COUNTYWIDE : Transportation Post Applications Invited

County residents will have an opportunity during the next 30 days to apply for the public-at-large seat on the new Orange County Transportation Authority board under a schedule adopted Monday by county transportation officials.

The new 11-member authority, which is scheduled to meet for the first time June 10, will replace the Orange County Transportation Commission and the Orange County Transit District board under a merger agreement. Currently, each agency has its own public-at-large representative.

The Transportation Authority will consist of four county supervisors, six members of city councils, and a public-at-large member. The new agency will oversee all transit and highway planning in Orange County, with the exception of the three publicly owned toll roads planned for southern and eastern Orange County. Those projects are administered by a separate agency.

Dana W. Reed, the public-at-large representative at OCTC, is a Corona del Mar attorney who also serves as the commission’s chairman. Reed is quietly campaigning for the public-at-large seat on the new authority. His counterpart at OCTD, William E. Farris, has announced his intention to retire.

Farris, who is frequently at odds with his more conservative colleagues on the board, complained that 30 days was insufficient time for public involvement and a public hearing to choose a new representative.

The proposed schedule, Farris said, would lead the public to believe that the selection is a “foregone conclusion.” But the combined boards of OCTC and OCTD voted to proceed with the selection, citing their desire to form the new authority as soon as possible.

The application period will close on May 23. On May 24, a list of the applicants will be delivered to the 10 authority members.

OCTC Executive Director Stanley T. Oftelie said the selection meetings will be held in public. Formal public hearings have not been held on member selections in the past.