BART - Earthquake Safety Program Citizens' Oversight Committee (COC)

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Citizens' Oversight Committee Overview

On November 2, 2004 Bay Area voters passed Regional Measure AA, which authorized BART to issue bonds for $980 million to make earthquake safety improvements to BART facilities in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties. The measure also required BART to establish a Citizens' Oversight Committee (COC) to verify that bond revenues are spent as promised.

The COC is comprised of five members selected from citizens of BART's districts. COC members may not be elected officials or BART employees or officials. The COC shall be comprised as follows:

One member shall have expertise in seismic retrofitting.
One member shall have expertise in auditing.
One member shall have expertise in engineering.
One member shall have expertise in public financing or project management.
One member shall represent the community at large.

The duties and responsibilities of the COC are to:

Review scheduling and budgeting of projects to be funded by the bond measure.
Confirm that work is completed and bond funds are expended in accordance with the bond measure.
Inform the public concerning the expenditure of bond revenues.

Members will serve a two-year term, without compensation.

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Contact the Citizens' Oversight Committee

You may contact members of the Citizens' Oversight Committee via email at eqcommittee@bart.gov or by phone at (510) 874-7478.

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Citizens' Oversight Committee Meetings

The last Citizens' Oversight Committee meeting was Tuesday, October 25, 2011. Meeting agenda and minutes are below. All meetings are held at the following address:

Kaiser Center
BART Board Room, Third Floor
344 20th Street
Oakland, CA 94612

Directions to the BART Board Room

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Citizens' Oversight Committee Meeting Agenda and Minutes

2010-2012 COC Agenda

October 25, 2011
April 19, 2011
December 21, 2010

2010-2012 COC Minutes

April 19, 2011
December 21, 2010

2008-2010 COC Agenda

January 20, 2010
October 13, 2009
July 14, 2009
April 7, 2009
January 6, 2009
October 14, 2008
July 1, 2008
April 1, 2008

2008-2010 COC Minutes

January 20, 2010
October 13, 2009
July 14, 2009
April 7, 2009
January 6, 2009
October 14, 2008
July 1, 2008
April 1, 2008

2006-2008 COC Agenda

September 13, 2007
February 15, 2007
June 8, 2006
April 27, 2006

2006-2008 COC Minutes

September 13, 2007
February 15, 2007
June 8, 2006
April 27, 2006

The Citizens' Oversight Committee also provided a report to the BART Board of Directors on September 17, 2009.

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2010-2012 Citizens' Oversight Committee Members

In October 2010 the BART Board of Directors selected members of the 2010-2012 COC:

H. Andy Franklin, Contra Costa County
Seismic Retrofitting Expertise Seat
Dr. Andy Franklin holds the Seismic Retrofitting Expertise seat on the 2010-2012 BART Earthquake Safety Program COC. Dr. Franklin holds a Ph.D. in structural mechanics from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a licensed civil engineer in California and before retiring was Principal Engineer with the Research and Development department of Bechtel Technology in San Francisco. Dr. Franklin has more than 40 years of experience in design, construction, testing and research, including seismic design, field forensic assessment of seismic damage, and observing seismic testing of structural remedies for strengthening and isolation. He served as the Engineering Expertise Alternate on the inaugural COC and resides in Contra Costa County.

Elmo Wedderburn, San Francisco County
Auditing Expertise Seat
Elmo Wedderburn holds the Auditing Expertise seat on the 2010-2012 BART Earthquake Safety Program COC. Mr. Wedderburn holds a bachelor's degree in business from Medgar Evers College, the City University of New York. Mr. Wedderburn's financial industry experience spans over 23 years and he currently holds several financial industry principal licenses. Mr. Wedderburn is a Senior Manager in the Control Audit and Oversight division of a public financial brokerage firm in San Francisco, and he is an Industry Arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. Mr. Wedderburn was born in Panama and resides in San Francisco.

William Kaplan William S. Kaplan, San Francisco County
Engineering Expertise Seat
William S. Kaplan holds the Engineering Expertise seat on the 2010-2012 BART Earthquake Safety Program COC. Mr. Kaplan graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. Mr. Kaplan was a consulting structural engineer in San Francisco from 1959 until his retirement in 1997. He resides in San Francisco.

Lawrence Donovan, Contra Costa County
Project Management Expertise Seat
Larry Donovan holds the Seismic Retrofitting Expertise seat on the 2010-2012 BART Earthquake Safety Program COC. Mr. Donovan has over 47 years of diversified management, engineering and project management experience in major civil construction projects including new projects requiring application of earthquake criteria and retrofit projects requiring updated earthquake protection. He has 27 years of governmental experience as a civil engineer with the U.S. Navy building facilities in the continental United States, Hawaii, the Philippines, and major construction on the Island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Mr. Donovan has 20 years of commercial experience as a senior manager and engineer with a major engineering and construction company where he was responsible for U.S. Air Force (USAF) Launch Facilities, USAF Laboratory Facilities, mass transit projects in New Jersey and the John F. Kennedy Airport Light Rail, U.S. Army weapons disposal facilities, U.S. Embassy upgrades and major electronics manufacturing facilities in China. All of these projects required the application of earthquake protection criteria. Mr. Donovan holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and master of engineering degrees from the University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University and is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts. Mr. Donovan is retired but remains active as a management and financial consultant to several firms, and resides in Walnut Creek.

Guy Miller, Alameda County
Community At Large Seat
Guy Miller holds the Community at Large seat on the 2010-2012 BART Earthquake Safety Program COC. Mr. Miller holds an associate's degree in nursing from Merritt Junior College. Mr. Miller is a Registered Nurse at Children's Hospital in Oakland, and resides in San Lorenzo.

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