I don’t know how you could design a ferry system in the Bay unless it is regional. By definition, any type of public water transit is regional because it is connecting different destinations. Also, ferry riders travel across different counties to get to the ferry terminals. In Vallejo, people are driving in from as far away as Fairfield and Sacramento to ride the Vallejo ferry boats to San Francisco. Businesses with employees commuting to Redwood City and Oyster Point are begging for water transit from the East Bay.

We have to have the participation of the people in the region. We need to have the will of the people in the region to get it done. I certainly don’t think it is a curse. We are regional in nature and thankfully do have regional input on what can be done from the elected officials in our region who serve on our Community Advisory Committee.

The bottom line is that if we deliver to the Legislature a good product I think people are going to pay for it. If it looks like it will relieve some of the congestion cost effectively, the people will support paying for it.

I think water transit has an appeal even for Southern California lawmakers. Look, you don’t need to demolish businesses and build highways or bridges to expand water transit. Let’s be realistic, there are some people who will refuse to get in a bus no matter what you do. So we have to be resourceful and look at our Bay to move more people. We believe the investment in water transit will compare very well to the other options we have for breaking traffic gridlock.

I live in Colma, which is in San Mateo County, and we don’t have any possibility of a ferry bringing me to and from work, but I think a ferry system could take people off of my road when I go to work using other public transportation or in my automobile. I am a local person, born and raised in San Francisco. I went to San Francisco public and private schools including law school at Hastings. I am a mother of one grown son. I have been a lawyer for 27 years. For my entire career, I have practiced in downtown San Francisco in the area of real estate and probate law. I have brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews who live in the Bay Area and they want me to do a good job on this ferry plan because they want their commute improved.

Well, of course I would love to have a ferry named after me - however, there are many people who are more deserving than me that we would have to name one after first. One such is Ron Cowan, who did so much to get the Blue Ribbon Task Force up and running and to get the legislation enacted which created the Water Transit Authority. And, of course, we have the Governor, who would love to have a boat named after him. I mean there are all kinds of people who would like to have a boat named after them, so I will just be at the end of the list!! But if we are going to have 25, 50, 100 boats I mean there will be plenty of names to go around.

One last question. Your law partner, Jerry Hallisey, is a close associate and heavy fundraiser for the governor as well as being chief of the powerful California Transportation Commission. Is he our ace in the hole?

Well, first of all he doesn’t head the California Transportation Commission. He is a Commissioner only. There is some talk that maybe he will be Chief at some point, but at the moment he is not. But actually I think our ace in the hole is going to be creating a good Implementation and Operations plan for the Legislature. We also must do all of our environmental and technical studies correctly. We will do a great job because we have a great staff working on it and lots of good input from people all over the Bay Area. Although the staff has a tough job to do in a short time, I am sure the thing is going to be completed and done right. I am confident that if we have a good work plan, everyone will support it and that is going to be our ace in the hole.