Consolidating support for SB 1031 has so far been elusive
The Wiener/Wahab transit relief and consolidation bill has been met with trepidation by Bay Area regional governments; San Leandro names an interim city manager, but the current one has yet to resign
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
STATE SENATE
—ROCKY ROADS—A bill co-authored by Hayward state Sen. Aisha Wahab and San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener to bring $750 million a year in new revenues to struggling Bay Area transit agencies, receives a hearing at this afternoon’s State Senate Transportation Committee in Sacramento.
—Senate Bill 1031 also seeks to study potential consolidation of the Bay Area’s unwieldy 27 transit agencies.
—If supported by two-thirds of the legislature and signed by the governor, voters in the nine-county Bay Area will decide the legislation’s fate at the ballot box in 2026.
—However, the bill’s early ride through regional government and Bay Area transit agencies has been bumpy.
—Some self-interested counties have raised questions about SB 1031 and, although transit agencies sorely need new revenue streams, most have been extremely wary of what the consolidation component of the bill will mean for their respective futures.
—However, without these groups, SB 1031 could be dead on arrival. This was a sentiment expressed often last week during a joint meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), in addition to a meeting of the BART Board of Directors.
—James Spering, who represents Solano County on MTC, said he believes the regional body has strong leverage over the bill’s fate. “If we oppose this bill, or we say we’re not going to support it, this bill isn’t going anywhere,” he said.
—Union City Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernacci, also a MTC member, told the group, “There’s going to be plenty of opportunity for us to tweak it as we go along, and even kill it, if we decide that it’s just not acceptable to us.” She added, “If we don’t do anything, we won’t get anything,” referring to the potential windfall of new revenues.
—Despite the sentiment, there also appears to be an earnest effort by most Bay Area officials involved in shaping SB 1031 to work toward a solution with the bill’s authors.
—Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza, MTC’s chair, urged his colleagues halt their posturing and work with Sacramento. He warned, “We don’t want to be holding on from the bumper.”
—Local control of future dollars from SB 1031 has become a sticking point for many counties. Large counties such as Santa Clara worry this will mean putting more into the pot than they will get back.
—San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, another MTC member, questioned whether Santa Clara County voters will support a tax that doesn’t fully meet the current needs for transit and road improvement, while including a transfer of transit resources to other areas of the county.
—SB 1031 includes a proposal to ensure that counties receive up to 70 percent of what they put in returns to source.
—If approved by the Legislature and signed into law this year, an independent study for consolidation of the Bay Area’s transit agency would begin in January 2025, under the current version of SB 1031.
—Consolidation, if recommended, would not necessarily mean tearing down governing boards or creating a unified board, but possibly the combining or sharing of staffs, and creating any umbrella organization for the region.
—Labor is also reticent about consolidation for obvious reasons: transit workforces could be reduced, although the authors of the bill contend any job loss would likely come from upper management positions.
—It’s clear though that many transit operators in many Bay Area cities and counties suffer from redundant services.
—Tiny Solano County, for example, has five transit operators. Some cities, such as Union City, have two bus operators that essentially serve riders with the same routes.
—The consolidation portion of SB 1031 was originally a separate bill introduced by Wahab, and later paired with Wiener’s funding bill.
—Many Bay Area transit agencies have avoided taking a stance or are leaning toward opposing SB 1031, said Rebecca Saltzman, a BART board director.
—However, BART leaders appear to be allies. AC Transit is expected to also voice support for SB 1031.
—Last week, Saltzman urged her colleagues to take the lead on helping craft SB 1031, absent any other local transit agencies.
—“If there were someone else leaning on it, maybe we could step back and let them do it, but without any other transit agency saying, ‘We will support this if you make these amendments,’ we kind of have to be the ones.”
—Like the opinions of several members of MTC and ABAG, Saltzman reiterated that any hope for SB 1031 and new revenues for transit agencies will require a buy-in from all parties.
—“If we can’t get the majority of transit agencies to support this bill,” Saltzman said. “We’re not going to have a measure.”
CITY NEWS
SAN LEANDRO
—INTERIM NAMED—San Leandro City Manager Fran Robustelli has not yet accepted a new job in Florida. But the San Leandro City Council wasted no time naming her interim replacement on Monday night.
—In an unusual move, the city council named Assistant City Manager Janelle Cameron as interim city manager, pending Robustelli’s resignation within the next 30 days.
—The vote was 5-1, with Councimember Fred Simon voting no. Councilmember Bryan Azevedo was absent.
—Last week, the St. Pete Beach (Fla.) City Commission voted, 3-2, to begin negotiations with Robustelli to become their next city manager.
—WASN’T LOOKING FOR NEW JOB— San Leandro City Manager Fran Robustelli told her potential new employers that she was not looking to the leave the East Bay.
—During her interview last week with the St. Pete Beach City Commission (that’s what they call their city council), Robustelli said a job recruiter reached out to her.
—Robustelli said she gets job brochures all the time, but not often from cities on the east coast. Nevertheless, she was intrigued by the position in St. Pete Beach, which is on the Gulf Coast near Tampa.
—Robustelli told the city commission that she felt the opportunity might be fate calling her back to her native state. She was born in Lakeland, Fla., and attended the University of South Florida.
ELECTION 2024
NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION
—MISNOMER—Early this year, Hayward Councilmember Daniel Goldstein formed a committee for his November campaign and named it “Re-Elect Daniel Goldstein to Hayward City Council.”
—The problem is Goldstein was not elected to the seat. He was appointed in January 2023 to serve the last two years of Mark Salinas’ council term after being elected mayor in November 2022.
—Asserting that you’re seeking re-election more than suggests that you were elected to the seat. It also gives him an unfair advantage of full incumbency.
—Goldstein has bounced around Hayward politics over the years with little success at ballot box until his appointment last year.
—In 2016, Goldstein missed out on two at-large seats on the Hayward school board. In 2022, he finished third for two open at-large seats on the Hayward City Council.
—INTENT FILING—Deena Kaplanis filed paperwork to run for the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District’s Board of Education. Kaplanis was narrowly edged out of one of three at-large seats in 2022… Charles Jones filed a statement of intent to run for the Pleasanton school board’s Area 4.