Bradley, Wachs Name Final 8 to Citizens Committee : Rail Panel Ready for First Meeting

The final eight people were appointed Tuesday to a 32-member citizens panel that will help determine the fate of light rail in the San Fernando Valley.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs appointed five panel members, and Mayor Tom Bradley appointed three.

Other council members announced their appointments earlier this month.

Wachs appointed Fred Gaines, a Los Angeles attorney; Candace Campbell, president of a Van Nuys homeowner association; Anne Finn, widow of the late Councilman Howard Finn; Roger Riga, principal transportation planner for the Southern California Assn. of Governments, and James Hescox, an engineer, attorney and accountant with MCA-Universal City.

The mayor appointed Corinne Sanchez, executive director of El Proyecto del Barrio; Hugo Morris, a Teamsters Union official in the Valley, and Mel Wilson, president-elect of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley.

Commission Sought Help

The citizens panel was established by the City Council this month after the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission asked city officials for help in determining what, if any, light-rail route should be built in the Valley.

The panel has until Aug. 1 to make its recommendation to the council. The council plans to make its recommendation on light rail to the Transportation Commission by Sept. 1.

The panel’s first meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, 6100 Woodley Ave., Van Nuys.