☆ Stroll: to demonstrate that government works, Mahan should reform the VTA
While the SJ Mayor offers a state-level plan to “spend better”, he currently sits on the board of the VTA, an “extremely costly” and structurally defective transit agency. So says past state Assembly candidate Ted Stroll, who wants voters to elect VTA board members directly. An Opportunity Now exclusive reaction.
Mayor Mahan’s spending plan states, “when the California state government doesn’t work ... it is working people who pay the highest price.”
Demonstrating his ability to address this kind of issue would bolster his candidacy.
Mahan is the vice-chairperson of the Valley Transportation Authority board of directors. The VTA is extremely costly. The Mercury News reports, “Santa Clara County taxpayers subsidize public transportation to a far greater extent than any other counties in the Bay Area.” A full 1.625% of county sales tax goes to fund it. VTA wants that to increase to 2.125% via a ballot measure this year.
The regrettable recent death of transit impresario Rod Diridon, Sr., provides an opportunity to reassess how transit has fared since his pioneering efforts. In 2023, VTA provided only 0.85% of the trips people took by automobile, bus, bicycle, and walking in San José. Almost 2 million more trips were made on bicycles than on buses. Buses are underutilized on some routes to the point that they could be replaced with 12-passenger vans.
The problem I see is structural. The VTA board is elected by no one. The 12 voting board members are an assemblage of city and county politicians. It’s hard to believe that VTA is a priority for them over issues in which they’re directly accountable to their city or county voters.
Mahan could take on this structural defect by persuading the Legislature to create an elected board. Such a board could begin to implement overdue reforms. If he runs for governor again in 2030, he’d have a major accomplishment to point to.
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