Gary Gallegos, executive director of the San Diego Association of Governments, received a contract extension that will mean another $10,000 per year in his paycheck for the next five years.
   The SANDAG board approved the pay raise in a 14-5 vote. The raise is not expected to impact transportation projects. Funding for transportation projects from various sources includes administration expenses, and Gallegos’ salary is part of administration spending. The TransNet half-cent sales tax approved by voters authorizes 1 percent of the half-cent sales tax for administration. Other sources funding Gallegos’ salary include Federal Transit Administration and Federal Highway Administration money, Transportation Development Act money from the state sales tax, and money from the California State Planning, Programming, and Monitoring program.
   Gallegos started work as SANDAG’s executive director on July 1, 2004. The employment agreement included five years that ended June 30, 2009, and a three-year extension set to expire on June 30, 2012, and scheduled to be renewed after the initial five years. Gallegos’ base salary is $240,000 for the first year. With the increases approved last week, his salary will be $290,000 in 2015. The contract extension did not include a merit pay increase for Gallegos, the agency’s only contract employee. A performance review for Gallegos in July will determine any merit pay increase for the executive director.
   The decline in sales tax revenue also decreases the administration portion of the TransNet revenue, and the decrease in revenue for transportation projects has forced the North County Transit District to cut service. The majority of NCTD’s $87 million operating budget is funded by TransNet or Transportation Development Act sales tax revenue.  The loss of $10.5 million in state transit money forced NCTD to make previous cuts, including the 2008 elimination of the FAST flexible bus service in Ramona and and from Ramona on NCTD’s Route 386. (Route 386 service consists of two morning round-trips and two afternoon round-trips into and out of Ramona.
NCTD spokesperson said that no expansion of service or restoration of previously-eliminated service is anticipated without additional revenue.
   SANDAG’s most recent Regional Transportation Plan was adopted in 2007 and includes the widening of Highway 67 between Lakeside and Ramona in its “reasonably expected revenue scenario,” meaning the project will not occur until at least 2030.
   The current Regional Transportation Plan covers highway, transit and other transportation projects through 2030. SANDAG is in the process of updating its Regional Transportation Plan to cover projects through the year 2050. The agency’s board is expected to approve that update in 2011.
   SANDAG, created by state legislation, is authorized to distribute transportation funding for the San Diego region. Its board consists of representatives from the 18 incorporated cities in the county and from the County of San Diego, which represents the unincorporated communities. The agency also has advisory board members from NCTD, Metropolitan Transit System, the California Department of Transportation, the Port of San Diego, the Mexican consulate, Imperial County, the Department of Defense and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association. SANDAG also prepares demographic, economic, land use and criminal justice information about the region.