California Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, head of the Senate Rules Committee, has appointed a new commissioner to the California Transportation Commission: Clarissa Reyes Falcon, who hails from the San Diego region. She worked for years as staff in the California legislature, and currently runs a government and community relations consultancy.

As a public affairs professional, she has worked with SANDAG, with scooter companies, and with smart growth efforts. Among the advisory boards she has served on, especially relevant is her long term work on the Board of Directors for Circulate SD, the San Diego region’s bike and pedestrian advocates.

The board helps set the public policy agenda for Circulate SD, which promotes public transit, street safety, affordable housing, and transit-oriented development (TOD). Executive Director Colin Parent says she “has been a great asset on our board, and it’s great to have her in this new state role.”

“It’s a positive sign for transportation policy in California that Senator Atkins picked someone with her experiences and values for this role,” said Parent. “It reflects the state’s changing and evolving approach to better transportation policy.”

Falcon replaces Christine Kehoe, who has been an outspoken and consistent advocate for common sense on the commission. There has been no official announcement about Kehoe’s resignation, but the speed of Falcon’s announcement may indicate it was not a surprise to Atkins.

The state transportation commission has eleven voting members, nine of which are appointed by the Governor and two by the legislature. Falcon takes one of the two legislatively appointed seats. The appointment is for a four-year term.

The CTC is a key statewide body that makes decisions on how California will spend its transportation dollars. It not only allocates money; it writes guidelines for and chooses projects it deems meet the requirements of programs funded by the gas tax and other revenue.

Recent years have seen a shift among the commission members to a more balanced representation than it had five years ago; it now includes community and clean air advocates, in addition to the representatives of labor organizations and developers that used to dominate.

Streetsblog looks forward to hearing from the new commissioner at the next CTC meeting, on October 13 and 14th.