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Jerry Rindone
Vice Chairman
San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board

          Councilmember Jerry Rindone is a life-long resident of Chula Vista, California.  He graduated from Chula Vista High School in1964, and from San Diego State University in 1968.  He began teaching social science and business education classes in the Sweetwater Union High School District in 1969.  By 1975 he had obtained his Administrative Credential and has since served in numerous leadership capacities including Dean of Activities, Principal, Director of Adult & Continuing Education, and Assistant Superintendent of Adult and Continuing Education.  He has been serving as Principal of Hilltop High School for over seven years and has received the “Principal of the Year” award during his tenure there! 

          Councilmember Rindone’s leadership and administrative skills have also proven very effective in the civic affairs of Chula Vista and in the region of San Diego.  He was elected to the Chula Vista City Council in November of 1990 and was re-elected in November of 1994. Then in 2000, he was again elected to the Chula Vista Council, and this year he was elected to his fourth term on the Council.  Prior to his election as Councilman, he served on the Chula Vista Parks and Recreation Commission for eight years and on the Library Board of Trustees for four years.  As a Councilman, Mr. Rindone represents the City as the Vice-Chairman of the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), and is a member of the SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) Transportation Committee.  He is also the representative for San Diego on the LOSSAN Transportation Agency (six southern California counties charged with transportation issues). 

Description of Transportation-Related Experience

Jerry Rindone has served on the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB) since 1990 representing the region's second largest city, Chula Vista. As a Board member, he has also served on the five-member MTDB Executive Committee since 1993. Mr. Rindone is currently service a third term as a Councilmember for the City of Chula Vista.

Mr. Rindone was elected to serve on the 15-member board as MTDB's Vice Chairman in 1994, and continues to serve in that capacity. As a Vice Chair, he has represented MTDB in numerous local, state, and federal venues and has provided significant leadership on many far-reaching transportation-financing, operations, and develops fronts.

Mr. Rindone's MTDB involvement has included the following:

• Chair, MTDB Operating Revenue Steering Committee, 1993-1995. This committee of the Board reviewed all potential opportunities for generating operating revenue for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). As a result, a multiyear funding plan was developed eliminating the need for service cutbacks.
• Chair, MTDB Finance Committee beginning in February 1994, which includes chairing the four Finance Workshops for MTDB each year. This committee is actually the full Board and the two operating Boards (San Diego Transit Corporation [SDTC] and San Diego Trolley, Inc. [SDTC]) meeting to guide the annual budget development process, lending to action on a five-year budget plan.
• Chair, California Transportation Development Act (TDA) Subcommittee from 1999-2000. This subcommittee to the Finance Committee met over an 18-month period and recommended significant changes to the TDA funding process (the region's largest public transit assistance), which were ultimately adopted by the local jurisdictions and the Board and is now part of legislation that is proposed.
• Member, MTDB Policy No. 43 Subcommittee form 1999-2000. This subcommittee to the MTDB Executive Committee developed significant policy concepts uniting transportation and land use decision-making. The result of the subcommittee efforts has led to memoranda of understanding with each city, the Port of San Diego, and the Centre City development Corporation related to transportation and land use planning.
• Co-Chair, MTDB Transit Security Task Force from 1993-1994. This Task Force was comprised of members from three boards: MTDB, SDTC, and SDTI. Its objective was to review the security function for metropolitan bus and trolley services and recommend cost-efficient changes. As a result, a new security bus-trolley department was implemented.
• Chair, MTDB Transit Security Committee in 2001. This committee included members of all three boards and was created by the Executive Committee to review the results of SDTC and SDTI investigations in 2000-20001 related to fare media abuse. Numerous fare media changes have resulted along with various projects implemented to correct identified problems.
• MTD Board member alternate to the SANDAG Board of Directors from 1999 to the present. SANDAG Board of Directors from 199 to the present SANDAG is the San Diego Association of Governments, the regions Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).
• Member, Joint Committee on Regional Transit (JCRT) representing MTDB, 1998. The JCRT comprised three members of the MTDB and North San Diego County Transit District Board of Directors, and deal with inter-jurisdictional matters.
• Member, Metropolitan Freight Rail Committee (MFRC), 2001. The MFRC comprises three members of the MTDB and Port of San Diego Boards of Directors and deals with freight rail matters (MTDB owns the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company).
• MTDB representative, Los Angeles, San Diego Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN) from 1998 to the present. LOSSAN is a joint powers agency among Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties and deals with rail capital improvements in the corridor between downtown San Diego and downtown Los Angeles.
• MTDB representative, Southern California Intercity Rail Group (SCIRG), 1998 to 2000. This multi-county agency coordinated rail corridor service policies between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
• Member, MTDB Compensation Subcommittee in 1996, 1997, and 2000. This subcommittee to the Executive Committee recommended the details of an employee compensation plan that was eventually incorporated into the MTDB budget.

Other transportation assignments have included:

• South Bay representative, San Diego Trolley, Inc., Board from 1996-1998. As South Bay representative, Mr. Rindone served the cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, Coronado, and National City on this corporate Board of Directors.
• Lead Council member, City of Chula Vista, on the Pilot High Quality Bus Transit Project for FY 02 City-MTDB budget development. MTDB is actively pursuing a high-quality "Transit First" plan for bus and trolley services. As part of staged implementation, there will be a pilot project. The City of Chula Vista is a partner with MTDB to develop such a project and to ensure that coordinated "Smart Growth" land planning and design is part of the project plan.

Vice Chairman Rindone has participated in numerous events over the years representing MTDB and public transportation. He has represented MTDB at various times during state legislative hearings and meetings on proposed legislation of interest to public transportation. Mr. Rindone spoke before the Orange County Transportation Authority regarding San Diego's light rail transit development program in 1998. He is currently working on behalf of a San Diego-Tijuana cross border transit project that could link a Tijuana rail transit line with the existing San Diego Trolley. During his 11-year tenure with MTDB, Vice Chairman Rindone has participated in the development of four light rail transit (LRT) extensions, and in one currently under construction.