MTC Mourns Passing, Toasts Life of Former Chair Jon Rubin

Sui generis Bay Area filmmaker, producer, policy developer, political strategist, public relations consultant, nonprofit leader, world traveler, raconteur, longtime MTC Commissioner, former Commission Chair and full-time bon vivant Jon Rubin died Sunday at his San Francisco home. He was 75. 

Mr. Rubin served for 16 years as the San Francisco Mayor's appointee to the Commission, during which he regularly infused official functions with self-deprecating humor and other drollery, and delighted his fellow commissioners with wry yet insightful asides. Originally named to the position in 1995 by then-Mayor Frank Jordan, Mr. Rubin's keen intelligence, deep understanding of transportation issues and mastery of diplomatic arts led to successive reappointment by mayors Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom and Ed Lee. 

Mr. Rubin served for many years as Chair of MTC's Legislation Committee, chaired the inter-agency Joint Policy Committee that evolved into today's Bay Area Regional Collaborative, served on the Design Task Force for the Bay Bridge East Span and the Transbay Terminal Design Panel for what is now known as the Salesforce Transit Center, and helped guide the BART extension to San Francisco International Airport as well as defuse tensions among Peninsula communities during the debates about alignment for future High Speed Rail service. Mr. Rubin's Commission colleagues elected him to serve as MTC Chair from 2005 to 2007.

A resolution of appreciation adopted by the Commission upon his 2011 retirement described him as a "consummate regionalist who put the Bay Area's needs above parochial interests" and noted that Mr. Rubin may be best remembered for his campaign to drop the word "transponder" from the FasTrak™ program lexicon in favor of the more customer-friendly term “toll tag” — a move born of his crusade for plain speaking and transparency in government.

Before joining MTC, Mr. Rubin served from 1978 to 1980 as political director for the California Democratic Party and from 1988 to 1991 as Chief of Staff for state Senator Quentin Kopp, who chaired the Senate Transportation Committee at the time. San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan in 1992 appointed Mr. Rubin to represent San Francisco on the Caltrain board of directors. 

After his retirement from MTC, Mr. Rubin continued his work as a documentary filmmaker and as CEO of the Peninsula Coalition, a nonprofit policy organization comprised of business, labor and civic leaders that he founded in 2004. Among the documentaries produced and directed by Mr. Rubin is LifeSpan: the 25-year Story of the New Bay Bridge. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee appointed Mr. Rubin to the San Francisco Film Commission in 2011.  Mr. Rubin was the recipient of the American Association of Political Consultants' Pollie award for excellence in local public information campaigns, a Crystal Award of Excellence from the Communicator Awards international design competition, and a Silver Medallion for video creation and production from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations. 

Mr. Rubin is survived by his wife, Diane Kefauver, and his sons Ben and Dave.