Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
JULY 20, 2023
Subject
SUBJECT: CITIZENS’ ADVISORY COUNCIL UPDATE
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE Citizens’ Advisory Council (CAC) Update.
Issue
ISSUE
The Metro Board expressed interest in receiving regular updates from the Citizens’ Advisory Council (CAC) . This receive and file report serves as an update on CAC activities for FY23.
Background
BACKGROUND
On May 19, 1992, the governor signed AB 152 (Katz) into law. This act merged the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the Southern California Rapid Transit District to create the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).
As part of AB 152, Metro was to “appoint no later than July 1, 1977, a citizens’ advisory committee, which membership shall reflect a broad spectrum of interests and all geographic areas of the county. Members of the staff of the commission, as determined by the commission, shall be available to aid the citizens’ advisory committee in its work.”
Per the bylaws adopted by the CAC, the group is to consult, obtain, and collect public input on matters of interest and concern to the community and will communicate the CAC’s recommendations with respect to such issues to Metro. Issues may also be assigned to the CAC by Metro for its review, comment, and recommendation.
The CAC meets in General Assembly once per month on the Wednesday evening prior to the Metro Board of Directors Meeting. The CAC’s elected officers meet as an Executive Committee the first Friday of each month to lead the overall coordination, administration, and future planning for the Council. The Council and its subcommittees are subject to Brown Act policies and regulations.
In recent years, the CAC Membership has preferred to refer to themselves as the “Community” Advisory Council (instead of their usage of the word, “Citizens”) because several of the CAC Members expressing concerns about the Council’s day-to-day usage of the word, “Citizens.” A few of the Council Members felt the Council’s formal title with the word, “Citizens” was exclusionary to many people in the larger community and exclusionary to many of the Metro Riders. The Council determined that for their daily reference, they preferred being referenced as the “Community Advisory Council” in their efforts to set a tone of greater inclusivity. The official legal name of the Council as “Citizens’ Advisory Council” remains in the State code and in their bylaw’s guidance.
The CAC is currently comprised of a total of 22 active/voting Members. CAC Members are directly appointed by Metro Board Directors and serve at the pleasure of their appointing Director.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
During the past fiscal year (FY23), the CAC General Assembly Convened twelve times to discuss timely matters related to Metro business directly with Senior Leadership and key agency staff working on critical programs, projects, operations, and agency initiatives. The Executive Committee convened eight times to lead the overall coordination, future planning/visioning, securing of CAC appointments/re-appointments, and overall administration of the Council.
The CAC drafted a letter that outlined the Members’ specific concerns and proposals to reduce negative impacts to riders regarding Metro’s originally proposed fare changes. CAC Chair Hank Fung and the Council shared their Draft Letter of Opinion with staff working on the initiative as well as with the CEO to further broaden awareness for how the CAC viewed the initial proposal. Chair Fung is pleased to witness some of the CAC’s key areas of concern expressed in their letter as largely resolved by Metro.
The Council has also been a consistent voice of concern regarding public safety matters on Metro, providing direct feedback to agency staff regarding end-of-line and homeless concerns, as well as hearing timely updates on the Metro Ambassador Program. The CAC has met with Metro Senior Leadership from each of these units to hear their latest updates, ask key questions, share their concerns, keen observations and provide input.
The Council also recently heard updates from Metro’s Office of Management and Budget twice during FY23 as staff worked to promote their new online budgeting tool and work towards developing their FY24 budget. The Council asked key questions and provided their input with staff working on these matters.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
CAC Members represent diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, diverse viewpoints, varied perspectives, and priorities. Collectively, the Members highlight the demographics and realities facing our Metro riders and customers from across the County. Over recent years, the CAC has increasingly become more diverse in terms of race/ethnicity and gender and is comprised of a number of Members that utilize Metro services, Metro- funded services (such as Access Services, local municipal operators’ services), and/or regularly ride our transit system . Additionally, some of the CAC Members are differently-abled. However, since approximately half of LA County residents and Metro riders are women, the Council could continue to promote and recommend an increase in female representation on this Council to further increase greater equity of representation. At present, there are 6 women out of 22 total Members serving on the CAC, with two of the women appointed to the CAC in recent weeks.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Metro staff will continue to support the CAC and keep the Metro Board apprised of their activities with a quarterly update.
Prepared_By
Prepared by: Danielle Valentino, Manager, Community Relations, (213) 922-1249
Yvette Rapose, Deputy Chief Customer Experience, (213) 418-3154
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Jennifer Vides, Chief Customer Experience Officer, (213) 922-4060
