the passage of Measure G in 2024, an LA County charter reform action that eventually grows the Board of Supervisors to nine<\/a>. The committee discussed whether to allow all nine on the LA Metro board but seemed to shy away from that option.<\/p>\nAny new board structure, including what was approved Thursday, must be sanctioned by the California Legislature. Most likely that will take legislation.<\/p>\n
The addition of a Metro rider was supported by surveys and discussions among focus groups conducted by the transit agency\u2019s staff during February and March, Hahn emphasized. Her motion was co-sponsored by other members, including Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval.<\/p>\n
It also has the support of many individual riders and rider support groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople closest to the problems are closest to the solutions. Transit riders, especially bus riders, who feel the impact of a late bus on their everyday lives, have an invaluable perspective on mobility in Los Angeles,\u201d said Alfonso Directo Jr., advocacy director for ACT-LA.<\/p>\n
Other transit agencies throughout the United States have transit riders serving on their board of directors, helping make decisions that can come from their own lived experience riding mass transit.<\/p>\n
Eli Lipmen, executive director of Move LA, mentioned two examples.<\/p>\n
Rep. Lateefah Simon, a Democrat from the East Bay, started out as a transit rider and accessibility advocate on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board before being elected to Congress. Also, the founder of Ride New Orleans, Fred Neal, Jr., actually chaired the New Orleans RTA board and served for eight years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see great potential in bringing in the experience of riders,\u201d said Danny Hom, of Cerritos, a member of the Metro Gateway Cities Service Council.<\/p>\n
Riley O\u2019Brien, with the Westside Cities Council of Governments, fully endorsed adding transit riders to the LA Metro board. \u201cI urge you to approve a dedicated rider seat with full voting power,\u201d he testified by the board.<\/p>\n
Former board member and mayor of Santa Monica, Pam O\u2019Connor, said the board did have a transit rider on the board back in 2001. \u201cIt is about understanding the transit user\u2019s experience and integrating that into the system,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hahn, who continues to ride Metro J Line rapid bus from the South Bay to Union Station and back for monthly Metro meetings, made a pledge to ride the system more often. She said the experiences make her a better director.<\/p>\n
Others at the Metro board meeting, including Ernesto Medrano, executive secretary of the Los Angeles\/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, wanted to see a labor representative on the board.<\/p>\n
That concept part of a motion offered by L.A. County Supervisor and Metro board member Lindsey Horvath, which did not get support Thursday.\u00a0 Horvath\u2019s failed motion also sought to have the future county-elected CEO automatically seated on the LA Metro Board.<\/p>\n
The labor seat will be studied by the Ad Hoc Committee as a possible later addition. Also, the second half of Hahn\u2019s motion, to add a representative from one of the smaller cities in the county, was removed by Hahn from her own motion. Instead, that, too will be studied by the committee.<\/p>\n
Besides the two motions, the board makeup will continue to change. Richardson attended his first board meeting Thursday, replacing Dutra.<\/p>\n
Ara Najarian, a Glendale City Councilmember who represented the San Fernando Valley and North County cities, will no longer be on the board. He was a member from 2006 to 2026.<\/p>\n
Najarian and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who is leaving the Board of Supervisors in December and is running for Congress, also will need to be replaced on the LA Metro Board.<\/p>\n
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