Seasoned Morgan Hill councilman to work on community bussing
program for Morgan Hill and Gilroy and Caltrain improvements
Morgan Hill – Morgan Hill City Councilman Greg Sellers was appointed by out-going Mayor Dennis Kennedy on Wednesday to become the city’s next representative on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s board of directors.
The VTA’s responsibilities include bus and light-rail operations, congestion management, highway improvement projects and transportation planning for the county.
A two-year seat on the VTA’s policy-making board rotates among Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Milpitas.
Kennedy has represented South County on the VTA’s board since January, but will vacate his two-year post when he leaves office Dec. 6. Sellers will fill that spot on the VTA board until January 2008.
Sellers, who served on the VTA’s Policy Advisory Committee this year, said he is looking forward to shepherding major transportation initiatives for South County such as a proposed community bussing program for Gilroy and Morgan Hill and major Caltrain improvements that are being projected.
“I’ll be working to give South County a bigger voice,” Sellers said, adding he’d like to see Morgan Hill and Gilroy share a rotating seat on the board, separate from Milpitas’ turn. “We have distinctive needs in South County that aren’t parallel to what Milpitas needs.”
Kennedy asked the council for its indulgence in assigning Sellers to the VTA board shortly before he leaves office. Normally, such a decision would be considered by the full council in January. But he said significant VTA decisions are coming in December, including the appointment of the board’s next chair and vice chair. Dean Chu of Sunnyvale and County Supervisor Liz Kniss have been nominated for those positions, respectively.
Sellers also takes over Kennedy’s spot on the VTA’s Congestion Management Program and Planning Committee, which next meets Dec. 21.
There are 12 voting VTA directors, all of whom are elected officials appointed to serve by the jurisdictions they represent. Additionally, there are five directors who serve as alternates and two non-voting ex-officio board members who are Santa Clara County’s representatives to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@*************es.com.
