Image: Metro.net

You’ll remember in April, while discussing the obscure Independent Citizens’ Advisory and Oversight Committee (ICAOC), I mentioned the start-up of the Measure R Independent Taxpayers Oversight Committee was impending.

The hold up was the appointment of the three Committee members. Measure R dictates the panel shall be made up of retired judges, with one appointment each by the Mayor of Los Angeles, the County Supervisors and the "other cities" of the county (similar to the way Board seats are divided).

The Committee members are:

• Justice Candace Cooper (appointed by L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa)
• Judge Richard Kolostian (appointed by the "other cities")
• Judge Robert W. Parkin (appointed by the L.A. County Supervisors)

June 3rd the Committee has its first meeting in the Metro Board Conference Room, starting at 1:30 p.m.

One of the first tasks the Committee members face is appointing the members of its advisory panel. Measure R states the members shall consist of at least one representative, and not more than two, of the following professions or areas of expertise:

a. Construction trade labor union representative

b. Environmental engineer or environmental scientist

c. Road or rail construction firm project manager

d. Public and private finance expert

e. Regional association of businesses representative

f. Transit system user

The staff report gives a good overview of the Committee’s purpose and other legal type stuff.

Evidently much like the aforementioned ICAOC, this body was seen as being a selling point for the voters. I guess having retired judges gives it an aura of authority and impartiality. Such is the way policy often zigs and zags, shaped as much as anything by perceptions and political realities.