Three Selected as Finalists for OCTA Board Position : Transportation: Trio got highest number of votes among 68 people who submitted applications.

Tossing aside dozens of applications from traffic engineers, police officers and others, transportation officials Monday selected a lawyer, a former county transit official and a former state Senate aide as finalists for the public member’s seat on the powerful Orange County Transportation Authority’s board of directors.

The finalists are Sarah L. Catz of Laguna Beach, a lawyer who currently serves as the alternate public member; Gregory T. Winterbottom of Villa Park, a transit consultant and former OCTA official, and Charles C. Wilson of Lake Forest, area manager for Southern California Edison Co. and former press secretary to then-state Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim).

The three finalists got the highest number of votes Monday among 68 people who submitted applications. Each of the 10 OCTA board members was asked to name three people to be questioned in public at the board’s July 26 meeting, during which the final vote will occur.

Catz, a rail advocate, former retailer and campaign consultant, led the balloting and was named by all board members. Wilson, a public relations specialist and political campaign worker, collected eight votes. Winterbottom, who uses a wheelchair because of injuries sustained in a 1966 auto accident and develops transit strategies under the Americans with Disabilities Act, garnered seven votes.

Five others got one vote each--Gary Alstot, a Costa Mesa engineer; Allen Goody, a Newport Beach engineer; Scott Peotter, an Irvine planning commissioner and anti-gay rights activist; Reed L. Royalty, a former Pacific Bell executive; and Wayne A. Ybarra, an Irvine attorney.

Predictably, the three people chosen Monday have better political connections than the dozens who did not make the final cut. The public member seat on the 11-member OCTA board has always been held by political insiders such as the incumbent, Dana W. Reed, a Costa Mesa attorney who specializes in campaign law, and his predecessor, the late James Roosevelt, a former congressman and son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The person selected will succeed Reed, who has served for five years.

In her application, Catz cited her 18-month stint as Reed’s alternate and the experience she has gained as an OCTA delegate to two regional rail agencies. She also has worked with a committee of a nationwide group promoting so-called intelligent vehicle highway systems.

Wilson cited his service at SCE as the company’s liaison to Orange County’s cities and local, state and federal legislative offices, as well as his role as founder and chairman of the Costa Mesa’s business retention and economic development task force.

Winterbottom emphasized his track record in implementing programs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and his previous role as chief of the Orange County Consolidated Transportation Services Agency. That agency, now merged with OCTA, served the disabled, seniors and the frail elderly. Like Wilson, Winterbottom is a former state Senate aide.