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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

September 1999
Hats Off to Heroes: Special Awards
John F. Foran Legislative Award
State Senator John Burton

Doris W. Kahn Award
Sue Hodges

Special Employee Award
Douglas La Vallee

Greta Ericson Distinguished Service Awards

John F. Foran Legislative Award
State Senator John Burton
State Senator John Burton Transportation found a new champion this year -- and a very highly placed one -- in Sen. John Burton of San Francisco, the current President pro Tem of the California state Senate. Capitalizing on his clout as the second most powerful elected official in California, Sen. Burton put transportation back on the legislative map after a decade of neglect with the introduction of a major three-bill package to address the Golden State's mounting transportation woes. The first piece of legislation, Senate Resolution 8, resulted in a statewide survey that estimated California would have to spend upwards of $100 billion over the next 10 years to meet its transportation needs. Making a dent in this huge funding need was to be the job of Senate Constitutional Amendment 3 (a bill to relax the current two-thirds majority requirement for the passage of local transportation taxes) and Senate Bill 315 (a transportation bond measure), although neither made it out of the Legislature intact during the 1999 session. Both will likely be taken up in some form next year, aiming for voter approval of enabling ballot measures at the November 2000 election.

-- Joe Curley

About this award: Introduced in 1986 to honor former state Sen. John F. Foran, the long-term chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and author of the bill creating MTC.

Doris W. Kahn Award
Sue Hodges
Sue Hodges"The unimaginable thrill of making change happen and of making a difference; of seeing something that isn't working right and taking all the steps that need to be taken, together with other people, to make it work." This, in her own words, is what keeps this year's recipient of the Doris W. Kahn Accessible Transportation Award -- Sue Hodges -- motivated.

Hodges has been a longtime advocate of transportation for all persons -- especially those with disabilities. Her leadership skills and her ability to work through the system are essential to her effectiveness, but equal assets are her tenacity and caring.

Hodges considers transportation one of the cornerstones of independent living, and she works as an advocate for its other components -- personal care attendant issues and affordable housing. With her service dog Felix at her side, Hodges serves on several committees, including MTC's Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee, the Oakland Mayor's Committee on Persons With Disabilities, and the Access BART Coalition Paratransit Committee.

Hodges' life embodies a quote by Helen Keller that she recites daily: "Life is nothing if not a daring adventure."

-- Catalina Alvarado
(Photo: Richard Wheeler)

About this award: Created in 1991 in memory of former MTC Commissioner Doris Kahn, who was a strong voice for improving services for elderly and disabled travelers.

Special Employee Award
Douglas La Vallee
Douglas La ValleeDouglas James La Vallee had his wits about him in February 1996 when he spotted an elderly woman standing behind a burning car in the Caldecott Tunnel. A Caltrans Tunnels and Tubes operator, La Vallee positioned his own tow truck to stop the traffic, helped the woman get out of harm's way and single-handedly battled the blaze with several extinguishers for more than 15 minutes while waiting for firefighters to arrive. Not only did his actions probably save the woman's life, he also blocked the burning car's wheels to keep it from rolling backwards into oncoming traffic, thereby preventing a more catastrophic fire.

MTC is honoring La Vallee for his heroism and knowledge of safety procedures displayed during the 1996 incident, as well as for his leadership role over the past several years in improving safety practices and training members of the Tunnels and Tubes crew. "I've always been safety conscious, the whole 23 years I've worked with Caltrans," La Vallee said.

-- Brenda Kahn
(Photo: Richard Wheeler)

Greta Ericson Distinguished Service Award
Robert Halligan
Robert Halligan
The necklace of lights illuminating the cables of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge not only adds glitter to the Bay Area's nighttime skyline, but also serves as a reminder of the many contributions of Robert Halligan, the longtime chief public information officer for Caltrans District 4 who retired in 1990 and passed away in February of this year at the age of 72.

Halligan conceived of the lighting project as a way of marking the span's 50th birthday. Another pet project was collecting and preserving artifacts for Caltrans' history room, a passion he pursued even after his retirement from the agency.

Apart from such tangible accomplishments, Halligan was widely revered among the media for his transportation knowledge as well as his honesty and integrity during three decades in public information.

-- Brenda Kahn
(Photo: Caltrans)

Greta Ericson Distinguished Service Award
Gerald Haugh
Gerald HaughOne of the region's longest serving general managers, Gerald Haugh has been at the helm of SamTrans for the past 17 years. During his tenure he also assumed executive directorship of both the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which operates Caltrain, and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, formed to carry out improvements funded by a 1988 sales tax initiative.

"He's been there [during our] transition, if you will, when the company changed from just being a property that deals with buses to a property that deals with all transportation systems and efforts in San Mateo County," said County Supervisor and SamTrans Board Member Mike Nevin. Haugh will retire in January 2000.

-- Marcia Foster & Catalina Alvarado

About this award: Pays tribute to the former MTC commissioner who conceived the Transportation Awards Program 23 years ago.

Dianne Fukami of Bridge Media, Inc. assisted with interviews of the award winners.


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