November 2008 Election: Your BART Board of Directors

Lynette Sweet (District 7): Lynette Sweet currently represents District 7 on the BART Board of Directors, a district that spreads from Montgomery to Richmond Stations, and which includes sections of all three counties in the BART district. I had not initially planned to write any specific endorsement for her, but then I ran across a disturbing remark in this article in the Merc uttered by Sweet’s opponent, Marshall Walker III. Walker sees Richmond Station as the “beginning of the line, not the end of the line,” favoring a BART extension to Sacramento. With this single remark, Walker demonstrates either a lack of understanding of or an apathy towards BART’s past mistakes, present problems, and even its future promise — which lies not with extensions that snake every further into exurbia and farmland, but with increased capacity in and superior coverage of the urban core. Anyway, we’ve already heard enough: Lynette Sweet for D7.

Tom Radulovich (District 9): There always seems to be a crop of BART Board candidates who are bewilderingly enthusiastic about expanding BART to the edge of the Bay Area and beyond. District 9 incumbent Tom Radulovich has been challenged by Peter Klivans, a Cole Valley resident who has opined that we should be able to “take BART wherever we want to go.” Just about every other Google ad I see in my Gmail inbox has referenced Klivans’s desire to extend BART down the Peninsula, where it would wastefully duplicate Caltrain (but without the latter’s express service that has already put to shame the Peninsula BART service that already exists). His candidate statement adovcates for BART to the Richmond District, which is one of his better ideas — but then again, Sacramento, which Klivans has hypothesized could also have BART service, if only we had the “imagination” for it? Anyway, the choice for BART District 9 is a no-brainer. Tom Radulovich has served on the Board since 1996 and is also executive director of Livable City. Throughout the years, Radulovich has been active as an ally and advocate for all sorts of good causes, including Transbay, Octavia Boulevard, an infill BART station at 30th Street to bridge the long gap between 24th Street and Glen Park, sensible parking policies, and intensifying land use next to BART stations. His commitment to creating a sustainable and vibrant urban environment makes him a necessary foil to the suburban directors. There’s really no need to even think twice about this one: Tom Radulovich for D9.