San Diego, CA – In a unanimous vote today, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) board of directors elected San Diego City Councilmember Georgette Gómez to her first term as chairperson on Jan. 18. Gómez is the first Latina to hold the post. She takes over for Harry Mathis, who held the post for the last 12 years.
“We look forward to working with Georgette as our new chair, and continue our success and our standing as one of the top public transit agencies in the nation,” said Paul Jablonski, MTS chief executive officer. “We are fortunate to have a strong advocate for transit serving as our chair. She has shown a strong passion for transit, not only in representing thousands of constituents who depend on transit, but also to maximize MTS services for our entire region.”
Chair Gómez was elected in 2016 to represent the 9th Council District in the City of San Diego, which includes, in part, City Heights, Kensington, Talmadge, El Cerrito, Rolando, College Area, San Diego State University, Mountain View and Southcrest. Gómez has been a long-time neighborhood leader and public servant. She attended Serra High School and graduated from San Diego State University. Prior to being elected to the City Council, Gómez was the Associate Director of the Environmental Health Coalition.
“It is a great honor to lead our region’s public transit system,” Gómez said. “This is an exciting time for the agency, its passengers and employees. Major service enhancements are happening this year including better bus frequency and faster trips, and the Mid-City Centerline project will open next month. MTS also has a major pilot program to purchase and test Zero Emission Buses, which I look forward to implementing. I am honored to lead this Board for the next two years and appreciate the opportunity.”
Gómez’s term will be for two years. The MTS Board is made up of 15 members – four from the City of San Diego, two from Chula Vista, and one each from the County of San Diego, Poway, Santee, El Cajon, La Mesa, National City, Lemon Grove, Coronado, and Imperial Beach. Also at its meeting today, the MTS Board approved its appointments of representatives to MTS committees and outside agencies for the current year. The MTS Board makeup for 2018 is as follows:
- Chair Georgette Gómez (City of San Diego, District 9)
- Vice Chair Mona Rios (National City)
- Mayor Pro Tem Lorie Bragg (Imperial Beach)
- David Alvarez (San Diego, District 8)
- David Arambula (Lemon Grove)
- Myrtle Cole (San Diego, District 4)
- Jim Cunningham (Poway)
- Mike Diaz (Chula Vista)
- Kevin Faulconer (Mayor of San Diego)
- Ronn Hall (Santee)
- Bob McClellan (El Cajon)
- Guy McWhirter (La Mesa)
- Ron Roberts (County of San Diego)
- Mary Salas (Mayor of Chula Vista)
- Bill Sandke (Coronado)
MTS operates 95 bus routes and three Trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Every weekday 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and Trolley services in 10 cities and unincorporated areas of the county. In FY 2017, MTS served more than 88 million riders. For more information on how you can use public transportation and save money, go to www.sdmts.com.
###
