The San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) has a rare opening for the “Transit Expert” position on the nine-member board. The “Transit Expert” is appointed by the San Mateo County Board of supervisors but no qualified applicant in the county would know that there is an opening or even be able to apply.
Why? Because the only public acknowledgement of the opening to date is buried on the listing of county commission vacancies deep within the San Mateo County government’s web site. Only someone who was actively tracking this would even know where to look. But worse yet, unlike every other commission vacancy listed on the page, the SamTrans Transit Expert post contains no information, no link to detailed information describing what the position entails, what qualifications one may need or even whom to contact to make such an application. Regardless, the deadline to apply for the unusually classified Transit Expert seat on the SamTrans board is Dec. 6, 2010.
The SamTrans board oversees a $94-plus million annual operating budget and employees 765 people in the county bus, Caltrain and paratransit services for all of San Mateo County. The position pays approximately $400 a month and board members are eligible for health care benefits.
The current Transit Expert, Arthur L. Lloyd, has served in the same capacity for nearly 25 years, or somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 or 9 consecutive terms. Lloyd, 85, is a resident of Portola Valley and is a former Amtrak executive. By virtue of his position on SamTrans, Lloyd also serves as a director of the Peninsula Joint Powers Authority Board which directly oversees Caltrain.
The Transit Expert position has never had any defined criteria associated with it and the appointment has always been at the discretion of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. This is not the first time there has been controversy over Lloyd’s appointment. In fact, in the spring of 2005 SamTrans and the supervisors were forced to explain why Lloyd had remained in his Transit Expert seat a year after his term had officially expired.
At the time, officials from the Transit District and county officials stated that there was no impropriety in the extension of an expired term as Lloyd served at the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors under the rules governing board appointments. In other words, even an expired appointment could be maintained indefinitely. According to Lloyd himself at the time commenting in one local news report, he has never been asked to reapply or reinterview for his position. And it looks like the same thing is about to happen again.
But the fact remains that all of the seats on the SamTrans board are significant as the board is an important policymaking body that oversees a great deal of public money. It is strange that when terms expire for incumbent members that there is no review and no opportunity for new applicants to bid for the seats.
The “Transit Expert” seat is a particularly troubling classification as there has never been a defined meaning to that title, no criteria or any way for a would-be applicant to make an informed application in a competitive and public process.
It appears that the Board of Supervisors is again embracing an opaque and anti-democratic process to install a friend to an important county post. Whether the lack of a public and transparent process is a sin of omission or a sin of commission it really doesn’t matter. This is bad government and it needs to stop immediately.
Do you have a problem with the Supes or Lloyd? Lloyd is a real asset to the JPB as an Expert in rail transit. He serves as a "tutor" to The Bd and Caltrain staff seek his advice frequently. He also serves on the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee, Operation Life Saver Bd, California Rail Museum Bd, past Bd member of APTA. I doubt if an equally qualified person could be found in San Mateo Cnty.
ReplyDeleteThe column does not dispute Arthur Lloyd's credentials or his vast knowledge of transit, however the concern I have is that the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors appears to have not established a formalized process for the selection of a transit expert, nor to my knowledge have they defined the position. Since the seat is up for reappointment, I have not seen any form of advertising by the Board as of yet.
ReplyDelete