COMMENTARY ON TRANSPORTATION : Tips for the At-Large Representative on New County Panel : The key dictum for the new public member is simple: Be independent. If it means voting against your friends, so be it.

Recently a request was filed to declare 58 Orange County Transit District buses surplus vehicles. Acquired in 1975, the year of my appointment as the public member of the district board of directors, those 58 buses had “exceeded the expected useful life . . . and are scheduled to be disposed of,” the district said.

My tenure has also come to an end, along with those buses and the district itself. The district was officially merged with the Orange County Transportation Commission and the Consolidated Transportation Services Agency on Thursday, to form the joint new Orange County Transportation Authority. I decided not to seek appointment to the public member’s seat on the new authority.

But I did have the opportunity to review the 59 applications of those who sought appointment as public member of the new authority, although my voice was not a factor in the selection process. However, in reading through those exceptional and varied resumes, and letters of application, it was most apparent that the applicants themselves demonstrated the plight and exemplified what I consider the role of the public member, or member at large.

The executive director’s announcement of the selection process described the ideal candidate as a “bright, articulate, independent individual, who will champion the public’s interest.” Without a doubt, all 59 fulfilled the first prerequisite; but some left concerns about the latter stipulation, which brings me to the salient consideration of the role of the “public member.”

The 1970s and early 1980s brought a consideration into state legislatures that non-elected, direct representatives of the public should be on local governing boards. School boards greeted student “reps”; local agency formation agencies had public members not as ex-officio officers but members in their own right, and transit and transportation boards made a place for the “public,” so to speak. It was consumerism at its best--particularly when, in the case of the transit board, the member even shared the responsibility of setting a property tax and was the odd man out between the cities and county supervisors.

Participation as a public member, however, was ill defined. Little was written on protocol, political or otherwise. But there was a general and useful approach dictated by the times. Be independent. If it meant voting against your friends, so be it. If your vote was to be dictated by your friends, or those who were helpful in your appointment, then the total concept of the public member is lost.

I learned that in my 16 years as a public member, as I’m sure Dana Reed did in his service as the public’s representative on the Transportation Commission. Reed was selected Thursday from the field of applicants to be the public member on the new authority’s board.

Independence, as beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder. However, some general concepts for public representatives on any board come to mind:

* Independence of thought: Nurture intellectual honesty. Beware of chiseled-in-stone thought patterns. Ensure that your thoughts are your own, based upon the facts presented. It is curious that a number of applicants left it up to others, a chamber of commerce executive director, a union official and a senior business organization executive to present their credentials--as if they were incapable of independent thought.

* Independence from staff: The Orange County Grand Jury recently chided a city council for failing to press staff members regarding a questionable land transfer. A former city councilman escaped criminal conviction fortuitously when an extracurricular audiotape was discovered. Close staff inspection may have prevented the near-calamity of an undeserved criminal record. Staff members are the experts, but the decision is still with the members of the board. Staff should never be allowed to dictate the decision.

Over the years, the very excellent and informed OCTD staff and I worked harmoniously. That doesn’t mean we didn’t differ. My recent vote against the fare increase and my agitation for the disabled in the ‘8Os are examples.

* Independence from fellow directors: The public member is appointed to represent the general public. The others are elected from varying jurisdictions, certainly to also represent the public as directors, but to promote additional agenda, too. At times votes at the transit board have been “pork-barreled.” That should not occur.

The public member should have the courage to not only vote his conscience but to articulate his position. Suffer the slings and arrows. The conscience should not be trimmed to suit prevailing fashion.

In the heat of the recent One Hundred Hours War, my vote was cast solo with an explanation against paying a subsidy to reservists called to active duty. With 42 years of Marine Corps Reserve duty, the epithet of “anti-war” and implications of lacking patriotism failed to alter my vote.

* Independence from friends, supporters and family: Perhaps the most important issue in the governmental process today is that of conflict of interest. The media constantly carry accounts of the invidious and destructive pressure accompanying such conflict. The best rule is simply stated: Be independent of all who would influence your vote against the best interests of the general public, or to garner favor in the award of contracts or other advantages.

Beware of gift-bearers. If in doubt, something’s wrong, or there would be no doubt. Exercise vigilance to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. Above all, avoid being put in the position where you can be criticized.

My decision not to seek appointment to the new authority was based solely on my wife’s employment with the consolidating commission. Were I to be a successful applicant, the conflict would have been apparent. Additionally, if I abstained from voting, my advice and counsel would be lost to the general public.

Turning the key in the lock is hard to do. Theaters bring down the curtain. In court, cases are dismissed. The minister bestows the benediction. In parting, let me only express my profound good fortune in having been a part of an organization for nearly 16 years that provided half a billion rides for our people and that acquired a physical plant and facilities valued at $200 million.

The new Orange County Transportation Authority, with a budget of half a billion dollars, must now balance the equities between the full range of transportation issues and competing interests, all the while operating a multimillion-dollar bus company. It must decide when and where to build a proposed six-city rail system and what technology (monorail, maglev, raised-median, subway) to use. It must decide what stretch of freeway will receive the highest priority and the earliest dollars, and which city is not pulling its weight in complying with growth management rules.

Measure M spelled out what the people’s money was to be spent for, but it did not establish a timetable. The authority will have that delicate task.

I did not support the authority merger. I thought that the bus company could get along without the political internecine battles so prevalent in transportation planning and funding. Now that the baby has been born, let’s cut the umbilical cord and work together to ensure the best transit system for the people of our growing and vibrant county.