Opinion: [Santa Clara County] VTA clearly needs new model of governance

 Three separate civil grand juries over the last 17 years have focused on the Valley Transportation Authority’s performance and governance. Their conclusions: VTA underperformed its peers in 2004 and continued to do so in 2009.

The most recent report of 2019 states that “performance has continued to deteriorate over the last decade, relative to both its own historical performance and that of its peers.” The Grand Jury concluded that reversing this trend requires structural change to VTA’s Board of Directors.

The composition of the VTA Board, currently city council members and county supervisors, is defined in state law, so any change requires action in Sacramento. Fortunately, Assemblymember Marc Berman has introduced AB 1091 to do just that.

Many fine, well-meaning council members and supervisors have come and gone from the VTA board over the agency’s 26-year history. The problem is that as local elected officials, their time and attention are pulled many ways. Continuity is also a problem: Half of the board members turned over at the start of this year. And many board members don’t have the necessary background to provide the high-quality oversight that VTA deserves. Past board members often report that their experience was like drinking from a fire hose and that they barely got their arms around these complicated, multi-billion dollar transportation issues as they reached the end of their service on the board, usually after just two years.

As council members who have served on the boards of various regional public agencies, we understand. VTA faces myriad complex issues, even more difficult than those confronting other regional agencies and transit systems around the United States and the globe.

Fixing VTA will require a board of individuals who are able to focus their full time and attention on it and who bring expertise to the table, residents with “expertise, experience, or knowledge relative to transportation, infrastructure or project management, accounting or finance, and executive management” as proposed in AB 1091. The legislation also proposes to maintain geographic representation across the county, giving city and county elected officials the ability to appoint board members.

Effective transportation is a competitive cornerstone for Silicon Valley, and many other metro areas have built effective transit and congestion management systems while we have fallen behind. Given three Grand Jury reports over 17 years and continued declining performance, it is clear that we urgently need a new model for VTA governance.

VTA requires a focused, experienced Board of Directors that can effectively negotiate for and deliver critical and fair funding for projects across our region. We all are living with the results of Santa Clara County being short-changed in the allocation of transportation dollars that don’t reflect Silicon Valley’s economic impacts and population

The VTA Board must be willing to re-examine the organization from top to bottom.  We know that acknowledging VTA’s shortcomings and embracing change can be difficult, but we hope that the current board and our other representatives in Sacramento will recognize that change must begin at the top and join us in supporting AB 1091.

San Jose Mercury News
Teresa O’Neill is a former Santa Clara City councilwoman who served as chair of the VTA Board. John McAlister is a former Mountain View mayor who served on the VTA Board and chaired its Ad Hoc Board Enhancement Committee. Rod Sinks is a former Cupertino mayor who served as first chair of the VTA SR85 Policy Advisory Board.
March26, 2021