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Executive Director's Report

Report to the Commission: April 23, 2025

Personnel

Retirements

  • Karin Betts – Karin started with MTC in January 2005 as an Assistant PIO Analyst. Her last day with MTC is April 30 as a Senior PIO Analyst in the Legislation and Public Affairs section.
  • Sui Tan – Sui started in February 2002 as an Associate Planner/Analyst. His last day with MTC is April 23 as a Senior Planner/Analyst in the Funding Policy and Programs section. 

Departures

  • Allison Brooks – Allison started with MTC in April 2016 as the BARC Director. Her last day with MTC was April 22 as the Assistant Director in the Bay Area Regional Collaborative section.

Promotions & New Appointments

  • Suzanne Childress – Suzanne started on March 31 as a Principal Modeler – Travel Model Development in the Regional Planning Program section.
  • Jack McDowell – Jack started on March 31 as a Transit Operating Allocations Coordinator in the Funding Policy and Programs section.
  • Ursula Becker – Ursula started on March 31 as an Executive Assistant II in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
  • Darin Ranelletti – Darin started on April 14 as an Assistant Director, Housing and Local Planning, in the Regional Planning Program section.
  • Drew Nichols – Drew started on April 14 as the Executive Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director.
  • Mahala Easter-Houston – Mahala started on April 14 as the Front Desk Administrator in the Procurement, Risk and Property Management section.
  • Christy Baker – Christy started on April 14 as an Executive Assistant II in the Regional Network Management and Clipper section.
  • Namratha Kashyap – Namratha started on April 14 as a 511 Senior Software Developer in the Sustainable Mobility and Operations section.
  • Uyen Ngo – Uyen will start April 28 as a Principal Program Coordinator, Safety/Vision Zero, Access and Mobility Programs in the Funding Policy and Programs section.
  • Angus Davol – Angus will start April 28 as an Assistant Director, Clipper Development and Budget in the Clipper section.
  • Michael Sun – Michael will start April 28 as an ERP Data Engineer in the Technology Services section.

Updates

The Data Strategy & Analytics team recently launched a refreshed Bay Area census website at BayAreaCensus.ca.gov. The site features the latest data available from the United States Census Bureau and includes interactive dashboards that break down data by year and location, downloadable data sets that can be used offline and historical data not easily found elsewhere. 

This month students at the University of California, Berkeley, approved a referendum to increase annual student fees to provide approximately 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students unlimited travel on any of the 24 Bay Area transit agencies that accept Clipper® for payment. Winning 90% overall approval by voters, the referendum will give all UC Berkeley students access to Clipper BayPass for two years beginning August 2025, which marks the start of the 2025-26 academic year. 

On April 22 and 25, Bay Area Regional Collaborative is hosting a series of events here at the Metro Center. The events are part of “Taking Action on Climate Change: Who’s Leading the Change - Insights on Bay Area Innovations During SF Climate Week” and will highlight regional climate adaptation work and collaboration among agencies. Events and times will be posted on the MTC website.

MTC sponsored a three-day Ports and Waterways Safety Assessment resilience workshop, hosted by the Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region at the Port of Oakland, April 15-17. Approximately 75 maritime and transportation representatives from public and private organizations attended the interactive workshop to share ideas and workshop risk scenarios for the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay. Topics included balancing safety and efficiency, resuming safe service in the event of an incident, and mitigating system risks, among others. Takeaways from the workshop will be released later this year. 

MTC Chief Deputy Executive Director Alix Bockelman was a panelist at the April 17 SPUR event “Riding the Budget Strain: Fiscal Challenges for Muni and BART.” Senator Arreguín, BART General Manager Bob Powers, SFMTA Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum, and Raayan Mohtashemi, legislative aide to Senator Scott Weiner, also spoke about the latest efforts to identify new sources of funding for public transit.

On April 15, I participated in a panel at the Transforming Transit Summit in Chicago, hosted by their Regional Transportation Authority, to discuss MTC’s role and the Bay Area’s response to the challenges facing transit. I was joined by Randy Clarke, CEO of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The Bay Area’s challenges are strikingly similar to the challenges in the Chicago and D.C. regions, as we are all grappling with transit agency operating deficits, fares and payments, customer information, accessibility and safety, accountability and funding.

MTC Vice Chair Stephanie Moulton-Peters was among the speakers at the Move Bay Area-North Bay Transportation Summit held March 28 at Napa Valley College. Vice Chair Moulton-Peters was joined by Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson, ABAG President Ramos and other North Bay leaders as well as by several members of the MTC-ABAG staff. That same day, Commissioner El-Tawansy was joined by Alix Bockelman, RNM Director Melanie Choy, and staff members Judis Santos and Shruti Hari at the Women’s History Month Luncheon, hosted by MTC Commissioner and Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret-Abe Koga.

This Friday from noon-1, Bay Area Regional Collaborative is hosting “From Science to Action: ‘Treasure Maps’ for a Resilient Bay” here at the Metro Center as part of SF Climate Week. This interactive discussion will showcase the new Resilience Metrics Mapbook, a science-based approach to identifying places where restoration projects can increase shoreline resilience. Register online

On March 28, Commissioner El-Tawansy was joined by MTC Chief Deputy Executive Director Alix Bockelman, RNM Director Melanie Choy, and staff members Judis Santos and Shruti Hari at the Women’s History Month Luncheon, hosted by MTC Commissioner and Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret-Abe Koga. 

An MTC team was admitted to Smart Growth America’s Culture and Community Network after a competitive national selection process. The team of Nalungo Conley, Section Director of Administration and Human Development, Judis Santos, Assistant Director of Evidence and Impact (ACRE Unit), and Veronica Cummings, Principal Public Information Officer in the Legislation & Public Affairs section will participate in a seven-month program that focuses on how to integrate arts and culture into community engagement. This approach can help build trust and is especially promising for engagement with communities that have been historically excluded from infrastructure planning.