File #: 2021-0108   
Type: Appointment Status: Passed
File created: 3/5/2021 In control: Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
On agenda: 6/24/2021 Final action: 6/24/2021
Title: APPROVE nominees for membership on Metro's Gateway Cities, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, South Bay Cities and Westside Central Service Councils.
Sponsors: Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Commit
Indexes: Appointment, Arcadia, Burbank, Council Of Governments, Customer service, Gateway Cities (Southeast LA County) Service Council, Gateway Cities Council of Governments, Gender, Race and ethnicity, Ridership, San Fernando, San Fernando Valley Service Council, San Fernando Valley Service Sector, San Fernando Valley subregion, San Gabriel, San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, San Gabriel Valley Service Council, South Bay Cities subregion, South Bay Service Council, Strategic planning, Surveys
Attachments: 1. Attachment A - Listing of Qualifications 6-2021, 2. Attachment B - Nomination Letters 6-2021

Meeting_Body

OPERATIONS, SAFETY AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE

JUNE 17, 2021

 

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, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, South Bay Cities and Westside Central 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.

 

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 for the three-year term of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024. If approved by the Board, these appointments will serve a three-year term. 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 2019 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.                      Danny Hom, Gateway Cities Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: Gateway Cities Council of Governments

 

B.                      Wally Shidler, Gateway Cities Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: Gateway Cities Council of Governments

 

C.                      Justin D. Lawson, Gateway Cities Service Council, New Appointment

Nominated by: Gateway Cities Council of Governments

 

Should these nominees 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

Black

Native Amer

Other

GWC Council Region

65.5%

14.9%

9.1%

8.0%

0.2%

2.2%

GWC Region Ridership

66%

6%

3%%

21%

0%

4%

GWC Membership/No.

44.4% / 4

44.4% / 4

11% / 1

0% / 0

0% / 0

0% / 0

 

The gender makeup of the GWC Service Council will be as follows:

 

Gender

GWC Membership/No.

Los Angeles County

Male

77.7% / 7

49.7%

Female

22.2% / 2

50.3%

 

San Fernando Valley

 

D.                      Leslie Aguirre, San Fernando Valley Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

 

E.                      David Perry, San Fernando Valley Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: Los Angeles County Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger

 

F.                      Jess Talamantes, San Fernando Valley Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: City of Burbank

 

Should these nominees 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

Black

Native Amer

Other

SFV Council Region

41.0%

41.1%

11.2%

3.7%

0.1%

2.9%

SFV Region Ridership

63%

13%

9%

9%

1%

5%

SFV Membership/No.

44% / 4

44% / 4

0% / 0

11% / 1

0% / 0

0% / 0

 

The gender makeup of the SFV Service Council will be as follows:

 

Gender

SFV Membership/No.*

Los Angeles County

Male

55.5% / 5

49.7%

Female

44.4% / 4

50.3%

 

San Gabriel Valley

 

G.                      Roger Chandler, San Gabriel Valley Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: The City of Arcadia

 

H.                      David Diaz, San Gabriel Valley Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: Los Angeles County First District Supervisor Hilda Solis

 

I.                      Ben Wong, San Gabriel Valley Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments

 

Should these nominees be appointed, the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) Service Council membership will compare to the region and the region’s ridership as follows:

 

Race

Hispanic

White

Asian

Black

Native Amer

Other

SGV Council Region

49.90%

17.40%

27.2%

3.2%

0.2%

2.1%

SGV Region Ridership

67%

8%

13%

8%

1%

4%

SGV Membership/ No.

33% / 3

44% / 4

22% / 2

0% / 0

0% / 0

0% / 0

 

The gender makeup of the SGV Council will be as follows:

 

Gender

SGV Membership/No.

Los Angeles County

Male

88.8% / 8

49.7%

Female

22.2% / 1

50.3%

 

South Bay Cities

 

J.                      Rochelle Mackabee, South Bay Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: South Bay Council of Governments

 

K.                      Donald Szerlip, South Bay Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: South Bay Council of Governments

 

L.                      Richard Montgomery, South Bay Valley Service Council, New Appointment

Nominated by: South Bay Council of Governments

 

Should these nominees be appointed, the South Bay Cities (SBC) Service Council membership will compare to the region and the region’s ridership as follows:

 

Region Demographics

Hispanic

White

Asian

Black

Native Amer

Other

SBC Region

44.6%

21.6%

13%

17%

0.2%

3.7%

SBC Region Ridership

64%

5%

6%

22%

1%

3.7%

SBC Membership/No.

33% / 3

11% / 1

22% / 2

22% / 2

0% / 0

11% / 1

 

The gender makeup of the South Bay Cities Service Council will be is as follows:

 

Gender

SBC Membership/No.

Los Angeles County

Male

66.6% / 6

49.7%

Female

33.3% / 3

50.3%

 

Westside Central

 

M.                      Martha Eros, Westside Central Service Council, Re-Appointment

Nominated by: Westside Central Council of Governments

 

N.                      Elizabeth Medrano, Westside Central Service Council, New Appointment

Nominated by: Los Angeles County Second District Supervisor Holly Mitchell

 

Should these nominees be appointed, the Westside Central Cities (WSC) Service Council membership will compare to the region and the region’s ridership as follows:

 

% Region Total

Hispanic

White

Asian

Black

Native Amer

Other

WSC Council Region

42.8%

31.1%

13.3%

9.3%

0.2%

3.3%

WSC Region Ridership

66%

7%

7%

16%

1%

4%

WSC Membership/No.

37.5% / 3

12.5% / 1

12.5% / 1

37.5% / 3

0% / 0

0% / 0

 

The gender makeup of the Westside Central Cities Service Council will be as follows:

 

Gender

WSC Membership/No.

Los Angeles County

Male

62.5% / 5

49.7%

Female

37.5% / 3

50.3%

 

A member of the Westside Central Service Council resigned effective May 12, 2021, which created one (1) vacancy on this Council. The appointing authority is currently recruiting potential replacement candidates and will submit their nomination for approval in the near future.

 

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.

 

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 less diverse representation of their respective service areas.

 

Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS

 

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 - Nominees Listing of Qualifications

Attachment B - Nomination Letters

 

Prepared_by

Prepared by: Conan Cheung, Sr. Executive Officer, Service Development, Scheduling

and Analysis, (213) 418-3034

Dolores Ramos, Transportation Planning Manager, Regional Service Councils, (213) 598-9715

 

Reviewed_By

Reviewed by: James T. Gallagher, Chief Operations Officer, (213) 418-3108