Who We Are
On January 1, 2003 a new regional transportation district was established to oversee the development and implementation of passenger rail service in Sonoma and Marin Counties. The new rail district, created with the passage of California State Assembly Bill 2224 (Nation, District 6), holds in public ownership, over seventy miles of railroad right-of-way (ROW), estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.
The Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District is governed by a 12-member Board consisting of elected officials: two county supervisors each from Marin and Sonoma counties, three appointed City Council members from each county and two representatives from the Golden Gate Bridge District.
The SMART District is charged with planning, engineering, evaluating and implementing passenger train service and corridor maintenance from Cloverdale to a Ferry Terminal that connects to San Francisco. The Directors include:
Marin County
Judy Arnold - Vice-Chair, Marin County Board of Supervisors
Kathrin Sears - Marin County Board of Supervisors
Gary Phillips - Mayor of the City of San Rafael
Eric Lucan - Novato City Council
Stephanie Moulton-Peters - Mill Valley City Council
Sonoma County
Valerie Brown - Chairwoman, Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Debora Fudge - Windsor City Council
Jake Mackenzie - Rohnert Park City Council
Carol Russell - Cloverdale City Council
Shirlee Zane - Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Golden Gate Bridge and Highway Transportation District
Barbara Pahre - SMART Board of Directors, GGBHTD Board
Jim Eddie - GGBHTD Board
SMART Staff
Farhad Mansourian - General Manager
Erin McGrath - Chief Financial Officer
Katherine Puliafico - Executive Assistant
Laura Hathaway - Clerk of the Board
Katye Sanders - Fiscal Manager
Joanne Parker - Programming and Grants Manager
Bill Gamlen - Chief Engineer
Greg Jennings - Senior Rail Engineer
Kathryn Robertson - Jr. Engineer
Katelan Bates - Jr. Engineer
John Nemeth - Planning Manager
Linda Meckel - Associate Planner
Charlie Burnham - Construction Manager
LaVon Allan - Contracts and Procurement Coordinator
Laura Giraud - Real Estate Property Manager
Joan Thomas - Real Estate Assistant
Citizens Oversight Committee
Steve Birdlebough
Peter Breen
Dennis Harter
Patricia Kendall
David Oster
Steve Rabinowitsh
Tanya Narath, alternate
Julia Violich, alternate
