Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
JULY 20, 2023
Subject
SUBJECT: MEMBERSHIP ON METRO’S REGIONAL SERVICE COUNCILS
Action
ACTION: APPROVE NOMINATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
APPROVE nominees for membership on Metro’s Gateway Cities and San Fernando Valley Service Councils.
Issue
ISSUE
Each Metro Service Council (MSC) is comprised of nine Representatives that serve terms of three years; terms are staggered so that the terms of three of each Council’s nine members expire annually on June 30. Incumbent Representatives can serve additional terms if re-nominated by the nominating authority and confirmed by the Metro Board.
The Gateway Cities and San Fernando Valley Service Councils have vacancies created by Councilmembers who recently resigned or whose seats were not filled at the end of their terms.
Background
BACKGROUND
Metro Service Councils were created in 2002 as community-based bodies tasked with improving bus service and promoting service coordination with municipal and local transit providers. The MSC bylaws specify that Representatives should live in, work in, or represent the region; have a basic working knowledge of public transit service within their region, and an understanding of passenger transit needs. To do so, each Representative is expected to ride at least one transit service per month.
The MSC are responsible for convening public hearings to receive community input on proposed service modifications and rendering decisions on proposed bus route changes considering staff’s recommendations and public comments. All route and major service changes that are approved by the MSC will be brought to the Metro Board of Directors as an information item. Should the Metro Board decide to move an MSC-approved service change to an Action Item, the MSC will be notified of this change prior to the next Service Council monthly meeting.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The individuals listed below have been nominated to serve by the Councils’ appointing authorities. If approved by the Board, these appointments will serve for the remainder of the three-year terms specified below. A brief listing of qualifications for the new nominees and the nomination letters from the nominating authorities are provided in Attachments A and B.
For your reference, the 2021 American Community Survey demographics and 2019 Metro Ridership Survey demographics for each region are compared to the membership, should these nominees be appointed, for each region.
Gateway Cities
A. Jose Muñoz Guevara, New Appointment
Nominated by: Gateway Cities Council of Governments
Term: July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2025
Should this nominee be appointed, the Gateway Cities (GWC) Service Council membership will compare to the region and the region’s ridership as follows:
|
Region Demographics |
Hispanic |
White |
Asian & PI |
Black |
Native Amer |
Other |
|
GWC Council Region |
65.6% |
14.6% |
9.4% |
7.9% |
0.2% |
2.2% |
|
GWC Region Ridership |
66% |
6% |
3%% |
21% |
0% |
4% |
|
GWC Membership/No. |
77.7% / 7 |
11.1% / 1 |
0% / 0 |
0% / 0 |
0% / 0 |
11% / 1 |
The gender makeup of the GWC Service Council will be as follows:
|
Gender |
GWC Membership/No. |
Los Angeles County |
|
Male |
55.5% / 5 |
49.7% |
|
Female |
44.4% / 4 |
50.3% |
San Fernando Valley
B. Antoinette Scully, New Appointment
Nominated by: Third District Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath
Term: July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2025
Should this nominee be appointed, the San Fernando Valley (SFV) Service Council membership will compare to the region and the region’s ridership as follows:
|
Region Demographics |
Hispanic |
White |
Asian & PI |
Black |
Native Amer |
Other |
|
SFV Council Region |
41.3% |
40.1% |
11.0% |
3.7% |
0.1% |
3.7% |
|
SFV Region Ridership |
63% |
13% |
9% |
9% |
1% |
5% |
|
SFV Membership/No.* |
44.4% / 4 |
37.5% / 3 |
0% / 0 |
22.2% / 2 |
0% / 0 |
0% / 0 |
The gender makeup of the SFV Service Council with the above listed nominee will be as follows:
|
Gender |
SFV Membership/No.* |
Los Angeles County |
|
Male |
66.6% / 6 |
49.7% |
|
Female |
33.3% / 3 |
50.3% |
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
Maintaining the full complement of representatives on each Service Council to represent each service area is important. As each representative is to be a regular user of public transit, and each Council is composed of people from diverse areas and backgrounds, this enables each Council to better understand the needs of transit consumers including the need for safe operation of transit service and safe location of bus stops.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
Metro seeks to appoint Service Council members that represent the diverse needs and priorities reflective of the demographics of each respective region. To encourage nominating authorities to nominate individuals that will closely reflect the region and its ridership, staff shares regional ridership demographics, regional resident demographics and Service Council membership race/ethnicity and gender demographics with each request for a nomination to the Service Councils. This practice has resulted in the Service Councils becoming much more diverse in terms of both race/ethnicity and gender over the last several years. However, approximately half of LA County residents and Metro riders are women; there is work to be done to achieve gender equity on some of the Service Councils. Staff will continue to share demographic information and encourage nominating authorities to give weight to gender equity when considering individuals for nomination.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Approval of this recommendation supports the following Metro Strategic Plan Goal: 30 Enhance communities and lives through mobility and access to opportunity.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The alternative to approving these appointments would be for these nominees to not be approved for appointment. To do so would result in reduced effectiveness of the Service Councils, as it would increase the difficulty of obtaining the quorum necessary to allow the Service Councils to formulate and submit their recommendations to the Board. It would also result in the Service Councils having a less diverse representation of their respective service areas.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Two vacant seats on the Westside Central Service Council remain. Staff will continue to work with the nominating authorities to fill the outstanding vacancies.
Staff will continue to monitor the major contributors to the quality of bus service from the customer’s perspective, and share that information with the Service Councils for use in their work to plan and to implement and improve bus service in their areas and the customer experience using our bus service.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - New Appointee Biography Qualifications
Attachment B - Appointing Authority Nomination Letters
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Dolores Ramos, Senior Manager, Regional Service Councils, (213) 922-1210
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Conan Cheung, Chief Operations Officer, (213) 418-3034
