• Press Release ******************************

                                                                     Friday, 12/14/07

 

Balance on the Line at Tonight's Vote

Oversight of Measure A Tax at Stake  

At the Cities Selection Committee meeting tonight in Colma, San Mateo County's 20 mayors will vote for representatives to three of the county's 21 transportation board seats. At stake is growing control of the boards by a handful of cities.  

One city in particular, San Mateo, stands to control five seats (23%) with current and former councilmembers. This could rise to six seats (28%) with an additional upcoming appointment at the discretion of the SamTrans Chair. Just four cities (San Mateo, Redwood City, Daly City, and Burlingame) could dominate county representation on the boards with 15 of the 21 seats (71%).  

Fergusson (Menlo Park) is challenging incumbent Lee (San Mateo) for the Cities-At-Large seat on the Transportation Authority, which oversees expenditure of the Measure A half-cent sales tax. "This is not what voters envisioned when they passed Measure A to pay for better transportation. One city should not dominate expenditure decisions," said Fergusson. "This is true even when the board members are competent, longstanding public servants, as in this case," she added.  

Vreeland (Pacifica) faces off against Richardson (Brisbane) for the North County Cities seat on the Transportation Authority, and Carole Groom (San Mateo) is running unopposed for the Central Cities seat on SamTrans.  

The meeting is at the Colma fire station; 50 Reiner St, Colma. The meeting is open to the public and starts at 6pm.  

Attachment: Distribution of San Mateo County Board Seats (pdf chart).    

Fergusson can be reached at (650) 207-9334.