Boards Select 2023 Chairs and Vice Chairs, Welcome Five New Board Members
The San Joaquin Hills (SJHTCA) and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (F/ETCA) Boards of Directors held leadership elections for the current calendar year. The SJHTCA Board of Directors unanimously reelected Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Will O’Neill as Chair and Laguna Hills Mayor Janine Heft as Vice Chair. The F/ETCA Board of Directors unanimously elected San Juan Capistrano Councilmember John Taylor as Chair and Mission Viejo Mayor Pro Tem Trish Kelley as Vice Chair.
Chair O’Neill joined the SJHTCA Board of Directors in 2019 and was elected Chair in 2022. He was elected to the Newport Beach City Council in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, when he was chosen by his peers on the City Council to serve as Mayor of Newport Beach.
Chair Taylor joined the F/ETCA Board of Directors in 2020. He was elected to the San Juan Capistrano City Council in 2018 and won another four-year term in 2022. His peers on the City Council chose Chair Taylor to serve as Mayor in 2021.
During the meeting, both Boards welcomed five new Directors:
San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency: Katrina Foley, Orange County Supervisor, 5th District (Foley also serves on the F/ETCA Board); and Stephanie Oddo, Laguna Niguel City Councilmember.
Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency: Ashleigh Aitken, Anaheim Mayor; Denis Bilodeau, Orange City Councilmember; and Beth Haney, Yorba Linda City Councilmember. TCA’s two Boards of Directors boast six mayors and two mayors pro tem.
Boards Approve Open Market Bond Buyback Program
The F/ETCA and SJHTCA Boards of Directors approved an open market bond buyback program as an enhancement to their Early Bond Paydown Program.
The initiative calls for using unrestricted cash to purchase and retire F/ETCA and SJHTCA bonds that investors have publicly offered to sell, as well as reaching out to limited investors who may want to sell their bonds.
The program will allow the Agencies to purchase bonds at attractive prices, as well as pay off those bonds prior to the call date, realizing immediate savings.
The Boards approved a resolution authorizing the Chief Financial Officer the ability to execute purchases and retirements of bonds within specified savings parameters for a cumulative not-to-exceed amount of $100 million per Agency. Staff will provide quarterly results on the progress of the program.
