Mark Funkhouser of Santa Maria, Carson Link of Lompoc, and Eric Melsheimer of Orcutt were appointed to fill three vacancies, along with the re-appointment of Mark Bradley of Santa Barbara, Geoffrey Slaff of Montecito, and Dennis Story of Goleta, to serve on the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee by the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) Board of Directors.
Each will serve a four-year term that will conclude September 2025.
“The six community leaders appointed to the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee will continue impactful work and important accountability over the next four years,” said Holly Sierra, chair of SBCAG board of directors.
“I am confident in their leadership for the oversight of voter mandates that fund more than $1 billion in regional transportation initiatives in our communities,” she said.
An open, competitive recruitment process occurred in July and August to fill vacancies for North County and at-large positions on the oversight committee.
“I was impressed with the quality and enthusiasm of applicants who were willing to dedicate their time and talents to fill vacancies of north county and at-large positions on the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee,” said Bob Nelson, chair of SBCAG North County subregional committee.
“The priorities of North County residents will be well-served by the caliber of experience of Mark Funkhouser, Carson Link and Eric Melsheimer,” he said.
Funkhouser, the director of sustainability/custodial services for the Chumash Casino Resort, leads the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ green initiatives. His main areas of focus throughout his 18-year career with the tribe have been eliminating waste, improving energy efficiency and reducing overall resource consumption.
His proudest professional moment occurred in 2019 when the Chumash Casino Resort became the first casino in the world to earn TRUE Zero Waste certification from Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI). The resort diverts more than 90 percent of its waste stream from local landfills.
Link, the district representative for Sen. Monique Limón, is a Lompoc native and community advocate. Professionally, he is focused on transit-related issues and is often traveling throughout the county. Link previously worked for United Way coordinating outreach to the Central Coast’s homeless population.
Melsheimer, is the CEO of Melfred Borzall, a Santa Maria company that designs and manufactures tools for underground construction. He is a 25-year resident of Orcutt and is active on the Orcutt Union School District Measure G Citizens Oversight Committee, community ambassador with Allan Hancock College.
Melsheimer is an engineer with degrees in mechanical engineering and aeronautics and astronautics.
The Measure A Investment Plan and Ordinance provides an estimated $140 million in matching funds to make local and U.S. Highway 101 multimodal improvements from Santa Barbara to Mussel Shoals.
The plan also provides an estimated $455 million each in North County and South Coast for transportation projects and programs to build safer walking and bike routes to schools, increase senior and disabled accessibility to public transit, increase options for carpool and vanpool programs, as well as local street improvements such as pothole repairs and synchronized traffic signals.
The next meeting of the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee will be Thursday, Oct. 21 and will include the annual review of the Measure A audit.
More about Measure A is available at www.measurea.net. Administered by SBCAG, Measure A is estimated to provide more than $1 billion of local investment in transportation projects and programs through 2040.
The voter-approved Measure A Ordinance created the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee “… to help ensure accountability to voters regarding the expenditure of funds and to assist the … [SBCAG Board of Directors] in ensuring that all provisions, requirements and voter mandates specified in the Investment Plan and Ordinance are properly carried out.”