving members to represent the smaller cities. The VTA board voted to eliminate rotating, encouraging re-appointments and to include a process that gives weight to candidates having knowledge and experience in transportation. These changes will likely take effect when appointments are made in January 2009, Sellers said.

One change that the board couldn't come to agreement on was regrouping. Sellers is for grouping into 'areas of interest,' which would serve Morgan Hill well.

"South County is, by any measure, a distinct area of interest," Sellers said.

Changes approved by Valley Transportation Authority's Board of Directors:

1. Eliminate the concept of city groupings selecting their representatives through a rotation process. Each of the city groups will select their representative to serve as a director.

2. VTA directors will serve two-year terms. However, the appointing authorities will be encouraged to reappoint representatives to consecutive terms

3. Include a process for selecting VTA directors within the city groupings. Directors should have the required experience and qualifications in transportation.

On August 7 , VTA Board of Directors will consider reconfiguring the small city groupings to include a new group comprised of Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Milpitas, and move Los Altos Hills to the West Valley City Group.

Marilyn Dubil
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or send her an email.