![](Charlene_and_Nita.jpg) |
Charlene
Johnson with Nieret Mizushima, Chief Harbor Engineer for the
Port of San Francisco, and frequent Alameda/Oakland ferry
commuter. |
WTA looks at transportation
issues from a regional, as opposed to a local, or single jurisdictional
point of view. Is that a blessing or a curse in your opinion?
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.
WTA’s funding is from a
onetime grant that runs out sometime within the next two years. After
that, you must return to the legislature for money to keep WTA going.
Yet some Southern Calif. lawmakers are openly dubious about plans for
water transit on San Francisco Bay. How do you handicap WTA’s chances
for winning ongoing funding?
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.
What’s your background and
where do you live now?
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.
If things go as you hope
they will and in a few years you are overseeing the successful expansion
of San Francisco Bay’s ferry system, do you want a ferryboat named
after you?
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.