About the Board

The TJPA Board of Directors is comprised of representatives from the City and County of San Francisco and the State of California, including the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA), the Office of the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors; the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit); and the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board-Caltrain, composed of the City and County of San Francisco, the San Mateo County Transit District, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Regular Board meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at 9:30 am in San Francisco City Hall Room 416, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Meetings are televised on SFGTV. Please check the Meetings page of our website for agendas, minutes, and notice of any cancellations, room changes, or special meetings.

Board of Directors

Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr., Chair
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Representative
Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr., currently serves as the Executive Director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Mr. Ford was appointed to the TJPA by the Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors and also sits on the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. Mr. Ford previously served as General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), which he joined in 1997 as Senior Vice President of Operations and was later promoted to Executive Vice President for Operations and Development before becoming the General Manager/CEO. He has held numerous managerial positions in the nation’s largest transit properties, including New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).

Elsa Ortiz, Vice-Chair
AC Transit Representative
Elsa Ortiz was appointed to the TJPA by the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District in 2007. Ms. Ortiz was elected in November 2006 to the AC Transit Board representing Ward III, which includes the City of Alameda, and portions of the cities of Oakland and San Leandro. Ms. Ortiz also served as attorney and Special Counsel to State Senator and President Pro Tempore Don Perata on issues affecting Indian Nations. Ms. Ortiz was chief of staff and special assistant to California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer during his tenures as State Senator and Attorney General. She served on the Board of the Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission from 1996-1999.

Mark Church
Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board Representative
Mark Church is a third generation Californian born and raised in San Mateo County. Mr. Church was elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in March 2000 and re-elected in March 2004. He received his Juris Doctor degree from McGeorge School of Law and in 1982, he established the law firm of Church and Associates in Millbrae. In November 1995, he was elected to the City Council of Millbrae and served as Mayor from 1997 to 1998 during the year-long celebration of Millbrae’s 50th anniversary. Mr. Church is a former Judge Pro Tem and Arbitrator for the San Mateo County Superior Court and a past President of the San Mateo County Barristers’ Association. He has served on the Board of Directors of both the San Mateo County Bar Association and the San Mateo County Consumer Attorneys’ Association. He previously chaired the County Bar Association Personnel Committee and has twice chaired the San Mateo County Bar Delegation to the State Bar Conference of Delegates.

Michael Cohen
Representative from the Office of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom
Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Michael Cohen to the TJPA in 2005. Mr. Cohen is head of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the department that oversees activities and programs related to development planning, business attraction and retention and neighborhood commercial revitalization. He previously served as the Director of Base Reuse and Development, overseeing the conveyance and development of both the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and Treasure Island Naval Station. He and his team also managed a variety of other development projects in the City including the adaptive reuse of the historic Old Mint, the joint development of the Municipal Transportation Agency’s Kirkland and Presidio Yards and a number of public/private projects in the Civic Center. Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Mr. Cohen was the head of the Real Estate and Finance group of the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. He also helped create and served as General Counsel to the Treasure Island Development Authority. Prior to joining the City Attorney’s Office, Mr. Cohen was a real estate associate for the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster.

Chris Daly
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Representative
Chris Daly was appointed to the TJPA by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Mr. Daly was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2000. He has served as Chair of the Board’s Finance and Audit Committee and Vice-Chair of the Budget Committee, and is currently a member of the Government Audit & Oversight Committee. Mr. Daly also serves on the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board and the Association of Bay Area Governments. Active in homeless and tenant issues, he is involved in Mission Agenda, the San Francisco Tenant Union and the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition.

Bijan Sartipi (ex officio)
State Department of Transportation Representative
Bijan Sartipi has been an ex officio member of the TJPA Board since 2006. He has been with the California Department of Transportation for more than 25 years, and has been the District 4 Director since 2002. As District 4 Director Mr. Sartipi is responsible for overseeing Caltrans operations in the nine Bay Area counties. Mr. Sartipi serves as Commissioner on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission representing the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. He also serves as an alternate Commissioner of the Bay Conservation Development Commission and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Alternates:
Art Lloyd for Mark Church
Greg Harper for Elsa Ortiz
Tony Anziano for Bijan Sartipi