Bartlett & Peeples for AC Transit Board

AC Transit Board Ward 1: Yelda Bartlett

AC Transit needs better leadership. As at many other transit agencies, costs continue to increase faster than ridership or other measures of 'productivity.' That is unsustainable -- we can't expect to just keep raising new revenues indefinitely. Yelda Bartlett is the challenger for the AC Transit Ward 1 seat. Ms. Bartlett is analytical and appears to understand that the agency needs BOTH to become more efficient AND to raise new revenues. While she may be a bit idealistic about how much impact she could really have (many of AC's problems are structural) and need some education (she's a bit more focused on clean fuel buses than I think is important), she's had some effective experience on commissions in Berkeley, she's a lawyer, and she'll bring good skills and energy to bear.

It took a bit for me to come to this conclusion: I've known the incumbent, Joe Wallace, for over a decade. He's a passionate voice for North Richmond and low-income riders in general. He did great work 10+ years ago to get a new line for his neighborhood. But he hasn't been a very effective leader on the Board and his only campaign is word-of-mouth.

So far as I can tell, many of the entities that endorsed Ms. Bartlett are the ones that actually interviewed both candidates. She has support of several relevant elected officials, one of the AC Transit unions (the planners & analysts), several Democratic clubs, plus the League of Conservation Voters of the East Bay, on whose Board I sit. Some other groups appear to have endorsed Mr. Wallace as the incumbent without interviewing both candidates. See a recent East Bay Express article for a decent summary of the race.

If Ms. Bartlett wins, one of her important first tasks will be to strengthen her relationship with her western Contra Costa consituents, so their voice continues to be well represented.

AC Transit Board At-Large: H.E. Christian (Chris) Peeples

I've also known Chris Peeples for over a decade and endorsed him before. He's been one of the at-large directors since 1997. A friend calls his opponent, Dollene Ross, "a well-meaning former bus driver with no resources to run for a seat that covers almost 1.5 million people." Chris is also very well-meaning and works very hard for AC Transit -- attending numerous meetings and getting to all of them on transit, in addition to his law practice. I'd like to see more success from AC Transit -- see my writeup on the Ward 1 race -- but I think Chris will do a better job than this challenger. I hope his health holds up, and I imagine that this will probably be his last term. See a recent East Bay Express article for a decent summary of the race.