16-Year Reign Ends as Clark Passes Transit District Gavel to Farris

Ending an era as the county’s transit czar, Supervisor Ralph B. Clark passed the gavel Monday to attorney William E. Farris, a 12-year veteran of the Orange County Transit District’s board of directors who pledged to resolve the agency’s labor problems following last month’s 13-day bus drivers’ strike.

Farris, 57, will not be formally sworn into the transit district’s chairmanship until later this month, but Clark, who retired Monday after serving as the only chairman in the board’s 16-year history, and other board members indicated that they clearly intend to vote unanimously to elevate Farris from the vice chairmanship at the board’s next meeting, Jan. 22.

“Bill, I’m especially pleased to be turning the gavel over to you,” Clark said during Monday’s regular board session. “You are a man of compassion and common sense.”

Clark began his tenure as transit district chairman railing against “belching” bus exhaust. Fittingly, he ended his 16-year stint with a resolution honoring OCTD mechanic Dennis Elefante for inventing a device that reduces bus fumes and releases them into the air high above car level.

Clark urged board members to “spark the business community to take a bigger role in helping solve the county’s transportation problem” and pursue “alternatives to the single-occupant vehicle, including flex-time, car pools and van pools and commuter buses.” Questioned about his remarks following the meeting, Clark said he hoped more businesses would commit their own resources--including money--to company ride-sharing efforts and regional transportation planning, as some major firms such as the Irvine Co. and the Fluor Corp. already have done.

OCTD employees regaled Clark with choruses of “Auld Lang Syne” and “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” in the foyer as he left the agency’s administration building, which was recently renamed for him.

On Jan. 22 Don R. Roth, the former mayor of Anaheim, is scheduled to be sworn in to replace Clark as one of two OCTD board members representing the Board of Supervisors. Roth won the election last November to fill Clark’s 4th District supervisorial seat after Clark decided not to seek reelection for the north Orange County seat.

Farris said Monday that he will elaborate on his transit priorities when he is sworn in.

But in a brief interview, he said that his top priority now is to “help resolve the district’s labor and morale problems,” a reference to last month’s bus drivers’ walkout.

Members of the United Transportation Union Local 19 returned to work two weeks ago without a contract after OCTD officials announced that they were about to hire “permanent” replacements.

Farris said he hoped that the contract issue would be resolved soon but did not elaborate.

The district had offered a 7.5% pay raise over three years. The union had sought 13% over 3 1/2 years.

Meanwhile, Farris said Monday that he favors continuing Clark’s priorities: the increased use of high-occupancy vehicle lanes--better known as car-pool lanes--and installation of bus guideways on freeway median strips.

The Buena Park-based attorney said he is reserving judgment on whether voters should be asked next year to approve a sales tax for local transit and highway projects. A similar measure was overwhelmingly defeated in June, 1984.

Farris is a three-time unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Congress. He also failed in his only electoral bid for a judgeship in 1982.