Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza Elected MTC Chair

Nick Josefowitz, San Francisco Mayor's Appointee, named Vice Chair

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Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Feb 24, 2021, 18:03 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza today assumed the helm of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as the regional board unanimously elected him to serve as Chair for the two-year term running through February 2023. Pedroza has served as MTC's Vice Chair for the past two years and has represented Napa County on the Commission since 2017.

"As the Bay Area, like the rest of the world, looks ahead to emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, recovery and resilience will be front and center in all of MTC's work," Pedroza said. "That means working with our partner transportation agencies to adapt to new travel patterns and new budget constraints while continuing to focus on the user experience; working with our cities and counties — and so many others — on new solutions to the Bay Area's housing crisis; and helping to make sure all Bay Area residents and all Bay Area communities get to participate in the region's economic recovery."

Pedroza first was elected to the Napa City Council in 2012, and then appointed in 2014 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown to represent the Fourth District on Napa County's Board of Supervisors. Pedroza won election to a full term on the Board of Supervisors in 2016 and was re-elected in November 2020. A Napa native, Pedroza is a graduate of Sonoma State University, where he earned a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics.

Pedroza, who replaces former Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty as MTC Chair, is the second Napa County Supervisor to lead the Commission. The first was current state Sen. Bill Dodd, who represented Napa County on the Commission from 2001 to 2014 and served as Chair from 2007 to 2009.

MTC today also elected Nick Josefowitz, Chief Policy Officer at San Francisco-based SPUR, to serve as Vice Chair for the next two years. Josefowitz has served since 2017 as the San Francisco Mayor's appointee to the Commission. After founding and managing a solar energy development company, Josefowitz served as a member of the BART Board of Directors. He also has served on the boards of Capitol Corridor and the San Francisco Environment Commission.

"The transportation, housing and land use challenges we face are enormous," acknowledged Josefowitz. "I am honored to have been elected to this position, and excited to work with Chair Pedroza, my fellow commission members and all those who call the Bay Area home to help our region emerge from this crisis more prosperous, more equitable and on a path to eliminating our greenhouse gas pollution and making our communities safe from wildfire and flooding."

In addition to the new Chair and Vice Chair, four other MTC seats have changed hands in recent weeks. Mountain View Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga replaced former Los Altos Mayor Jeannie Bruins as the representative of Santa Clara County's cities; David Canepa replaced Warren Slocum as the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors' representative; Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez replaced former Supervisor Dave Cortese after Cortese's November 2020 election to the state Senate; and Acting Caltrans District 4 Director Dina El-Tawansy replaced current Caltrans District 7 (Los Angeles) Director Tony Tavares as the California State Transportation Agency's non-voting representative to the Commission..